Recommended Citation
Rohwer, Charlie; Hoidal, Natalie; Cala Farm; Agua Gorda Farm Cooperative; and Jarl's Produce, "Chile Pepper Variety Evaluation at Four Sites across Minnesota and Wisconsin, 2020" (2021). Midwest Vegetable Trial Reports. Paper 30.
https://docs.lib.purdue.edu/mwvtr/30
Date of this Version
1-4-2021
Keywords
Capsicum, chile pepper, variety trial, jalapeño, serrano, poblano, scoville, drying
Abstract
Latinx fresh market vegetable farmers in Minnesota face numerous barriers to market access. Many Latinx farmers live in rural communities where farmers market sales are low, and opportunities for wholesale are limited. The growers who make up Shared Ground Farmers’ Cooperative have developed an innovative cooperative marketing system to aggregate produce and sell it in Twin Cities markets, but many of the individual farmers involved also wish to find ways to keep the produce they grow in their own communities. This project emerged through a series of discussions about finding niche markets for culturally relevant crops in small-town Mexican restaurants and grocery stores, and creating value-added products. The Shared Ground growers sought out a collaboration with the University of Minnesota to explore the viability of chile pepper production in Minnesota and Wisconsin. This paper reports on 24 chile pepper varieties, trialed at 4 sites across Minnesota and Wisconsin. In addition to yield, we report early-stage results from dehydration tests and Scoville heat unit testing.