Vegetable Garden - Peppers
The Mystery Peppers!
I planted some hot pepper and sweet pepper seeds in the spring on a seedling tray and marked each row with a popsicle stick for each variety. The sweet peppers - Gemini, Emerald Giant, and Beaver Dam. The hot peppers - Jalapeno Gigante, Large Cherry, and Utri.
When the seedlings started to sprout and grow a few leaves, I moved to seed trays to a sunny location outdoors. I like to move the new baby plants outdoors to get used to being outdoors to get ready to be planted in the ground or in a pot.
One day it was raining really hard, and I moved the baby pepper plants back into my greenhouse. I went to set them on the table and somehow, I dropped the tray of the little baby pepper plants. The popsicle sticks fell out of the trays and the baby pepper plants were scattered all over the ground. I was so upset, now I didn't know which baby plant grew which type of pepper. I salvaged whatever plants I could and transplanted them into small pots. After they grew about 6 inches tall with more leaves, I still could not tell which pepper plant was what. Well, I figured the only way for me to find out which pepper plant was what was to actually see what pepper they grew. So in my garden I had a mixed match set of pepper plants.
What an experience! That's how I came to have my mystery peppers.
Now let's solve this mystery!
My Garden of the Mystery Peppers
In this garden, there should be the sweet peppers - Gemini, Emerald Giant, and Beaver Dam and the hot peppers - Jalapeno Gigante, Large Cherry, and Utri.
The Beaver Dam Peppers are sweet but looks similar to the Utri Peppers which are hot. They're long and shaped like a heart. So, one way to tell the difference between the Beaver Dam or the Utri was to taste it. If they taste mild then it was the Beaver Dam, if they taste hot then it was Utri.
Name - Beaver Dam Pepper
Type - sweet mild - like a green bell pepper with a hint of heat
Shape - long heart/ horn shaped - 6 to 8 in. long and 3 in. wide
Color - green, yellow, orange, red
Good for - stuffed peppers, pickled, roasted, grilled
Name - Utri Pepper
Type - medium hot - like spicy paprika - has more heat in hot and dry conditions
Shape - long fat heart/horn shaped - thin skinned
Color - green to red
Good for - as dried ground pepper spice, salsa, cooked, pickled
Mystery Pepper - Is this an Emerald Giant Pepper or a Gemini Pepper?
The Emerald Giant Peppers and the Gemini Peppers are both sweet and they look very similar. So, if I taste it I would not know which one is which. I think that Emerald Giant is a more of square shaped green pepper and the Gemini is a more of a rectangular shaped green pepper. So, we'll see when they're fully grown and ripe, then maybe I can determine what type of pepper they are.
Name - Emerald Giant Pepper
Type - Sweet
Shape - square block shape - 4 1/2 in. long and 3 1/2 in. wide
Color - green to red
Good for - everything, stuffed, roasted, grilled, and so on.
Name - Gemini Pepper
Type - Sweet
Shape - long rectangular shape - 5 in. long and 3 in. wide
Color - green to yellow
Good for - everything too.
Jalapeño Gigante Peppers
Jalapeño Gigante Peppers and the Large Cherry Peppers are both hot and they're easy to recognize. The Jalapenos are long slender green peppers, and the Large Cherry Peppers are round so I'll be able to tell these peppers right away.
Name - Jalapeño Gigante Pepper
Type - hot
Shape - long slender - 3 to 5 in. long
Color - green to red
Good for - cheese stuffed poppers, salsa, spicy dishes.
Name - Large Cherry Pepper
Type - hot - round
Shape - round - 1.5 inch across
Color - green to red
Good for - pickled, sandwiches, to add extra kick to dishes.
Large Cherry Pepper
Growing Tips
Easy to grow and are very forgiving
Tastes delicious
From seed to harvest is about two months
Needs full sun or at least 5 to 6 hours of sun to grow peppers
Can tolerate hot summers
Can tolerate dry periods between watering
Plant anytime from Spring to early Fall
One seed grows one plant with many peppers
Can start seed indoors and transplant
Plant them about 1.5 to 2 feet apart in the garden
Plant needs at least eight inches deep for roots to grow
Plant one plant in a 2 or 3 gallon container
Harvest when peppers are full size
Fertilize once a month
This one I don't know. What pepper starts as a baby as a yellow pepper instead of green? The Gemini? But the Gemini are rectangular not pointed at the bottom. The Beaver Dam?
What a mystery?
Here are some tips and a simple delicious recipe for peppers that I’ve tried and love to share.
You can snack on the peppers fresh right from the garden.
You can slice or chop them and add them to a salad.
You can add sliced or chopped peppers to any type of dish
You saute them in a pan with olive oil and onions.
You can roast or grill them with a little oil and your favorite seasonings
You can slice, remove the seeds, and dry or dehydrate the peppers to preserve them.
Sweet or Mild Peppers with Onions
Ingredients
4 cups fresh Sweet and/or Mild Peppers (about 4 whole large peppers) - thick sliced (Green Bell, Gemini, Poblano, Anaheim, etc.)
1 large Onion - medium thick sliced
2 or 3 cloves Garlic - minced or sliced
4 Tbsp Olive Oil or more if you'd like
Salt to taste
Black Pepper to taste
Directions for cooking in pan on stovetop:
In a pan, heat oil. On medium heat, add the sliced peppers in the pan. Cook for about 15 minutes.
Then add the sliced onions and garlic. Cook for about 5 or 10 minutes or until all the vegetables are soft.
Now add the salt and pepper to taste and serve. You can refrigerate for later use to add zest to a sandwich or a dish.
Directions for roasting in oven:
Heat oven 400 degrees. In the roasting pan, add the peppers, onions, and garlic. Add salt and pepper. Pour the oil over vegetables and mix well.
Roast for about 20 minutes or until the vegetables are somewhat soft. Serve or refrigerate for later use to add zest to a sandwich or a dish.
Additional Tips:
Experiment and cook different types of peppers together and get the color, flavor, and the heat that you like.
To help save time, cook a batch of peppers and onions with garlic and olive oil ahead of time and refrigerate them until you are ready to use them. They will keep well for about a week in a container or zip-lock bag.
Reheat and use them for omelets, for sausage and green peppers, for quick pepper steak, for topping on burgers, and for topping on grilled fish, steak, or chicken.
