Saving Money By Growing Peppers

Red bell pepper...eventually!

The hubby and I enjoy peppers, but we don't enjoy their price tag. So, this year, we're growing our own! We've got so many, I've been threatening to answer the phone, "Lowe Pepper Farm, how may I direct our call?" Since we'll essentially end up with organic peppers, we're saving lots of money over what organic would cost at the grocery store. Besides the financial benefits, there are educational ones. Growing things teaches my munchkin that food just doesn't appear magically at the grocery store. If all of that isn't convincing enough, it's fun, too!

We have bell peppers in a variety of colors, jalepenos, and some hot banana peppers. Either they're really easy to grow, or we've been lucky so far. No pests or problems.

We'll have jalepenos soon!

Wanna grow some peppers, too? If you don't have garden space, you can plant them in containers. They'll happily grow on a sunny patio. Peppers prefer full sun, but mine seem to be tolerating partial shade pretty well. If you don't have good soil, get a bag of garden soil to mix in when you plant. I planted baby plants, but peppers are also easy to grow from seed. At this late point in the season, though, you're better off starting with plants. I fertilized with a slow-release pellet style fertilizer when I planted them. I've read that you shouldn't fertilize after they begin to blossom, so keep that in mind. Once the peppers appear and begin to get heavier, you may need to use a wire cage or stake them to help provide some support. If your peppers don't look good, visit this page for suggestions on what to do for just about every imaginable pepper problem.