The Goat in the Chili Patch is a children’s book by Lada Josefa Kratky. The book is based on the Mexican folktale The Ram in the Chili Patch.

In the story, a goat gets into a chili patch and decides he likes the chili peppers and that he does not want to leave the chili patch. When the gardener tries to chase the goat out of the chili patch, the gardener ends up being the one kicked, literally, out of the garden. A series of larger and larger farm friends try to help the gardener by chasing away the goat, but instead, they are all kicked out of the chili patch. Finally, a small ant came along and offered to help chase off the goat. The ant crawled up to the goat’s ear and bit him. The goat ran off, never to bother the gardener and chili patch again.

Look for a copy of the book in the Little Library located in the Children’s Garden.

Growing Chili Peppers

Chili peppers are in the genus capsicum in the nightshade family. Other popular garden plants in this family are tomatoes and eggplant. All are usually transplanted into the garden after the last freeze date. These plants are typically started inside under grow lights about 8-10 weeks before planting them out.

Chili peppers come with different levels of heat and spice, from mild to very hot and spicy. Jalapeno Peppers are a hot variety chili pepper popular in the US. Pepper varieties can also be sweet. They come in an array of colors including green, red, yellow and purple.

Preparing Chili Peppers

Peppers are extremely versatile. Sweet peppers are delicious raw. Hot peppers can also be used raw and are popular for salsas. All peppers can be roasted and you can even make a powder of from them. If you have a bumper crop of hot peppers you can even dry them.