Farm Fresh Chilies & Peppers

Farm Fresh Chilies & Peppers

Arizona's Chili Pepper farmer Ed Curry is intense about his chilis! His genetic work led to a pepper thats the standard of the green and red chili in the country. His chili seeds are sold all over the world including Hatch, NM. The home of the famous Hatch Chilis. He details his history and work with chilis. A lively conversation!!

Farming in Pearce, Arizona all his life, Curry is a fourth-generation farmer. His grandfather and great-grandfather farmed land in Oklahoma.

Curry and his family grow beans, corn, watermelon, but mostly peppers of all kinds on several thousand acres of land. He's grown just about every type of leafy green that exists too. In fact, he calls lettuce the "race car driving event in the agriculture world" because from planting to harvest the time to final harvest is so fast.

With his chili peppers, he's focusing mainly on the genetic work. He sells his chili seeds to farmers all over the world including all the chili farmers in New Mexico. Yes, Hatch, New Mexico is famous for their chilis. But they're getting their high-quality seed from an Arizona farmer.

"I love farming," says Curry. "You need to do what you love in life and I love farming."

In the 1980s, Curry developed a pepper that was mild in heat. This pepper variety, known as "Arizona 20," is now the standard of the green and red chili in the United States. Curry also strives to create the perfect shaped and sized pepper that food suppliers need. In the farming industry, the genetic origins for 80 to 90 percent of the chilis grown commercially in the U.S. can be traced back to Curry's farm in Arizona.

With more than 79 varieties of chili peppers, Curry can tell you just about everything there is to know about chili peppers. Peppers are believed to be one of the first plants to have been domesticated, with seeds from over 6000 years ago found in Peru and Mexico.

Farm Fresh | #Chilies & #Peppers 

Meet Cochise, Arizona Chili Farmer Ed Curry:

Recipe:

Jan D'Atri's Guacamole Salsa Chicken Enchiladas 

PODCAST 

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