Sales of our bedding plants this year have been so hot, that we’ve had to bring in another new  shipment of fabulous veggies and herb plants from Green Earth Growers for your gardening needs! This time something hotter than you can imagine has come with this shipment—yes, it’s the legendary Ghost Pepper Plant!

Last year, having a few ghost peppers growing in our co-op community gardens and finally selling them on our produce shelves was a super hot topic here at Valley Natural Foods. This year, Green Earth Growers agreed to start ghost pepper plants for us and we now have them for sale for the first time ever! We anticipate they will sell like wildfire, so come in soon for best selection. Beware however, for these peppers are ridiculously spicy yet equally delicious.

Other neat plants you’ll find here are many heirloom tomato varieties like Northern Lights, Kellogg’s Breakfast, Black Krim, Green Grape and more. Our pepper assortment includes California Wonder, Orange Sun, Thai Chili, Tabasco and of course the Ghost Pepper! Also, we have herbs too like English Thyme, Cilantro, Flat Leaf Parsley, Catnip and Rosemary.

Check out our online coupons and find one for any bedding plant!

Extremely hot, especially if you are one of the lucky ones who happens to be here at the right time to get a hold of a ghost pepper! That’s right, we are actually growing them here at Valley Natural Foods. We’re seeing these legendary peppers ripen slowly, with a yield of two or three peppers a day, which sell immediately after putting them on the shelf! Ghost peppers–commonly known as Bhut Jolokia–are recorded to be among the very hottest peppers in the world, and are most successfully grown and enjoyed in India, where growing conditions are ideal. Here in Minnesota, growing conditions are challenging for ghost peppers, but we learned we can still grow them with a  low yield per plant.

Too hot for your taste? Check out what else is hot on the local scene right now! Jalapeno peppers, tomatoes, squash, potatoes, green top beets, curly or Italian parsley, green onions, muskmelons and watermelons are available from our local growers. If you are a fan of our very own, house-made garden salsa, those local, flavorful jalapeno peppers and tomatoes are the main ingredients!

Gardens of Eagan is currently providing us with delicious, small watermelons with juicy-sweet red, orange or yellow flesh inside. Just look for the colored stickers to identify which melon you want! Keep checking back every week – new items arrive weekly during our area’s bountiful harvest season!

Go to our online coupon page and find coupons for many local produce items: Tomatoes, zucchini, green top beets or carrots, curly or Italian parsley, green onions, watermelon and raspberries. Coupons good thru August 30, 2011

Snow may still be on the ground outside but the excitement happening on our window sill is a true reminder that Spring is close! In mid-February, we used a Jiffy Professional Greenhouse kit (see last week’s post) and planted seeds from a Bhut Jolokia pepper, otherwise known as the Ghost pepper. The first seedlings started emerging just last week on our upstairs south-facing window sill, right here in the marketing department!

So what’s the big deal about Ghost Peppers? According to The Chile Pepper Institute, ”The Bhut Jolokia pepper remains the hottest commercially available pepper.” The big deal here at Valley Natural Foods is taking on the challenge  to successfully grow Ghost peppers right here in Minnesota—not the ideal place to grow them, we’ve been told, because of our short growing season and climate. However, there’s strong staff interest in this very fragrant, very tasty pepper. According to our produce manager, Kim Dvorak, customers have been asking about the Ghost pepper as well.

The actual seeds used for our initial planting were saved from 1 single Ghost pepper that was purchased two seasons ago from one Minneapolis Farmer’s Market grower who did have success! Our community relations developer, Gary Johnson, has started a second round of seeds that were purchased online from The Chile Pepper Institute. 

Gary will be overseeing our Garden Classroom and our Co-op community Gardens, and, along with staff, will be transplanting the seedlings as soon as our soil has warmed up. Stay tuned for future postings about the progress of our Ghost Peppers!