Fenton Friday: Prize-winning Peppers

 

Guest Blog by Ian Ferris

I began my summer as an intern with a choice: Which vegetable would I grow? Tomatoes, cucumbers and peppers. It felt like choosing a starter Pokémon. In my haste to select the best option, I chose the one that intrigued me the most: peppers — as tasty to the mouth as they are to the eye. And what a choice it was.

I began with small pepper plants of four different varieties. Planting them brought me back to my days working on a farm, where I would plant dozens of plugs without thought. This time was different. I took time planting these, carefully digging holes with proper spacing and giving these wee plants a good start in their new home.

Next came maintenance as my infants grew up. Peppers don’t need too much work if the growing conditions are right. Every week I would give them a good share of water, always feeling that they must be as thirsty as I was in the hot summer heat. The other tool they needed for success was nutrients. After a couple of weeks of letting them grow, I began giving them a dose of fish fertilizer before they were watered. This ensured they were well fed and ready to put those nutrients into big, healthy fruit.

Along the way, I helped out with the rest of the garden, pulling weeds from around my peppers and the surrounding areas. I really do hate weeding. I would also help harvest blackberries and attend to any tricky misnomers occurring that Kathy had spotted — mostly hacking away at the pestsome mulberry trees that kept sprouting around the garden and trimming back ambitious plants.

My peppers only encountered some trouble: slight wilting on the bottom leaves, likely due to the frequent tropical-like thunderstorms we’ve endured in Maryland. Beyond that, my only worry was whether they’d produce enough fruit in time for the fair. This seemed hopeless at times, but it was the pepper plant with the smallest fruit — instead of the largest — that surprised me. It grew uniform, delicious-looking peppers that looked like they would ripen in time.

While I was out of state on vacation, Kathy took care of my peppers and harvested them in time for the fair. These peppers had one last surprise for me. Upon strolling toward the awards table, I noticed they placed second and third in their category. Deep pride filled me. It is this shared feeling among gardeners that makes the whole ordeal worthwhile. Together, the plant and I worked hand in hand to produce a gorgeous and delicious fruit — although the pepper plants did most of the work. For that, I’m grateful to my peppers and to the Washington Gardener for a great summer growing.

About the Author:

Ian Ferris is an intern this summer session with Washington Gardener. He is a rising senior at the University of Maryland studying journalism and sustainable agriculture. He worked on a garden farm near Annapolis, MD, called Maidstone Harvest for two summers, where he learned a lot about growing vegetables in a sustainable and efficient fashion.

Fenton Friday: Purple Peppers

It has been so hot and dry and windy -- it is really getting disheartening -- yet another week of NO RAIN! Thank goodness for our nearby cistern and all the garden plot volunteers who keep it refilled from a nearby hydrant.

This week, several peppers are forming on our plants. My favorite so far that we are growing for the first time is 'Buena Mulata'. We got the seedlings from the Silver Spring Garden Club's GardenMart plant sale. This photo (above) doesn't do them justice -- go to Rareseeds.com to see them up close and in their many color phases. After starting out purple, they go to orange-tan, and finally a bright red. They are listed as moderately hot similar to Cayenne peppers. The foliage of the plants is very attractive as well, so could just be grown as an ornamental plant. It is an heirloom variety that was from William Woys Weaver's Roughwood Seed Collection. "His grandfather received the pepper from African-American painter Horace Pippin in 1944," says Rareseeds. 

We also saw tiny tomatoes forming on our 'White Currant' and other tomato varieties. No fruits are showing up on the eggplant yet as that is under a cover cloth for now.

I ripped out the last of the Radishes and Broccoli plants. I hung the radish pods to dry and will collect the seeds later.

In their place, we made mounds and planted Gherkins and Zucchini. I left a row of Carrots in and hope to dig them around the time of the Montgomery County Fair to enter them. 

The Blackberries have slowed down to just a few fruits every couple of days so I'll take the covering nets and mesh off them soon.

The sprouted Sweet Potato had a slow start and is now taking off and putting on lots of foliage growth. 

A late garden addition is two variegated red Cotton plants from a garden I visited last weekend that was part of the Region 3 Daylily Summer Meeting. I planted them in the heat and they are NOT happy, but I hope will recover with some TLC.

What are you growing in your edible garden this week?

About Fenton Friday: Every Friday during the growing season, I'll be giving you an update on my community garden plot at the Fenton Street Community Garden just across the street from my house in zone 7 Mid-Atlantic MD/DC border. I'm plot #16. It is a 10 ft x 20 ft space and this is our 13th year in the garden. (It opened in May 2011.) See past posts about our edible garden by putting "Fenton" into the Search box above (at the top, left on this blog).

Fenton Friday: That Burning Feeling!

I made a rookie mistake this week. I harvested a ripe red pepper off one of the plants (see above pic) and took it home to try it out. I cut off one small sliver and popped it in my mouth without thinking. My tongue was ON FIRE!!! I ran around like a crazy person trying pretty much every way Google said to kill the effects of a hot pepper -- from olive oil to milk -- nothing really worked except for eating some sweet cherry tomatoes. Thank goodness I had a few of those tomatoes still on hand. 

The funny thing is that I have no idea what kind of pepper this is. I had wrongly assumed it was a sweet snacking variety. Looking at the list of peppers I planted, the ONLY hot ones on the list were Chesapeake/Baltimore Fish variegated hot pepper and Thai Hot Orange pepper -- just by looks I KNOW it is not either of them! If you have any clue what this one might be, drop me a line in the comments.

This week in the community garden plot, we've had another week of HOT (near record) temps and I've been busy weeding and watering. We are once again getting missed by several forecasted storms and then having several windy, dry days that aren't doing the plants any favors. 

We are still harvesting a few handfuls of 'Ferrari' Beans, lots of Zucchini, a few Mexican Sour Gherkins, 'Lunchbox' Peppers, a couple 'Sun Sugar' Tomatoes, and a few Blackberries.

And a quick reminder that I'll be cutting many of our cutting garden flowers and more from my home garden for my FREE flower arranging class at the DC State Fair. See me at the demonstration area on Sunday, 9/9 at 10:30am. See more info at https://dcstatefair.org/events/dc-state-fair-2023.

How is your garden plot growing this week?

 

About Fenton Friday: Every Friday during the growing season, I'll be giving you an update on my community garden plot at the Fenton Street Community Garden just across the street from my house in zone 7 Mid-Atlantic MD/DC border. I'm plot #16. It is a 10 ft x 20 ft space and this is our 12th year in the garden. (It opened in May 2011.)  See past posts about our edible garden by putting "Fenton" into the Search box above (at the top, left on this blog).

Fenton Friday: Winning Peppers

Guest blog by Jamie Amadea Oberg

This summer, I planted peppers, celosias, nasturtiums, and marigolds in the Fenton Street community garden. Overall, each did fairly well! 

 

The peppers were the only plant I did not start from a seed. Instead, I transferred a starter plant from the ladies at GardenSpots into the garden plot. The plant was biquinho peppers, a variety I had never heard of before. 

After a week or two of regular watering, with the help of Kathy Jentz, a liquid fertilizer was added to the watering mix. Another week or two and peppers started to pop up! 

At first, we weren’t sure if the peppers were ready to be picked. They were firetruck red, but they were the size of my thumb (and I have small hands). After a bit of research, we found out that biquinho is indeed a very small pepper. 

After the peppers started showing up, they just kept on coming. Every week or so I’d pluck off the reddest peppers and leave the rest to ripen. Eventually, my harvest went from two or three peppers a week to five to eight a week. The peppers themselves were a little bit sweet, but with a refreshing kick of spice. 

 

Last week, we harvested enough peppers to submit our 10 best to the county fair. I’ve never submitted anything at all to the fair so I was thrilled when they won second place in the “peppers - other” category. A red ribbon now adorns my red peppers. 

 

While the peppers were the only edible thing I grew this summer, I also planted three different flowers to varying degrees of success. 

 

With marigolds, I planted seeds one inch deep with one inch of spacing between them. The nasturtium seeds were similar, one inch deep and three inches of spacing. For the celosias, things were a bit different with the seeds closer to a quarter of an inch deep and five inches spacing in between. 

 

The weekly care for the flowers was identical: regular watering and weeding with the help of Kathy Jentz. When the seedlings first appeared most all of them germinated, so we had to thin them out. It was painful removing perfectly healthy plants, but I reminded myself it was for the best. From that point on, the care was never too complicated. No fertilizer, just watering and weeding. 

 

The nasturtium grew the fastest. The big, round leaves sprouted quickly, but succumbed to the heat just as quickly. Despite the abundance of cupped, dropping, or yellowing leaves, the nasturtium still bloomed beautiful peachy orange flowers. 

Next was the celosia 'Flamma Orange', a All-American Selections winner for 2022. It took a little bit longer to bloom, only starting to show flowers in the last few weeks. Still, the leaves show no signs of damage and the little spikes of warm color are delightful. 

Finally, the marigold. The marigold has yet to flower. This is most likely due to the fact that it was planted in close proximity to a large batch of more established zinnias. The marigold has had trouble getting enough light living in the shadow of the zinnias, but I have hope it will still bloom given the tall and healthy state it’s in. 

Overall, the peppers were the most rewarding to grow. Being able to eat something grown in the garden is simply a magical experience. Still, I enjoyed the trials and tribulations of growing the flowers, and the excitement of seeing them bloom. I was even able to take some celosias home in a bouquet one week.

About the Author: Jamie Amadea Oberg is a rising senior at the University of Maryland (UMD). Jamie is an intern this summer session with Washington Gardener.

About Fenton Friday: Every Friday during the growing season, I'll be giving you an update on my community garden plot at the Fenton Street Community Garden just across the street from my house in zone 7 Mid-Atlantic MD/DC border. I'm plot #16. It is a 10 ft x 20 ft space and this is our 11th year in the garden. (It opened in May 2011.) See past posts about our edible garden by putting "Fenton" into the Search box above.

Fenton Friday: Pepper Report

Shishito Peppers

These next few weeks, I'm letting the summer interns take over the community garden plot reports to share what they grew and how that went.

By Molly Cuddy

This summer, while interning at Washington Gardener, I grew peppers at our community garden plot. I grew two different varieties: 'Shishito' (smokey peppers, sometimes a bit spicy) and 'Lunchbox' (mini snacking sweet peppers). I’ll admit it, I think this was my first time ever growing something edible. That being said, I was a little nervous about how my pepper plants would do throughout the summer! Of course, every week, we made sure to take good care of my peppers so they could thrive. 

Lunchbox Peppers

Thankfully, I’m able to say a lot of my peppers grew. I got to take home a handful of the Shisito peppers and I’m researching a recipe I can make with them (any suggestions?). I love snacking on the  Lunchbox peppers (especially dipping them in ranch dressing!), so I’m excited to eat them.

My plants even grew enough peppers that we got to enter them in the Montgomery County Fair and they each won a ribbon -- the Shishito got a 4th place and Lunchbox earned a 3rd! I’m super-excited that I even got to enter what I grew, so I’m even more excited they won anything.

I had a great time learning more about gardening this summer. I’m hoping to get some plants for my apartment soon. I was too scared before, because I didn’t think I had much of a green thumb, but now I have complete confidence in my “plant mom” abilities!

What is growing in your kitchen garden?

About the Author

Molly Cuddy is a journalism major at the University of Maryland, College Park, and was an intern this summer with Washington Gardener. She is also a campus tour guide and will be a teaching assistant for a professional writing class next semester.

About Fenton Friday: Every Friday during the growing season, I'll be giving you an update on my community garden plot at the Fenton Street Community Garden just across the street from my house in zone 7 Mid-Atlantic MD/DC border. I'm plot #16. It is a 10 ft x 20 ft space and this is our 8th year in the garden. (It opened in May 2011.) See past posts about our edible garden by putting "Fenton" into the Search box above.

Video Plant Profile: Ornamental Peppers

Heat up your autumn with these little balls of fire! Ornamental peppers make great container and foundation plants. They really are three-season plants, but fall is when they put on their best show. The peppers come in a range of colors from white to orange/red to purple to black -- often with multiple hues on the same plant. The plants are short and compact. The foliage is also colorful. Look for plants with almost black leaves or ones with bright variegation that contrast with the fruits.

They need full sun for best coloration, but will do alright in part sun. They are not very fussy plants. Pinch back any new growth in order to encourage branching and fullness. Keep the soil evenly moist. You can also bring them indoors as a houseplant once the night temperatures dip -- placing them in a sunny window through winter and then back outside once the last frost has past.

I like to cut a branch for use in dried flower arrangements or in a seasonal wreath. I also string some using floral wire to make a holiday garland. When working with them, be sure to wear eye protection and gloves when handling the fruit so you don't feel the heat from these potent plants.

Ornamental Peppers are deer-resistant. Nor will squirrels or rabbits touch them, but birds may give them a try. And yes, they are technically edible, but you really wouldn’t want to consume them as they are very hot and not bred for flavor, and therefore are not very tasty. Also, as they are grown as ornamental plants they made have had pesticides applied to them by the grower. 

My favorite varieties to grow are 'Black Pearl', "Sangria', and 'Calico' -- and new ones are being bred and introduced all the time. It is fun to try a few new ones out every year in my garden.

Ornamental Peppers: You can grow that!

To see other videos in our Plant Profile series, go to:
~ Japanese Anemones - click here
~ Asters - click here
~ Toad Lily- click here
~ Pink Muhly Grass - click here
~ Phalaenopsis or Moth Orchids - click here 

Fenton Friday: Striking Gold

In our "Pepper Report" a few weeks ago (here), we reported that the 'Gold Standard' sweet pepper from Burpee had not colored up yet. Well, they have now! They are also as large and as sweet as promised. The photo above does not do it justice. A little patience was all we needed -- so it is with most gardening pursuits, lesson learned.

In the rest of the plot, all the cool-season seedlings are coming along nicely, except the Spinach, which now has proven to be a real dud seed batch. We will like replace that with the Broccoli seedlings tat I bought for show-and-tell at my Cool Season Edibles Talk I am giving tomorrow at Brookside Gardens. (BTW, still a few spots left for that, register here.)

How is your edible garden growing this week?

About Fenton Friday: 

Every Friday during the growing season, I'll be giving you an update on my community garden plot at the Fenton Street Community Garden just across the street from my house. I'm plot #16. It is a 10 ft x 20 ft space and this is our 6th year in the garden. (It opened in May 2011.)

Fenton Friday: Pepper Report

Today I pulled out several of the pepper plants at the community garden plot to make room for the fall plantings. These plants were care for by our summer interns and had really nice yields. Today, I was even able to pull another 5 pounds fruits off of them before I composted the foliage and stalks.

Here is the report from Mika Park:

This summer, I grew six different types of peppers at the Fenton Community Garden in Silver Spring. I planted the six types on May 31 as seedlings we were sent to trial, and most were expected to be harvested within 80 days. The varieties I planted are hot 'Fish' peppers, hot 'Dragon Roll' peppers, ornamental 'Black Pearl' peppers, sweet 'Mad Hatter' peppers, sweet 'Candy Cane' peppers, sweet 'Lemon Dream' peppers, and sweet 'Gold Standard' peppers.

The hot, heirloom 'Fish' peppers were a bit small, more like 2 inches than the 3 that they are supposed to reach. They were supposed to take 80 days, and at day 82 they were still small. The plant itself did not grow to the 18-24 inches it was supposed to, but rather stopped at about 10 inches. Despite the size, they were relatively spicy, even more so the hot 'Dragon Roll,' which has a scoville rating of 200. They retained their striped cream and green color.

The hot 'Dragon Roll' peppers from Burpee were not as hot as they should have been. However, they grew to the expected size of 3-4 inches. They had some spice at the top near the seeds, but not anywhere near 200 scovilles. The foliage developed beautifully and the plant grew to its intended size. Some peppers turned red and mushy after the 67 day harvest point, but the majority remained green after that point or began to turn red.

The 'Black Pearl' peppers grew beautifully. The peppers developed early on, emerging as a very dark purple color that looked almost black. Some bunches have turned bright red in color as they were ready for harvest at day 85. These are ornamental peppers, because they are ridiculously spicy. They have a scoville rating from 10,000 to 30,000.  I sampled a tiny piece of one and can understand why this is ornamental and not used for cooking.

The sweet 'Mad Hatter' peppers from PanAmericanSeed remained green, with some developing yellow at the top, although they can turn red. They are probably still green because they are ready at 85-90 days and I ended my trial at day 82. Some have started yellowing, but they are all the right size at 2-3 inches. While they are a sweet pepper, this harvest was definitely lacking in flavor.

The sweet 'Candy Cane' peppers from PanAmericanSeed were mainly green and white stripes, and some developed a red tint -- 2 or 3 became a bright red. It was strange that not all of them became red, since the harvest time was relatively shorter, at 60-65 days. They grew to the expected size at 3.5-4 inches, and had a sweet and light flavor.

The 'Lemon Dream' peppers from Burpee mostly remained green, although some turned yellow and orange. This was surprising because they were supposed to be ready for harvest at 70 days, and despite growing to the expected size of three inches. They were very sweet!

Lastly, the 'Golden Standard' peppers from Burpee did not fully turn yellow by the end of my trial. They look reminiscent of yellow and green tie-dye. They do taste sweet. They also did not get to be the expected 5 inches by 5 inches size, and were closer to 4 inches by 4 inches.

How is your edible garden growing this week?

About the auhor: 

Mika Park is a sophomore multi-platform journalism major at the University of Maryland. This past summer, she was an editorial intern at Washington Gardener Magazine. She was born in Holland and raised in Brooklyn, NY.

About Fenton Friday: 

Every Friday during the growing season, I'll be giving you an update on my community garden plot at the Fenton Street Community Garden just across the street from my house. I'm plot #16. It is a 10 ft x 20 ft space and this is our 6th year in the garden. (It opened in May 2011.)

Fenton Friday: Peppers Producing

Sweet Pepper 'Candy Cane'

The interns (Ana and Mika) and I were surprised this week to already be picking some of the peppers off the 7 plants we are trialing. We picked 'Dragon Roll' and tasted those along with the sweet 'Candy Cane' peppers pictured here. Both were a bit on the green side, but still flavorful and would be nice in salads or other dishes. All the rest of the peppers are covered in flowers and fruits and can be picked at any time - just a matter of taste as to how "hot" or ripe we want them to be. The only one dragging is the heirloom 'Fish' pepper. We have not fertilized any of them as yet, but maybe should think about that for the 'Fish' one.

The watermelon and muskmelon (aka canteloupe) continue to double and triple in size. I am glad something is liking these record high temps this week! 

I have taken the cover cloth off my green bean and zinnia seedlings as they are getting taller and I think the rabbit danger has passed.

A couple of the 'Little Bing' tomatoes turned red this week, so I snacked on those. I would have also snacked on the ripe Ground Cherries I had set aside, but they disappeared overnight. Ants? Birds?

How is your edible garden growing this week?

About Fenton Friday: 

Every Friday during the growing season, I'll be giving you an update on my community garden plot at the Fenton Street Community Garden just across the street from my house. I'm plot #16. It is a 10 ft x 20 ft space and this is our 6th year in the garden. (It opened in May 2011.)

Fenton Friday: Peppers Planted

The summer interns started this week and we put in a whole section of Peppers to trial. Several are from Burpee and a few are from purchases of heirloom plants at spring plant sales. A few are sweet peppers, but mainly they are hot ones.

We also planted mini Watermelon and Canteloupe seeds. I am hoping they germinate fast so the interns can harvest some by mid-August.

The weather has warmed up a bit, but it was still very wet. Today was the first day in weeks that I can recall it not raining! I hope to put in the Tomatoes and herb seedlings along with all the other seeds (Okra, Zinnias, etc.) in the next few days.

How is your edible garden growing this week?

About Fenton Friday: 

Every Friday during the growing season, I'll be giving you an update on my community garden plot at the Fenton Street Community Garden just across the street from my house. I'm plot #16. It is a 10 ft x 20 ft space and this is our 5th year in the garden. (It opened in May 2011.)

Savory Sunday: Spinach Mushroom Quiche with Fish Peppers

Guest post by Shelby Smith

A perfect recipe for Sunday brunch is quiche—it’s warm and comforting. Quiche can be filled with anything. The fillings can be made in advance and can be both vegetarian and for meat lovers.

    To give this recipe a little heat, I adding a bit of chopped 'Fish' Peppers from the Washington Gardener Magazines community garden plot. These peppers are small and the darker the red color, the hotter they are. Adding a subtle heat to your recipes expands the flavor and can give the dish a whole different profile.    

This recipe was inspired by Chef John from www.foodwishes.blogspot.com. You can check out his YouTube channel at Food Wishes.

Ingredients

• Fresh or pre-made pie crust. (Tip: I used pre-made puff pastry for a flaky crust.)
• 4 large button mushrooms sliced.
• 1 cup of fresh spinach.
• 1 small onion sliced.
• 1 'Fish' pepper minced (or other hot variety).
• ½ cup of diced, cooked bacon.
• 4 eggs
• ½ cup of milk
• ¼ tsp of salt and pepper
• 1 pinch Herbes de Provence (a gift from local members of the Herb Society of America)
• 1 cup of shredded cheese.

Directions

• Preheat oven to 350.
• Blind bake your pre-made or home-made pie crust by baking it ¾ of the way until its not quite turning light brown. When done, let cool, but keep the oven on.
• In a medium pan, sweat the onions and mushrooms on medium heat until soft.
• Reduce heat and sweat your spinach until soft. Add half of your salt and pepper.
• Turn off heat and mix in your chopped 'Fish' pepper.
• Beat your eggs, milk, herbs, and the rest of your salt and pepper in a separate bowl.
• Layer 2/3 of your vegetables, 1/3 bacon, and 2/3 cheese in your crust evenly.
• Pour in your egg mixture until it just covers your first layer.
• Layer the rest of your veggies, bacon, and cheese, then pour over the rest of egg mixture to just cover your last layer. Don’t let the egg mixture go over your crust.
• Bake for 30-35 minutes until it is just set. Shake your pan gently. It should just slightly wiggle in the middle.
• Let the quiche cool a bit and serve when it’s warm.

This can be served with a side of toast for breakfast or a fresh salad for lunch. Adding the peppers gives it just the kick it needs. 'Fish' peppers can be added to anything, really, like broths, soups, or stews. You can even preserve them by letting them dry in the sun or store them in olive oil. I hope this recipe will leave you full and ready for a Sunday nap. Enjoy!

"Savory Sunday" is a new weekly blog series with seasonal recipes from the garden.

About the Author:

Shelby Smith is a senior double major in multi-platform journalism and film studies at the University of Maryland College Park. She was a sports copy-editor for a campus publication called Unwind Magazine and a writer at The Campus Current newspaper at Anne Arundel Community College. 

Fenton Friday: Peppers Popping

I am only growing two kind of peppers at my community garden plot this year - 'Fish' peppers and 'Black Pearl..' The latter are really just ornamental and they are just gorgeous right now -- as shiny and dark as a Black Widow spider. I hope they last this way through Halloween.

The Fish peppers are for culinary use. Truthfully though, they are merely ornamental for me as well. In the garden they are quite pretty plants with their mottled foliage and small, bright fruits.I plan to cut and hang them to dry in the kitchen -- and on the wall they shall hang until they grow dusty or the cats knock them down. I am not much of a cook nor am I a fan of hot sauces.

Are you a pepper person?

About Fenton Friday:
Every Friday during the growing season, I'll be giving you an update on my community garden plot at the Fenton Street Community Garden just across the street from my house. I'm plot #16. It is a 10 ft x 20 ft space and this is our 5th year in the garden. (It opened in May 2011.)

Fenton Friday: One Sweet Pepper

Behold! My one and only Sweet Pepper of the season. This is why I generally do not grow the sweet ones - as the yield is so sparse and slow -- really not worth the space the plants  take up in the pot. The smaller, hot varieties do very well, so I grow those mostly just for fun and ornamental uses.

So, what did I do with this one, small, prized pepper? I diced it up and put it on a cheese pizza. It was pretty good, but nothing special.




The new fall intern started this week and together we planted some Arugula seeds from Botanical Interests. Then the deluge started. I am hoping these seeds are not all washed away in the flooding rains. After weeks of no rain and just coming back from visiting the drought in California, I am trying hard not to complain about even of the precipitation we receive this week.

 How is your edible garden growing this week?

About Fenton Friday:
Every Friday during the growing season, I'll be giving you an update on my community garden plot at the Fenton Street Community Garden just across the street from my house. I'm plot #16. It is a 10 ft x 20 ft space and this is our 4th year in the garden. (It opened in May 2011.)