Some of our favorite capsicums and why!
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March Capsicum Harvest
Its capsicum and chili seed sowing time here on Transition Farm! In our cool temperate, Southern Victoria climate, we have found that early sown seed produces large plants for transplanting which yield our earliest mature, sweet, colored capsicums.
Capsicum Seedlings
We usually sow capsicums between the last week in July and the third week in August, depending on the season and if they are to be transplanted into a polytunnel or the open field. As market growers, we would dedicate polytunnel space to these tasty jewels of summer because our CSA members rated them high on their list of favorite crops. Because of this and because of our strict crop rotations in our small market garden, our space was limited and precious. We could not waste this “high real estate” on varieties that did not perform. We looked for the following:
FLAVOUR - We wanted a fruit that raw and/or cooked burst in your mouth - a flavour that added dimension to meals - full bodied at maturity with an appealing texture.
YIELD - In our low input system, we demanded the ability to set a good number of fruit, over a long season and mature them- without needing water soluble fertilizers to do so. With our CSA, we were trying to feed as many families as we could on small acreage. We looked for varieties that had good fruit set in their harvest window and did so happily feeding from soil and sunlight! While we have grown varieties that continual produced a few fruit over a long period - these HAD to taste incredible to make our cut.
HARVEST WINDOW - We needed varieties that either produced early OR produced well into the late Autumn. We found that the early varieties would produce well in the midseason and then the later varieties would continue producing later. So we did not focus on midseason varieties.
USABILITY - Again, we did not have the space to grow every sort of capsicum that exists. So we sought to grow those that our clientele found usable. The shape, flavour and colour were assessed as were their abilities to be used raw, fried, baked and/or fire roasted. We not only spoke with chefs about the capsicums, we also regularly spoke with CSA members about the ones they were choosing when offered the choice.
DISEASE RESISTANCE - The three diseases rated as high priority here in Australia are bacterial spot, powdery mildew and base rot. We included observations about disease presence or lack there of.
Capsicums heading to chefs for variety taste evaluation
So, who’s made the cut? Before I share some of the varieties that we LOVE in our fields and kitchen and why, I want to add that these are all Open Pollinated capsicums. I share thoughts about the F1’s that we have trialed at the end of the post.
‘King of the North’
This early red bell capsicum is a southern growers friend. It has yielded our earliest mature capsicums throughout cool and warm seasons. In our chef taste trials the flavour was described as a sweet, full, and tangy. The colour of ‘King of the North’ is a bit buffer then other red bells we have grown but it still has a rosy glow, good yield in the early harvest window and throughout the rest of the season and the largest size of our early yielders.
‘Sweet Chocolate’
Another reliably early maturing capsicum, especially in cooler seasons, with a juicy, sweet flavour that is as good raw as fire roasted, we LOVE ‘Sweet Chocolate’. In our trials, it’s yields are extraordinary, even when compared with hybrid capsicums. Fire roasted, this capsicum has a surprising depth that contains fruity, minerally and an overall savoury flavour that really made you want to go back for seconds. Although, because of Sweet Chocolate’s mature deep brown outside and rich burgandy inside colour , which is not the usual, we did need to continually advertise to our CSA members that it was a “sweet” capsicum, once tried, members returned for it again and again.
‘Sweet Bullnose’
‘Sweet Bullnose’ is a centuries old heirloom. Very productive with a robust, rich, sweet flavour. The plants have good coverage to protect the fruit from sun scald. Trialed in the field and in an unheated poly tunnel, the plants held many fruit well as they ripened from green to red.
Although not as early ripening as ‘King of the North’ in our 37° latitude, the plants are more productive, the flavour mature richer and the two make great companions - allowing for an early and midseason heavy harvest.
As an immature green fruit, ‘Sweet Bullnose’ have a fullness in flavour unmatched in many hybrid varieties. The ribs within the red mature peppers are not as sweet as the flesh.
‘Horizon’
After ‘King of the North’, this was the second earliest of the bell type capsicums. It’s flavour is incredible! with CSA members, adults and children, grabbing it at pick up and eating it like an apple!! It has a thin skin and a bursting juiciness that lends it to raw dishes - it is the flavour explosion in our fresh salsas!! ‘Horizon’ is also wonderful in omelettes and pastas. The yields were good over a long season and the plants produce well into Autumn.
We trialed ‘Jupiter’ firstly because it has an in built resistance to tomato mosaic virus, offering organic growers disease resistance. But we also wanted to know if it tasted good, yielded well, and could support ripening fruit through a variety of “stresses”.
We were not disappointed! In addition to great flavour, a good ratio of leaves, leaf size and fruit, that protects the green fruit from sun scald while it matures to red, ‘Jupiter’ was also a great producer in our drought trial. As seed growers, we actually stress our plants out, on purpose, in order to gather more information. All capsicums will drop flowers and even abort fruit if the temperature is too hot. We have also noticed that many capsicum varieties are very touchy with water. ‘Jupiter’ maintained its fruits better then any other variety in our line up.
Golden California Wonder
This is an exception to our midseason capsicum rule. It is our latest maturing bell capsicum type but what it lacks in earliness, it makes up for in plant habit, over all yield and it usability. Being a bright cheery yellow, with a thicker skin and a sweet flavour, ‘Golden Cali Wonder’ works well combined with red and orange bell capsicums in pasta dishes and on grilled veggie skewers. It has a robust texture which holds up well to fire roasting, and fire also really helps intensify its sweet flavour. The plant has great leaf coverage, which was a bonus for us during periods of intense heat - the capsicums were protected from sun scald!! It produces well through to Autumn and was always included in our capsicum collections.
Medium walled, yellow to mandarin coloured, bell shaped capsicum. ‘Spotlight Yellow’ has better early plant vigour than other yellow capsicum we have trialed. It has a heavy early fruit set of 3-5 lobed 10cm fruit. The flavour of the mature fruit is juicy with a burst of sweetness.
‘Peacework’ capsicum was developed specifically for short season, organic production. It was bred for earliness, Cucumber Mosaic Virus (CMV) resistance and yield, selecting for large fruit size on productive plants.
Developed by Liz Henderson, Peacework Farm & Cornell University, we were impressed with the flavour, yield and vigour of the plants. ‘Peacework’ is not as early as ‘King of the North’ but it produces over a longer season
‘Stocky Red Roaster’
We LOVE this capsicum for its flavour, usability and initial fruit set! The plants are literally dripping in first fruits, which are held really well through to maturity! Being an Italian type with a tapered end, and being bred by Frank Martin to have a smoother skin to other Italian roasters, it is highly usable as a fire roasted capsicum. There is almost no waste…and its flavour…’Stocky Red Roaster’ has received 10’s in flavour, described as having a full, sweet capsicum taste! It matures later then the above mentioned capsicums BUT continues producing a very high yield of mature capsicums through until late Autumn.
‘Lively Orange’
With a heavy yield of large, bright orange Italian capsicums and a sweet, juicy, fragrant flavour, ‘Lively Orange’ is a good all round capsicum. The plants are taller( we provide trellis) then the bell shaped capsicums with good leaf coverage and a great ability to hold a large number of fruit. It is later maturing but yields really well through until Late Autumn. We love this capsicum, raw, sauted and fire roasted and we have so many each season, our freezer is filled for enjoyment in soups, pastas and omelettes throughout the Winter.
‘Lively Yellow’
Described as ‘apple like’ because of its fruit flavour raw, we adore this sunny capsicum. Similiar to ‘Lively Orange’ in plant habit , fruit size, overall yield and harvest window, it mixes with it really well in a market display or on the grill and we just adore the colour and juiciness of ‘Lively Yellow’ when you bite into it!
Bright red, SWEET capsicum with thick flesh, ‘Lipstick’ is a great choice for growers in cooler climates. With good fruit set that is early in maturing from green to red, we were impressed with the heavy yields in the open field in cooler summer weather. 10cm long by 3cm wide pointed end fruit. One of the sweetest we have tasted. The flavour and texture make ‘Lipstick’ excellent for salsa, salads, cooking, and roasting.
CHILLIES
‘SANDIA DE HATCH’ GREEN CHILIES
The flavour of ‘Sandia’ green chillies has been described as lightly pungent similar to an onion, or like garlic with a subtly sweet, spicy, crisp, and smoky taste. The ripened red retains the flavour but adds an earthiness and bite, while aging delivers more of a back-heat.
‘JALAPENO’ CHILI
‘Jalapeno’ fruits are conical, thick-walled and usually used when green. They are rated 2,500–8,000 on the Scoville scale. They usually ripen to red and often develop a distinctive ‘corking’ pattern (light coloured marks) as they reach full size.
Fresh Jalapenos are great in salsas, thinly sliced for nachos or pizza toppings, or pickled to preserve them.
Famous Spanish heirloom. Named after the town where they originated. Harvest Padron peppers when they are 2-3cm long. About 1 out of 20 fruits will be hot, and the rest mild. All the fruits become hot if allowed to grow 4-7cm long. Typically sautéed in olive oil with a little sea salt and eaten as tapas (appetizers) in Spain, our family LOVES these!
Capsicums are a favourite vegetable here at Transition Farm, despite our less than ideal growing climate. In the home garden, we tried to place them in the warmest, sunny spot to ensure a good yield over a long season. We will be adding information on our RESOURCE page about how we sow our capsicums in lines as opposed to individual cells in order to maximise space on heat mats. Capsicums germinate best at temperatures above 25C so placing them on a heat pad or in a position with high night time temperatures will ensure you have the quickest germination times and best germination rates.
While the buds on our nectarine trees swell a bit more each day- preparing to burst - our capsicum seeds are nestled into soil, on heat mats, dreaming of summers days to come.
What are your favorite capsicum varieties to grow? What other information from our trials would be useful?
Happy Sowing!
Robin
*** Our capsicum trials have included F1 hybrids. Lured by their claims of higher yields and some disease resilience, we definitely wanted to compare. Many of these varieties would have a great flush of fruit and then struggle to go the distance. Unable to access organic seed here in Australia for capsicums, we were using conventional seed. Possibly, because those plants are accustomed to a regime of frequent feeding with water soluble fertilizers, we found our long capsicum season required a lot of extra effort on our part. We needed varieties that offer a robust harvest season from January - June through mining the nutrients available in our biodynamically managed soil.
We also included several F1 varieties in our taste trials. The varieties we are curating are OP varieties which we have chosen because their flavour AND yield rivaled or bettered that of the F1’s that we trialed.
As they are OP’s, we are able to include farmer breeding criteria into our seed saving and combine natural attributes with traits such as thriving without added inputs, early in the cool season , disease resilience, plant habit and coverage (to protect the fruit from sun scald when we have days exceeding 40C) and flavour!
We believe that there is a place in a market garden for some hybrids that have been bred for organic growers. We are also committed to low input growing methods and the flavour and nutrient density that those methods can yield. Seed can be imbued with the values obtained from plants which thrive growing in humus; using sunlight to feed and fuel their own growth and that of the soil microbes; and drinking clean water. These seeds will help growers succeed in minimal input growing plots of any size! And these plants have the potential to yield nutrient dense produce!!
You can read more about Nutrient Dense Crops at Bionutrient Food Association
To learn more about the Australian Demeter Biodynamic method, which works with nature to produce the highest quality produce, visit their website.
