Capsicum annuum
California Wonder pepper, sweet bell pepper: created in 1928, this variety remains the benchmark for large, blocky peppers. Its thick, crisp flesh and complete lack of heat make it an all-purpose pepper—and one of the few heirloom varieties that industry has never managed to replace.
Characteristics:
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Large, blocky fruits: with thick, meaty flesh, ideal for stuffing or slicing into strips.
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Two harvests in one: bright green at first, it turns red and noticeably sweeter as it ripens.
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No heat: containing no capsaicin, it is suitable for the whole family.
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Suitable for container growing: in the ground or in a pot on a sunny balcony.
Sowing advice:
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Exposure: full sun and warmth. In cool regions, growing under cover significantly improves production.
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Soil: deep, rich, and well drained. In a pot, mix potting soil with coarse sand in a sufficiently deep container.
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Method: sow from February to April under cover, at 20–25 °C: below 18 °C, the seeds will not germinate. Cover with 5 mm of soil. Germination takes 2 to 3 weeks, more slowly than tomatoes. See how to sow seeds.
Planting advice:
- Transplant only when nighttime temperatures exceed 12 °C, spacing plants 50 cm apart. Unlike tomatoes, do not bury the stem: peppers do not form adventitious roots, and a buried crown will rot.
- Stake the plants: branches laden with large fruits break easily.
Care advice:
- Water regularly at the base and avoid fluctuations: irregular watering causes blossom-end rot, the black spot at the end of the fruit. Apply a thick mulch.
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The market gardeners' trick: pinch out the first flower, known as the king flower, which appears at the stem fork. The plant will then branch out more and produce far more fruit afterward.
- Use a three- to four-year crop rotation: do not grow it after tomatoes, aubergines, or potatoes.
Harvesting advice:
- Cut with pruning shears, leaving a piece of stem, rather than pulling the fruit off.
- The choice is yours: harvested green, it is firmer and slightly bitter; left to turn red, it becomes distinctly sweet. Waiting for the red stage does, however, reduce the total number of fruits.
Beneficial companion plants:
Benefits for biodiversity:
- Its white flowers are visited by bees and bumblebees all summer long.
- As a reproducible heirloom variety, growing it helps preserve vegetable-garden diversity in the face of F1 hybrids.
Uses:
- Raw in salads or cut into sticks, stuffed, grilled and peeled, in ratatouille, piperade, or preserved in oil. Its thick flesh holds up particularly well during cooking.
Harvesting your own seeds:
Leave a fine fruit to turn completely red on the plant, open it, remove the seeds, and dry them flat for a few days. Be careful: peppers cross readily with hot peppers grown nearby, so isolate your seed plant if you also grow hot varieties. See how to save your seeds.
Commitment to Quality: at SemiSauvage - Permaculture, we grow and select our seeds with respect for all living things as our guiding principle. Based near the Auvergne Volcanoes, we choose reproducible, non-hybrid varieties, test them for germination rates, and carefully sort and package them without any chemical treatment. Our conviction: to give gardeners back the ability to resow, year after year, seeds that truly belong to them.
The benchmark blocky pepper, green or red depending on your patience.
