Peppers

[Maverick2272]

I have convinced DW to expand the area I can grow veggies in and cut more of her prairie garden out. Question is, what kinds do I want to grow?
We are Zone 5b, the area has great rich black soil thanks to the prairie plants that were growing there, and we get fairly good sun (about 2/3 of the day it is sunny there).
I am thinking about chili peppers, jalapeños, red, green, and yellow peppers. etc. Wife is saying I might be limited in what I can grow here, and even though this is her area of expertise i am hoping to prove her wrong.
Any suggestions on what else to try growing? Or what I might not be able to grow?

 

[TATTRAT]

Poblanos, Jalapeños, Anaheim's, and/or lavender Bell(they look cool).

poblanos: great all around pepper, smoke them for ancho...I think?

Jalapeno: Mild heat, smoke for chipoltle, never run out of uses for them.

Annies: Great mild flavor, very nice in salsas, soups and stews.

As for the Lavender bell, just a cool looking pepper. Nothing notably different from any other bell pepper besides the color, but I love 'em.

All of these are very hearty and easy to deal with. The require a very small footprint, and if right, you get to prove Alpha Female wrong about the green thumb, get a bunch of peppers/pepper products, and hopefully, if all the planets are aligned, get MORE space next time around!

 

[Dave Hutchins]

Try some lemon drop peppers mildly hot and delish. From Seed Savers in Iowa
Buddy E Mail them for a catalog they have a wonderful assortment of airloom seeds from all over the world. I plant in pots and use them every year

 

[MexicoKaren]

Let me second Tattrat's suggestion for poblano's - I am fortunate that they are plentiful and cheap here and I use them often in cooking instead of green peppers - they just add a nice zip (they are not at all hot, just flavorful). You do need to roast them first to get the skins off, though. And they are great for chiles rellenos. I also love serranos instead of jalapenos. Anchos, BTW, are dried poblanos. You might be thinking of chipotles, which are smoked jalapenos. Yummm - love chiles. It's a great idea to grow your own.

 

[BreezyCooking]

Try anything that strikes your fancy. So long as you start them indoors early enough - in your area that would probably be mid-March for a mid/late-May plant-out date - I don't see why you wouldn't be successful with peppers.

You know what I enjoy, & might also be fun for you? Buy a couple of mixes. I do that every year, in addition to buying specific favorites. Many seed companies sell both hot & sweet pepper mixes, & it's an awful lot of fun to see what you get, as well as determining what you like & what does well without having to buy individual seed packets.

I've been growing Burpee's good old "Hot Pepper Mix" for quite a few years now, which contains the basics (Jalapeno, Cherry, Thai, Cayenne, etc.), but "The Cook's Garden" has a more interesting mix that I may try this time around. As far as the "sweets", "Park Seed" has an interesting "Sweet Rainbow Mix", which contains 4 hybrids & 2 open-pollinated varieties of bell peppers that mature to chocolate, red, orange, yellow, white, purple.

 

[ErikC]

I have convinced DW to expand the area I can grow veggies in and cut more of her prairie garden out. Question is, what kinds do I want to grow?
We are Zone 5b, the area has great rich black soil thanks to the prairie plants that were growing there, and we get fairly good sun (about 2/3 of the day it is sunny there).
I am thinking about chili peppers, jalapeños, red, green, and yellow peppers. etc. Wife is saying I might be limited in what I can grow here, and even though this is her area of expertise i am hoping to prove her wrong.
Any suggestions on what else to try growing? Or what I might not be able to grow?

What is Zone 5b? Is there a site somewhere that will tell me what zone I am in, and what I can best grow?

 

[GotGarlic]

What is Zone 5b? Is there a site somewhere that will tell me what zone I am in, and what I can best grow?

National Arboretum - USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map

There are lots of gardening sites that have info on what grows best where. You can usually try something that is hardy to within a zone or so of your own zone - it might work with your microclimate, it might not. That's part of the fun of gardening - trying different things.

 

[BreezyCooking]

ErikC - just do a websearch for Canadian Plant Hardiness Zones. You should be able to find a map that tells you where you fall.

 

[jennyema]

I don't put that much faith in the zone thing.

I have grown jalepenos, habarneros, serranos, cayenne, thai bird, cubanelle and other hot peppers with wild success here.

My hot peppers have always flourished, whereas my bell peppers haven't.

I go buy them as small plants, though, as I am too lazy for seeds.

 

[JillBurgh]

I am on the cusp of 5b & 6a, and we have great success with all hot and sweet peppers. I use a mix of equal parts soil, peatmoss, and mushroom compost. Last year we harvested about 500 habaneros off of ONE plant (57 on one day alone). Serranos, cayenne will give you just as large of a crop, and expect big yields on other hot peppers as well. Especially anaheim and poblano. Sweet peppers haven't had such impressive yields for us, but we really like Super Red Ruffled for an interesting and full flavored stuffer.

BTW, we order all of our core tomato and pepper plants from The Tasteful Garden. We're not patient enough for seed starting, and we have tremendous success with all of their products. Try their hot pepper sampler or sweet pepper sampler too.

 

[Maverick2272]

I am gonna need to start writing this stuff down if I am going to start em up in the next month or so! I love all the different kinds of pepper, and want to get into some Central American, Asian, and Southeast Asian pepper varieties. And anything else that sounds cool while I am at it I think my biggest problem now is going to be having enough space for them all!
The 'zone thing', LOL, is just a guide line. My wife is more of a purist, due in most part to her belonging to a native and organic initiative. She prefers not to 'push' it by bringing in plants that wouldn't naturally grow here without help. IE any plant that is going to need extra watering or chemical help to get by here is a big no-no in her book.
I, on the other hand, consider anything that grows and I would consume as 'natural' to grow here, LOL. If I had my way I would be back on an acreage or two with at least half it being food gardens! I also miss our apple orchard.
But as far as flower gardens go, I do prefer the native prairie garden. In drought conditions my garden does just fine without watering while the neighbors are constantly watering their lawns and gardens vainly attempting to keep them alive. During a wet year I have to do a lot of pruning back, otherwise I end up with 6' tall plants!

 

[BreezyCooking]

No worries! I've been growing everything & anything for many many years now in a totally organic fashion. No chemical pesticides or fertilizers used here & everything grows like a weed (including the weeds - lol!!). I just utilize lots & lots of homemade compost, mulch, & natural pest controls. It can definitely be done, no matter where you live.

 

[Maverick2272]

Don't you just hate it when weeds grow like weeds and the plants just don't?? LOL. We have a mulch pile and compost as well. We recycle as much organic stuff as we can to put in the garden.

 

[jennyema]

The 'zone thing', LOL, is just a guide line. My wife is more of a purist, due in most part to her belonging to a native and organic initiative. She prefers not to 'push' it by bringing in plants that wouldn't naturally grow here without help. IE any plant that is going to need extra watering or chemical help to get by here is a big no-no in her book.

I live north of you. Not sure what Zone I am in. My peppers get planted, watered, and occasionally Miracle Growed.

No extra help whatsoever. They are basically ignored all summer.

 

[Maverick2272]

Isn't Miracle Grow extra help?

 

[jennyema]

Isn't Miracle Grow extra help?

Yeah, it is. But if I weren't so lazy, I'd be a composter. All gardens need some sort of fertilizer.

My point is that my hot peppers grow like crazy with very little adult supervision. As opposed to my zucchini and yellow squash which I had to assist in the pollination of with q-tips. Sheesh.

 

[JGDean]

I lived in Champaign, IL for a couple of years. Everything grew well there. I had a cherry tomato plant that came back in Spring on it's own and grew to over 5 feet tall the second year!

 

[Maverick2272]

Yeah, it is. But if I weren't so lazy, I'd be a composter. All gardens need some sort of fertilizer.

My point is that my hot peppers grow like crazy with very little adult supervision. As opposed to my zucchini and yellow squash which I had to assist in the pollination of with q-tips. Sheesh.

That is more of what I am looking for. Once we get into our busy season, we just don't have any time to tend anything. About the only thing we put into our gardens are coffee grounds. We also rake the leaves from the neighbors tree into the beds, then dig it all in the next spring. Never had to add anything else to it. A friend did give us a composter, but it is sitting in the back of the yard unused so far. DW says she is planning on finding it a home in the yard somewhere this year and using it.
I don't mind as long as it doesn't take a lot of maintenance.

Did you try making the squash and zucchini watch a film on the birds and the bees??

 

[BreezyCooking]

Unfortunately Maverick, since vegetables have a high water content, you will have to be consistent with watering them if you plan to have any sort of decent yield. Plus, keeping moisture levels consistent keeps the plants healthier in the long run. Reaching a wilt point before getting a drink creates way too much stress for them.

 

[Maverick2272]

Well, the way things are now my entire front and back yard are nothing but prairie gardens with flagstone paths running thru them (I posted pics of the front garden on here).
The last couple of years I have slowly begun influencing her and changing the structure of the gardens. Most of her larger plants and what I call 'flop over' plants have been removed from the front garden and replaced with shorter bushier flowery plants along with a couple of knock out roses.
I still have a couple of flagstone walls to finish up, as well as the lighting, a light post, and re-doing my 'special' side garden that is all mine.
Then, I am moving to the back yard. The patio is getting extended, the sidewalk moved, a fountain put in, and the paths re-done. Once the hardscaping is done, we are going to sit down and re-deign the back yard garden. Part of that includes finding a home for her composter so it is easy to get at but doesn't stick out like a sore thumb. Another part is introducing a water barrel we got in a trade for services.
It was my plan to find a specific section near the patio that would be the veggie garden and put the rain barrel there, for easy watering. The wife already has an elderberry bush there and a wild currant bush there as well so I was going to put the veggies around them.
You are quite right they have to be watered regularly, and if I don't find any easy way to ensure they are watered regularly, we will end up not having the time and they will suffer for it I am sure.
That is the whole point of her prairie garden, it never needs watering or fertilizing with outside sources. Rain is sufficient to sustain it, and coffee grinds, egg shells, and leaves are enough to keep it rich and healthy.