Peter Piper may have picked a peck of pickled peppers, but Pete Aiello prefers his in their glorious prepickled state.
The owner and general manager of Uesugi Farms in Gilroy, Calif., said he likes his glossy green and red peppers stuffed, sliced into salads or basted with olive oil and tossed on a grill.
We might think of California as the land of artichokes, avocados and strawberries, but the state also leads the nation in bell pepper production, with nearly 9 million cubic tons. That’s a lot of stuffed peppers. And this is peak season for Aiello and his fellow farmers.
Growing the perfect pepper, Aiello said, is a lot like raising a large family. It’s a matter of supplying plenty of elbow grease and tender loving care everyday, he said. But the work starts paying off when the plant reaches full size because emerald green peppers can be harvested from the same plant for the next five months or they can be allowed to linger on the shrub until the sun turns them sweet and rosy red.