Despite yet another excessively dry year, the yields of the food garden never cease to amaze me. With some hard work and dedication focused on the food gardens, we managed to pull through some amazing plants and also gained a fruitful harvest from them.

Today I want to focus a bit on two varieties of chilly peppers that I am currently growing. Both of these varieties are equally as useful as they are esthetically pleasing.

The Black Pearl

I fell in love with this plant, at first sight, a few years back and decided to start growing some in my nursery on the farm. Sadly I lost quite a few of the plants during the draught, but the two mother plants have remained stable producers from the very first harvest.

The Black Pearl peppers boast a gorgeous display of dark purple leaves that are decorated with a lighter purple flower when in bloom.
The peppers themselves are the real showstopper. The plant produces small round peppers that resemble gorgeous black pearls, hence the name, which then turns a dark crimson red later on.

Black pearl peppers are often planted as ornamental plants due to their visual appeal but, these peppers are a spicy treat that can be grown for both beauty and purpose.

These chilies measure in at about 10,000 to 30,000 heat units on the Scoval Scale. (Depending on the ripeness of the peppers). Meaning that the Black Pearl is about on par with tabasco or Serano chilies.

Pretty in Purple

Another plant that simply brightens up and adds a color accent to the otherwise dull food gardens is the Pretty in Purple pepper. I am definitely not lending any support to the creativity of the plant name here, however, I will say that it is a pretty self-explanatory name.

These chilies reach a much lower heat rating on the Scoval Scale with a mild peppery taste measuring in at about 4,000 to 8,000 Scoville heat units. But what they lack in heat they make up for in beauty. And for some who like the milder chilies, these are ideal.

Throughout the ripening cycle of these plants, the chilies will vary in color, starting with a dark purple which later on will turn bright yellow/orange, and eventually shade to a deep red that spikes upwards from the dark green leaves in a stunning display.

I can not wait to make a table-brightening spicy salsa with today's pick, and from the looks of the plants, there will be plenty more to harvest very shortly!