Carolyn Kieper recently posted, asking for opinions on sweet pepper varieties. This year we have Keystone Select growing, and our second heavy crop is coming in. Here are a few I picked mid-October: October peppers ( photo / image / picture from marlingardener's Garden ) They are slightly smaller than usual because the plants were bending with the weight of the peppers, and I didn't want the branches to break. Here is the size of the peppers of this picking: Pepper size ( photo / image / picture from marlingardener's Garden ) Usually the peppers wouldn't fit in a coffee cup, but even if they are smaller, they taste just as good as the big ones!
Jane, Do you wait for them to get red before you pick them? are they really flavorful or just very productive? I generally don't eat green ones ( they come back to haunt me), but I do have customers who want them, so I have to rely on others to say "yay or nay" for a green one.
Carolyn, I let some ripen to red, especially with the first burst of production in late spring. Now I'm afraid we may get a frost before some ripen, but I'm going to try. I consider them very flavorful, even when cooked. My favorite way to eat them, red or green, is with a slice of sharp cheddar on a slice of pepper. They freeze well, too and don't lose their skins like some peppers do. I use frozen ones for cooking only since they lose their "snap" by being frozen.
