Peppers can be a staple of a healthy diet, and it turns out you can grow any variety of them at home for a fraction of what they cost at the grocery store.
Growing produce at home is an easy way to save money on groceries and help the environment, all while improving your mental health as a byproduct.
The scoop
Sustainable gardening influencer JoesGarden (@joesgarden.official) recently posted a helpful guide on Instagram on how to successfully grow peppers from seedlings.
"Did you know it couldn't be easier to grow fresh peppers at home?" he says with a snap of his fingers.
All you need to be successful is a clear plastic food container (typically used for fruit or vegetables at the grocery store), enough soil to partially fill it, and some pepper seeds. Down the line, it will be necessary to replant them into larger pots, but for the first few weeks, that is all you need.
Joe makes it clear in the caption of his post that peppers don't do well in the cold, so make sure to wait to plant in the spring.
After the weather starts warming up, start by poking a few small holes in the bottom of your container to allow water to drain through. Next, fill it halfway with soil and plant the seeds around one or two centimeters deep. Next, just close the lid, and all that remains to be done is routine watering.
After a few weeks of growth, it will become necessary to repot your plants as they grow taller. Eventually, white flowers will sprout and soon turn to peppers that are ready for harvest.
"Harvest them young if you like them green," Joe says, "or leave them on the plant to ripen to red."
How it's helping
Growing peppers, or any produce, can be beneficial to your mental health. The act of cultivation and focusing on the simple tasks of gardening can have a positive impact on a person's mental health while also saving money and trips to the grocery store.
It's not just the gardener who benefits, either. Produce that we purchase in grocery stores is often grown in unsustainable ways and shipped long distances for our consumption. In fact, these practices account for nearly 30% of global planet-warming pollution. Gardening for ourselves reduces demand for internationally shipped produce, reducing strain on the environment.
What everyone's saying
The comment section of the post was filled with praise and excitement for the hack.
One user posted, "I'm starting peppers for the first time… this is great so I'll know what to do with them once they get big enough to pot!"
"Love this, bought a bag of seeded pots yesterday…Going to give this a go. Love the videos," said another.
Even more users took part in the community by asking questions and sharing their growing experience, but all seemed inspired by the prospect of learning more about gardening.
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