Cindi Ressler Photography: Food Friday.....Featuring Peppers!

Welcome to another edition to "Food Friday."

This week I'm featuring the Pepper.

I just love the bright bold colors here! It is so fresh and happy! You just want to pick one right out of the photograph and eat it!

Lunchbox Peppers

(click on the image to view large or purchase)

A few weeks back I headed to the market to pick out some produce to photograph. I saw these bright little peppers and decided that these would make a great photograph. Mind you I was looking to photograph not to eat. Personally I really don't like peppers although I have tried to like them.

Anyway after photographing these lovelies I gave them to Mom (she likes peppers), but what I didn't realize is that these were mini bell peppers. Frankly I didn't know there was such a thing.

These little mini peppers are called "Lunchbox Peppers." I found the seeds by accident in a seed catalog that I get from Johnny's Selected Seeds which are located here in Maine, and they're pretty well known in the garden community. If you need seeds for your garden this is the place to get them.

Lunchbox Peppers

(click on the image to view large or purchase)

So how do you grow peppers....well I do know that like very warm weather. For the first time since I've been in Maine I actually had some peppers last year. So here's the scoop on growing peppers via Johnny's Selected Seeds.

If your starting these from seed
~Start the seeds in late March about 8 weeks prior to transplanting them outdoor and place them under a good light source and heat source indoors.
~Plant your pepper after the first frost....here in Maine it's in June. Temperatures should be about 70 degrees day and night.
~They need full sun
~ Plant them about 18" apart and if you do rows they should be about 24"-36" apart
~Days to harvest for the mini peppers are green 55 days, red 75 days, orange 80 days, and yellow 83 days.
~Days to harvest for regular green bell pepper (image below) it's about 50 days and for red bell pepper it's about 60 days
NOTE: The Lunchbox peppers are grown as an individual color ie. orange, yellow and red or you can get the mixed packet of seeds.
This is the basic information, but you can get more information from Johnny's Selected Seeds online.

This beautiful green bell pepper is one of the ones from my garden last year. I also grew some jalapenos too.

Bell Peppers are a good source of vitamin C and A.
Bell Peppers are not hot, they are sweet and crunchy making them great for salads and snacks.

Green Bell Pepper
(click on the image to view large or purchase)

Quote of the Week.......

In my garden there is a large place for sentiment.
My garden of flowers is also my garden of thoughts and dreams.
The thoughts grow as freely as the flowers, and the dreams are as beautiful.
~Abram L. Urban

Have a fabulous weekend!
See you Monday!