Used peat pellets and planted pepper seeds on 4/5. Using my heating pad I was able to get half of them sprouting after 10+ days. Now 24 days later they still don't have the true leaves yet.
Since I keep my house at 60F or less and don't have grow light system set up, they grow very slowly. Guess I need to really put some money into a germination system or else turn up the heat to get a good seedling crop. So it's much wiser for me to just buy from the nursery. Even if i buy the mail order bare root plants from southern nurseries, I would still save money and have bigger transplants. That is until high gas prices make shipping too expensive.
In general, in the US it probably doesn't *pay* to grow peppers at all. By the time you can grow them in a garden the local farmers market is practically giving them away. Same with tomatoes.
It is probably cheaper to buy good plants locally, too. But a good reason to grow them-- and a good reason to start your own- is so you can have varieties unavailable at the market or greenhouse.
Do what you enjoy. Treat gardening as a hobby and enjoy it-- If you look at it as a business or work- then you'd be better off working part time a few hours a week and buying from the market.
Jim, have you ever tasted a grilled red bell pepper minutes from the garden? Have you ever tasted fresh-picked home-grown lettuce? Have you ever tasted fresh-picked parsnips? I find it hard to believe that you have. Super markets aside, even the farmers of farmers markets have to grow for quantity. Fast grown plants just don't have the flavor of plants that have been allowed to develop in a more natural environment e.g. home grown lettuce has a bitter edge which you won't find in fast grown lettuce. Growing at home allows you to have vegetables, when you want them, in the quantity you want. As you correctly noted, home gardening lets you pick the type of vegetable or fruit you want, which leads to comparing and contrasting and, good dinner conversation which is the sine qua non of good dining. (I think we've all had enough conversation about those bar-sinistered types at 1600 Pennsylvannia Ave.)
Additionally, the provenance of our food has lately intruded into the headlines. If you produce your own fruit and vegetables, you will have a much better grasp of the quantity of escherichia coli (= fresh manure), organophosphates or, glyphosate, in and on your food, than if you buy them from a friendly stranger. At the very least, during the summer months you can give your liver a rest from detoxifying the vegetables that you eat.
So, yes Jim, from a strictly bottom line appraisal (future health costs aside), gardening doesn't make much sense. Esthetically, though, there's not much that can compare except music and, visual arts.
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