Oak Spring Garden Foundation - Hot and Sweet Peppers

Plant Family: Solanaceae

Latin Name: Capsicum annuum

Varieties We Grow:

Hot Peppers: Jedi Jalapeno, Baron Poblano, Fish, Aleppo, El Eden Guajillo, Cayenne, Paprika
Mild Peppers: Mellow Star Shishito, Aji Dulce, Goddess Banana
Sweet Peppers: Picnic Peppers, Carmen, Escamillo
Bell Peppers: Flavorburst, X3R Red Knight, King Arthur, Olly
Other: Ole Pepperpot, Aji charapita, Buena Mulata, Biquinho Yellow, Biquinho Red, Texas Bird

Storage: Store in the vegetable drawer of your refrigerator for up to ten days.

Hot peppers can be eaten raw or cooked, but they can be seriously spicy and cause a lot of pain. To decrease the spiciness of peppers, try mixing your chopped peppers with other ingredients - a salsa or dip is a great example of this. Or, try removing the seeds of the hot peppers before preparing as the seeds are the spiciest part of the pepper.

Shishitos might be our favorite pepper at the farm. Shishitos are Japanese frying peppers that look similar to hot peppers, but only 1 in 10 will be spicy. They aren't terribly flavorful when they are raw, but once added to a hot and heavy pan with a bit of oil, seared until the skin starts to bubble with black spots, and sprinkled with salt, they transform into a crisp, bright green, peppery snack.

Sweet peppers take a little extra time to mature in our production fields (ready in August/September). We typically mix the sweet pepper harvest together each week to create a beautiful display of colorful peppers. Sweet peppers make great additions to stir-fries, salads, sandwiches, pasta sauces, homemade pizzas and more. Each year, we select pepper varieties for seed saving. In 2022, we saved seed from Fish and Pippin’, and in 2023, we will hopefully save seed from Ole Pepperpot.