Hot chili peppers have been consumed in Mexico and South America for over 5,000 years. The ancient Aztecs had at least 7 different words for peppers. They were used as a kind of currency by the Incas. The Spanish conquest brought peppers to Europe by the 1500's, where they then traveled the world over, reaching and enriching many cuisines.
Many people like the safe, non-addicting "thrill" of hot chile peppers. I offer rare, ornamental hot and sweet peppers in a rainbow of colors, ( even stripes!) , which are sure to please any gardener. Heirloom peppers are beautiful, high yielding and one of the easiest vegetables to grow. Some of the rare non-bell type sweet peppers I offer are so sweet you will never go back to the supermarket types again. Because I have found some great rare varieties from northern climates, like the former Soviet bloc nations, now all of you gardeners in cold weather zones can enjoy ripe sweet peppers, that you never dreamed of eating before. And remember, don't ever judge a pepper by its looks, it can be devilishly deceiving!
All seed packs are $2.50 each
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PURPLE GLOW IN THE DARK PEPPER BACK FOR 2009!- I got a few seeds for this extraordinary pepper in a seed trade. Then I grew it, Wow is all I can say!! I believe this is the most beautiful pepper plant on Earth! The leaves on this plant are mottled in a fabulous fluorescent purple and white. It truly looks as if it glows in the dark. The stems and branches are totally deep purple as well, The tiny little brilliant purple peppers turn from green, to a fluorescent purple, then to a deep red when totally ripe. This was the plant that literally stopped traffic! I live next to a Mennonite ( a sect similar to Amish) Church. People leaving church would always come over and ask about the plant . I was not able to get photos that did justice to the absolute loveliness of this pepper plant.
1 whole dried pepper pod- appoximately 10+ seeds.
ROYAL BLACK AFRICAN CHILE PEPPER -- (This is NOT the "Black Pearl Pepper")
-SORRY NOT AVAILABLE FOR 2010- Although at first glance this might appear to be the new selection that was put out last year called " Black Pearl Pepper", this is a totally DIFFERENT pepper! It has POINTED fruit, not the little round fruit like " Black Pearl Pepper " has. This is a very rare African chile pepper. I got seeds to this fabulous, really black pepper plant in a seed trade. The entire plant, leaves, stem and fruit are a malevolent deep purple, so dark it truly appears black. It is even a darker shade of purple than my famous "Purple Glow in the Dark" pepper. I just could not get its fabulous luminous deep purple beauty to really show up in my photos. It is far blacker and richer looking than the photos show. It comes from Africa, but my seed trader did not know from which nation it hails. The fruit start out blackish green then turn purple and finally a deep garnet red when fully ripe. I would judge it to be an 8 out of 10 in heat. A fully ornamental plant about 2 to 3 feet high, with a wide spread of at least 2 feet or more. I grew this in containers, so I imagine it may be larger if grown in open ground. This fabulous rare chile pepper generated the most questions and positive comments of all the plants I grew in my gardens this year. Everyone wanted this one! I throws out very ornamental , deep lilac flowers as well to compliment its deep beauty. To the best of my knowlege, I am the only one selling seeds of this rare African import in the United States. -SORRY NOT AVAILABLE FOR 2010
BACK FOR 2009 PETER PIPER'S PECK O'PEPPERS MIX ~MOSTLY HOT VARIETIES!~
I got a little creative here with the name. But this is a fun mix. I help with and donate seeds for a demonstration garden of traditional varieties at a local Pennsylvania German living history farm museum, called Historic Schaefferstown Inc. For reasons of authenticity, I can't do my usual separation of peppers there with ag fabric and so forth. But the peppers grew splendidly this summer and many were very rare ones. So I collected these fruits and am offering them to you as a fun hot pepper mix. Please bear in mind these have most likely crossed, so they may not grow the same as their authentic parents were this year, but it will still be a fun and affordable way to grow out some amazing hot peppers. Included as the original parents in this mix are: “Yellow Hinkelhatz-Chickenheart", "Martin's Carrot Pepper ", "Long Hot Italian" (not my original seed, so I don't know its real name), "Fish Pepper -striped in green stage”, and a few more. Also, there may be a few sweet peppers thrown in like "Tolli's Italian" .You can read my detailed descriptions of these peppers elsewhere on this page. Have yourself some hot fun in the garden this summer! 30+ organically grown seeds in one pack.
~NEW~ - TURK'S TURBAN HOT CHILE PEPPER -RARE! You cannot believe how truly bizarre looking this hot pepper looks! This is by far my favorite new pepper I have grown out in years. I got my original seeds from my friend, Stella, who was given the seeds as gift from her walking tour guide in Provence, France. She wasn't given any more information about this pepper other than its peculiar name. There is a French heirloom squash called “Turks Turban" which we in America usually grow as a fall ornamental but this certainly doesn't look like that squash. I think these chile peppers looked like little outer space starships, not like something that would grow on the planet Earth!! Some visitors to my garden thought they looked like pretty Christmas Bells. Very fast growing, branching, tall plant anywhere from 4 to 5 feet tall. It didn't get many fruits until later in the season. We had a very cold spring and summer and a drought to boot. Rather hot with a fruity taste, milder taste on the edges than in the middle part of the fruit. I would say medium in heat.
Very few seeds, which tended to be on the points as well as near the stem area. Like many hot peppers in France and Europe, I would hazard a guess that these hot peppers originated in South America and came over to Africa via the slave trade. Then perhaps they were brought into France by African immigrants. To the best of my knowledge I am the only person growing and selling these particular hot chile peppers in the USA. Be the first in your area to grow these yummy, stunning eye catchers. 10 of my own fresh organically grown seeds.
~NEW~ AMPUIS SWEET PEPPER Extremely RARE!~Limited Supply~Order Early~
Pronounced " om-poo-y" .This very unusual, extremely rare French pepper came to me originally in a seed trade. Unfortunately I planted it next to my tree sized Burkina Faso Eggplant, so it remained in shade all summer. That plus our unseasonably cool summer did not help it to flourish. So I, by necessity, have a very small quantity of seeds. I debated whether I would offer it this year but figured a few of my fellow gardeners would be thrilled at the chance to grow this very strange looking, (for a sweet) pepper. It is all convoluted and really appears most like some of those funky hot peppers you see. Plus it has very almost paper thin walls . It is really oddly shaped like a small lantern. The thin walls are very crisp. I imagine it would lend itself very well to stuffing for appetizers. Another Martha Stewart worthy veggie for company.
5 fresh organically grown seeds.
SWEET RED STUFFING PEPPER (genuine Amish heirloom) ~BACK AGAIN FOR 2010! -VERY LIMITED QUANTITIES~ ORDER EARLY
I got seeds of this little miniature red bell pepper (I also have it in golden yellow) with an Amish history dating back to the 1950's from a local farm in the village of Landis Valley, near the city of Lancaster. The locals serve them stuffed with cream cheese or peanut butter, sometimes pickled whole. I was pleasantly surprised with these cute little mini bell sweet peppers. They only grew 2 inches across at the most. They really were perfect little miniatures and kept on growing so prolifically, despite the fact that I grew them in containers. Tiny little bushes too. These are an apartment dweller's delight. Imagine a summer's worth of tiny fresh sweet peppers right on your window sill or fire escape. Perfect to put on a kabob on the grill too. Cute and fun to grow for children of all ages. And as a plus they make the most darling Martha Stewart worthy appetizers when stuffed with crabmeat or spinach or whatever. Not just a novelty, these are really gourmet quality in a miniature.
10 fresh organically grown seeds.
SWEET YELLOW STUFFING PEPPER (genuine Amish heirloom) ~BACK AGAIN FOR 2010! -VERY LIMITED QUANTITIES~ ORDER EARLY
I got seeds of this little miniature bell pepper with an Amish history dating back to the 1950's from a local farm in the village of Landis Valley, near the city of Lancaster. The locals serve them stuffed with cream cheese or peanut butter, sometimes pickled whole. I was pleasantly surprised with these cute little mini bell sweet peppers. They only grew 2 inches across at the most. They really were perfect little miniatures and kept on growing so prolifically, despite the fact that I grew them in containers. Tiny little bushes too. These are an apartment dweller's delight. Imagine a summer's worth of tiny fresh sweet peppers right on your window sill or fire escape. Perfect to put on a kabob on the grill too. Cute and fun to grow for children of all ages. And as a plus they make the most darling Martha Stewart worthy appetizers when stuffed with crabmeat or spinach or whatever. Not just a novelty, these are really gourmet quality in a miniature.
10 fresh organically grown seeds.
~NEW~ - RED CHICKENHEART HOT CHILE PEPPER ~ ROTE HINKELHATZ PEPPER -VERY RARE ~Limited Quantities~Order Early!This is the very rare red variant of the Hinkelhatz Pepper . These hot peppers are one of the very oldest varieties preserved by the Pennsylvania Dutch German people . Although this has been described as an Amish Heirloom, it is not, but it does come from the same area in Lancaster County and environs whrere the Amish and Mennonites live. These hot peppers have been cultivated in this area for over 150 years! Its name perfectly describes the shape and size of these extremely hot peppers. These hot little beauties are used almost exclusively in pickled form by the PA Dutch, although they also cook and puree the peppers to make a "pepper vinegar" similar to Tabasco sauce, which is used on sauerkraut and other dishes. Prolific, long-season plants. Very ornamental, on compact 1-1/2 to 2 foot bushes. Very resistant to all bugs and disease. Also very cold hardy for a chile pepper. These peppers grew well until hard frost here in my Zone 6A garden. Please see the other color YELLOW CHICKENHEART HOT PEPPER - GEELI HINKELHATZ that I also sell. 10 of my own fresh organically grown seeds.
Rare YELLOW CHICKENHEART PEPPERS - in PA German: GEELI HINKELHATZ PEPPERS-SUPER RARE- ONLY ONE OF 2 SEED SOURCES IN USA!~ These hot peppers are one of the very oldest varieties preserved by the Pennsylvania Dutch Germans. Although this has been described as an Amish Heirloom, it is not, but it does come from the same area in Lancaster County and environs that the Amish live in. These hot peppers have been cultivated in this area for over 150 years! Its name perfectly describes the shape and size of these extremely hot peppers. These hot little beauties are used almost exclusively in pickled form by the PA Dutch, although they also cook and puree the peppers to make a "pepper vinegar" similar to Tabasco sauce, which is used on sauerkraut and other dishes. Prolific, long-season plants. Very ornamental, on compact 1-1/2 to 2 foot bushes. Very resistant to all bugs and disease. Also very cold hardy for a pepper. These peppers grew well until hard frost here in my Zone 6a garden. I also will be selling the very rare red variant of the Hinkelhatz pepper. I am only one of 2 USA seed sources for this rare pepper! ~One whole dried organically raised pepper, which is approximately 30-50+ seeds.
BASQUE SHEEPHERDER'S CHILE HOT PEPPER- VERY RARE - - This is a very rare hot pepper that was brought over by the Basque shepherds who settled in the fertile valleys of Idaho. My rancher friend Cliff who helps me to increase my bean supplies, got this pepper from his Basque neighbors who are traditionally sheepherders. He was told that this hot pepper is at least 80 years old. It is an heirloom that the family brought with them from Spain where the ancient Basque people come from. The Basque pronounce this peppers name like "babe." When eaten, this small pepper is at first not very hot and then there is a slow increasing heat sensation that "sneaks up" on you! Nice smokey flavor is savory and great in the rich dishes of the Basque. Just enough heat. It grows on a bushy plant 18-20" tall. The sword shaped leaves are very different from most peppers and are 1/2" to 3/4" wide, and 2" long. They are an unusual very light green color with an ornamental silvery finish. Lots of branching covered in 2-3" slim curved fruit that do well in cool temperatures. Try this very rare heirloom hot chile pepper. 10 fresh sustainably grown seeds
HUNGARIAN DEATH HOT CHILE PEPPER- EXCLUSIVE USA SEED SOURCE! LIMITED QUANTITIES!! ORDER EARLY!!
This is the most exciting heirloom pepper I have discovered in years! I received seeds from a German friend who writes quaintly of the pepper whose seeds he shared with me: (By sharpest he means hot.)
It is .."special Hungarian one, that is really old. it is from a uncle of me from hungaria. It's really Hot more then cayenne. .....the seed gave me my uncle is still from existence of my great-grandfather, it in each case the seeds of the plants in-sowed, harvested, etc. never crossed or only the seeds the sharpest ( hottest) raus looked for. As it were a type of clock. Hungarian death he got the name from me. I think he (it -the pepper) is 100 jears (years) old."
When I asked for more history he told me:
"My uncle does not agree with the passing on of personal data. The people from the former Eastern Bloc countries are stop amusingly in such things those see the KGB and the state security service still today in each corner sitting, but I respect it... More I cannot offer..." Man, is this baby hot! When I took the seeds out of the dried pods, I was overcome by the fumes, coughing, sputtering, crying, etc. I pick out hot chile pepper seeds for my seed business all the time and I am usually pretty immune to them but this one really had that 'heat power'. Only my "Pennsylvania Dutch/German Chickenheart hot pepper" even comes close. I have only a limited supply of these seeds as this is my first year growing these peppers. Plants are rather compact and grow about 1 1/2 feet tall. To my knowledge, I am the only source of these hot chili pepper seeds in the USA.
5 fresh organically grown seeds.
AMISH PIMIENTO SWEET PEPPER - RARE- GENUINE AMISH HEIRLOOM- NOT AVAILABLE IN 2010 85 Days - Sweet as an apple! It doesn't get any sweeter than these bright red, round beauties! 2" by 4" squat round fruits are sweet enough to eat like an apple. Very compact 1-2 ft plants pump out lots of these wonderful fruits. Ripens early.These are my absolute favorite sweet peppers.
NOT AVAILABLE IN 2010
MARTIN'S CARROT HOT CHILE PEPPER - BACK AGAIN FOR 2010! - VERY LIMITED QUANTITIES ~ ORDER EARLY ~ VERY RARE-EARLY 1800'S (PENNSYLVANIA GERMAN -PA DUTCH) MENNONITE HEIRLOOM! This is very rare and old heirloom hot pepper introduced and developed by the horticulturist Jacob B. Garber (1800-1886) of Lancaster County, PA. It was preserved for many years by the Martin family of Ephrata Pennsylvania. Here is some more oral history on this rare pepper as told in an interview with PBS by William Woys Weaver author of Heirloom Vegetable Gardening (now out of print): "One of my favorite stories is about the Martin Carrot Pepper. Mrs. Martin was an Old Order Amish woman in Lancaster County, PA who had an extraordinary vegetable garden and produce stand along Rt. 322 near Ephrata, PA. She walked around barefoot in the summer, pulled her wagon with a mule called Beverly, and always wore handmade aprons. I came to know her very well because I stopped by her produce stand often. In fact, I made a beeline for it when I was in the neighborhood.
One October I was in the area and decided to pay Mrs. Martin a visit. I stopped along the road but her produce stand was empty and closed up. That was odd because not only did she sell her own produce, she brokered fruit and vegetables for other women in the area, with a keen eye for quality. On a whim, I decided to get out of the car and knock on the door of her house (I do not normally like to intrude on Amish farms that way), because some kind of an alarm bell went off in my head. A woman answered the door, an Amish woman in her forties. When I asked her for Mrs. Martin, she informed me that her mother had died and that she was cleaning out the house. I was appalled."What will happen to her wonderful seeds?" I asked. "Do you want them?" responded her daughter. I took all she could spare and then some, and spent the rest of the day helping her sweep out the house.
If I hadn't gone to that door, I would never have gotten Mrs. Martin's Carrot Pepper, an old-time heirloom stuffing pepper that ripens orange and grows just like a bush full of carrots. It's a nice ornamental pepper, but it also reminds me of Mrs. Martin and her 80-odd years of gardening. Her smiling spirit still moves through her plants. “He also talks about this pepper on page 261 of that book. He says that the Pennsylvania Dutch often pickle it and then serve it as an hors d'oeuvre stuffed with peanut butter, and served with pretzels and beer! The Old Order Mennonites (religious sect similar to Amish) knew it as the "Mordipeffer" or "Mordis Geelriewe peffer"(which translates as "Carrot yellow-colored pepper”) It is a smooth podded relative of the Jalapeno. It has a medium narrow, carrot shaped fruit resembling the "Early Horn Carrot", short and blocky. The flavor is great and is mild, not too hot.
This pepper is extremely rare and it took me five years to acquire the genuine seeds that grew true to its history and description. I had done a seed trade several years ago, and received seeds that were not this pepper. Then I went directly to William Woys Weaver to get the true seeds. It grows on rather bushy plants about 2 1/2 feet tall. It really turns a great orange color when ripening and truly looks like a carrot. This resembles but it is NOT the "Bulgarian Carrot Hot Pepper", which I also used to sell. This is a unique early Pennsylvania variety. The pointed 3 to 3 1/2 inch pods turn red when fully ripe. I feel very fortunate to finally have the true strain of seed for this great Pennsylvania German heirloom hot pepper. To my knowledge, I am the only commercial USA seed source of this rare historical pepper. 10 of my own fresh organically raised seeds.
THOMAS JEFFERSON RED CAYENNE PEPPER
Thomas Jefferson first planted this pepper at Shadwell, his birthplace, in 1767, just before his twenty-fourth birthday. I am very happy to be offering the seeds of this hot pepper. I first acquired seeds at Jefferson's other home, Monticello. Medium hot prolific peppers. Easy to grow.
10 fresh organically grown seeds.
CHERVENA CHUSHKA SWEET PEPPER BACK AGAIN FOR 2010! -VERY LIMITED QUANTITIES~ ORDER EARLY ~ - Despite their impossible to pronounce name, these Bulgarian Heirloom sweet peppers are a real keeper! They are traditionally used in Bulgaria for roasting but they are a great all around sweet pepper for salads, frying or whatever.They are literally sweet as candy! It has brilliant red flesh on long tapered fruit that reaches about 6" long and is about 2" wide at the top. They have an odd ripening coloration of green to brown to red, which I have never seen in a sweet pepper before. They can take the cold and wet and just about whatever else Mother Nature dishes out. I was very impressed with these new to me peppers, but I shouldn't have been surprised as my only other Bulgarian pepper, " Bulgarian Carrot Chile Pepper" or "Shipkas" were a real winner in the hot pepper category. "Viva Bulgaria" is all I can say. You guys really know your peppers!
My own 10 fresh organically grown seeds.
BULLS HORN RED SWEET ITALIAN PEPPER aka CORNO DI TORO PEPPER Italian Heirloom~ BACK AGAIN FOR 2010! -VERY LIMITED QUANTITIES~ ORDER EARLY ~
For all you gourmet cooks out there, here is the most sublime of heirloom Italian cooking peppers. I got my original seed stock directly from Italy so you know it is authentic. Just the best of the best for frying and creating genuine Italian dishes. I had tried growing this before but it wasn’t true to type, so I went to the source, Italy, this time to get my growing seeds. Now we're cooking with gas! I had scads of lovely, deep crimson, long, obviously horn shaped peppers. They were prolific even in this year's unseasonably cool summer. They had thin skins and lent themselves well to roasting on the grill, when basted with a bit of extra virgin olive oil. Magnifico!
~ 10 fresh organically raised seeds.
