Harvest of the Month: Peppers

Harvest of the Month: Peppers

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Table of Contents

Facts

Nutrition and Seasonality

Try New Foods

Add Peppers to Your Favorite Family Meals

Books

Kid Approved Pepper Rings

Garden Connection

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Facts

Spanish translation: El pimiento o El chile

Hmong translation: Kua Txob

Peppers originated in Mexico, Central America, and South America where they were part of the diet at least 7,500 years ago.

In plant science, peppers are considered a fruit because they contain seeds, but most people recognize peppers as a vegetable.

Peppers can be divided into two categories, hot and sweet. Hot peppers contain a compound called capsaicin which makes them hot and spicy.

There are many varieties of hot peppers, also known as chilis, including Anaheim, ancho (dried poblano), cayenne, chipotle, Fresno, habanero, jalapeño, poblano, and serrano.

The most common varieties of sweet peppers include red, yellow, and
green bell peppers, purple peppers, lunchbox peppers, banana peppers, and pimento peppers. Red, orange, and yellow bell peppers are very ripe green bell peppers.

Nutrition and Seasonality

Key Nutrients

  • Vitamin C – Helps wounds heal, is important for the immune system, and is an antioxidant, which protects cells from damage. Red bell peppers have more than twice the vitamin C as green peppers.
  • Folate – Helps prevent birth defects, is needed to make DNA, and helps your cells divide, including red blood cells.
  • Vitamin E – Functions as an antioxidant to help prevent chronic diseases, like heart disease.

Seasonality

  • Fresh peppers grown in Wisconsin are available from July through October. Hot peppers can be dried for future use.

Try New Foods

Offer your child different colors of sweet peppers, like red, yellow, orange, and green.

Which one is their favorite? Add extra diced peppers to stir fry, pasta, and eggs, or freeze them to use later.

  1. Select: Choose peppers that are firm and bright colored.
  2. Store: Refrigerate in a plastic bag and use within 5 days.
  3. Prepare: Sweet and hot peppers are delicious raw, grilled, or sautéed!

Add Peppers to Your Favorite Family Meals

  • Slice peppers into strips and eat raw with your favorite dip.
  • Roast or sauté sliced peppers to add to burritos or fajitas.
  • Cook peppers into a tomato sauce and add to pasta.

Books

  • Growing Vegetable Soup by Lois Ehlert
  • Green is a Chile Pepper: A Book of Colors by Roseanne Greenfield Thong
  • A Fruit is a Suitcase for Seeds
    by Jean Richards

Kid Approved Pepper Rings

  1. Slice a bell pepper horizontally to make rings ½ inch thick.
  2. Place rings in a nonstick pan.
  3. Crack an egg into the middle of the ring.
  4. Fry for 2 minutes on medium heat.
  5. Flip carefully. Enjoy!

Garden Connection

Planting

Peppers prefer warm weather. They are sensitive to frost and do not grow well in cold, wet soil. It is best to start seeds indoors in the late winter and then transplant into the garden in late spring when the soil and air have warmed. Pepper plants are smaller than tomato plants, but they can get top heavy as the fruit grows. You may need to use cages or stakes to help the plants stay upright.

Harvesting

Harvest peppers green at any size or leave them on the plant to ripen to red, yellow, orange, or purple. Hot peppers develop more heat as they turn to their mature color. The stems of peppers are brittle, so it is best to cut rather than pull peppers off by hand. The more you harvest the more peppers your plants will produce.

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