Abundance of Peppers

We're having such an extended warm fall that my pepper plants are going gangbusters. Last year we had frost after I picked a couple of peppers off of each bush, it seems.

From the bottom right corner of the photo, you can see red sheepnose pimiento (sweet), green bell peppers (sweet), dark green ancho (very mild heat), red and green italian peppers (sweet), and purple bell (sweet).

I also grew jalapenos and habaneros which are hot and very hot, but on the day I took this photo I was dealing with sweet peppers.

I froze the red ones for use in stir fry this winter. I love red peppers in stir fry, it adds such a great splash of color. The green and purple peppers were diced and dehydrated for use in chili, spaghetti sauce, etc. I just hate paying $3 for a pepper in the middle of winter... IF I can find one that's in good shape.


I have chopped up red peppers before, and yellow peppers. On the inside they are red or yellow, just like on the outside. I grew purple peppers just for something fun and different. Imagine my surprise when I cut one open and learned that they are green inside!

Red and Yellow peppers start off green, then turn color when they ripen. These purple peppers were purple from the time they formed.


I thought this was pretty, the purple peppers all diced up and ready to spread out on the dehydrating tray. Once dried they looked pretty much like the green ones, but they were pretty like this. No telling what they'll look like in chili. Probably like dark mushrooms or something else equally inaccurate.