Growing Cayenne Peppers

       Hi, this is Mike's daughter, Katie, and last year my dad, me and my brother Jack were planting some cherry tomatoes, basil, and some other herbs like we had done the past few years. This year, unlike the others, we decided to try something new: cayenne peppers. We planted them just the same as the others, but the growth was different. The cayenne peppers were visible earlier than the tomatoes. They started green, then over time turned red as they grew to a huge size. Almost as long as bell peppers, the cayenne peppers were, at the largest, 3 cm wide and turned purple after sitting out or staying on the plant for too long. We found that putting the peppers in a plastic bag and placing them in the freezer kept the cayenne peppers from getting too old and preserved the flavors. I recommend these peppers to people who like hot foods, but people who don't- maybe not.

Grow Your Own!

Over the last five years or so I've been getting better at growing tomatoes and herbs using terra cotta pots on my back patio.  If you don't have space or time for a full garden, then I highly recommend growing at least some herbs in a pot if you love fresh cooking ingredients.  My tips based on several years experience with ups and downs:

*Basil grows extremely well from seed or from seedlings bought from a nursury; you can proliferate it easily and picking the leaves often spurs more growth.  Pesto and fresh mozzarella/tomato/basil sandwiches alone could use most of my "crop"

*Rosemary is very hardy and grows into somewhat of a vertical bush; it will last into the late fall and then you can bring it inside for winter

*Cherry tomatoes grow well in pots and will give you a lot of production for salads

*Serrano peppers are easy to grow and do well in pots; they provide more heat than jalapenos and one pepper works well for Indian, Thai, or Mexican dishes.  You might want to try hotter peppers, but I do well with serranos in my dishes

*Larger tomatoes, and heirlooms, struggle in pots so if you try them, use the biggest pots you can find since they need a ton of soil and lots of space to mature the fruit.  I've not had success with more than mid-sized tomatoes.......I'm waiting for my San Marzanos to grow but it's been slow and unproductive so far

I would recommend to any home cook to start by growing at least some basil and rosemary, and then tackle the peppers and tomatoes.  Nothing beats fresh food grown at home!