Chapter 5: Meeting the Tomato's Cousins: Peppers and Eggplants

In This Chapter

Surveying sweet, hot, and ornamental pepper varieties

Examining eggplant varieties for all occasions

Growing peppers and eggplants in your garden

Peppers and eggplants, which are two tomato relatives (they're all in the nightshade, or Solanaceae, family), may not have the popularity of their big, red tomato cousins, but their varieties do have a similar diversity of tastes, colors, and shapes.

Peppers, in particular, are experiencing a resurgence of interest, and breeders have responded to that interest by creating new and improved varieties. Whether they be sweet or hot peppers, you have many new varieties to choose from. No longer simply green, yellow, or red, sweet pepper varieties come in a rainbow of colors, including orange, purple, and chocolate. The new varieties adapt better to cold and hot temperatures and have more ornamental qualities. With the popularity of salsa (which is now the number-one condiment in the United States, according to the U.S. government), nachos, and spicy foods in general, hot peppers are gaining heaps of attention as well. From the mildest jalapeño to the hottest 5-alarm habañero, varieties are available for all taste buds and heat tolerances.

Eggplants (named because some varieties have fruits the shape and color of hens' eggs), aren't as popular as peppers, but they have gained a lot of attention because of the discovery of varieties other than the traditional dark purple, teardrop shape. Long, thin, Oriental types make excellent grilled snacks, skin and all. Small, round, green, Asian eggplants are great in soups and casseroles. You can even find unusual round, orange, Turkish types that are used in specialty ethnic cooking.

Both peppers and eggplants are beautiful plants to grow in your garden, and they make excellent container plants if you have limited space. Some pepper varieties have purple stems, leaves, and fruits; eggplants have beautiful purple flowers, and the fruits can be a variety of colors, including white, purple, striped, green, and orange. So, reserve a spot in the vegetable or flower garden for these beautiful, edible fruits.

Producing Plenty of Peppers

An abundance of pepper varieties are available to home gardeners, including many new varieties of hot peppers. In the following sections, I classify peppers into four groups: sweet bell peppers, sweet nonbell peppers, hot peppers, and ornamental peppers. Most of these pepper plants grow to 2 to 3 feet tall unless otherwise noted.

Those sweet bells

Bell pepper fruits come in blocky, round, or elongated shapes. Most fruits start out green but mature through a variety of colors before ripening to their final color.

The days to maturity given in the following variety descriptions represent the time from transplant in the garden to full size. Add 2 weeks to this number to know when they'll mature to their final color. Sweet bells have the sweetest flavor when harvested at the mature color stage, but they still can be harvested green and taste good.

Variety descriptions for sweet peppers frequently use words such as lobes and blocky. No, I'm not talking about ear shapes. When you cut a pepper crosswise near the stem, you'll notice that the walls divide the pepper fruit into sections. Pepper experts call these sections cells or lobes. Well-defined lobes or cells make peppers blocky. Most bell peppers have three to four lobes. Blocky fruits are best used for stuffing or slicing into pepper rings. The thick-walled varieties are best for stuffed-pepper recipes.

Here are a few of my favorite varieties of sweet bells, all of which offer good disease resistance:

‘Ace': This early, 3- to 4-inch-long hybrid bell matures within 50 days and grows well in cooler climates.

‘Bell Boy': These four-lobed, thick-walled All-America Selections, or AAS, winners yield fruits that turn red on compact (smaller than usual) hybrid plants. They mature in 70 days.

‘Blushing Beauty': This AAS winning hybrid features 4-inch-long-by-4-inch-wide blocky fruits that mature in 72 days. The fruit color is amazing. It starts out ivory white, turns to gold, turns to orange, and then finally turns to red. It tastes great at any stage.

‘California Wonder': These classic, thick-walled, 4-inch-by-4-inch blocky hybrid bells mature to red in 75 days and are great for stuffing. They also come as a yellow-fruited variety called ‘Golden CalWonder'.

‘Chinese Giant': These old-fashioned, thick-walled, huge (6 inches by 6 inches) heirloom bell peppers mature to red and are very sweet. They're good stuffing peppers and mature in 75 days.

‘Chocolate Bell': These 3- to 4-inch-long hybrid bells mature in 70 days to a rich chocolate skin color with red flesh. The fruits have a smokey-sweet flavor, but sorry, they don't taste like chocolate.

‘Golden Summer': These blocky, thick-walled, four-lobe hybrid fruits are lime green in color and mature to gold in 67 days.

‘King of the North': This variety is reportedly one of the best open-pollinated bell peppers for cool areas with short growing seasons. It takes only 57 days to mature the 3- to 4-inch-long, thick-walled fruits that start out green and mature to red.

‘Islander': This unique, light lavender-skinned and pale yellow-fleshed hybrid bell pepper also has yellow and orange streaks before turning bright red at maturity. These three-lobed fruits are produced within 80 days.

‘Jingle Bells': These hybrid bells mature in 60 days. Compact plants are loaded with miniature (1 to 2 inches in length and width) bell peppers that mature to red.

‘Purple Beauty': This 4-inch-long heirloom features a short, bushy plant with fruits that start out purple and mature to red. The thick-walled, sweet fruits are ready to harvest within 75 days.

‘Valencia': These hybrid plants have good foliage cover and produce large, 5-inch-by-5-inch peppers with thick walls and sweet, orange flesh. They mature in 70 days.

‘Vidi': These French hybrid bells mature in 70 days. The plants mature into red, 5- to 7-inch-long peppers that withstand less-than-ideal growing conditions.

‘Whopper Improved': It ain't called a "whopper" for nothin'. This classic green hybrid bell pepper that turns to red is widely adapted and matures in 72 days. The bushy plant has good foliage cover to reduce sunscald (lightly colored patches on the fruit caused by direct sun exposure that eventually rot), and it produces reliably large yields of 4-inch-long-by-4-inch-wide fruits.

Long and round sweet peppers

Sweet peppers are more than big, blocky bells. Some of the sweetest peppers I've ever tasted have been long, tapered (or blunt-ended), thin-walled, Italian frying types. These types of peppers have gone through a renaissance of late, with more varieties available for outdoor grilling, frying, and sautéing than ever before. Other great sweet peppers come in round, cherry shapes and short, fat heart shapes. Both long and round varieties of pepper plants grow 2 to 3 feet tall and most mature to the color red, which is when they're the sweetest. So heat up the frying pan, fire up the grill, and dive in! Here are some of my favorites:

‘Biscayne': These 6-inch-long, 2-inch-wide, Cubanelle-type (which feature a blunt end) hybrid bells mature in 65 days. They're good for frying.

‘Carmen': An AAS-winning hybrid variety, these bull's horn-shaped fruits are 6 inches long and 2 inches wide. Fruits turn red in 75 days and are very productive, making this a great variety for cool-summer gardeners.

‘Corno di Toro': These bells are original Italian "bull's horn" peppers. They received their name because the fruits are 8 to 10 inches long and are curved like the horn of a bull. Three-foot-tall plants ripen yellow or red fruits in 68 days. These peppers are great for frying. ‘Sweet Toro' is a newer hybrid version; and now you can purchase a golden version called ‘Corno di Toro Yellow'.

‘Cubanelle': These 6-inch-long, light green, open-pollinated fruits have thin walls and blunt ends, making them perfect for frying. They mature in 65 days.

‘Giant Marconi': This AAS-winning variety, which stretches to 8 inches long, is known as one of the largest Italian frying peppers available. It matures early at 63 days and is high yielding and flavorful. It's the perfect grilling sweet pepper. These hybrid plants are also disease resistant.

‘Gypsy': These AAS-winners produce 4-inch-long, wedge-shaped fruits early in the season; the fruits mature from yellow to orange-red in 60 days. This hybrid variety is very productive and adapts to many growing conditions.

‘Jimmy Nardello': Okay, so I couldn't resist a pepper close to being my namesake. This tasty variety features very sweet, 8-inch-long, open-pollinated peppers that mature to red in 90 days. Long, thin, and sweet — just like me!

‘Paprika Supreme': Care to make your own paprika powder? Well, here's the pepper for you. These 7-inch-long, flattened, thin-walled hybrid fruits are perfect for drying after they mature; maturation takes 100 days.

‘Peperoncini': These 4-inch-long, wrinkled, open-pollinated peppers are best known as the pickled, light green peppers served in Italian antipasto. They take 62 days to mature.

‘Sweet Banana': Probably the most well-known of the long, tapered, open-pollinated sweet peppers, these 6-inch-long fruits, which mature from yellow to red, are born on compact 1 1/2-foot-tall plants. They take 72 days to mature. ‘Banana Supreme' is a hybrid version.

‘Sweet Red Cherry': These thick-walled, 1 1/2-inch-round sweet open-pollinated peppers are often available at salad bars and pickled. The plants are compact — 1 1/2 feet tall — and are very productive. They mature in 78 days.

Peppers that turn on the heat

At one time, the only hot peppers you'd see people eating were the dried flakes sprinkled on pasta in Italian restaurants. How times have changed! With the growing interest in cuisine from around the world — such as Mexican, Korean, Thai, and Indian — hot peppers are enjoying widespread popularity.

Speaking generally about hot peppers is difficult, because the flavor and level of hotness varies with each type of pepper. But, here's one general fact to keep in mind: Hot pepper plants usually are easier to grow and produce more peppers than sweet pepper plants. And because some varieties are so hot that they could strip paint, you won't need to add very many to your cuisine. In the following sections, I discuss the factors behind the fire, provide a chart for measuring a pepper's heat, and list some popular varieties.

Understanding the fire of the hot pepper

Before getting into hot peppers, you need to understand the heat in hot peppers.The active ingredient that causes all the fire is called capsaicin (the tiny, blisterlike sacs on the inner wall of the fruit, as shown in Figure 5-1), which is located on the pepper's placental wall. You find fewer sacs at the tips of hot peppers, so you could bite off the tip of a hot pepper and be fooled into thinking it's not that hot. If you cut into the pepper or handle it roughly, however, you break the inner-wall lining, releasing capsaicin throughout the fruit — even to the tip.

To counteract the hotness of hot peppers, try eating dairy products such as yogurt, ice cream, or milk with your hot dishes.

Some pepper varieties, such a habañero, are so hot that you can get serious burns in your mouth. If you get the capsaicin in your eyes or in a wound, you can get burns there also. Check out the new, less hot habañero in the later section "Picking some hot peppers to grow."

Measuring heat with the Scoville scale

To help you decide how hot you want to go with hot peppers, the Scoville Heat Scale was developed in 1912. The scale ranges from 0 to 350,000 and measures pepper hotness in multiples of 100. Table 5-1 shows some of the most popular hot pepper types and their hotness ratings. The chart gives a range for each rating because weather, growing conditions, and pepper variety can all affect how hot a pepper is. This chart can help you decide how hot you want your peppers.

Picking some hot peppers to grow

Here are some hot pepper varieties that you can grow:

‘Anaheim TMR 23': These moderately pungent, open-pollinated, smooth-skinned, 7-inch-long-by-2-inch-wide peppers are produced on 3-foot-tall, leafy, tobacco mosaic virus resistant (TMR) plants. They mature in 75 days. You can use the dried pods to make the ristras (wreaths of dried peppers) popular in the Southwest.

‘Ancho 211' (Poblano): These open-pollinated, red, mildly hot, 4-inch-long, wrinkled, heart-shaped peppers often are stuffed and served as chile rellenos. You also can dry them and make them into wreaths or powder. They take 80 days to mature.

‘Big Chili II': This hybrid Anaheim-type roasting pepper is 8 to 10 inches long and mildy pungent. Yields are high and early at 68 days.

‘Cherry Bomb': These mildly hot, 2-inch-round, thick-walled hybrid fruits mature in 65 days to a bright red.

‘Habañero' (Capsicum chinense): These are some of the hottest peppers known to mankind! These 1-inch-by-1-inch, lantern-shaped fruits mature to orange on 3-foot-tall open-pollinated plants. They thrive in the hot weather and take a long season to mature — 100 days. The hottest variety of this type is a red variety called ‘Caribbean Red,' which tops 445,000 on the Scoville scale.

These hot peppers can be dangerous, so take care when handling and eating them.

‘Hungarian Hot Wax': These medium-hot, 7- to 8-inch-long, tapered open-pollinated peppers mature from yellow to red and are great for pickling. They take 70 days to mature.

‘Jalapeño M': The classic salsa, nacho, and pizza hot peppers. These moderately hot, 3-inch-long, round-tipped open-pollinated fruits taste great when eaten green or red. ‘Jalapa' is a more productive hybrid version, and ‘Tam Jalapeño' is a milder variety. These peppers take 75 days to mature.

‘Mariachi': This AAS-winning hybrid hot pepper features high yields of 4-inch-long and 2-inch-wide mild fruits that are very attractive. The peppers start yellow and mature to red in 66 days.

‘NuMex Joe E. Parker': A very productive open-pollinated variety of a popular breeding line from New Mexico State University. The 6- to 7-inch-long fruits have a mild to medium spice. They mature in 65 days.

‘Serrano del Sol': These candle-flame-shaped, 3 1/2-inch-long, hot peppers are born abundantly on 3-foot-tall plants. This new hybrid version matures 2 weeks earlier and is more productive than the original ‘Serrano'. With the same heat as jalapeños, they're great in salsa and often are used in sauces. They mature in 64 days.

‘Super Cayenne III': These 3- to 4-inch-long, fiery hot hybrid fruits taste great when eaten green or at mature red. The attractive plants are 2 feet tall and look good in containers. These peppers take 75 days to mature. A similar yellow-fruited variety called ‘Yellow Cayenne' is also available.

‘Super Chili': These AAS winners produce an abundance of 2-inch-long, cone-shaped, hybrid hot fruits that you can dry or eat fresh. These peppers take 75 days to mature.

‘Thai Hot': These 1-inch-long, fiery hot peppers from Thailand mature in 80 days. Compact 1 ½-foot-tall open-pollinated plants bear tons of fruit, making them attractive ornamentals as well. You also can try other varieties of this pepper, including ‘Giant Thai Hot', which produces larger-sized fruit.

‘Zavory Habañero': This open-pollinated, first-ever mild habañero pepper registers only 100 on the Scoville scale. Red fruits are produced abundantly within 90 days. You can really eat them out of your hand!

Pretty peppers: The ornamentals

Most peppers are produced on plants that are small enough to grow in containers (see Chapter 18 for more on container gardening) or in the flower garden. Not only does their size make them a good fit for container growing, but they make an attractive addition as well. Some varieties have been specifically bred for their attractive fruits, stems, and leaf colors as well as their fruit shapes. The ornamentals in the following list are also edible. Here are some of my favorites:

‘Black Pearl': This All-American Selections hybrid pepper with purple leaves and stems bears 3/4-inch-round fruits that start out purple and mature to red in 60 days. The purple color holds up well in the heat, making this a good variety for the South and West.

‘Bolivian Rainbow': These 2- to 3-foot-tall plants have purple leaves and stems and beautiful 1-inch-long fruits. The fruit color starts out purple, but changes to yellow and orange, finally maturing to red. You'll see all color stages of fruit on the plants at the same time, making this variety a rainbow-colored showstopper. Fruits mature within 80 days.

‘Pretty in Purple': The leaves, stems, and fruits of these 2 1/2-foot-tall open-pollinated plants are dark purple. Upon maturity (which takes 75 days), the 1-inch-long, fiery hot peppers turn red, creating a gorgeous ornamental effect.

‘Riot': These 2- to 3-inch-long open-pollinated hot peppers sit atop short, compact plants and blaze from yellow to bright red when mature (70 days). The effect looks like a riot of color.

‘Sweet Pickle': Surprise — these aren't hot ornamental peppers, but sweet ones! Two-inch-long, oval, thick-walled fruits on open-pollinated plants mature from yellow to orange, purple, and red, often having all three colors present on one plant. They take 65 days to mature.

Distinguishing Eggplants by Shape

Lest you think peppers are the only international travelers with variety and a zest for life, eggplants also come in a range of shapes, colors, and sizes. I arrange the varieties in this section by shape so you can choose the variety that's right for your taste and use. The days to maturity in the variety descriptions represent the time from transplant to harvest.

Large and oval

Large, oval eggplants are the varieties that most people are familiar with. They're the dark purple, teardrop-shaped fruits that you see in grocery stores. The plants grow 3- to 4-feet tall, each producing an average of eight to ten fruits. These eggplants are great in casseroles. Here are some of my favorite varieties to grow:

‘Black Beauty': These large heirloom purple-skinned eggplants grow best in areas with long, hot growing seasons. They mature in 75 days.

‘Black Opal': This hybrid, dark purple, teardrop-shaped variety is a bit smaller than the ‘Black Beauty,' but it has a similar creamy texture and flavor. Very productive plants have fruits produced in 65 days.

‘Cloud Nine': This hybrid has pure-white skin and a delicate flavor with no bitterness. The fruits are best harvested when they're 7 inches long. They mature in 75 days.

‘Florida High Bush': This is an heirloom variety from Florida that loves the heat. Large, upright plants produce 10-inch-long, black-purple-skinned fruits in 85 days.

‘Purple Rain': These beautiful, white-striped, lavender-skinned hybrid eggplants mature early at 66 days and are productive.

‘Rosa Bianca': This Italian heirloom features white fruits with lavender streaks. These fruits, which are best adapted to warm regions, mature in 75 days.

Cylindrical

Traditionally called Oriental eggplants, these cylindrical fruits are long and thin (2 inches wide and up to 10 inches long). The plants are smaller than the oval-shaped varieties, reaching only 2 to 3 feet tall, and produce about 15 fruits. They're great grilled or used in hors d'oeuvres. These are a few of my favorite varieties:

‘Fairy Tale': This early-maturing (50 days), AAS-winning hybrid variety features purple-and-white-striped fruits that form in clusters. They're best when harvested at 3 to 4 inches long. The fruits are free of bitterness, have few seeds, and are highly productive.

‘Hansel': This AAS-winning hybrid variety features deep-purple, finger-shaped fruits that can be harvested when they're 3 to 4 inches long, which usually takes 55 days. This variety is very productive. A sister to ‘Hansel' is ‘Gretel', which has the same characteristics except that the fruit has white skin.

‘Ping Tung Long': These long, lavender-skinned fruits grow in areas with good heat and humidity. The open-pollinated plants are disease resistant, and the fruits take 65 days to mature.

‘Raveena': This hybrid variety features vigorous plants that yield light green, cylindrical fruit in clusters in 70 days. They're best when harvested before they reach 9 inches long.

‘Vittoria': This hybrid has purple-black skin and is best when harvested at 10 inches long. The fruit matures in 61 days.

Small and round

The plants in this category grow only 1 to 2 feet tall, making them great for container culture. Each plant produces 20 to 25, 1- to 3-inch-round fruits. Even though the following eggplants are novelties, they're also great for skewering and pickling:

‘Calliope': This hybrid features a heavy crop of round, 2-inch-diameter, purple-and-white-striped fruits in 64 days on a spineless plant.

‘Easter Egg': These open-pollinated plants produce white-skinned, egg-shaped fruits that kids marvel at. They received their name because they resemble chicken eggs. They turn yellow at maturity, which takes 65 days, but they're best when eaten white; they taste bitter if you allow them to mature to yellow.

‘Kermit': These Thai specialty hybrid fruits have green skin with white stripes — very unusual. They take 60 days to mature.

‘Turkish Orange' (Solanum gilo): These bushy, 2- to 3-foot-tall open-pollinated plants have good insect resistance and produce fruits that mature from green to orange. The fruits are best when eaten green, before their skin turns orange and bitter. They take 80 days to mature.

Growing Peppers and Eggplants

Many of the cultural instructions (instructions on how to grow a plant) for producing tomatoes (see Chapter 4) hold true for peppers and eggplants as well. But, of course, peppers and eggplants have some of their own special requirements as well, as you find out in this section.

A few guidelines for starting and planting

Peppers and eggplants are warm-season crops, so you don't need to rush to plant them until the ground has warmed up sufficiently. Here are some guidelines you can follow:

In most areas, you need to start peppers and eggplants from seed indoors, usually 6 to 8 weeks before the last frost date for your area (see the appendix for first and last frost dates). You also can purchase them from a local nursery or through the mail as transplants. (See Chapter 13 for seed-starting basics.)

If you live in zone 9 or 10, you can sow the seeds directly into your garden. If you keep the plants healthy and have no frost in your area, peppers and eggplants can actually be perennials (plants that grow year-round) and will bear fruit all season.

However, even in cold climates, I've dug up pepper plants and eggplants in fall, placed them in pots in my greenhouse all winter, and then transplanted them back out in spring. Even after three years these plants remain attractive and healthy.

Peppers and eggplants are more finicky than tomatoes are about temperatures, fertilization, and general growing conditions, so they're less forgiving of mistakes. So, you need to be extra cautious about starting pepper and eggplant seedlings early indoors. Give them ample light, fertilizer, and water; harden them off well; and wait to plant until the soil temperature is at least 60 degrees Fahrenheit. You should purchase or have grown a 4- to 6-inch-tall, dark-green-leafed, stocky transplant that isn't root-bound (roots growing around the container).

One handy product you may want to purchase is a soil thermometer. Usually costing less than $20, a soil thermometer can help you gauge when to plant warm-season crops such as peppers and eggplants. Place it in a shady spot and take readings in the morning for accuracy.

If your peppers have flowered or set fruits before you've transplanted them or when the seedlings still have only four to six leaves each, remove any blossoms or fruits. The plants will then send more energy to grow more leaves and roots to support a larger harvest later rather than maturing only a few peppers early.

Peppers and eggplants grow best in raised beds (see Chapter 3) because the soil warms faster and drains quicker. The following guidelines can help you get the soil temperature right depending on your climate:

Cold areas: Cover the top of the beds with black or dark green plastic mulch to preheat the soil a few weeks before planting. (See Chapter 15 for details on how to use mulch in your garden.)

Warm areas: Mulch with straw, white plastic, or aluminum foil in summer to help keep the soil cool. Aluminum foil also reflects light back into the sky, confusing insects trying to find plants.

To plant eggplant and pepper transplants, use scissors to cut holes in the plastic mulch every 1 to 1 1/2 feet (wider for taller varieties) for peppers and every 2 to 3 feet for eggplants. If you're using mulch that isn't plastic, plant at the same distances as you would in plastic mulch. Plant eggplant and pepper transplants at the same soil level as they are in their containers. Cover the plantings with a floating row cover (a lightweight, cheesecloth-like material that lets air, water, and sunlight through to keep the air warm and bugs out; see Chapter 21).

Even though pepper and eggplant plants are usually strong enough to stand on their own without supports, I like to either stake or cage tall, heavy-yielding varieties such as ‘Carmen' and ‘Black Beauty'. Staking or caging the plants keeps fruits off the ground, making them less likely to rot during wet weather. I find that I get heavier yields this way as well. Use small stakes or tomato cages to keep your plants vertical (see Chapter 15 for more supporting your vegetables).

Fertilizing and watering tips

Peppers and eggplants are sensitive to excessive fertilizer, in particular nitrogen. Plants fertilized with too much nitrogen will grow large but have few fruits. However, don't neglect fertilizing your plants; simply avoid using high rates of nitrogen fertilizers. Instead, apply a 2- to 3-inch layer of compost over the bed and a small handful of 5-5-5 organic fertilizer around each transplant. (Chapter 15 has more on fertilizing.)

Water your plants well, following the suggestions in Chapter 15. Watering is particularly important during 90-degree weather when water stress and high temperatures can cause flowers to drop. Side-dress (add fertilizer around the plants during the growing season) around the drip line (where water naturally drips off the ends of leaves) of the plant with a tablespoon of organic fertilizer, such as 5-5-5.

To give your peppers a boost, mix 1 tablespoon of Epsom salts in 1 gallon of water and spray the pepper plants when they're flowering.

Pest patrol

If you see holes in a pepper fruit and find a small, white worm inside the fruit, consider it your introduction to the pepper maggot. The adult fly lays eggs on the fruit in midsummer. After the eggs hatch, the larvae tunnel into the fruit. To control these pests, do the following:

Rotate crops

Cover young plants with row covers

Grow varieties such as ‘Serrano' and ‘Jalapeño' that are less attractive to the maggots

Hang yellow sticky traps before the adult flies lay eggs. Remove rotten fruits that may harbor the flies before you hang the traps.

Peppers and eggplants generally have fewer pest problems than their tomato cousins, but they share such pests and diseases as blossom drop, sunscald, blossom-end rot, fruitworms (also called corn earworms), and Verticillium wilt (see Chapter 4). Flea beetles (see Chapter 17) and Colorado potato beetles (see Chapter 6) love eggplants. Chapter 17 describes other insect and disease problems that affect all vegetables.

Harvesting tips

Peppers and eggplants are great to grow because you don't have to wait until the fruits are fully mature before you pick them. Consider your options for both fruits:

Peppers: You can pick and enjoy sweet peppers green or wait until they ripen to orange, yellow, or red for a sweeter taste. Hot peppers vary in their hotness depending on stress. Stressed peppers tend to be hotter, so if you withhold water and fertilizer when the hot peppers are ripening, you can increase the heat in the peppers' flavor. Cool, cloudy weather tends to make hot peppers less hot.

Eggplants: You can pick eggplants at almost any stage. The key is to not let them become overmature; otherwise the texture will become soft and mushy. To check eggplant maturity, watch the fruit's skin. A dull-colored skin means it's overmature. Double-check by cutting into the fruit and looking at the seeds. Brown-colored seeds are another sign of overmaturity.

A simple test for maturity is to push the eggplant's skin with your fingernail. If the skin bounces back, the fruits are ready to harvest. If your nail indents the skin, the fruits are overmature. If your fruits are really mature and rotting on the vine, just pick them and throw them out; they won't taste very good.

The key to harvesting is to do it often. The more often you harvest, the more peppers and eggplants you get. To harvest, cut peppers and eggplants with a sharp knife just above the top of the green cap on the fruit. The fruits will continue to ripen after you harvest them, so store them in a cool place. If you want to dry your peppers, pick them when they mature and hang them to dry in a warm room with good air circulation. See Chapter 19 for more tips on preserving your harvest.

Harvesting hot peppers and eggplants can be tricky, so use gloves when harvesting them. Hot peppers need careful handling because they contain capsaicin, which can easily cause burning, especially in your eyes or in open cuts. (Believe it or not, I've known of gardeners having to go to the hospital to be treated for burns from hot peppers.) Some eggplant varieties have sharp spines on their stems, so be sure to work around them when harvesting the fruits. Or consider growing spineless varieties such as ‘Fairytale' and ‘Hansel'.