Peppers (Capiscum frutescens) are in the same group as the potato and tomato family (Solanaceae), which is also called Nightshade. The pepper is another one of our favorite vegetables native to South America. It has been a part of the human diet in the Americas for thousands of years.

A bushy annual, the plant grows from 1-4 feet tall and likes full sun but will tolerate part shade too. Regular water is necessary, along with a long, warm growing season to produce the most fruit. If your growing season is cool or short, try techniques that will increase the warmth around your plants, such as clear plastic mulch. Steve Goto of Goto Nursery (heirloom tomatoes and peppers) recommends mixing an acid plant (azalea, camellia, gardenia) planting mix with your native soil at planting time.

There are so many kinds of peppers--what is your fancy? They range from the classic bell peppers that can be green, red, yellow, orange or buff to Hot Hot Hot!

There are peppers for salads, peppers for stuffing, peppers for spices, peppers for pickling…on and on and on.

Hotness scales related to peppers reveal the amount of capsaicin, which is the source of that hotness, and truly can be scientifically measured. Bell peppers are rated at 0 SHU (SHU=measure of hotness), green chilies are 1500 SHU, jalapenos 3000-6000 SHU and habaneros 300000 SHU. How could one even chew one tidbit of something that hot!! Great care must be taken when trying out a new hot chile pepper.

FYI, the camp song above is referring to Pepper Pot Soup. There are many variations on this recipe theme. Here’s one to try with your home grown peppers!

The Caribbean Pepper Pot

• 2 chickens, cut up in pieces (2-1/2 pounds each)
• 1 pig's foot
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 3 pounds pork tenderloin, cut into bite-size pieces
• 1/2 cup cassareep*
• 1 lg. onion, finely chopped
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 2 chili peppers, seeded, diced
• 1 2-inch piece stick cinnamon
• 4 whole cloves
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

Place the chicken pieces and pig's foot in a large stew pot and pour water in to cover. Add salt. Bring to a boil and skim scum. Cover partially and simmer for 1 hour.

Remove as much fat as possible from surface of water. Add pork, cassareep, onion, brown sugar, chilis, cinnamon, cloves, and thyme. Bring to a boil and simmer, partially covered, for another hour. Remove the cloves and cinnamon and discard. Stir in the vinegar.

*Used primarily in West Indian cookery, cassareep is a bittersweet condiment made by cooking the juice of bitter cassava with brown sugar and spices until it reduces to a syrup. Bottled cassareep can be found in Caribbean markets.