The pods of this beloved heirloom are highly rippled.
Jimmy Nardello was a Connecticut gardener whose sweet peppers were--and still are--much adored for their ripply skin, sugary sweetness (when ripe), and sheer abundance: they are undoubtedly one of the highest yielding sweet peppers anywhere. The peppers are small to medium in size--about one inch in diameter and six to eight inches in length. One of the easiest peppers to grow in the northeast. (And one of the very few vegetables that our old dog, Kale, wouldn't eat!).
Jimmy Nardello is part of Slow Foods US Ark of Taste, a catalog of over 200 delicious foods in danger of extinction. By promoting, sowing, and growing Ark products we help ensure they remain in production and on our plates.
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Growing instructions
Pepper seed requires heat to germinate; it just won't do much in cool soil. So the first trick is to find a spot that is steadily warm; usinag a heat mat is ideal, but above the fridge may work, as might a spot near the woodstove. Sow pepper seeds at least 6-8 weeks before your last frost date; they mature later in the season than tomatoes, and to get a good crop of ripe peppers requires an early start. (If you prefer green peppers, you've got more flexibility.)
Sow peppers about a quarter-inch deep in soil blocks or plug trays. Give them a good ten to fourteen days to germinate before thinking of giving up on them. Once up, peppers grow quite slowly when young and, again, require warmth to grow quickly.
Peppers should not be transplanted until the weather is settled, usually about two weeks after tomatoes go in. Space them about 18" apart. Row cover provides a warm microclimate for quicker growth. Although most pepper plants stay much smaller than tomato vines, their stems are weak and, when loaded with fruit, they tend to blow over in late summer storms. They can easily be staked to prevent this.
