Hot and Spicy.....

This Weeks Verse:

I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live,

but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh

I live by faith in the Son of God, and loved me and gave Himself for me.

Galatians 2:20

Young pepper plants from my garden. (2015)

The joy of growing home grown peppers. This week will look at varieties, companion plants and what a scoville is. It is best in the Pacific Northwest to shop around for the shortest growing season peppers.

Here are some great varieties that can come from the home garden:

• Nikita: 65-70 days has a glowing red orange color, they are a blocky pepper, holds it shape when cooked even in high temperatures. Plant is a good producer with 3" mild fruits. (Burpee Seeds)
• Marconi Rosso: Peppers are 9 - 12" by 3" and are a sweet deep red pepper when ripe. They are an 80 day pepper on very large plants. (Seeds from Italy)
• Early Jalapeno: a 63 day pepper which produces an abundance of peppers on a sturdy plant. They can be enjoyed pickled or stuffed. (Botanical Interests)
• Pasilla Bajio: another 80 day pepper which is also known as "Chilaca" and "Chile Negro" mainly used as a dried pod or powder. Has a rich smoky flavor, which is mildly hot and great in mole sauces. (Botanical Interests)
• California Wonder: a great 75 day pepper, which produces green and red peppers on the same plant. Has a great crisp texture, an excellent cooker, and a very productive plant. (Botanical Interests)
• Yolo Wonder: another 75 day pepper. Excellent for cooking and is thick skinned. This is a high yielding plant. (Botanical Interests)
• Sweet Cherry Blend: a 75 day plant, which is great for pickling, they are sweet an bite size, and great on kabobs. (Botanical Interests)

Companion Plants for peppers. There are not very many companion plants that are okay to grow next or with these wonders of nature. Looks like only Basil and Okra like growing with peppers. On the other hand, ground hot peppers do make a great bug and animal repellent to other plants. With a mixture of 3 parts water to one part ground pepper sprayed around the bottom of the plants it works pretty good to keep pests away. Beware of spraying pepper mixture directly onto the plants because you can burn the leaves.

What is a scoville and how are they measured. A scoville is the system of measurement for determining how hot a pepper really is. The way the scoville is measured is: equal parts of sugar water and ground chili pepper. The equal parts of sugar water are add to the chili pepper until the pepper is no longer hot. As the table describes below that Pure Capasaicin (the main chemical that makes up the chili pepper) is the hottest by a long shot. I am still not brave enough to grow the Bhut Jolokia, because I wouldn't now what to do with the peppers. Kudos to the people that do grow and eat them.

15 Million		Pure capsaicain
2 million - 5 million		Pepper Spray
1 million		Bhut Jolokia
577,000		Red Savina Habanero, Scotch Bonnet
250,000 - 350,000		Habanero, Long slim Cayenne
100,000 - 250,000		Tabasco
50,000 - 100,000		Thai Hot, Chinese Kwangsi
5,000 - 25,000		Jalapeno, Cayenne, Serrano, Arbol
100 - 25,000		Guajillo, Louisiana Hot Sauce, Poblano, Anaheim
0		Bell Pepper

Just a little inspiration for a Italian Pepper and Basil Garden: