Organic Control for Tomato Hornworms on PeppersTomato Hornworms are really big green caterpillars that can devastate your pepper garden. Giant brown moths lay pearl-like eggs on your pepper leaves, from which the monsters will hatch and start to eat voraciously. They can decimate all the leaves on a plant overnight. The best organic control might be picking the caterpillars off the plants, but by then it could be too late to save your plants. Also, touching and pulling them off is gross, but depending on how mad you are, you won’t mind! ...
Trinidad Scorpion Salsa RecipeSandia Seed's Trinidad Scorpion Salsa Recipe INGREDIENTS: 4-5 Large Fresh Heirloom Tomatoes(use any fresh Heirloom Tomatoes)~or~ 1 Large (28oz) can Organic Whole Tomatoes1/2 Cup - Fresh Cilantro leaves (use as much as you'd like)1 Trinidad Scorpion Pepper (adjust to taste*)1/2 Onion (diced)3-4 Garlic ClovesFresh Lime Juice (1 lime)1/2 teaspoon of Sugar (optional)1 teaspoon of Cumin & Chile PowderSalt & Pepper to taste DIRECTIONS:Process everything (excluding onions) in a f...
Fertilize Peppers Now - Here's HowEven if you have some of the greatest soil around...growing vegetables is a process that takes many important nutrients. Tomatoes and peppers are heavy feeders and need readily available nutrients from the soil. Most summer vegetables are heavy feeders, with tomatoes being one of the heaviest nitrogen consumers. Before putting your plants in the garden, work a slow-release fertilizer into the soil of the planting hole. A good organic slow release fertilizer is Dr. Earth Organic 5 Tomato, Vege...
Create a Pollinator GardenVeggie plants, like tomatoes and peppers, are self-pollinating, but others such as zucchini, pumpkins, and other vine crops produce both male and female flowers on the same plant and require pollinators. Almost all flowering plants need to be pollinated and depend on bees, butterflies, and other animals for pollination. Pollinators need our help. Biologists fear several butterfly and bumblebee species have disappeared from parts of their range, including the once common western bumble bee. W...
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 ...
How to Germinate Pepper SeedsWhat You will need: Pepper seeds Indoor/Outdoor potting soil Plastic growing tray, at least 2” deep with holes for drainage Seed germination warming mat Grow light or bright window Distilled water Labels. Fill growing tray almost to the top with potting soil. Moisten thoroughly with water and allow to drain completely. Always use distilled water. Make an indentation with a pencil eraser approx. a quarter of an inch deep or less, about every 2 inches in the soil. Place one pepper seed int...
Fresh Tomatillo Salsa Recipe (Salsa Verde)Fresh Tomatillo Salsa (Salsa Verde) with Chimayo Peppers Mix up a batch of this Tomatillo salsa (also known as Salsa Verde) and it's sure to be a hit! With fresh Tomatillos, a couple fresh Chimayo chiles or Jalapeños or any hot pepper, plus 2-4 fresh garlic cloves, chopped onion, salt, pepper, fresh cilantro and cumin, this is a fresh salsa that you'll love. Tomatillos* (as many ripe ones as you can pick – a large bowl's worth or more) 1/2 Sweet White or Purple Onion, diced 2-...
Carolina Reaper Salsa RecipeSandia Seed's Carolina Reaper Salsa Recipe This is the hottest salsa you can make with the world's hottest pepper, the wicked Carolina Reaper! Of course, if you like to taste your salsa, you can also add less of the reaper to this recipe. We like to add some, then add more after tasting until we get it just right. Remember, it can also get hotter overnight! We like to make a big batch of this salsa and refrigerate it for snacking on anytime with chips or on tacos, but don't worr...
Vitamin Packed Chile Peppers Save Lives!Did you know that chiles are a great source of Vitamin C and have saved lives? It's true! Back in 1751, the Santisima Trinidad ship was sailing home from Mexico when the trade winds ceased, which caused the ship to be stranded in the middle of the ocean because it could not sail without wind. Luckily, the Doctor on board had brought dried chiles on board and they were used as an emergency source of Vitamin C to keep the sailors from getting scurvy while they waited for the winds to return...
Growing Peppers with CompostDid you know that making and using homemade compost in your pepper garden will help your pepper plants thrive? Most vegetables love soil that is enriched yearly with quality compost. Great reasons to make your own compost:A great reason to make your own compost is you know exactly what goes in it, if you don't use chemicals in your landscape, and buy organic produce, then you are assured your compost is going to be free of chemicals, which is what you want. Homemade compost is also alive,...
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...
Composting for HUGE Green ChilesPeppers and vegetables love compost! Compost is nature's FREE fertilizer. Adding this rich organic material to your soil will help your vegetable plants grow larger and more bountiful. In fact, many organic gardeners use only compost to fertilize their vegetables. Rather than buying the bags of compost in the store – save plastic and money, plus recycle your household and landscaping waste by making your own compost. Homemade compost is also filled with a ton of living soil microorganisms...
The 6 Most Popular TomatoesThese six tomatoes are the most popular for all the right reasons. Five are hybrids that have proved themselves over several decades of growing seasons. The sixth, Cherokee Purple, is the only non-hybrid on the list. It is one of the most delicious open-pollinated heirloom tomatoes and a winning favorite at taste contests. Better Boy Hybrid – This improved version of Big Boy is more resistant to common tomato diseases, but still has Big Boy's extra-large fruit. Expect an abundant crop of ...
Pepper Seeds for SaleIf you're looking for pepper seeds for sale, you have come to the right place! Sandia Seed offers many varieties of New Mexican Green Chile pepper seeds as well as lots of other hot pepper seeds for sale, plus a selection of sweet pepper seeds and heirloom tomato seeds too! Patsy Coles, our founder, started Sandia Seed in order to offer a better variety of pepper seeds to home gardeners. Her passion has always been gardening, and she graduated from Arizona State University with a...
Tomato Tip to Thwart Birds!TOMATO TIP “I put decoys out well before my tomatoes begin to ripen. Big, red Christmas ornaments hanging here and there among my tomato plants. Birds will see those pretty red balls and think they are about to get a tasty meal. But all the peck, peck, pecking gets them nowhere. They might try several of them over a period of days until they figure out that there is nothing worth eating in THIS garden!” – CINDY AT PINEYWOODS HERB FARM We found this great tip on thwarting birds from eating y...
Good Crop Rotation is ImportantA good crop rotation plan is critical for a productive vegetable garden. One of the rules of organic gardening is to rotate plant families from one season to the next, so related crops are not planted in the same spot more often than every three years. The purpose of crop rotation is to help maintain the balance of nutrients, organic matter, and micro-organisms necessary for healthy soil. When the same vegetable, like hot peppers, are planted year after year in the same plot, they become dise...
Growing Tomatoes from SeedIt takes about six to eight weeks to grow tomatoes from a seed to a seedling plant that is ready to transplant outside. Start seeds indoors for best results. In 5 to 12 days your tomato seeds should germinate. Germination is best in warm temperatures (70° to 80° Fahrenheit). A heat mat for seed starting will dramatically hasten tomato seed germination. Sow seeds in cells filled with seedling mix and lightly sprinkle a bit on top to cover. Gently moisten the cells with water and place on a see...
Gifts for GardenersGifts for your favorite gardener! We have tried everything listed, and I have wrote my personal opinion for each one. The pictures are at the bottom. I hope this list gives you an idea for your special gardener. ~ Patsy Coles - Owner Sandia Seed Company Gardening is about enjoying the smell of things growing in the soil, getting dirty without feeling guilty, and generally taking the time to soak up a little peace and serenity. Looking for the perfect gardening gift? This food garden seed col...
GMO-Free Pepper SeedsAt Sandia Seed, all of our hot pepper seeds are GMO-Free.All of our seeds are non-GMO. In fact, there are not any 'genetically modified organism' chile seeds developed yet. Many of our seeds are organically-grown heirlooms and have been grown for generations. Heirloom seeds can be collected and grown again the following year. The NuMex varieties of green chile we offer have been hand selected at NMSU for desireable traits. This research takes several years and field grown trials to pr...
Ghost Pepper Salsa RecipeIf you are a salsa connoisseur, then you have to try this amazing Ghost Pepper Salsa Recipe. You can use any of our ghost peppers for this recipe, this salsa recipe would even be fun to make with several different colors of Ghost Peppers so that you can taste the subtle differences between each one. See our other colors that we carry in our Ghost Pepper Seeds collection. For example, the Chocolate Bhut Jolokia Ghost Pepper is just as evil as Red Bhut Jolokia Ghost Pepper, but it is sweeter –...
I'm going to grow these every year, they are HOT!! They make great poppers and salsa. Very productive, easy to grow, quick germination and fast growing plants. Thank you for the stellar seeds.
I planted several cultivars from wholesale seed. These were prolific. See all that RED (and green)?!? Looking forward to harvesting in a few days. Thank You Sandia Seed!
I pretty much use Sandia seeds exclusively! A few years ago I just happened to order your Jalapeño M. To me it's the perfect Jalapeño! Really nice size! Perfect heat for what we like! Wonderful flavor with a meatyness that's perfect for many different uses! I make my own Sriracha so I wait for them to turn red. They're one of my base peppers for my sauce! I praise them to all my personal friends and to members of groups that I belong to!
Serrano Hidalgo Seeds fromSandia Seed produce even in the HOT drought of central Illinois this year! I love adding a little Mexican kick to my salsa but also tossing these on the grill! They have great flavor and produce all summer long!
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.
Organic Control for Tomato Hornworms on Peppers
Tomato Hornworms are really big green caterpillars that can devastate your pepper garden. Giant brown moths lay pearl-like eggs on your pepper leaves, from which the monsters will hatch and start to eat voraciously. They can decimate all the leaves on a plant overnight. The best organic control might be picking the caterpillars off the plants, but by then it could be too late to save your plants. Also, touching and pulling them off is gross, but depending on how mad you are, you won’t mind! ...
Trinidad Scorpion Salsa Recipe
Sandia Seed's Trinidad Scorpion Salsa Recipe INGREDIENTS: 4-5 Large Fresh Heirloom Tomatoes(use any fresh Heirloom Tomatoes)~or~ 1 Large (28oz) can Organic Whole Tomatoes1/2 Cup - Fresh Cilantro leaves (use as much as you'd like)1 Trinidad Scorpion Pepper (adjust to taste*)1/2 Onion (diced)3-4 Garlic ClovesFresh Lime Juice (1 lime)1/2 teaspoon of Sugar (optional)1 teaspoon of Cumin & Chile PowderSalt & Pepper to taste DIRECTIONS:Process everything (excluding onions) in a f...
Fertilize Peppers Now - Here's How
Even if you have some of the greatest soil around...growing vegetables is a process that takes many important nutrients. Tomatoes and peppers are heavy feeders and need readily available nutrients from the soil. Most summer vegetables are heavy feeders, with tomatoes being one of the heaviest nitrogen consumers. Before putting your plants in the garden, work a slow-release fertilizer into the soil of the planting hole. A good organic slow release fertilizer is Dr. Earth Organic 5 Tomato, Vege...
Create a Pollinator Garden
Veggie plants, like tomatoes and peppers, are self-pollinating, but others such as zucchini, pumpkins, and other vine crops produce both male and female flowers on the same plant and require pollinators. Almost all flowering plants need to be pollinated and depend on bees, butterflies, and other animals for pollination. Pollinators need our help. Biologists fear several butterfly and bumblebee species have disappeared from parts of their range, including the once common western bumble bee. W...
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 ...
How to Germinate Pepper Seeds
What You will need: Pepper seeds Indoor/Outdoor potting soil Plastic growing tray, at least 2” deep with holes for drainage Seed germination warming mat Grow light or bright window Distilled water Labels. Fill growing tray almost to the top with potting soil. Moisten thoroughly with water and allow to drain completely. Always use distilled water. Make an indentation with a pencil eraser approx. a quarter of an inch deep or less, about every 2 inches in the soil. Place one pepper seed int...
Fresh Tomatillo Salsa Recipe (Salsa Verde)
Fresh Tomatillo Salsa (Salsa Verde) with Chimayo Peppers Mix up a batch of this Tomatillo salsa (also known as Salsa Verde) and it's sure to be a hit! With fresh Tomatillos, a couple fresh Chimayo chiles or Jalapeños or any hot pepper, plus 2-4 fresh garlic cloves, chopped onion, salt, pepper, fresh cilantro and cumin, this is a fresh salsa that you'll love. Tomatillos* (as many ripe ones as you can pick – a large bowl's worth or more) 1/2 Sweet White or Purple Onion, diced 2-...
Carolina Reaper Salsa Recipe
Sandia Seed's Carolina Reaper Salsa Recipe This is the hottest salsa you can make with the world's hottest pepper, the wicked Carolina Reaper! Of course, if you like to taste your salsa, you can also add less of the reaper to this recipe. We like to add some, then add more after tasting until we get it just right. Remember, it can also get hotter overnight! We like to make a big batch of this salsa and refrigerate it for snacking on anytime with chips or on tacos, but don't worr...
Vitamin Packed Chile Peppers Save Lives!
Did you know that chiles are a great source of Vitamin C and have saved lives? It's true! Back in 1751, the Santisima Trinidad ship was sailing home from Mexico when the trade winds ceased, which caused the ship to be stranded in the middle of the ocean because it could not sail without wind. Luckily, the Doctor on board had brought dried chiles on board and they were used as an emergency source of Vitamin C to keep the sailors from getting scurvy while they waited for the winds to return...
Growing Peppers with Compost
Did you know that making and using homemade compost in your pepper garden will help your pepper plants thrive? Most vegetables love soil that is enriched yearly with quality compost. Great reasons to make your own compost:A great reason to make your own compost is you know exactly what goes in it, if you don't use chemicals in your landscape, and buy organic produce, then you are assured your compost is going to be free of chemicals, which is what you want. Homemade compost is also alive,...
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...
Composting for HUGE Green Chiles
Peppers and vegetables love compost! Compost is nature's FREE fertilizer. Adding this rich organic material to your soil will help your vegetable plants grow larger and more bountiful. In fact, many organic gardeners use only compost to fertilize their vegetables. Rather than buying the bags of compost in the store – save plastic and money, plus recycle your household and landscaping waste by making your own compost. Homemade compost is also filled with a ton of living soil microorganisms...
Growing Tomatoes from Seed
It takes about six to eight weeks to grow tomatoes from a seed to a seedling plant that is ready to transplant outside. Start seeds indoors for best results. In 5 to 12 days your tomato seeds should germinate. Germination is best in warm temperatures (70° to 80° Fahrenheit). A heat mat for seed starting will dramatically hasten tomato seed germination. Sow seeds in cells filled with seedling mix and lightly sprinkle a bit on top to cover. Gently moisten the cells with water and place on a see...
Gifts for Gardeners
Gifts for your favorite gardener! We have tried everything listed, and I have wrote my personal opinion for each one. The pictures are at the bottom. I hope this list gives you an idea for your special gardener. ~ Patsy Coles - Owner Sandia Seed Company Gardening is about enjoying the smell of things growing in the soil, getting dirty without feeling guilty, and generally taking the time to soak up a little peace and serenity. Looking for the perfect gardening gift? This food garden seed col...
GMO-Free Pepper Seeds
At Sandia Seed, all of our hot pepper seeds are GMO-Free.All of our seeds are non-GMO. In fact, there are not any 'genetically modified organism' chile seeds developed yet. Many of our seeds are organically-grown heirlooms and have been grown for generations. Heirloom seeds can be collected and grown again the following year. The NuMex varieties of green chile we offer have been hand selected at NMSU for desireable traits. This research takes several years and field grown trials to pr...
Ghost Pepper Salsa Recipe
If you are a salsa connoisseur, then you have to try this amazing Ghost Pepper Salsa Recipe. You can use any of our ghost peppers for this recipe, this salsa recipe would even be fun to make with several different colors of Ghost Peppers so that you can taste the subtle differences between each one. See our other colors that we carry in our Ghost Pepper Seeds collection. For example, the Chocolate Bhut Jolokia Ghost Pepper is just as evil as Red Bhut Jolokia Ghost Pepper, but it is sweeter –...
