I absolutely love peppers! I love them when they're so hot they make you cry and you have to drink milk while eating pickles at the same time to cool your mouth...I love them when they are sweet and juicy and they burst inside your mouth. Naturally, because of my minorly neurotic obsession with peppers (my boyfriend gets mad that everything I make is too spicy) I had to grow some peppers in my garden. I told my mom about all my peppers and she informed me that my grandfather was an avid pepper feen, who also grew peppers in his garden, and would just eat hot peppers like an apple...at least now I know where it comes from.
HERE'S WHAT I KNOW
General Info & History
Pepper plants typically take 70-90 days to mature, they like warm weather, so if you are seeding, make sure you keep them indoors until clear after the last frost. Peppers can be hot or sweet as most of you already know, if you want the hot ones you have to get seeds or plants from hot places, Africa, Mexico & South America, India, etc. Peppers trace their origins in the New World and were not introduced to Europe, Africa, or Asia until Christopher Columbus made his way here and back and couple of times.
You can get your own pepper seeds just from eating one of your favorite peppers, just remove the seeds, air them out for a week or two, and keep them in a cool dry place from 6 months to a year or until needed. As always when you are transferring a plant or seedlings, work compost and fertilizer in the ground early for an easier transfer.
Pepper plants thrive in soil with a pH level of 6.5. Higher levels of sulfur actually help peppers, plant a match in the soil around the peppers being careful it doesn't touch the plant or its root system. After planting you should add soil with higher potassium and phosphorous levels, many people make the mistake of getting too much nitrogen in the mix. Then let it grow, grow, grow! You'll know when they're ready! When harvesting peppers, be sure you cut away the peppers, don't just rip it.
Bell Peppers
Bell peppers are some of the most common peppers out there. They contain absolutely no capsaicin, which means that they don't contain the heat peppers are so known from. Bell peppers mature from green to red and finally to yellow or brown. Bell peppers and banana peppers should be planted 18-24" apart and grow to about 18-24" up.
My banana pepper (left) and bell pepper (above) plants on 4/29
Cayenne Peppers Contrary to bell peppers, cayenne peppers do contain capsaicin, with a Scoville rating of anywhere from 5,000-30,000 units (habanero peppers can have anywhere from 200,000-300,000 Scoville heat units). My cayenne plant on 5/17
Hot peppers actually release endorphins in us so that feeling of flying down a roller coaster isn't just because you spotted your crush or your boss just called, its because you are eating capsaicin from your hot pepper! Cayenne peppers should be planted 12-15" apart and grow to about 12-24" high. Cayenne peppers are packed with Vitamin A so they are great for your eye site and smooth skin. Peppers are good for something!This is one of my pepper plants on 5/17that I started from seed, I'm so happy with the progress!!
Cucumbers are supposedly easy to grow and are recommended for beginner gardeners. I found a starter cucumber plant down the street at Dickinson's Garden Center. Since cucumbers are vining plants, so I started looking around the internet and found a picture of a cucumber plant climbing up an upside down tomato cage so it looked like a tee pee. It should also be a whole lot easier to harvest. Plus if I left it on the ground it would just make a mess of itself mixing with all the dirt and bugs and would take up too much room in my garden. I found out cucumbers are actually in the same family as squash, pumpkins, and gourds--I did not know that... I can't wait to eat cucumbers that I have grown, buffalo mozzarella, cucumber, and tomato salad with basil and balsamic vinegar here I come! 
Cucumber plants as of 4/29/2009
Cucumbers 5/03
My cucumbers as of May 3rd have begun to sprout up these random cumber plants in the middle. Like totally out of nowhere...The other ones are doing pretty well, one of them is about to grab onto the vine I think, I will keep you updated!
SPICY GARLIC PICKLING CUCUMBERS RECIPE
- 12 3 to 4 inch long pickling cucumbers
- 2 cups water
- 1 3/4 cups white vinegar
- 1/2 cup white sugar
- 8 cloves garlic, chopped
- 1 1/2 tablespoons coarse salt
- 1 tablespoon pickling spice (go crazy, I use cinamon, ginger, mustard seed, cumin seed, bay leaf, cloves, allspice)
- 1/2 tablespoon red pepper flakes, or to taste
Cut the cucumbers to your liking, if you are canning multiple cans I would recommend a variety of cuts, the long quarter cut, thin slices, thick slices. This is whats great about making your own pickles you get it how you want it.
The pickling spice, sugar salt, vinegar and water is really your base you can add anything from there. Dill is an extremely common addition to pickles, you can add turmeric, celery seed, onions. More sugar, less sugar, go crazy with yo' bad self
Combine everything but the pickles in a large saucepan and bring to a boil. The most important part is that the sugar and the salt completely dissolve. Allow to boil 10 minutes.
Meanwhile place cut pickles in the jar(s) and place a small mesh strainer over the pickle jar. You really don't need all of that other stuff floating about the jar unless you just think it looks really cool and rustic. An easier way might be to place the strainer over a pitcher and strain the vinegar mixture into the pitcher then just pouring into each jar.
Place the tops on the jar as soon as possible and as tight as possible. The heat of the liquid will most likely seal the top for you. Place in the fridge immediatly if the top of the jar doesn't pop. If it does, place it in barely simmering water for about 15 minutes. Be gentle!
