Fish Pepper; A Pepper With a History

The Fish pepper is one that has a history that intrigues me. It is a pepper with a strong African-American history. This is a pepper that is not found in every garden, but efforts are being made to keep it alive! William Woys Weaver writes of Horace Pippin giving the seeds to his father, who in turn gave them to the Seed Savers Exchange.

Horace Pippin was an African-American artist who was well known for his paintings of the African-American experience. He was from the Westchester, PA area, but was part of a larger community, or network, that included people from the Baltimore area. African-American slaves and freedmen in Antebellum Maryland used the pepper as a 'secret ingredient'. At one point, it was believed the Fish pepper was almost extinct due to the decline of the fishing industry in the Chesapeake Bay. Since that time, the seeds have been distributed and shared over the years and they have spread to gardens all over the world.

The Fish pepper is very different than most peppers. It has a variegated-leaf and is quite stunning in the garden. The plants usually are about 2 feet high, but I have had them reach about 3 feet. They are striking! Their leaves are almost like someone splattered a cream-colored paint on them and the peppers themselves actually start out a light, cream color. This color is why they were so well suited to the cream-based sauces for seafood. As the peppers mature, they get a nice variegation of green and cream and then ultimately, they will turn bright red. I have found that you can use them at any of the three stages and you will have variations in terms of heat!

The Fish pepper actually originated in Baltimore where they were used to make white paprika for the cream sauces used with fish and seafood. Raw, the peppers are quite hot, but they do seem to mellow with cooking.  I let the red peppers dry and then I crush them for the 'red pepper' I use in my recipes.

So, needless to say, when I saw my Fish peppers were starting to sprout, I was absolutely excited! I try to due my part to help keep this wonderful plant remain a part of the garden scene. If you are interested in trying to grow them as well, I think they would actually do quite well in a container if you do not have the garden space. I will share seeds that I have, and if I don't have enough now, I will by the end of the growing season and you can have them for next year. If you want to try them right away, I would go online to John Scheepers Kitchen Garden Seeds. You will not be disappointed!

Starting Seeds

Today was the day that I started my first seeds for the garden. Yeah! I'm so excited to finally get things moving for the garden!

I use a combination of very small peat pots and plastic cell inserts. I find that the seed starter soil from Henry Fields is fantastic. I always have very good results with it and I do not have a problem with my soil drying out. (A big hazard with delicate seedlings.)

I have heat mats that are placed under my seed trays to help keep the temperature of the seed trays a little warmer. Last year was my first year to try them. I had two and I found they really helped with starting seeds such as tomatoes, eggplant, and peppers. I bought two more this year and I am excited to see if they help push my cole crops along so that they have a good size in time for early spring planting. Word of advice, when buying heat mats for seeds, search online at Amazon.com so you can find the best deal. They can be very expensive and I have found I can get them for about $16 online.
I have a plant rack that my husband and I have attached aquarium light hoods to in a way that allows me to move them up and down as the plants grow. The plant rack has been a great investment! I start most of my plants from seeds and purchase very few plants for the garden. (Sometimes, I can't resist a cool new variety of a vegetable or a flower that will make a great companion plant.)

My plant rack will hold 8 trays, right now I only have 3 1/2 trays started. These are the seeds I started today;
Fast Vantage Cabbage, Farmer's Extra Early Cauliflower, Hybrid Premium Crop Broccoli, Perfection Drumhead Savoy Cabbage, Cherokee Purple Tomato, San Marzano Tomato, Black Krim Tomato, Diamond Eggplant, Baby Bok Choy, Riesentraube Tomato, Black Cherry Tomato, Fish Pepper, Italian Pepperoncini Pepper, Mulato Islano Poblano Hot Pepper, Hybrid Twilight Eggplant, Sweet Bell Mix Sweet Pepper, Lg. Leaf Italian Basil, Tango Celery, Coriander, Cilantro, Curled Parsley, Bok Choy, Jalapeno Pepper, Sweet Bell California Wonder, Blue Scotch Kale.
Whew!
The cole crops need to be started so they are of good size and strength for early spring planting. If I don't start them early enough, they will not mature before it begins to get too hot and then they will bolt. The warm weather crops, such as tomatoes, eggplant, and peppers, always produce so much better if they are a good size when they are introduced to the garden. It's the hardening off process that is a pain, but it's all worth it!

I feel that I'm off to a good start with this year's garden. Now I just have to figure out where my different 'neighborhoods' will be and make sure I rotate my beds. Back to my notebook!

A New Year - A New Garden

As I begin to prepare for the new year, I actually begin to feel a little excitement. A new year always means a fresh start with my garden. I can look at my notes, look at what we have in the freezer and pantry, and begin to plan what needs to be planted and the layout I want to use. (This is the stuff that makes me feel like a little kid!)

I went to the garden today to see what I could find. I was very pleased with my small harvest! I was able to bring in carrots, kale, and Swiss Chard. Not bad for January 5th!

I also found that some of my herbs still looked pretty good and the ground was only frozen in the upper 1 inch of soil. So, we'll see what happens. I brought in Italian parsley, curled leaf parsley, some shallots, and some celery. I'll be curious to see what they do inside.

Yesterday, I was very excited to see that my seed orders arrived! Now, I'm in the process of getting everything set up so I can begin to get seeds started.

I have had very good luck with the seeds I order from Henry Field's and I find that their quantities of seeds in a pack and prices are very reasonable.

Some things I can't find at Henry Field's I get from companies such as Baker Creek. I usually get seeds such as Fish Pepper and Cherokee Trail of Tears beans from Baker Creek.

I will begin planting seeds this week in order to have cole crop plants large and healthy in time for early spring planting. Even though I'm just in the planning stages and haven't done any planting yet, I am excited to see the 2013 Garden begin to take shape! I hope to share my garden as it unfolds in my posts here. Thank you for sharing in the fun of gardening!
Noelle