Christie, Both my DD,s are salsa addicts and like it H-O-O-O-T!!! I like it medium hot. So they'll always make a little for me by cutting the amount of pepper drastically.
Normal people don't make it as hot as they do so cutting back a little would probably do.

There are some pepper types that are much hotter than others. The only one i know about is a tiny
mexican wild pepper,Chitl-something,all i have to do is touch it and my fingers will burn for an hour. Sorry i can't remember the whole name of it.
How's your flower garden damage? Have you managed to do anything with any of your fallen trees yet?
vickie

Oakleif, that pepper is the Chiltepin, which grows wild in parts of Mexico and the American Southwest. The plant is generally kinda tall and bears fairly late.

I grow a variety of Thai Hot which my kids got me for Fathers' Day 2002. It has a short plant, about 15-18" tall and bears a bouquet of little 3", pencil thin, red peppers. They're about as hot as a cayenne, though smaller. I like it for salsa. One just decides how many to put into a batch of sauce.

Different peppers have different "bites" to them. The Chiltepin, for instance has an instant hot burst which quickly subsides. My little Thai hot bites fairly quickly, but not as vehemently. Habaneros are slow to strike but the mouth feels hot for quite a while afterwards. I often say that the Habanero lets you swallow hook line and sinker before it strikes!

Christie, if you don't like your salsa very hot I'd just stay away from the Habaneros. But even a Chiltepin can be used for a milder salsa. You'd start out by using just ONE pepper in a batch, tasting it, and deciding if you wanted to add more.

Jalapeños and Serranos are fairly "medium" in their heat, when it comes to making salsa. Rare is the time, however, that I'd bite into a raw one! (and I'm considered somewhat of a fire eater). Again, the key is to use a limited number of peppers for a milder salsa.

Hope this helps!

George
Tahlequah, OK

I no longer live in the Ozarks, but moved out of Taney County about five years ago. One of my favorite all-around peppers was the Anaheim. It is an elongated, dark green pepper that gets to be 6-8 inches long. It is very mildly hot and has a good flavor. The plants got to be 3-4 feet tall and were so loaded with peppers that you almost had to prop the branches up. The plants are usually available in most garden centers.

I won't need many peppers whichever ones I decide to grow so maybe I would be better off buying a couple plants later than trying to start some from seed. Park Seed has 'Garden Salsa' which I saw recommended in another forum. It's supposed to be slightly milder than Jalepenos. (macmex - how did you make a squiggly above your n?)

I don't know what I'll have to choose from if I wait and buy plants later instead of ordering seeds now. I'll watch for Anaheim. I wonder what other varieties are easy to find locally.

I haft to second the Anaheim, also like jalapenos and cayenne.

Yes.. I agree that Anaheim is great to grow. I like to grow Anaheim or Park's Whopper Sweet Banana. I use them for Deer Mexican (fajtso). The pepper is huge, sweet/mild, and pretty colors too. It is very easy to pack for frozen too..

Christie, I actually prefer to start grow vegetable seeds at home because at the chain store sells mislabel peppers, tomoatoe, and eggplants too.

Christie, are the plants nibbled to death or cut off at the ground? If the latter, could be cut worms. Wrap the plant with carboard or foil right at the ground to stop this. I lost a couple to them last year. I find all peppers grow pretty much the same. They like it hot, pretty dry and good drainage.

It seems like my banana peppers were there one day and only had a couple inches of the stem left the next time I saw them. I didn't think they would leaf out again but they did. They grew back and then got eaten again the same way. Maybe the cutworms and rabbits were working together. : ) I definitely need to protect them next time and will try your suggestion.

I think I remember seeing Anaheim in Baker Creek's catalog. Sounds like that would be a good one to try.

Christie, anaheim is also good for stuffing if you like Chili Rellenos. I'm not sure if I spelled that correctly but anyway it's a great dish and pretty easy to make too.

I've always grown cayenne for hot peppers but I like the habeneros too but not to just eat either of them. My mom used to put a cayenne pepper in her fresh peas just for seasoning and didn't cut it up. We also liked small okra pods in our peas so one time when she put the pepper in I thought it was an okra pod and ate the entire thing. I didn't taste it until the burn set in but I sure do remember it! lol
Nancy

Christie, anaheim is also good for stuffing if you like Chili Rellenos. I'm not sure if I spelled that correctly but anyway it's a great dish and pretty easy to make too.

I've always grown cayenne for hot peppers but I like the habeneros too but not to just eat either of them. My mom used to put a cayenne pepper in her fresh peas just for seasoning and didn't cut it up. We also liked small okra pods in our peas so one time when she put the pepper in I thought it was an okra pod and ate the entire thing. I didn't taste it until the burn set in but I sure do remember it! lol
Nancy

"macmex - how did you make a squiggly above your n?)"

To make special characters, used in Spanish you have to hold down ALT and type in the proper code, using your computer's numeric keypad. Sometimes one has to press the Num lock (Num lk) key first. Press and hold the ALT key and type out the code. Then let up on ALT. The character should appear. Here are a couple codes for special characters.The code is on the left. The character follows on the right.

163 or 0225 - ú
129- ü
130 or 0233 - é
164 or 0241- ñ
160 or 0225 - á
161 or 0237 - í
162 or 0243- ó
173 or 0161 - ¡
168 - ¿
144 - Ã
165 - Ã

George

Thanks George; I am copying these.

I finally learned how to do the degree symbol (from a computer friend in Belgium!)

Alt Key + 0176 = °

Thañk you George! : )
Thats another one I needed to learn Gld. I usually just type out the word degrees.
I think I remember seeing Anaheim in Baker Creek's catalog. Sounds like a good one to try. Thanks

Don't have much to contribute to the pepper discussion, except to say that most salsa recipes seem to call for a thicker walled pepper, like a jalapeno or anaheim, rather than a thin-walled one like Thai hot or chiltepin.

I tend to think that's a textural consideration, rather than a taste issue.

FYI, you can see all your extended characters by using the windows program "Character Map", which is usually in the System or Accessories folder. Click on the character or symbol you want and it will give you the keyboard shortcut down below.....make sure you have the correct font selected, tho.

HTH

Tim

Christie,

About growing hot peppers in sw mo. In general, hot peppers grow superwell here. Our climate is actually ideal for them, but not so much for bells or other large types.

But there are a few tricks I've learned. Usually the small to medium sized ones (like Jalapeno, Serrano, Tabasco, Cayenne, etc.) grow best here. They are extremely prolific too, just so long as you maximize plant growth. With some, like Serranos, that just happen naturally, but with Jalapenos, it's really important that you pick all those first blooms as long as you can stand it. They'll start to put out so many flowers after a while that you will have to just let them go, and boy will you get jalapenos then. The main thing is to get your plant big first. Like for jalapenos, about 2 ft or more. The others get a lot bigger and bushier.

Hot peppers supposedly can take a somewhat poor and dry soil, and that's pretty much true of the skinny ones, like cayenne and tabasco, even serrano. But, in my experience, jalapenos need to be fed really well, like a tomato. Give them more water, too, than you think they really need. They'll produce a lot better. All peppers do better in better soil, and with regular water and a good mulch. This reduces heat, so you might like this. To grow them hotter, do the opposite, but they'll be smaller and tougher. And with jalapenos, you won't get enough peppers to make it worth it.

I used to go to the trouble to grow mine from seed, but I've found that it really doesn't make any difference what shape a jalapeno plant is in when you put it in the ground. They'll take quickly to a prime location and soon you won't be able to tell your pampered seedlings from the straggly wal-mart late season leftovers. Just as long as you pick off those blooms until
they get nice and big and healthy, can't stress that enough. They need to bush out.

Also, I personally think they do better when the immediate area around them is hotter, like with black landscaping mulch. They seem to be practically impervious to pests and disease. Plant them close to the house, if possible, so you can dote on them. They're so gorgeous with annual flowers.

One last thing - the little tabascos are so excellent pickled. Put all different colors together in a pickling brine and use that hot pickling liquid as a condiment. Yum!

Oh! I almost forgot. I top-dress my jalapenos with alfalfa pellets - the horse feed kind. I can't say for sure, but I swear it works some kind of magic.

Great information! Thank you both. I saw onion sets for sale today, so spring must be just around the corner. Sure doesn't feel like it though.