Growing Bell Peppers

Grow Your Own Bell Peppers

Bell peppers are one of the most popular vegetables grown in home gardens. Peppers are a tender, warm-season crop. They resist most pests and offer something for everyone: spicy, sweet or hot, and a variety of colors, shapes and sizes. There is now a much wider variety of peppers to choose from with different colors and even different shapes. Whether you’re looking for green, yellow, orange, red or even purple; here’s what you need to know.

Planting Bell Peppers

• Buy pepper plants at the nursery for planting after all danger of frost has passed. Otherwise, start seeds indoors 8 to 10 weeks before the last expected frost.A week before transplanting, introduce fertilizer or aged compost in your garden soil 
• Choose a site that gets full sun and has well-drained soil with a pH of 6.7 to 7.0.Raised beds work wonderfully for peppers because they need warm soil, as well as warm air, to thrive.
• Plant peppers in two rows per bed, with the rows 12 in. apart and the plants 18 in. apart in the row. This promotes good air flow among the plants for disease control and high production from a small area.
• Keep the soil evenly moist; especially when the fruits are developing, peppers need about an inch of water a week. After the ground has warmed thoroughly, mulch with organic matter to conserve moisture and deter weeds.
• Spread compost or a balanced organic fertilizer around the plants when they flower and again three weeks later.

Harvesting Bell Peppers

• Bell peppers generally take 70 to 90 days to mature.When your peppers are ready to harvest is easy to determine. 
• You can start harvesting peppers once they are three to four inches long. Make sure the fruit is firm and green.
• Peppers are mature when they become their final color. The color depends on the variety and can be red, orange, yellow, green or purple.
• Use a sharp knife or scissors to cut peppers clean off the plant for the least damage.
• Frequent harvesting increases yields, often at the sacrifice of flavor. If you continually pick the peppers before they mature, the plants will continue to produce fruit in their quest to develop viable seed..

Storing Bell Peppers

• After you have picked your peppers, wash and dry them thoroughly. They will last up to three weeks if stored at 45-55 degrees with 90-95 percent relative humidity.
• For maximum flavor, eat peppers on the same day they are picked. 
• You can also leave them on a kitchen counter for a day or two to ripen further. Do not place peppers in the crisper drawer or in plastic wrap or bags in the refrigerator. 
• Peppers are warm-weather fruits and do not store well in cold temperatures. If you have too many peppers, consider the following storage options.
• Freezing-  This is the easiest storage method, but the peppers will be soft when thawed. The flavor is retained, however, so use frozen peppers primarily for adding 'spice' to soups, stews, and sauces. If you stuff the peppers before freezing, you'll have a ready-made dinner, perfect for the microwave.
• Pickling- Peppers can also be preserved by canning them, but they're low-acid fruits and thus require canning under pressure. It's easier to pickle peppers as you would cucumbers in a crock filled with a simple brine of four cups of water, four cups of vinegar, and 1/2 cup of pickling salt. Add a clove or two of garlic and some fresh herbs for added flavor.
• Drying- This method works best with the thin-walled hot peppers, particularly the smaller varieties that can be dried whole right on the plant. The key to drying peppers is doing it slowly to retain their color and flavors.

Few Health Benefits Of Peppers

• Cancer Cure- A little pepper may go a long way with your health it might even help ward off breast cancer. A chemical compound in peppercorns called piperine may be able to help prevent a breast cancer tumor from developing.
• Color cues- Black, white, and green peppercorns are all fruit of the same plant, so you can use them interchangeably. Their flavors differ: Black pepper is hot and pungent, white pepper is hot but less aromatic, and green pepper has a fresher flavor. Pick the one that suits your palate.
• Skin scrub- Get a smoother, clearer complexion with a scrub made from pepper. It stimulates your circulation to deliver more oxygen and nutrients to the surface of your skin, and the grains help slough off dead cells
• Pepper is a natural decongestant- It contains chemicals that irritate your mucus membranes, making them produce a thinner, more watery mucus ( giving you a runny nose) to help clear out your nasal passages.

Spicy Stuffed Pepper Recipe

Ingredients

• 8 Anaheim peppers, divided
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1/2 cup chopped green onions
• 1 (15-oz.) can stewed tomatoes, drained
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 (15.5-oz.) can whole kernel corn, drained
• 1 1/2 cups (6 oz.) shredded Cheddar cheese
• Garnish: chopped green onions

• Preparation
• Remove and discard seeds and membranes from 2 peppers. 
• Chop peppers.Broil remaining 6 peppers on an aluminum foil-lined baking sheet 5 inches from heat 2 to 3 minutes on each side or until peppers look blistered. 
• Place peppers in a large zip-top plastic freezer bag; seal and let stand 10 minutes. 
• Cut peppers lengthwise down 1 side, leaving other side intact; remove and discard seeds and membranes. Keep peppers warm.
• Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat. 
• Add green onions, and saute 1 minute. (Do not brown.) Stir in chopped peppers, tomatoes, and 1/2 tsp. salt; cook 4 to 5 minutes or until tender. 
• Add corn, and cook, stirring occasionally, 6 minutes.Remove from heat. 
• Stir in cheese until melted. Spoon mixture evenly into cavity of each broiled pepper. Garnish, if desired, and serve immediately.