Beginner Gardening: Crushed Red Pepper, 0 by Ozark

Ozark wrote:
Jeff, I've talked about my Maui Purple Peppers on here before - but I think you'd really like those.

Back in the 90's, maybe 12 or 13 years ago now, I bought a pack of seeds from a lady on Maui, Hawaii. She said Maui Purple Peppers are a native plant there, and since it never freezes she has a hedge of them in her yard.

I grew several plants in my garden that year, and they were just great. They're a pretty plant - deep green leaves with purple highlights, purple blooms, and little 1 1/2" elongated peppers that turn from green to purple to red. They're hotter than all get-out, and they have a real good flavor.

In the fall of that first season I was taking my garden out, and I dug up the best looking M.P.P. plant, transplanted it into a pot, and brought it inside for the winter. It thrived, and we had fresh hot peppers all winter long. I've kept those peppers going in the pot ever since - by a south-facing window in my office in the winter and on our deck outside in the warm months.

Individual plants in the pot seem to live 2 or 3 years, but they re-seed themselves from peppers they drop on the soil. They like to be crowded - there are about 9 plants growing in that 4-gallon pot now, and I've got a cut-off small wire tomato cage stuck in it to keep them upright.

In this picture I just took, they're looking a little rough because they've been battered by thunderstorms and high winds for days (yes, we're near Joplin, Mo.). You can see that the bottom is full of rain water, but they like it. They're very hardy, for peppers.

These have usable peppers on them ALL the time, year-round, so they're the only hot pepper we grow. My wife uses them in all kinds of dishes, they dry up and crush into powder real well, and I've found that 9 of these little peppers are just right to put the "heat" in 1/2 gallon of garden salsa. Good flavor, forehead sweating, nose running, need a glass of ice water nearby - JUST right!

I've got plenty of seeds. If anyone here wants some, send a S.A.S.E. with Maui Purple Pepper written on it (or just M.P.P.) to:

Sam Wammack
P. O. Box 111
Ozark, Mo. 65721