It all started in 2009…while we were living in the mountains of Boone, NC. I started growing a wide variety of hot, sweet, mild, and exotic peppers, for personal use and to distribute to local chefs. I would pick them and string them (mixed varieties) with twine about five feet long, so the chefs could hang them up in their kitchen as décor and for using as needed in their food preparation.     I was experimenting with the use of these hot peppers in gourmet dishes that I was creating for family, friends, and college students. I began to notice that each pepper had a unique flavor and…