Ralph Thompson's Squash Pepper
Item Details
Donated to Seed Savers Exchange by Hugh and Barbara Havercamp. Passed down from Barbara’s father, Ralph Mead Thompson of Woburn, MA. Originally from Italian immigrants who came to Boston as indentured servants. Red fruit, saucer shaped with strong ribbing. Highly productive. Sweet flavor with medium-high heat.
- 80-90 days from transplant
- ±4,000 seeds/oz
- Organic
- Mild to medium hot pepper
- Red fruit is saucer shaped with strong ribbing
- Highly productive
This variety works for:
- Fresh eating
- Roasting
- Salsa
- Pickling
- Drying
This pepper is: MILD to MEDIUM HOT
Wear rubber gloves when processing hot peppers and do not touch your eyes. If you are sensitive to the heat, make sure to wear a mask over your mouth and nose and protect your eyes.
The Havercamp family uses this pepper for drying, making mustard with the seeds, and canning hot pepper relish.
Try adding this pepper to salsa recipes. You can also try making your own hot sauce with these peppers. Sauté them with olive oil, garlic, onion and salt, and after about 4 minutes add 2 cups of water. Heat the mixture for 20 minutes and then allow it to cool to room temperature before pureeing it in a food processor and adding vinegar.
Growing Instructions
Instructions - Sow seeds indoors ¼” deep. Peppers germinate best in warm soil, so gentle bottom heat may be helpful until seedlings emerge. Wait to transplant outdoors until soil is warm.
- Start Indoors: 8 weeks before last frost
- Germination: 14 Days
- Plant Outdoors: 12-24” Apart
- Light: Full Sun
Ratings & Reviews
5 reviews
Our Favorite Seed Saver Pepper!!!
by Ted Van Deventer
What a wonderful pepper! Very productive, great heat, strong yet not overpowering. We have frozen these every year, they are a great add to a dip or chili.
One of our favorite peppers!
by Monica
Love, love, love! The sweet-hot flavor is delicious. I've pickled these a few years in a row -- the flavor holds up very well. They can be used in anything or are great right out of the jar. I save seeds every year in case they ever go away!
Versatile Pepper
by Rick G
This pepper is greatI Excellent yield in zone 7a. Perfect Heat, also sweet. Great for making Hot Sauce, Dried Red Pepper Flake. I expect pickling would be good too. My next move is to take the seeds out and stuff them with cheese. I believe these will be my go to pepper. Also saving seeds like the other reviewer, in case they go extinct.
Good golly miss Molly!
by Amy S
Way spicier than I thought they would be! I was expecting just a little “nip“ of spiciness, but I actually couldn’t eat these peppers right off the plant because they’re too spicy for me. That being said, they are nothing close to jalapeños or true “spicy“ peppers, I just don’t like spicy food. My husband, on the other hand, absolutely loves these! Absolutely excellent germination rate. And an even better fruit bearing rate! The peppers themselves are not very large, smaller than the normal “bell pepper“ that you purchase in a grocery store. They’re about 2” tall and about 3” or so in diameter. as far as production though, you can’t go wrong with these guys. I was amazed with how many peppers I got in one year off one plant! I will plant them again next gardening season, but I will not plant near as many! I do recommend. Just be aware that they are not sweet—they’re spicy!
Greensboro, NC
Zone 7B
Grow Great..but hot!
by Dianne
Well these grew very well the last few years for me however, they are nowhere near being mild to hot! They are in my opinion extremely hot and, I do not understand why they are listed in the search for sweet peppers! I had ordered these a few years back based on the picture alone so imagine my surprise when I bit into one and nearly died from the heat!