The Great Pepper Extravaganza

Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service — Galveston County Office

July 12, 2017

Dr. William Johnson is a horticulturist with the Galveston County Office of Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service. Visit PHOTO CREDIT: Gene Speller his website at http://aggie- Peppers are perhaps the most diverse of all our vegetables grown in home gardens. Peppers may horticulture.tamu.edu/ be sweet and mellow or fiery hot, depending on variety, and are easy to grow in the home garden. galveston. Master Gardener Gene Speller will provide a pepper presentation and tasting on Saturday, July 15, from 9:00 a.m. - 12 Noon at the Galveston County AgriLife Extension Office in Carbide Park. News column printed in the Galveston Daily Gene Speller is a longtime particular group of vege- Tasting” to be held on News, The Post, and resident of League City, a table. Saturday, July 15, from other Galveston County longtime friend and an ac- 9:00 a.m. - 12 Noon. His Newspapers. complished home garden- Gene has become our go- program will be conduct- er. to-person for addressing ed at the Galveston Coun- questions related to pep- ty AgriLife Extension Gene is also a Master Gar- pers. He will share his Office located in Carbide dener volunteer and I refer knowledge and firsthand Park (4102-B Main St. in to him as being a pepper experience with fellow La Marque). In addition to whisperer. Like many Mas- gardeners across the discussing how to grow ter Gardeners, Gene has county at the upcoming peppers, Gene will have a assimilated a wealth of program entitled “The tasting display of salsa, knowledge and firsthand Great Pepper Extravagan- pickled peppers and pep- experience in growing a za . . . A Seminar & Page 2 The Great Pepper Extravaganza per vinegar that he has prepared. peppers from your backyard gar- cuisines. Peppers are members of Pre-registration is required (phone: den can help contribute to that the Solanaceae (or Nightshade) 281-309-5065 or e-mail: gal- culinary tradition. family of plants, which makes [email protected]) to ensure them relatives of the tomato, po- the availability of handouts. The fire in Texas cuisine is provid- tato, tobacco, eggplant and petu- ed primarily by hot peppers or nia. A home garden in Texas just would- products made from them like n't be complete without a few pep- hot sauce. So, a backyard garden The fruit of pepper plants may be per plants. Based on sales of vege- here wouldn’t be complete with- sweet, mild, hot or very hot. The tables at our Spring Plant Sale this out a few pepper plants —both degree of heat is related to the year, I surmised that many local hot and sweet—to pick from. amount of present. This gardeners grow both hot and sweet chemical is concentrated in the peppers. The pepper is native to the tropics pepper pod where the seeds are of Central and South America and attached and in the veins of the I recall discussions with volunteers has probably been cultivated for inner wall. Peppers are at the about how many trays of this type thousands of years. Archaeolo- peak of their hotness when fully of pepper and how many of that gists exploring prehistoric caves in ripe, and are usually five times type of pepper should we order for Peru have found remains of pep- hotter when they are mature than the sale. We all smiled when decid- per seeds, and evidence of culti- while green. ing how many trays of hot peppers vated peppers has also been should be ordered. Yes, we decided found in other ancient sites. By growing an assortment of vari- to order multiple trays of jalapeño eties, you can have mild, meaty peppers (which are hot) and even When Christopher Columbus peppers for salads or stir-fries, peppers (even hotter). reached the Caribbean, he tasted slightly spicy peppers for fresh a vegetable being grown by the salsas, and hot peppers for bold But when it came to deciding native population. Its sharp taste jolts of flavor. whether to order the hottest pep- reminded him of the familiar per on record at that time, I must black pepper, so he called the Peppers can be grown in pots on admit we delayed a bit on that deci- new plant "pepper" (pimiento in a balcony or patio and look great sion. The very name of the variety Spanish). in a flower bed or herb garden. If itself made us consider whether any you have a sunny place in the gar- gardener would be interested in Columbus was an exceptional ex- den or even an apartment balco- growing it. That name was Trinidad plorer; however, he was not a ny, give peppers a try. Moruga Scorpion and indeed it was horticulturist as he erred on nam- cited as being the hottest chili pep- ing the new plants pepper. Wrong Be sure to attend Gene Speller’s per available. or not, these plants are still com- Pepper Seminar and Tasting on monly called peppers. The pepper Saturday to learn how to get We ordered a tray of this variety plants we commonly grow in started with growing your own and all 36 home gardens are not even relat- peppers. pepper transplants were scooped ed to black pepper (Piper nigrum) up by area gardeners within a few but are an entirely different plant minutes after the sale started. ( annuum).

We should not have been surprised From their American origins, pep- as Texans across the state have ap- pers were spread to Europe, Afri- preciated the enjoyable qualities of ca, India and Asia, and became an spicy foods for generations, and important part of many regional