Pepper Passion at the Minnesota State Fair

Let’s start with a few facts about peppers:

• The second bite of a hot pepper is typically hotter than the first. Most of the heat in hot peppers is in the seeds and the flesh near them. Once that hits your tongue, wow! The heat is on.
• Chile peppers have more Vitamin C than oranges and more Vitamin A than a carrot! These are nutritious little veggies.
• Peppers are believed to be one of the first plants to be domesticated, with seeds that are more than 6,000 years old having been found in Peru and Mexico.

Peppers, one of the favorite vegetable plants of northern gardeners, are the subject of the MSHS Educational Display at the Minnesota State Fair this year. Peppers—and the passion they evoke in some gardeners—were the topic of an article in Northern Gardener in our March/April 2017 issue. At the fair, one of the subjects of that article, Steve Marier, sometimes known as Dr. Pepper, helped us pull the display together and contributed many of the plants that you’ll see on display there. Steve grows hundreds of varieties of peppers every year, from sweet to mouth-scorching hot.

In addition to the educational booth, you can find our merchandise and membership booth in The Dirt wing of the Horticulture/Agriculture building on the corner of Judson and Underwood on the south side of the fairgrounds. We’ve got lots of fun books, hats, gloves and shirts for sale, and you get $5 off your membership if you renew at the fair. New and renewing members also receive a tote bag filled with samples, information and discounts.

Be sure to stop by the booth!