Vegetable Gardening (25 page)

‘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'.