They are roughly the size and shape of a cherry tomato, perhaps slightly smaller. They have a characteristic wrinkled, bumpy skin and a distinctive little pointed tail at the bottom. They look from a distance extremely similar to cherry tomatoes. I ordered seeds online that evening. Now I want to be very clear about something because it matters both legally and morally.
Carolina Reapers are not poisonous. They are not dangerous in the way that something actually toxic is dangerous. Eating one is an extremely unpleasant experience. There will be intense burning, sweating, potential nausea, what pepper enthusiasts call the hiccups, which are more like full body spasms, and general misery lasting anywhere from 20 minutes to an hour. But it is not medically harmful to a healthy adult.
And Gary Hutchins, based on my observations, is a healthy adult who eats extremely large quantities of grilled meat with no apparent consequences. I was not poisoning anyone. I was growing legal peppers on my property and letting nature take its course. The seeds arrived in eight days. I started them indoors under grow lights.
Carolina Reapers need a long growing season and warm temperatures, so starting them early is essential. I cleared a portion of my indoor seedling shelf that I normally use for tomato starts, and I devoted it entirely to the peppers. I told no one except Frances. Frances, when I explained the plan over tea one afternoon, looked at me for a long moment and then said, "Ellen, that is the most elegant thing I have ever heard." I said, "Thank you."
She said, "Can I watch when it happens?" I said, "I will position a lawn chair." The garden redesign. Here is the part that required the most patience, and patience is something I have in abundance. I redesigned the corner of my garden closest to Gary's fence.
Out came the struggling basil and the crowded marigolds. I built two new raised beds in that corner, cedar planks, properly constructed, visually attractive. I planted tomatoes in the bed closer to the house. In the bed closest to the fence, the one most accessible from Gary's step ladder, I planted the Carolina Reapers. I planted them in among a few actual cherry tomato plants, the same variety I usually grow.
So, the overall visual profile of the bed looked completely normal. Green plants, red fruits of similar size and shape. The Reapers grew. They are vigorous plants once established. By midsummer, they were lush and productive, covered in fruits that cycled from green to yellow to orange to the deep, glossy red of full ripeness.
I tended them carefully. I watered them, fertilized them, checked them for pests. I harvested my cherry tomatoes regularly so the beds stayed looking abundant and appealing. I left the Carolina Reapers on the vine. I did nothing to mark them.