Close Resources

Contact Information

Craig Wood, Ph.D
Acting Associate Dean & Director
UK Cooperative Extension Service

S-107 Ag. Science Center North Lexington, KY 40546-0091

+1 (859) 257-4302

craig.wood@uky.edu

Impacts

Contact Information

Craig Wood, Ph.D
Acting Associate Dean & Director
UK Cooperative Extension Service

S-107 Ag. Science Center North Lexington, KY 40546-0091

+1 (859) 257-4302

craig.wood@uky.edu




Fiscal Year:
Jul 1, 2025 - Jun 30, 2026


Success StoryGrowing Hot Peppers to Make Hot Sauce



Growing Hot Peppers to Make Hot Sauce

Author: Lorilee Kunze

Planning Unit: Bullitt County CES

Major Program: Horticulture, Consumer and Home

Plan of Work: Natural Resources and the Environment

Outcome: Initial Outcome

Bullitt County community members have lost essential skills in growing their own food, don't know where their food comes from, and are seeking satisfaction, exercise, therapy and family activity in growing and producing their own food.  Also, food costs are increasing and people want to grow their own produce at home.

In response, we thought it would be a fun and informative activity to teach people how to grow their own peppers and make hot sauce.  Craft foods are very popular at the moment and people enjoy sharing their home grown and homemade products with friends and family.  

We grew a plethora of hot and mild peppers from seed for this program.  During the program we taught about the different types of peppers and varied types of hot sauce.  We then demonstrated the process of making hot sauce and provided recipes and a tasting of four different sauces.  Finally we allowed participants to choose peppers to take home with a kit and bottle to make their own sauce at home.

Program impact or participant response. We had 36 in person participants, a lot of social media attention and shares and several reports of people having made hot sauce following up to let us know how pleased they were.