Cultivation and Usage
CULTIVATION AND COLLECTION
Cayenne and the other Capsicums can be cultivated just like Green Peppers. Seeds can be purchased at garden stores or through seed catalogs. You can start them under glass or in the house in mid-February if you plan to set them in late May. Feed the developing seedlings manure tea and turn them so each side gets equal sun.
When you are ready to set the plants, protect them from cutworms with a tin-can or brown-paper collar and set them three feet apart, as they grow bigger than bell peppers. Harden the plants gradually-partially shading them—for about a week, and mulch them to preserve moisture. Do not over-fertilize them, or you'll get much leaf and little fruit.
When picking chilies, use rubber gloves to protect your hands. When they are ripe, their hotness is at a peak, and further reddening will not make them hotter, but just a little sweeter. You can preserve them as described above, or string them up for drying, as is commonly done in Mexico.
PREPARATION AND USAGE
The mature pepper pods are dried carefully and are either stored whole or ground for storage. You can purchase ground Cayenne pepper and store it with eider leaves or bay leaves in it to prevent insect infestation; sometimes, if you open a can of grocery-store Cayenne, it will be infested with large worms. Dr. Christopher said it was because worms know good food when they see it! Properly stored Cayenne will keep well for about a year. To keep it longer, you can make a tincture, and it will last as long as you could wish. Dr. Christopher stored some for twenty years, and when he unpacked it, it was as good as new!
The quickest and most efficient preparation of Cayenne is the tea, mixing a teaspoonful to a tablespoonful in warm water and drinking it. Many people, not wishing to suffer the pungency of the herb, take it in capsules, and this is all right, but the herb works much more quickly if taken in tea. It is usually not made into a decoction, as the medicinal factors are lost. Another method commonly employed to cut the hot taste is to eat a spoonful of peanut butter before taking the herb, but Dr. Christopher said he thought that was just for kids!
The tincture can be applied externally or taken internally. To make it, macerate two ounces of Cayenne in one quart of 90 proof alcohol for fourteen days.
For an excellent bath to be used in cases of aches and pains, influenza, apoplexy, etc., mix teaspoonful each of Cayenne and Ginger and add to a very hot bath. This will cleanse the pores and remove toxins.
Copyright 2004 The School of Natural Healing. All Rights Reserved.
Continue the Tour by clicking here to learn about Chemical Composition of Cayenne, or jump in anywhere you would like by clicking on any of the following:
History · Medical & Findings · Cultivation & Usage · Composition · Formulas · Bibliography
CULTIVATION AND COLLECTION
Cayenne and the other Capsicums can be cultivated just like Green Peppers. Seeds can be purchased at garden stores or through seed catalogs. You can start them under glass or in the house in mid-February if you plan to set them in late May. Feed the developing seedlings manure tea and turn them so each side gets equal sun.
When you are ready to set the plants, protect them from cutworms with a tin-can or brown-paper collar and set them three feet apart, as they grow bigger than bell peppers. Harden the plants gradually-partially shading them—for about a week, and mulch them to preserve moisture. Do not over-fertilize them, or you'll get much leaf and little fruit.
When picking chilies, use rubber gloves to protect your hands. When they are ripe, their hotness is at a peak, and further reddening will not make them hotter, but just a little sweeter. You can preserve them as described above, or string them up for drying, as is commonly done in Mexico.
PREPARATION AND USAGE
The mature pepper pods are dried carefully and are either stored whole or ground for storage. You can purchase ground Cayenne pepper and store it with eider leaves or bay leaves in it to prevent insect infestation; sometimes, if you open a can of grocery-store Cayenne, it will be infested with large worms. Dr. Christopher said it was because worms know good food when they see it! Properly stored Cayenne will keep well for about a year. To keep it longer, you can make a tincture, and it will last as long as you could wish. Dr. Christopher stored some for twenty years, and when he unpacked it, it was as good as new!
The quickest and most efficient preparation of Cayenne is the tea, mixing a teaspoonful to a tablespoonful in warm water and drinking it. Many people, not wishing to suffer the pungency of the herb, take it in capsules, and this is all right, but the herb works much more quickly if taken in tea. It is usually not made into a decoction, as the medicinal factors are lost. Another method commonly employed to cut the hot taste is to eat a spoonful of peanut butter before taking the herb, but Dr. Christopher said he thought that was just for kids!
The tincture can be applied externally or taken internally. To make it, macerate two ounces of Cayenne in one quart of 90 proof alcohol for fourteen days.
For an excellent bath to be used in cases of aches and pains, influenza, apoplexy, etc., mix teaspoonful each of Cayenne and Ginger and add to a very hot bath. This will cleanse the pores and remove toxins.
Copyright 2004 The School of Natural Healing. All Rights Reserved.
Continue the Tour by clicking here to learn about Chemical Composition of Cayenne, or jump in anywhere you would like by clicking on any of the following:
History · Medical & Findings · Cultivation & Usage · Composition · Formulas · Bibliography
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