Beans not getting soft?If you cook beans from scratch (dried beans), you may have noticed that they sometimes don't get soft no matter how long you cook them. There are a couple reasons that beans might not be getting soft: Old beans may not get soft, so use fresh beans. Why? As dried beans age, moisture evaporates, giving pectin time to age and harden the skin, which results in beans that refuse to get fully soft. Beans can remain hard if acidic ingredients are added before they get soft. Tomatoes, vinega...
Pinto Beans Recipe - a simple classic!EASY PINTO BEANS RECIPE: Enjoy homemade pinto beans with this classic and simple recipe: Soak beans overnight. Rinse. Add beans to pot. Add water. Add salt, add a whole onion (or dice it up) and a head of garlic. Bring to boil, then bring down to simmer. When they get soft, taste and add more salt if desired. This usually takes about 2-3 hours. Once the beans are cooked and soft, you can add any other ingredients to spice it up! Optional additions and variations: Chile de Arbol, destemmed...
Safe Seed PledgeSandia Seed Company is proud to sign the Safe Seed Pledge! We believe in selling only non-GMO seeds. THE SEED INTEGRITY PLEDGE: Seeds are essential for the provision of healthy food, our well-being, and that of our environment and planet. We must protect the diversity and genetic integrity of our seeds to provide the foundation for a stable, safe food supply for us and for generations to come. The mechanical alteration of genetic material outside of natural reproductive methods within or bet...
Chili Recipe with Homegrown Red Chiles!Make this delicious red chili from chiles and other ingredients from your garden! Ingredients: 3 whole dried Guajillo chiles 3 whole dried Ancho chiles 3 whole dried Red New Mexico chiles 1-2+ green bell peppers or roasted/peeled New Mexico or Pueblo Green Chiles, chopped 1 large poblano pepper, chopped, seeds removed (can also roast) 2 (16 oz.) cans red kidney beans 1 (16 oz.) can pinto beans 1 cup of fresh or canned diced tomatoes (optional) 1 Onion 4-6+ Garlic Cloves, minced (2+ ...
Largest Jalapenos you can GrowGrow bigger jalapeños next season! You can do this by growing larger Jalapeño varieties such as Jalapeño Traveler and Jalmundo NuMex – they will reward you with pods that can get up to 4 inches to make the perfect poppers!Note that the size of jalapenos varies depending on the growing conditions. Weather, especially, can affect the size of peppers in general, some seasons result in much larger pods than other seasons. Sometimes pods will start out smaller and get larger as the season progress...
Why are bell peppers so hard to grow?Do you have luck growing bell peppers? Or do you struggle growing them? Do they only produce a couple peppers for the season? Growing Bell peppers can be challenging for some growing regions. Bell peppers are tropical natives that enjoy warm temperatures between 65-85˚F, and they generally prefer high humidity with fertile soil. In some regions, like the arid West with it's intense high altitude sun, bell peppers can be more challenging to grow. Bell peppers are especially prone to sunbur...
2026 Seed Catalog - Peppers of the WorldWe are so excited for our new 2026 Seed Catalog, packed with peppers, tomatoes, veggies and lots of recipes, growing tips and pepper growing info. Check out what we have coming in our newest Seed Catalog! Our seed catalog has 36 pages of colorful photos and info that is a great coffee or dinner table companion, and can be used in the kitchen, too! Dream up next season's vegetable garden with over 100 peppers and tons of tomatoes and vegetables to grow to have a variety of delicious harve...
Tomato spotted wilt virus - mottled tomatoesThe above photo of some wild looking mottled tomatoes is damage most likely caused by the Tomato spotted wilt virus. Plants infected with Tomato spotted wilt virus exhibit bronzing of the upper sides of young leaves, which later develop distinct, necrotic mottled spots. It looks wild, but it usually results in a less tasty tomato though it is still safe to eat if it doesn't taste too bad. This viral disease is infectious to many other plants including peppers, so it's best to remove ...
How to grow more peppersTo increase your pepper plant harvests, it is important to provide optimal growing conditions, such as in full sun and warm temperatures, plus good, loamy soil with lots of organic matter. Providing a balanced fertilizer, ideally organic, is also good for continued support of growth. Here are more tips on growing more peppers: 1. Choose Productive Pepper Varieties: Pick the fastest growing peppers to ensure a long, productive harvest. While all peppers will eventually produce a ton of pods...
Growing Spaghetti SquashAre spaghetti squash hard to grow? Growing spaghetti squash seeds are some of the easiest and rewarding squashes to grow! They are easy to start from seed, you can direct sow them in mounds in your garden, no need to start them indoors. In fact, we find that direct sown squash often do better than their indoor-started counterparts, this is in part because they have sensitive root systems that don't like to be disturbed (aka transplanted). Make sure to provide good soil for them, they lik...
Grow Your Own Chipotle PeppersChipotle (chih-POHT-lay) peppers start as jalapeños! Grow your own jalapeños from seed, let them fully ripen to a deep red, then smoke and dry them to create rich, smoky homemade chipotle peppers. Grow: Start jalapeño seeds indoors 8–10 weeks before the last frost. Keep the soil warm, around 80–85°F, for best germination. Transplant outdoors after the danger of frost has passed. Ripen: Instead of picking your jalapeños green, leave them on the plant until they turn completely red. Fully ripe ...
Tumbling Tomatoes for PotsOne of our all-time favorite tomatoes is the Tumbling Tom Tomato. This cascading tomato plant is perfect for pots, and is a good producer of larger-sized orange-yellow cherry tomatoes that are meaty and great for salads or making sauces. Tumbling Tom pairs perfectly in pots with pepper plants, so you can have a salsa garden in a container! Plant Tumbling Tom, and a Jalapeno plant, and then tuck in some cilantro or green onions. Or grow it with basil or bush beans for the perfect food garden...
Why grow cherry tomatoes?Cherry tomatoes are the easiest tomatoes to grow! They produce fruit faster, have better heat tolerance and offer a continuous harvest compared to most full-sized tomatoes. Everyone should be growing at least one or two cherry tomato varieties in their garden. There are a ton of different kinds of cherry tomatoes, too, so try growing some different ones each year in addition to your favorites. Here are some of our top reasons to grow cherry tomatoes: Faster Harvests: They start coming in ...
20% OFF ALL OF OUR FASTEST GROWING VEGETABLE SEEDS!SORRY, THIS SALE HAS ENDED! Signup for our newsletter to get our future deals!20% OFF ALL OF OUR FASTEST GROWING VEGETABLE SEEDS! Use discount code: FASTERHARVEST to save big on all of our Fastest Growing Vegetable Seeds Collection!Now through Sunday, May 24, 2026!This collection has all of our fastest growing peppers, tomatoes plus lots of companion vegetables that make great companions for your peppers.Lettuce, chives, carrots, radishes, beans, cilantro, squash, basil, parsley, dill, orega...
Conserve Nutrients & Moisture in your Vegetable Pots with MulchConserve Nutrients & Moisture in your Vegetable Pots with Mulch Shown above, a new pepper plant has been transplanted into a large pot that has some lettuce growing in it currently. This pot was mulched with grass clippings to conserve moisture (which is important in our dry Western climate) and feed the soil life. Conserve Nutrients in your Veggie Pots:Adding mulch to your veggie pots can help them hold onto nutrients. Growing veggies in pots is a great way to expand your growing spac...
Best Hot Sauces: Our Top Picks for Heat and FlavorWe are starting this post to talk about our favorite hot sauces! As spice-addicted chileheads, we love both homemade hot sauce recipes and commercial hot sauces – and we have a whole fridge shelf full of them and the selection is ever-changing. What are your favorite hot sauces? Best Hot Sauces: Our Top Picks for Heat and Flavor Marie Sharp's is one of the best hot sauce companies out there, we haven't met one of their hot sauces that we didn't like. Based in Belize, Marie Sharp ...
Herbs for Partial ShadeOur Herb Garden Seed Bundle, shown above, includes all the herbs you need for a partially shaded herb garden! Best Herbs for Partial Shade Grow more food in your garden with a variety of annual and perennial herbs to expand your growing season and harvest! There are plenty of herbs that grow in partial shade. Herbs that can grow in partial shade (3-6 hours of sun) include cilantro, parsley, garlic chives, and oregano. These are all more cold-tolerant herbs that grow great in early spring, and...
What Seeds to Plant in June - Companion Plants!Wondering what seeds you should plant in June? It's not too late to start your garden! June is a great time to plant companion plants with your peppers, tomatoes and other veggies. There is a great range of seeds to choose from that you can plant in June including cilantro, squash, cucumbers, nasturtium, lettuce, basil, and many more. Read about them below... Cilantro - great for salsas, and the flowers attract lots of beneficial insects and produce more seeds (also known as Corian...
Seeds to Plant in May - Direct SowingA summer squash above was direct seeded in mounds in May at a community garden in Denver. Squash is best direct sown as it doesn't like to have it's roots disturbed, so we generally plant it directly in the garden in May and June. Is May too late to direct sow seeds? Answer: Nope! May is a great time to direct sow many seeds in most growing regions in most of the Northern Hemisphere! May marks the transition from spring to summer in many regions, and the days are super long in M...
Red Chile Sauce RecipeRED CHILE SAUCE from New Mexico Red chile sauce is the best thing ever on a cold January winter day. Make this recipe with your dried red chiles from last seasons harvest of Guajillo Chile and Hatch Red Hot Chile. Of course you can also use any dried chiles you have on hand for this recipe. Grow oregano and onions alongside your peppers this year to use in this recipe. Yield: Makes about 2 1/2 cups ACTIVE TIME: 1 hr TOTAL TIME: 1 hr INGREDIENTS 2 ounces whole dried Hatch Red Hot chi...
Beans not getting soft?
If you cook beans from scratch (dried beans), you may have noticed that they sometimes don't get soft no matter how long you cook them. There are a couple reasons that beans might not be getting soft: Old beans may not get soft, so use fresh beans. Why? As dried beans age, moisture evaporates, giving pectin time to age and harden the skin, which results in beans that refuse to get fully soft. Beans can remain hard if acidic ingredients are added before they get soft. Tomatoes, vinega...
Pinto Beans Recipe - a simple classic!
EASY PINTO BEANS RECIPE: Enjoy homemade pinto beans with this classic and simple recipe: Soak beans overnight. Rinse. Add beans to pot. Add water. Add salt, add a whole onion (or dice it up) and a head of garlic. Bring to boil, then bring down to simmer. When they get soft, taste and add more salt if desired. This usually takes about 2-3 hours. Once the beans are cooked and soft, you can add any other ingredients to spice it up! Optional additions and variations: Chile de Arbol, destemmed...
Safe Seed Pledge
Sandia Seed Company is proud to sign the Safe Seed Pledge! We believe in selling only non-GMO seeds. THE SEED INTEGRITY PLEDGE: Seeds are essential for the provision of healthy food, our well-being, and that of our environment and planet. We must protect the diversity and genetic integrity of our seeds to provide the foundation for a stable, safe food supply for us and for generations to come. The mechanical alteration of genetic material outside of natural reproductive methods within or bet...
Chili Recipe with Homegrown Red Chiles!
Make this delicious red chili from chiles and other ingredients from your garden! Ingredients: 3 whole dried Guajillo chiles 3 whole dried Ancho chiles 3 whole dried Red New Mexico chiles 1-2+ green bell peppers or roasted/peeled New Mexico or Pueblo Green Chiles, chopped 1 large poblano pepper, chopped, seeds removed (can also roast) 2 (16 oz.) cans red kidney beans 1 (16 oz.) can pinto beans 1 cup of fresh or canned diced tomatoes (optional) 1 Onion 4-6+ Garlic Cloves, minced (2+ ...
Largest Jalapenos you can Grow
Grow bigger jalapeños next season! You can do this by growing larger Jalapeño varieties such as Jalapeño Traveler and Jalmundo NuMex – they will reward you with pods that can get up to 4 inches to make the perfect poppers!Note that the size of jalapenos varies depending on the growing conditions. Weather, especially, can affect the size of peppers in general, some seasons result in much larger pods than other seasons. Sometimes pods will start out smaller and get larger as the season progress...
Why are bell peppers so hard to grow?
Do you have luck growing bell peppers? Or do you struggle growing them? Do they only produce a couple peppers for the season? Growing Bell peppers can be challenging for some growing regions. Bell peppers are tropical natives that enjoy warm temperatures between 65-85˚F, and they generally prefer high humidity with fertile soil. In some regions, like the arid West with it's intense high altitude sun, bell peppers can be more challenging to grow. Bell peppers are especially prone to sunbur...
2026 Seed Catalog - Peppers of the World
We are so excited for our new 2026 Seed Catalog, packed with peppers, tomatoes, veggies and lots of recipes, growing tips and pepper growing info. Check out what we have coming in our newest Seed Catalog! Our seed catalog has 36 pages of colorful photos and info that is a great coffee or dinner table companion, and can be used in the kitchen, too! Dream up next season's vegetable garden with over 100 peppers and tons of tomatoes and vegetables to grow to have a variety of delicious harve...
Tomato spotted wilt virus - mottled tomatoes
The above photo of some wild looking mottled tomatoes is damage most likely caused by the Tomato spotted wilt virus. Plants infected with Tomato spotted wilt virus exhibit bronzing of the upper sides of young leaves, which later develop distinct, necrotic mottled spots. It looks wild, but it usually results in a less tasty tomato though it is still safe to eat if it doesn't taste too bad. This viral disease is infectious to many other plants including peppers, so it's best to remove ...
How to grow more peppers
To increase your pepper plant harvests, it is important to provide optimal growing conditions, such as in full sun and warm temperatures, plus good, loamy soil with lots of organic matter. Providing a balanced fertilizer, ideally organic, is also good for continued support of growth. Here are more tips on growing more peppers: 1. Choose Productive Pepper Varieties: Pick the fastest growing peppers to ensure a long, productive harvest. While all peppers will eventually produce a ton of pods...
Growing Spaghetti Squash
Are spaghetti squash hard to grow? Growing spaghetti squash seeds are some of the easiest and rewarding squashes to grow! They are easy to start from seed, you can direct sow them in mounds in your garden, no need to start them indoors. In fact, we find that direct sown squash often do better than their indoor-started counterparts, this is in part because they have sensitive root systems that don't like to be disturbed (aka transplanted). Make sure to provide good soil for them, they lik...
Grow Your Own Chipotle Peppers
Chipotle (chih-POHT-lay) peppers start as jalapeños! Grow your own jalapeños from seed, let them fully ripen to a deep red, then smoke and dry them to create rich, smoky homemade chipotle peppers. Grow: Start jalapeño seeds indoors 8–10 weeks before the last frost. Keep the soil warm, around 80–85°F, for best germination. Transplant outdoors after the danger of frost has passed. Ripen: Instead of picking your jalapeños green, leave them on the plant until they turn completely red. Fully ripe ...
Tumbling Tomatoes for Pots
One of our all-time favorite tomatoes is the Tumbling Tom Tomato. This cascading tomato plant is perfect for pots, and is a good producer of larger-sized orange-yellow cherry tomatoes that are meaty and great for salads or making sauces. Tumbling Tom pairs perfectly in pots with pepper plants, so you can have a salsa garden in a container! Plant Tumbling Tom, and a Jalapeno plant, and then tuck in some cilantro or green onions. Or grow it with basil or bush beans for the perfect food garden...
Why grow cherry tomatoes?
Cherry tomatoes are the easiest tomatoes to grow! They produce fruit faster, have better heat tolerance and offer a continuous harvest compared to most full-sized tomatoes. Everyone should be growing at least one or two cherry tomato varieties in their garden. There are a ton of different kinds of cherry tomatoes, too, so try growing some different ones each year in addition to your favorites. Here are some of our top reasons to grow cherry tomatoes: Faster Harvests: They start coming in ...
20% OFF ALL OF OUR FASTEST GROWING VEGETABLE SEEDS!
SORRY, THIS SALE HAS ENDED! Signup for our newsletter to get our future deals!20% OFF ALL OF OUR FASTEST GROWING VEGETABLE SEEDS! Use discount code: FASTERHARVEST to save big on all of our Fastest Growing Vegetable Seeds Collection!Now through Sunday, May 24, 2026!This collection has all of our fastest growing peppers, tomatoes plus lots of companion vegetables that make great companions for your peppers.Lettuce, chives, carrots, radishes, beans, cilantro, squash, basil, parsley, dill, orega...
Conserve Nutrients & Moisture in your Vegetable Pots with Mulch
Conserve Nutrients & Moisture in your Vegetable Pots with Mulch Shown above, a new pepper plant has been transplanted into a large pot that has some lettuce growing in it currently. This pot was mulched with grass clippings to conserve moisture (which is important in our dry Western climate) and feed the soil life. Conserve Nutrients in your Veggie Pots:Adding mulch to your veggie pots can help them hold onto nutrients. Growing veggies in pots is a great way to expand your growing spac...
Best Hot Sauces: Our Top Picks for Heat and Flavor
We are starting this post to talk about our favorite hot sauces! As spice-addicted chileheads, we love both homemade hot sauce recipes and commercial hot sauces – and we have a whole fridge shelf full of them and the selection is ever-changing. What are your favorite hot sauces? Best Hot Sauces: Our Top Picks for Heat and Flavor Marie Sharp's is one of the best hot sauce companies out there, we haven't met one of their hot sauces that we didn't like. Based in Belize, Marie Sharp ...
Herbs for Partial Shade
Our Herb Garden Seed Bundle, shown above, includes all the herbs you need for a partially shaded herb garden! Best Herbs for Partial Shade Grow more food in your garden with a variety of annual and perennial herbs to expand your growing season and harvest! There are plenty of herbs that grow in partial shade. Herbs that can grow in partial shade (3-6 hours of sun) include cilantro, parsley, garlic chives, and oregano. These are all more cold-tolerant herbs that grow great in early spring, and...
What Seeds to Plant in June - Companion Plants!
Wondering what seeds you should plant in June? It's not too late to start your garden! June is a great time to plant companion plants with your peppers, tomatoes and other veggies. There is a great range of seeds to choose from that you can plant in June including cilantro, squash, cucumbers, nasturtium, lettuce, basil, and many more. Read about them below... Cilantro - great for salsas, and the flowers attract lots of beneficial insects and produce more seeds (also known as Corian...
Seeds to Plant in May - Direct Sowing
A summer squash above was direct seeded in mounds in May at a community garden in Denver. Squash is best direct sown as it doesn't like to have it's roots disturbed, so we generally plant it directly in the garden in May and June. Is May too late to direct sow seeds? Answer: Nope! May is a great time to direct sow many seeds in most growing regions in most of the Northern Hemisphere! May marks the transition from spring to summer in many regions, and the days are super long in M...
Red Chile Sauce Recipe
RED CHILE SAUCE from New Mexico Red chile sauce is the best thing ever on a cold January winter day. Make this recipe with your dried red chiles from last seasons harvest of Guajillo Chile and Hatch Red Hot Chile. Of course you can also use any dried chiles you have on hand for this recipe. Grow oregano and onions alongside your peppers this year to use in this recipe. Yield: Makes about 2 1/2 cups ACTIVE TIME: 1 hr TOTAL TIME: 1 hr INGREDIENTS 2 ounces whole dried Hatch Red Hot chi...
