Leonard Moorehead, the Urban Gardener: Some Like it Hot

Sunday, September 13, 2015

Leonard Moorehead, GoLocalWorcester Gardening Expert

7 Pots Pepper - Leonard Moorehead

It’s in the air. Breath deep and there it is, the sweet scents of late summer. Ripe grapes entertain a drunken host of Yellow Jackets under enormous green grape leaves. Pungent windfalls bruise easily and ferment. Like so many marbles scattered upon thick layers of hay and seaweed are peaches fallen from above. Perfect fruits are cushioned on the soft mulch beneath the dwarf trees tucked into our fertile city plots. Every gardener leans forward to bite into the sweet peaches, the juice spills down our chins. Everyone ignores the gleeful stains and smiles. The late summer garden is in full force, tomatoes are rampant, sunflowers entertain flocks of chirping Gold Finches and somehow lamb’s quarters have become giants masquerading among the thick raspberries. Zinnias and verbena are in full bloom. Harvest surrounds us we need only follow our nose.

Containers need constant care. We water again and again in the effort to sustain top heavy growth. Summer holds onto shorter days. Few plants do so well in containers and reward care as hot peppers. Some shrug and regard hot peppers as just too hot and others relish the burn. For me, color, shape and form are equal virtues. Urban gardeners learn much from one another. Cheek by jowl are community gardens planted to varieties drawn like us from around the world. I seek out hot peppers and while I search a world presents itself at the doorstep.

Capiscum or chili peppers travel. Grown around the globe, their names suggest lyrical strength: Scots Bonnet is favored by Jamaican friends, Smokn Ed’s Carolina Reaper others. Chili peppers have the Scoville rating scale for hotness, measured as Carolina Reaper at 2.2 millions of units and current Guiness Book of Records hottest! Gardeners take pride in their chili peppers and well they should. An elegant small plant rarely beyond the capacity of a 2 gallon pot, spicy hot peppers are showy plants. Wilbur Scoville developed his heat scale in 1912 to measure the amount of capsaicin in chili peppers. Capsaicin is an irritant to soft tissues of mammals and is a natural deterrent. As a companion plant, hot peppers have no peers. Feral and domestic cats will keep away from hot peppers as well as the acorn saving squirrels.

Sunshine is required, soil of moderate fertility and a tolerance for drought are sterling qualities of hot peppers. Each variety has distinctive shaped fruits, many are small “bird’s eye” size while others may like the Jalapeno grow to a slender 5 inches. Each variety has its aficionados, I found fiery dragon offered by Thai gardeners at a local flea market. Although the capacity to detect heat varies between individuals and soon dulls sensations, each type of pepper carries flavors as diverse as lemon and smoky. Fresh, dried, or crushed, the seeds contain the highest concentration of capsaicin. Many regions have distinctive recipes and flavors. Seven pot pepper from the Caribbean island of Trinidad is so called for its ability to flavor seven pots of stew.

Chili peppers are notably hot, simply touching some will irritate the skin. Their colors are delightful. At farmer’s markets it’s easy to find a vast array of purple, white, orange, black, and the most familiar, red peppers. The fruits may change color, most develop from small white flowers and often point upward. All start as deep green glossy fruits and move onward through colors, often on the same plant, towards maturity.

They keep well dried. I string long strands of hot peppers on thread and hang near the stove for easy access. Wear gloves when handling hot peppers or stringing them. They are visually appealing at all stages of growth.

Gardeners do not neglect late summer but regard the slow decline towards dark winter as opportunity. Comb through the garden and remove any weeds that have managed to disguise themselves among cultivars. Beware of any fully formed seeds such as crabgrass and remove far from the planting ground. Many plants have seeds that may remain dormant in soils until opportune, avoid seeding on your own. Otherwise, enjoy successful composting right on the spot and snip plants into smaller pieces with the always on hand pruning shears. So called “sheet composting” is simply a variation on mulch. The objective is to increase the organic materials within humus by constantly adding to the mulch. Bare soil is rarely found in nature. Duplicate natural fertility by diverting the flood of organic materials generated in cities into the garden bed.

Exploit the variations of nutrients among organic materials. Our global commerce brings the banana to virtually everyone. Add banana peels to your mulch or compost heap and introduce volcanic nutrients from tropical regions. Keep up with mulch, the bales of “spoiled” hay laid out in the garden beds last June has virtually disappeared into humus beneath green growth. Luckily for me, seaweed is abundant in my region and a delight to gather from the high tide mark. Seaweed is a general description of flotsam and jettison. All is packed with marine life such as crab shells and a surprisingly large number of nitrogen rich feathers are mixed into the detritus that washes ashore. A galaxy of trace elements are found in marine fora as well as the many shells and fascinating odds and ends washed ashore. I always pick up litter at the same time and remove possible hazards to wild life. Beware of fish hooks, I inevitably get hooked at some point, usually when pulling a tangle of fish line from a mass of seaweed. Gardening is a gentle practice, be careful. Mystery is also present, who lost the single shoe or glove? Ribbons from inflated balloons carry wistful greetings miles away.

We are poised on the edge of seasons. Open the garden and clear away mature salad plants. Many spring vegetables, such as lettuce, spinach and peas do well planted in the fall. September is the turning point in my region. Do not abandon the garden, there is much life yet in the garden plot. Warm soils and the abundance of green manures are very suitable for composting, plant materials quickly break down as we turn away from warm weather and long days. Grow hot peppers for color, shape and form. Taste as you dare, the purple, red, orange, black, green and white peppers are cheerful reminders that love is where you find it, sometimes the world brings the unexpected to our doors.

Leonard Moorehead is a life-long gardener. He practices organic-bio/dynamic gardening techniques in a side lot surrounded by city neighborhoods in Providence, Rhode Island. His adventures in composting, wood chips, manure, seaweed, hay and enormous amounts of leaves are minor distractions to the joy of cultivating the soil with flowers, herbs, vegetables, berries, and dwarf fruit trees.