How to store cucumbers until you have enough to pickle?Customer question: I finally have cucumbers coming in, with lots more to come this week. What is the best way to store them until Sunday (over 4 days away) when I can pickle them so they stay as crisp/fresh as possible? Thanks for any advice! Here's our advice for storing cucumbers for a few days so they are as fresh as possible when you pickle them: Wash and dry: After you harvest your cucumbers, rinse them gently under cold water and remove any dirt. Pat them dry with a clean towel. M...
When to Plant Cucumber SeedsWondering when to plant cucumber seeds? Well, it's mid-June and it is the perfect time to plant cucumber seeds! You can plant cucumbers seeds after all chance of frost has past, for many areas in the United States that is from May to June, depending on your growing region. As they are fast growing, you could also plant cucumber seeds in June and early July and still have time for a harvest in late summer and fall. We find that they do best when planted directly in the ground. But, if you ...
What is eating my cucumber seedlings?If you've had the problem of direct seeding cucumber seeds in your garden, and they germinate and look great, but then before they even grow true leaves their heads get eaten, leaving just a stem behind? Well, you're not alone. There are a lot of insects and creatures that enjoy cucumber sprouts. They must be tasty! The culprit we think in this case was a cutworm, as we found one curled up nearby in the leaf mulch. To get around this issue, there are a few techniques: Sow seeds i...
What Seeds to Plant in June - Companion Plants!Wondering what seeds you should plant in June? 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 Coriander) Cherry Belle Radish are super fast gro...
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...
Best Tomato CagesWhat are the Best Tomato Cages?Sturdy ones. We like using the sturdier thick cages, but they're a little harder to find. If you grow tomatoes, they're probably one of your favorite crops, like ours, and you want to ensure that the plants are healthy and supported so you get a great harvest. What kind of Tomato supports do you use?Those darned flimsy wire "tomato cages" that are sold at hardware stores are useless once a tomato plant gets large, as you can see in these photo...
Grow a Victory GardenGrow Lots of Food This Year!If you haven't started your vegetable garden yet, now is a great time! Here are our top tips on How to Start a Garden: 1. Grow a Variety of Seeds! Growing different types of vegetables is a great way to harvest over a longer season! While peppers and tomatoes are great for summer growing for fresh eating, pickling, and lots of recipes to use year-round, you can also grow other veggies throughout the seasons. Lettuce, onions, cabbages, radishes, kale, cila...
Pickled Pepper RecipesPickling is a great way to preserve your pepper harvest!Pickled peppers are delicious for snacking, or as a topping for sandwiches, soups, chile stews, frittatas, pizza, you name it! Here are a few of our favorite Pickled Pepper Recipes: Pickled Jalapenos Recipe »Pickled Banana Peppers Recipe » Pickled Fresno Peppers: Try these pickled Fresno Peppers that’ll have you eating them out of the jar! Or, if you're growing cucumbers and peppers, try: Spicy Refrigerator Pickles Recipe »Spic...
What Veggies to Plant in MayWondering what seeds you can plant in May for your food garden? May is a great time to direct sow vegetable seeds for summer. While you may have already started seeds for tomatoes, peppers, and eggplants indoors 4-8 weeks ago, you likely still have them growing indoors until it has warmed up to 50-60˚F at night consistently. If you haven't started those seeds yet, you could try some of our short season pepper seeds or short season tomato seeds in May as they grow quickly. And of course...
What Seeds to Plant in AugustWondering what to plant in August? In the West, we start seeds for the following vegetables in August:Lettuces, spinach, beets, carrots, green onions, cilantro, basil, bok choy, mizuna, kale, peas, green beans, broccoli, sugar snap peas, radishes and cabbage. Now is a great time to fill in bare spots in your garden or to start seeds to plant into places where cucumbers, basil or other summer veggies are at the end of their production. Vegetables to Plant in August-SeptemberSome of the cool w...
Jalapeño Pickles RecipeThese simple pickles are spicy and delicious! We always love adding lots of fresh sliced Jalapeños from the garden to transform cucumbers into spicy pickles! Jalapeño Pickles Recipe 10-20 Cucumbers (about 6 pounds) 6+ Jalapenos, sliced (or any hot peppers!) 6 cups (500 mL) white vinegar 6 cups (500 mL) water 5 tablespoons (25 mL) pickling salt 6 heads fresh dill or 8 teaspoons dill seeds (20 mL) 6+ small cloves garlic Several fresh leaves from Grape, Raspberry, Blackberry or Horseradish lea...
Gazpacho Recipe with PeppersThis is a great Gazpacho recipe for using up some of your fresh peppers and tomatoes! Gazpacho Recipe 2 cucumbers, halved & seeded, unpeeled4-8 peppers, cored and seeded (mix sweet pepper varieties such as Purple Bell Peppers, Giant Marconis, or even some roasted green chiles are delicious!)1 Jalapeño, seeded, finely diced (if spice is desired)8 tomatoes (plum, or any tomatoes you have)1 red or white onion4+ garlic cloves, minced23 ounces tomato juice (3 cups)Fresh Juice of 1 Lemon + ...
Easy Refrigerator Pickled PeppersThe photo above is of a jar that we filled also with some white cucumbers as the pepper harvest is just now coming in, so we didn't have quiet enough banana peppers to fill the jar. Easy Refrigerator Pickled Peppers • Mason Jars (One 24 oz jar or a couple 12 oz Jars)• 2-3 cups sliced Banana Peppers, Jalapeños, Hot Hungarian Wax Peppers, Sweet Hungarian Wax peppers or any pepper!• 3/4 cup white vinegar• 3/4 cup water• 1/2 tablespoon sea salt• 2-4+ cloves of garlic, peeled, chopped or who...
How Tomatoes Should Really Taste!'Good News' #3 April 2017 from Sandia Seed Company Signup for our Good News emails » There is nothing quite like a Real Tomato... a tomato as it was meant to be grown and eaten. What is a Real Tomato? A ripe tomato should have a fragile skin that is under pressure to contain the juice and seeds within, splitting open easily and explosively. It should almost dissolve as you eat it, filling your mouth with intensely refreshing flavor. Unfortunately, there is the abundant fake t...
Is it Too Late to Start Seeds? No, it’s not too late to plant seeds! You can start seeds year-round. It depends on what you would like to accomplish after planting your seeds. There is short-season gardening, hydroponic growing, indoor gardening, jump-start growing to have huge plants to transplant in spring, etc. Short-Season GardeningBesides peppers and tomatoes, you can start lots of vegetable seeds year-round, depending on your climate, and if you have any winter protection such as cold frames or hoop houses. You ...
Discount SeedsSandia Seed offers lots of Discount Seeds so you can grow more peppers in your garden! Check out our 50% OFF SEEDS:A rotating selection of our seeds that change regularly so check back often for great deals on lots of our varieties. Shown above are our December 2022 deals! Check out our Discount Seeds including our Food Garden Seeds Gift Set, plus 3-Packs with three popular pepper seeds – with a thrifty 15% seed discount. No promo codes or coupon codes needed! We put together t...
I had looked high & low, and searched the web with many word combinations ‘looking’ specifically for my favorite chili, the Dynamite xx Hot… so I could grow my own. The peppers were sold in Colorado at select places during roasting season, but you couldn’t buy seeds for them… anywhere!
Finally, as luck and persistence would have it, I discovered Sandia Seed Company.
Thank you Sandia! I planted them and had a great crop this year. I plan on growing them every year as well as trying some of their other seeds,
There's just something fun about growing a jalapeno that is light enough in color that some people think it's a banana pepper. LOL! I picked these just for color variety, and I'm very pleased that my plants have been loaded with them all season! We donated about 50 lbs of mixed peppers this year from our garden and I still had enough to freeze some and can more jars of recipes than we'll probably be able to use before next season. All my peppers were from Sandia Seed Company. I've never had such great pepper production before using these seeds!!
This spinach germinated well, and produced way more spinach than I'd initially expected. It grew really well, was slow to bolt in the summer, and has a really nice mild flavor for salads or steamed.
This was my first time growing these and I will definitely be growing them from now on. Great germination and very sturdy plants that have withstood some really high winds. Huge long peppers that are excellent green or red, very easy to peel skin.
Growing these in Florida, (Recent transplant of NM).
Lovely peppers. Took a couple weeks is all and wow! I have several budding; 2 large enough to nickname. They're still in their infancy, but I can tell they are going to be great! Love the seeds!
I got these to make Chipotle chilis. These fruit early and are mild-ish when green, but when they ripen, they are perfect for smoking and drying with great flavor and nice heat. Don't plant too many as they are quite prolific.
Seeds grew quickly and in May I transplanted them into my garden. Kept three plants to a container and the did great in the garden without falling over. Great harvest.
I had 6 plants that produced all of the tomatillos that I could use. I gave my neighbors enough for a batch of green salsa too. Easy to germinate and great producers. We live in a short growing season in the mountains of Idaho and they did great!
How to store cucumbers until you have enough to pickle?
Customer question: I finally have cucumbers coming in, with lots more to come this week. What is the best way to store them until Sunday (over 4 days away) when I can pickle them so they stay as crisp/fresh as possible? Thanks for any advice! Here's our advice for storing cucumbers for a few days so they are as fresh as possible when you pickle them: Wash and dry: After you harvest your cucumbers, rinse them gently under cold water and remove any dirt. Pat them dry with a clean towel. M...
When to Plant Cucumber Seeds
Wondering when to plant cucumber seeds? Well, it's mid-June and it is the perfect time to plant cucumber seeds! You can plant cucumbers seeds after all chance of frost has past, for many areas in the United States that is from May to June, depending on your growing region. As they are fast growing, you could also plant cucumber seeds in June and early July and still have time for a harvest in late summer and fall. We find that they do best when planted directly in the ground. But, if you ...
What is eating my cucumber seedlings?
If you've had the problem of direct seeding cucumber seeds in your garden, and they germinate and look great, but then before they even grow true leaves their heads get eaten, leaving just a stem behind? Well, you're not alone. There are a lot of insects and creatures that enjoy cucumber sprouts. They must be tasty! The culprit we think in this case was a cutworm, as we found one curled up nearby in the leaf mulch. To get around this issue, there are a few techniques: Sow seeds i...
What Seeds to Plant in June - Companion Plants!
Wondering what seeds you should plant in June? 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 Coriander) Cherry Belle Radish are super fast gro...
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...
Best Tomato Cages
What are the Best Tomato Cages?Sturdy ones. We like using the sturdier thick cages, but they're a little harder to find. If you grow tomatoes, they're probably one of your favorite crops, like ours, and you want to ensure that the plants are healthy and supported so you get a great harvest. What kind of Tomato supports do you use?Those darned flimsy wire "tomato cages" that are sold at hardware stores are useless once a tomato plant gets large, as you can see in these photo...
Grow a Victory Garden
Grow Lots of Food This Year!If you haven't started your vegetable garden yet, now is a great time! Here are our top tips on How to Start a Garden: 1. Grow a Variety of Seeds! Growing different types of vegetables is a great way to harvest over a longer season! While peppers and tomatoes are great for summer growing for fresh eating, pickling, and lots of recipes to use year-round, you can also grow other veggies throughout the seasons. Lettuce, onions, cabbages, radishes, kale, cila...
Pickled Pepper Recipes
Pickling is a great way to preserve your pepper harvest!Pickled peppers are delicious for snacking, or as a topping for sandwiches, soups, chile stews, frittatas, pizza, you name it! Here are a few of our favorite Pickled Pepper Recipes: Pickled Jalapenos Recipe »Pickled Banana Peppers Recipe » Pickled Fresno Peppers: Try these pickled Fresno Peppers that’ll have you eating them out of the jar! Or, if you're growing cucumbers and peppers, try: Spicy Refrigerator Pickles Recipe »Spic...
What Veggies to Plant in May
Wondering what seeds you can plant in May for your food garden? May is a great time to direct sow vegetable seeds for summer. While you may have already started seeds for tomatoes, peppers, and eggplants indoors 4-8 weeks ago, you likely still have them growing indoors until it has warmed up to 50-60˚F at night consistently. If you haven't started those seeds yet, you could try some of our short season pepper seeds or short season tomato seeds in May as they grow quickly. And of course...
What Seeds to Plant in August
Wondering what to plant in August? In the West, we start seeds for the following vegetables in August:Lettuces, spinach, beets, carrots, green onions, cilantro, basil, bok choy, mizuna, kale, peas, green beans, broccoli, sugar snap peas, radishes and cabbage. Now is a great time to fill in bare spots in your garden or to start seeds to plant into places where cucumbers, basil or other summer veggies are at the end of their production. Vegetables to Plant in August-SeptemberSome of the cool w...
Jalapeño Pickles Recipe
These simple pickles are spicy and delicious! We always love adding lots of fresh sliced Jalapeños from the garden to transform cucumbers into spicy pickles! Jalapeño Pickles Recipe 10-20 Cucumbers (about 6 pounds) 6+ Jalapenos, sliced (or any hot peppers!) 6 cups (500 mL) white vinegar 6 cups (500 mL) water 5 tablespoons (25 mL) pickling salt 6 heads fresh dill or 8 teaspoons dill seeds (20 mL) 6+ small cloves garlic Several fresh leaves from Grape, Raspberry, Blackberry or Horseradish lea...
Gazpacho Recipe with Peppers
This is a great Gazpacho recipe for using up some of your fresh peppers and tomatoes! Gazpacho Recipe 2 cucumbers, halved & seeded, unpeeled4-8 peppers, cored and seeded (mix sweet pepper varieties such as Purple Bell Peppers, Giant Marconis, or even some roasted green chiles are delicious!)1 Jalapeño, seeded, finely diced (if spice is desired)8 tomatoes (plum, or any tomatoes you have)1 red or white onion4+ garlic cloves, minced23 ounces tomato juice (3 cups)Fresh Juice of 1 Lemon + ...
Easy Refrigerator Pickled Peppers
The photo above is of a jar that we filled also with some white cucumbers as the pepper harvest is just now coming in, so we didn't have quiet enough banana peppers to fill the jar. Easy Refrigerator Pickled Peppers • Mason Jars (One 24 oz jar or a couple 12 oz Jars)• 2-3 cups sliced Banana Peppers, Jalapeños, Hot Hungarian Wax Peppers, Sweet Hungarian Wax peppers or any pepper!• 3/4 cup white vinegar• 3/4 cup water• 1/2 tablespoon sea salt• 2-4+ cloves of garlic, peeled, chopped or who...
Is it Too Late to Start Seeds?
No, it’s not too late to plant seeds! You can start seeds year-round. It depends on what you would like to accomplish after planting your seeds. There is short-season gardening, hydroponic growing, indoor gardening, jump-start growing to have huge plants to transplant in spring, etc. Short-Season GardeningBesides peppers and tomatoes, you can start lots of vegetable seeds year-round, depending on your climate, and if you have any winter protection such as cold frames or hoop houses. You ...
Discount Seeds
Sandia Seed offers lots of Discount Seeds so you can grow more peppers in your garden! Check out our 50% OFF SEEDS:A rotating selection of our seeds that change regularly so check back often for great deals on lots of our varieties. Shown above are our December 2022 deals! Check out our Discount Seeds including our Food Garden Seeds Gift Set, plus 3-Packs with three popular pepper seeds – with a thrifty 15% seed discount. No promo codes or coupon codes needed! We put together t...
