Another favorite garden produce coming from mom’s kitchen garden is Lao-Thai chili peppers. Peppers are normally divided into three categories: hot peppers, bell peppers, and sweet peppers.

These are considered hot peppers. It could all ripen as soon as next month.

When these young chili start to turn red, they will be harvested and dried in the sun.  Then they will be roasted and turn to chili powder.

Summer time seem to be the best time to cook with chili peppers, whether it’s in soup or salads.

Chili peppers contain capsaicin (the stuff that makes them HOT). Capsaicin help stimulate the region of the brain responsible for cooling the body. You would think the heat would make you feel hotter, but in reality the pepper actually help lower body temperatures.

For those interested in weight loss, researchers coming out of South Korea found that capsaicin triggers proteins that help fight obesity by decreasing calorie intake, shrinking fat tissue and lowering fat levels in the blood.

However, they say, it is not known exactly how capsaicin might trigger such beneficial effects. (United Press International 07-28-10).

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Banaba is a variety of Crape myrtle that grows in Asia, from India to Malaysia. Crape or “Crepe” myrtle is named after the crepe paper- like flowers. They are not only a popular flowering tree grown in the U.S., but also an interesting herb.

It’s leaves are commonly used to make herbal teas to treat diabetes. It is also useful in weight loss. Guava leaves are another plant used to make herbal teas for weight loss.

You can easily make your own tea with the leaves.  It’s probably best to grow your own tree and get the variety Lagerstroemia indica.   Photo from Top Tropicals.  They have many colorful blooms, ranging from bright pink, white, to purple.

In our part of northern California, these crepe myrtles are used mainly as landscape trees.  They seem to bloom all year long and are very healthy looking trees too.

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