Pepper Growing 2023

The 2023 pepper growing season is off to a fantastic start!

Thanks in large part to Riverside Nursery, we’ll be able to grow and supply a large majority of the peppers we use in our sauces starting late this summer. We currently have over 150 plants growing in the greenhouses, ranging from mild Sugar Rush Peach to yellow and white ghost peppers. Three different scotch bonnet varieties (Ministry of Agriculture, Freeport Orange, and my favorite - St. Lucia) will become the base of a new jerk-inspired sauce, and two new-to-me Aji varieties will add some great lower-heat tropical flavors to current and new recipes. 

In addition to the plants growing at the nursery, we’ve also partnered with our friends at Fields Edge Farm in Floyd to help supplement our pepper crop! They are growing over 100 plants of a few different varieties. First and foremost they are growing most of my St. Lucia Scotch Bonnets and Fatalii peppers, which formed the base of OG Boomtown. As we’ll have far more peppers this year, the intention will be to keep the same peppers as the base of each batch, rather than our current method of rotating pepper types based on supply availability. We also have a big ol’ new chest freezer to fill with plenty of peppers to last us through our winter and spring sauce-making. Be on the lookout for longer ferments, new sauces, and big flavor!

The first to ripen looks to be the Golden Cayenne. Stay tuned for pics! I want to make a very mild test batch with these, yellow sweet peppers, and golden beets for an earthy, summery sauce. I’ll have a lot of these little test batches in the coming months - markets only, so come find me!