If you like the aromatic flavor of salsa served in Mexican restaurants, you'll like cilantro. Jalapeño became the first pepper in space when a bag full of pods accompanied astronauts on the shuttle Columbia in November 1982! Organic varieties are only available at retailers. Use jalapeño on nachos or in salsa, or smoke the mature red ones over mesquite chips to make your own chipotle sauce. The compact plants grow well in containers. Widely adapted, jalapeño plants yield a bountiful harvest in dry or humid, hot or cool climates. If peppers grow fast, get plenty of water, and are harvested soon, they may be milder than peppers that stay on the plant a long time, or that develop slowly and under stressful conditions.

Often, the heat of the peppers will vary, even those from the same plant. The skin may show a netting pattern as fruit ages, but it does not affect flavor. Jalapeño produces 3-inch, thick-walled, moderately hot pods with deep green color that matures to a bright red. Named for the town of Jalapa, Mexico, this is the most popular chile pepper in the United States.

Tomato clementine