
How to Grow Peppers, Tomatoes, and Herbs
Peppers
Peppers come in a wide variety of shapes and colors as well as a wide range (intensity) of heat and sweetness. A good selection of peppers in your garden can add a nice touch to your salads and cooked meals.
Transplant your potted pepper plant about two weeks after your Zone opens (see our Zone Map). If you've ordered from Cottage Farms, it should be time to plant when your order arrives. Plant your Peppers where they'll receive full sun and are less likely to be damaged from the wind.
Make sure the soil is well drained. A raised bed (either using a border like brick or wood or as a borderless mound) is a good way to help insure the ground remains drained.
Plant Sweet Peppers about 2 to 3 feet apart and Hot Peppers about 18 inches apart. If you plant multiple rows, space them about 2 to 3 feet between rows to allow easy access.
In hot climates, the sun can sometimes damage the peppers, before you can harvest them. If you live in Zones 9 through 11, you may wish to place your pepper plants where they'll receive full sun in the morning and shade in the afternoon. If full sun is your only option, you can provide a little cover for the plants by growing them about 12 to 18 inches apart (in and between rows) allowing the denser leaves to provide a little shade for the peppers. This makes harvesting a little more difficult, but might make the difference in the quality of your peppers.
Peppers are a little more sensitive to cold than tomatoes. If the temperature is expected to fall below 65 degrees, cover the plants. But be sure to uncover them as soon as things warm up. Remember, they need the sun to produce.
Tomatoes
Store bought tomatoes can't compete with home grown heirloom tomatoes. Not only does the incredible variety in color and size make for a more beautiful meal or salad, but the amazing flavor that heirloom tomatoes bring makes adding them to your garden a must. Pear and cherry tomatoes add bite-sized color and flavor to your salads while the larger beefsteak tomatoes are great for slicing (wonderful on a sandwich or by themselves). All of them are great in cooking. Being a tender plant, tomatoes should be planted about two weeks after your Zone opens (we ship to your area when it is time to plant. Click here to see when your Hardiness Zone opens).
Tomatoes, like peppers, need a lot of sunlight. Make sure your plants get at least 8 hours of direct sunlight a day. Also like pepper Plants, if you live in Hardiness Zone 9 through 11, you may want to provide partial shade to protect them from the afternoon sun.
And again like pepper plants, make sure the soil is well drained. A raised bed is a good way to help insure the ground remains drained.
Place your plants about 3 feet apart (in and between rows).
There's an interesting trick to planting a sturdy tomato plant:
- Take your plant and remove all of the lower branches and leaves. Make sure you don't remove the top leaves.
- Dig a trench wider than the base of the plant and about 3 inches deep (deeper for more mature plants).
- Lay the plant horizontally in the trench.
- Make sure the top of the plant gently arches upward, out of the trench so that about 3 to 5 inches of the plant is above the soil line. Cover the part of the plant that is in the trench and firm the soil with your fingers.
- If the plant isn't very tall, simply remove the lower leaves and branches (but not the top leaves) and plant so that only about 3 to 5 inches are above the soil line.
- The part of the plant that has been placed under the ground will form new roots to strengthen the plant's base.