Chili Festival with Family

habaneros and lemon bells

My parents came to celebrate their birthdays last month. Well, their birthdays were in June and July. But hectic summer schedules dictated that we postpone a celebratory Kansas City visit until September 12 which, as luck would have it, was the Chili Pepper Festival at Powell Garden's new Heartland Harvest Garden.

ornamental chilis - cute but hot!

just a name, not a flavor

It. Was. Fan. Tastic. I had so much fun I went ahead and counted it as my birthday a little too.

We toured the peppers in the menu garden with Horticulturist Matt who was full of interesting information and was patient with our (my) questions, even after the tour was over. We dared to spin the wheel of fire and sample peppers beyond our comfort zone (Sergio and me - a habanero, dad - a lemon bell). We saw, smelled, and savored a pepper roasting demo and bought some to bring home. We sampled salsa ... and bought some to bring home. We tasted pepper jelly ... and bought some to bring home. We could have had our own delightful mini chili pepper festival with all the goods we brought home.

edamame

Powell Gardens is a spectacular place to go, not just because of the Heartland Harvest Garden, which is the nation's largest edible landscape. The amount of plant life to see throughout the garden far exceeds the amount of time given in any one trip. And each visit there's something new as the plants - and the harvests in the edible landscape - change with the seasons.


I can't wait to go back for another visit. And another visit with Mom and Dad again would be the best of all.