Exotic Edibles
Spicy Puerto Rican No-Burn Pepper – Capsicum annuum
Origin – South America
This is probably the longest, most convoluted name that I’ve ever included as a featured plant. But I couldn’t get through a summer without talking about at least one pepper plant and this one is worth the kudos. So my advice to you is ignore the name and enjoy the peppers.
A sweet pepper, the plant has crinkly leaves and produces many round red pods which resemble small Christmas tree ornaments. The fruits are about 1″ in length, and ¾” wide. They are borne erect and will drop off the plant when ripe (a blazing red color).
The peppers are very good just eating out of hand and they yield a considerable amount of Vitamin C. I think that their flavor is more intensely sweet than any of the Bell peppers.
They require 90 to 100 days to produce fruits, enjoying full sun, weekly fertilization and water as needed. This year’s drought lengthened the time needed to produce peppers but didn’t seem to affect their quantity like it did some of my other pepper plants.
All of my birds and neighboring wildlife consider the Spicy Puerto Rican No-Burn Pepper a real treat. Sort of like a trip to the local candy store.
Rouge d’Etampes Pumpkin – “Cucurbita pepo” Origin: France We just got done this morning pulling the last of these pumpkins out of our garden…this year was a bumper crop! Also
Loquat – Eriobotrya japonica Origin: China Last month I gave a plant talk at the Erie Cage Bird Association. Afterwards, the club held a raffle of plants which I had
Thai Hot Peppers aka “Thai Dragons” – Capsicum frutescens Origin: Asia Hot peppers have gained in popularity over the past few years, due in part to the fact that even