They’re sweet, they’re hot, they’re the coolest things around. I’m talking peppers. Big peppers, small peppers, red, orange, purple, yellow and, of course, green.

With so many kinds of peppers on the market, you might be surprised to learn that all domestic culinary peppers are variations on a theme. All are Capsicum anuum, an annual in the nightshade family, which also includes tomatoes, eggplant, potato and tomatillo. Capsicum anuum is thought to have originated in South America. Columbus took peppers when he returned to Spain. From there, they spread worldwide.

As with most edibles that have a long history of human use, every culture and region selects for its own “types” or styles of peppers: sweet bells, hot peppers, Asian peppers, Italian peppers, and so on.

When it comes to hot peppers, the heat comes from a compound called capsaicin, which stimulates nerve endings in skin and mucous membranes (in your nose, eyes, mouth, etc.). Around 1912, American pharmacist Wilbur Scoville devised a scale to rate the heat of different peppers that we know as the “Scoville Scale.”

The scale ranges from bell peppers on the bottom (mild) end, to law-enforcement-grade pepper spray at the hot end. Not all hot peppers are hot, however. Their heat depends in part on your garden conditions: soil, climate, etc.

Over the years, I’ve tested dozens of peppers, some for Organic Gardening magazine, some just for myself. Here are some of my favorites:

‘Spanish Padron’ are wonderful little peppers harvested both green and red. Red are slightly sweeter but still have a bit of a bite. Plants are extremely prolific. Try these sautéed in olive oil and garlic, with a glass of red wine on the side.

‘Gusto Purple’ peppers are narrow but only 2 or 3 inches long, yet deep purple when ripe and incredibly productive. They’re surprisingly hot. Excellent for adding heat to salsas and other foods.

‘Fish’ peppers are African-American hybrids with beautiful variegated leaves and even more beautiful variegated fruits with an odd pattern of being hot in some spots, not in others Plants are super productive.

‘Mustard Habanero’ peppers are HOT. Really hot. Ripe peppers are small — just a few inches tall — but multicolored in shades of yellow to orange. Plants are only a foot tall but very productive.

‘Flamingo’ are “wow!” peppers. Wait until fruits are yellow before you harvest, then get ready for wonderful, crisp, sweet peppers with the characteristic pepper taste.

‘Roumanian Rainbow’ heirloom peppers are sweet and colorful when ripe. Bells are 4 to 5 inches long and golden yellow to orangy red. Very sweet, very productive.

‘Cajun Belle’ look like miniature bell peppers and are pop-in-your-mouth good. Ripe Cajun Belles are orangy red and have just a touch of heat. Great little peppers.

‘Pritavit’ is a deep red, boxy and very lobed fruit that has excellent, rich flavor. Peppers are 2 inches tall by 4 inches broad. Great for roasting; they keep their texture even when roasted. Plants are moderately prolific.

‘Shishito’ peppers are served in Sushi restaurants cooked in hot oil and salted. They are heavenly! Shishitos are shorter than 2 inches and ripen red, but you can pick them green and eat them, too. Plants tend to be compact, 14 inches tall at most and very productive.

To grow peppers, provide a spot in full sun, with rich, well-amended soil and a good water supply. Plants need to be kept damp (not wet) and watered by drip so leaves stay dry. Fertilize with an organic vegetable fertilizer, according to directions. Space plants at least 18 inches apart, depending on the size of the plant (farther for larger plants). Harvest fruits when you decide the color is right. Test some green, let others ripen colored, then decide how you like them best.

Group peppers, eggplant, tomatoes and tomatillo in the same garden bed, then move to a different bed the following year and back to the first bed in year three. Avoid growing these plants in the same soil two years in a row, to help avoid soil pathogens that kill plants before their time.

If you have an overabundance of peppers, don’t fret. Wash and dry the peppers. Slice open hot peppers and remove seeds (wear plastic or rubber gloves to do this), then freeze in a zip-top bag and use as needed.

Here’s a fact: If you have trouble digesting bell peppers, try eating them as yellow, red, orange or purple pepper instead of green. Here’s why: All peppers start out green, then turn red, orange, yellow or purple. A green pepper is an underripe pepper. According to some sources, the fiber in the skin causes indigestion; others say the wax in the skin is the problem. Either way, it’s the green bells that typically cause discomfort. So if green makes you belch, try a colored one — they are sweeter and easier to digest.

May is the magical month. Along the coast, we have May gray, days that start out overcast and sometimes stay overcast longer than we would like. Inland, its starting to get warm but not too warm. Either way, the soil is warm now, perfect for planting summer vegetables.

• Prepare vegetable beds by adding good quality compost, earthworm castings and organic vegetable food. Dig them in deep before you plant.

• Check your vegetable garden irrigation. Many summer veggies develop fungal diseases or mildew if the leaves get wet. Avoid that problem by using drip irrigation. My favorite products are ¼-inch-diameter in-line dripper line with emitters spaced 6 inches apart.

• Soaker hoses are fine in the vegetable garden; just know that in two or three years you will have to replace them. Calcium and other minerals from our hard water eventually build up to the point where the hoses’ pores will be too blocked to emit much water.

• Once vegetable beds are prepared, plant tomatoes, eggplant, peppers and tomatillo seedlings into the ground.

• Plant annual summer herbs: basil, cilantro, parsley, etc. Remember, they are annual, so they live only one season.

• Plant cucumbers, zucchini and winter squash from seed or seedling.

• Plant watermelon and pumpkin from seed or seedling, in a spot where they have room to roam. Pumpkin in particular makes a very large vine that easily smothers nearby plants, so give it plenty of space.

• Mulch vegetable and herb gardens with aged straw — not with wood mulch and not with hay.

• Fertilize deciduous fruit trees with granular or liquid organic fertilizer that includes trace elements. Follow label directions.

• Thin deciduous fruits such as apricots, apples, peaches and so on to one fruit every 3 or 4 inches along a branch.

• Plant marigolds from seed. Try ‘Summer Splash’ from Renee’s Garden. This long-blooming marigold has bright yellow flowers much favored by butterflies. Territorial Seed’s ‘Moonstruck Orange’ makes big, orange, pom-pom type flowers. Nichols Garden Nursery’s ‘Queen Sophia’ makes red flowers edged in gold.

• Irrigate more often. Always water the same amount of time, just shorten the interval between irrigation. So if, for example, you have been watering tropical plants for 30 minutes, once every two weeks, water for 30 minutes every 10 days instead. As the summer progresses, shorten the interval more if need be.• Groom succulent plants to remove dead leaves

• Do NOT cut down the green leaves of bulbs once the flowers fade. Those leaves are making the energy to recharge the bulbs so you have blooms next year. Wait until the leaves are completely dry and brown, then remove them.

• Catch the debut episode of my new TV show, “A Growing Passion,” with host Nan Sterman today at 4 p.m. on KPBS. This explores San Diego’s cut flower industry, from the growing fields to the vase on your table.

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