Red Ruffled Pimiento

This little known culinary treasure deserves some limelight. It is high time for cooks and foodists to try it and see just how delicious a ripe red pepper can be!

Believed to be derived from a Spanish paprika pimiento. this squat, lobed fruit is far and away the most flavorful, aromatic, and rich sweet pepper ever. We were giving out samples at Hoes Down Festival this fall at Full Belly Farm in the Capay Valley, and everyone was in agreement: best tasting pepper they'd ever tried!

We've loved this variety for over twenty years. Steve worked professionally with organic seed growers around the country. He has kept up many of those connections, who have become good friends. One of them was John Finley of the Garberville Community Farm. 

John and his wife Lisa have been growing produce and saving seed for many years. They received the Red Ruffled Pimiento seed from grower Bill Reynolds, grew it out and made some improvement selections on it.

One of the improvements made was to the size of the fruits. They run 3-4" in diameter, and about 2" high. The walls are over 1/4" thick; much thicker than the familiar Bell Pepper.

The seed then went back to Bill's farm, Eel River Produce. We visited this past March. The photo above shows a cover crop waiting to be plowed in on this beautiful certified organic land. 

In March Bill was transplanting Red Ruffled seedlings.

By the time Steve returned, in late September, each plant held from 6-15 fully ripe peppers, and a number of ripening ones. You can easily ripen twenty fruits per plant with an extended growing season.

I love how Bill made use of his resources: he took advantage of a weed problem, datura, to provide shade for the pimientos. Peppers are by nature understory plants, and the taller Jimson Weed prevented sun scald on the peppers.

September 30th was harvest day, Steve single-handedly picked 300 gallons of ripe fruit. How many pecks of perfect pimientos can Steve Peters pick? You do the math. Pretty good for an old timer! Just part of the personal service from Seed rEvolution Now!

One of Bill's thrills is finding ways to use the bamboo that thrives on his farm. Here's a handmade seed drying screen, which was pressed into service as a pepper ripening rack. Very aesthetic!

To process the seeds, Bill ran the fruit through a Millet Wet Seed Separator. This first chops the fruit, and then passes it over a shaking tray through which water is sprayed, pushing the seed through the screen and into the sluice box. The seed-free flesh is saved for food.

Bill in his waterproof pants rubs the seed through the screen by hand.

The seed and fine pulp go down the homemade redwood sluice. 

Check dams catch all but the heavier, viable seeds.

These are caught in a mesh screen at the bottom.

Nice small-scale, low-cost operation for the on-farm seed saver!

After the seed dries, it will go through a final winnowing to blow away the flecks of dried flesh. Then it's ready to go off to farmers and seed companies. Steve is representing Bill and several other trusted organic seed producers through Seed rEvolution Now. The price is $125 per quarter pound, although he is willing to sell smaller lots as well. You can email him at stevegrows@gmail.com, or call him at 505-660-3933.

Here's some shots of the fruit soon after it came to our home in San Mateo. I just can't say enough about the fantastic fresh eating quality of these peppers! But I'll try...

Thick, meaty, sweet, juicy, aromatic, rich and delicious!

And they make wonderful stuffers! Unlike Bell and Relleno type peppers, these have a tender skin and do not require peeling. Toothsome stuffed pimientos!

One last point in favor of these beauties: Here's a photo I just took today, October 27th, of a Red Ruffled Pimiento kept nearly a month without refrigeration! Pretty amazing, considering it was picked fully ripe! So hurry and get some of this seed to offer in your catalog or grow for your customers. Try it in your kitchen, give your kids a slice. It is just too good to pass up!

Seed rEvolution Now

Promoting and distributing high quality, open-pollinated, organically grown, public-domain vegetable seeds , and working with organizations and farmers to create a functional cooperative network of seed breeders, producers, and customers.

Proud seed farmer Rich Pecoraro of Abbondanza Seeds in Colorado shows off some of his high desert quality seed.

The Challenge

Today we are facing an unprecedented challenge to our very survival as the climate destabilizes. Farmers everywhere are scrambling to find crops that perform well under stressful conditions. At the same time, we have lost 90% of the crop varieties that were available just 80 years ago, as corporations have moved to commodify and monopolize all aspects of our food system.

To counter this dilemma, Seed rEvolution Now is working with skilled, certified organic seed growers and seed specialists to promote and provide open-pollinated (OP) top quality certified organic seed that farmers can save, select, and regrow if they so desire. This is our heritage and our birthright.

The Challenger

Steve Peters is a seed professional who’s not afraid to get his hands dirty. With over 35 years of experience in organic farming and agricultural research, Steve has specialized for the past two decades in working with organically grown, open-pollinated seed. 

After a start as a market gardener in upstate New York, he returned to graduate school and obtained an MS in veg crops. He worked as a research scientist at the Rodale Institute Research Center in Pennsylvania for nine years. Next, for fifteen years, he built a remarkable inventory for Seeds of Change, creating a cadre of skilled seed growers in the process. 

Most recently he was the farm supervisor at the Native Seeds/SEARCH farm in southern Arizona. Upon moving to the San Francisco Bay Area for family reasons, he’s founded Seed rEvolution Now, in order to further the mission of providing the organic community with high quality public domain seed.

Contact Steve Peters:

T:   505-660-3933  E:   stevegrows@gmail.com

Seed rEvolution Now Services

Bridging the gap between seed customers,  plant breeders and seed producers, Seed Revolution Now provides the following services:

• SRN offers certified organic OP seed in bulk quantities to farmers and retailers at competitive prices.
• Provides detailed information on crop performance under varied conditions.
• Contracts with seed farmers to satisfy specific custom seed requests.
• Consults with market growers to assist in seed selection appropriate to their situation.
• Conducts on-farm variety trials and disseminates findings to the organic farming community.
• Teaches workshops and classes on seed saving.
• Writes articles on seed sovereignty.
• Networks with farmers and organizations to establish a national co-operative of organic OP seed breeders, growers and customers. 

Steve teams up with OSA crop scientist Jared Zystro to set up comparison trials on a leading organic farm in the Capay Valley of California. Field trials on organic farms are a critical stage in the development of improved strains. By growing a broad range of varieties including  growers’ current standard cultivars and several promising new strains,  informed decisions can be made. 

Meeting the needs of organic seed consumers

Organic market farmers face continuous and growing challenges to meet the desires of their customers. Seed Revolution Now offers help, matching seed customers with producers who can develop OP varieties that address market demands.

Traditional OP Breeding

We have been told that GMO technology is the only way we can possibly feed our burgeoning population. This is not true. Traditional breeding is fully capable of meeting our needs. OP breeding allows every generation of plants to respond to a changing environment, with each new selection leading to further adaptations. Key features of this dynamic approach include:

• Developing “workhorse” varieties for a wide range of environments.
• Developing varieties for specific climatic and soil conditions.
• Selecting for durable, multi-gene disease and/or pest resistance.
• Breeding for plant vigor and reliably high yields.
• Selecting for distinctive consumer qualities such as outstanding flavor, unique color, and elevated nutritional content.
• Invites the participation of seed customers in the improvement of varieties for their specific needs.
• Allows farmers to save and select seed, if they so choose, for their own seed sovereignty.

 Seed Bred For Organic Conditions

All of the varieties offered by Seed Revolution Now are open-pollinated, public domain, and organically grown by skilled certified organic seed farmers. They are either tried and true heritage varieties or new improved selections with characteristics that are especially valuable for organic market gardeners. At times we may offer seeds that carry a royalty charge to compensate breeders for their work, but access to genetic material is never restricted. The following offerings are a representative sampling of available seed.  Contact Steve Peters for the most current seed listing.

Stella Blue Winter Squash

Dark orange flesh is exceptionally sweet and nutty on a high-yielding Hokkaido/Kabocha cross.  This Cucurbita maxima has light slate blue smooth skin. 95-105 days 

Discovered by Bill Reynolds at a local market in northern CA and selected for organic cultivation at his dryland farm in Humbolt County, Stella Blue is a reliable yielder, offering the market grower an excellent medium sized winter squash with a chestnut-like texture that appeals to discening clientele.

Scarlet Runner Bean

Originally from Mexico, and a favorite in the British Isles, this beautiful, long-producing climber is great eating as a snap bean, in the green shell stage, or as a dry bean. Brilliant red-orange flowers attract hummingbirds and butterflies. Excellent quick screen. 90-95 days to dry stage.

Lemon Cucumber

Unusual spherical fruit with thin tender skin and sweet/tart succulent flesh, this is a traditional  backyard favorite for fresh eating. A reliable yielder of 2-3" diameter juicy yellow cukes. Great market variety. 70-75 days

Shiraz Tall Top Beet

This delicious improved dual-purpose beet was developed for organic production, and shows significant resistance to rhizoctonia dry rot. As the name implies, the tops are especially tall and sturdy, and make a wonderful steamed green. It's the result of a five-year breeding collaboration between Organic Seed Alliance crop scientist Dr. John Navasio and organic seed farmers Randy Carey (OR) and Bill Reynolds (CA). 55-60 days

Dark Star Zucchini

Proven superior to hybrid varieties on large organic farms, this drought and frost resistant variety has a sturdy, open habit with 30% more leaf area, and a deep root systems, resulting in strong, healthy, easily harvested plants; a boon to the organic grower. Straight, faceted, glossy dark fruits of high lutein content.  Long harvest window from vigorous plants. 50-55 days

A collaboration between John Navazio, Steve Peters, and Bill Reynolds, perfected on Bill’s dryland farm in northern CA. Bill credits the remarkable qualities of this break-away variety to his dry farming technique.

                                                                                                        A dozen years later, Bill examines his                Dark Star grown in a trial at Full Belly Farm in California's Capay Valley, where it exhibits more vigor under disease stress than their standard hybrid variety. Continuing trials and selections in different environments lead to further crop improvements.

Dragon Carrot

With deep red-violet skin and yellow-orange interior, this is the best tasting purple carrot on the market, with a bit of spiciness. This is another excellent variety bred by John Navazio and selected by skilled Colorado seed farmer Rich Pecoraro. Strong tops for good bunching.  70-80 days

Contact Steve Peters for the most current seed listing and prices. Seed available in quantities from one ounce to ten pounds for most varieties.

505-660-3933

 stevegrows@gmail.com