In the month of August I’ve been able to enjoy eating romano beans, cucumbers, zucchini and eggplants, all from my own garden. Even my apple trees and my two grapevines are loaded with fruit. But because August was unusually cool here in the Bay area, some of the vegetables, like the tomatoes, didn’t start ripening until the end of the month, which you can see in the photo below. They’re growing on two trellis rows, and are so high that we can no longer tie them down–they are now taller than we are.
The majority of the tomatoes are the San Marzano variety. We brought the seeds from Calabria with us in the 70s when we moved to the Bay Area and my parents have always kept the seeds from year to year, so you are looking at real heirloom tomatoes! I will write a post soon on how to harvest the seeds so that you don’t need to buy them every year.
There are three other tomato varieties I planted along with the San Marzano: an early girl variety, a cuore di bue, or “ox heart”, and sweet 100s, which are cherry tomatoes.
The early girls:
Cuore di bue tomatoes, this one with a cute little horn:
Cherry tomatoes:
My pepper plants are also abundant. We have two varieties: sweet Italian peppers that we eat fresh as they mature in the next few months, and the peppers of Senise that we dry and make into peperoni cruschi, or grind into sweet pepper powder.
Sweet Italian peppers:
Peperoni di Senise:
Peperoncini (hot Calabrian peppers)
When I tell my students that I buy no vegetables during the summer, I can about 80 quarts of tomatoes, and I still have enough produce to use in the cooking classes they attend, they think that I have acres of land. But the length of my back yard is only 50 feet, and the garden is six feet wide. There are also three other sections 20 feet long and three feet wide. We extend the garden a bit by using large pots on the patio, which hold basil, hot peppers, strawberries and even an extra cherry tomato plant that I had no other place to put.
So how does it produce so much? It’s the care and work that my dad puts into it that makes it so abundant.
Here are two pictures that give you a view of my garden, the left side and right side where you can see the pots on the patio. We have another section on the side of the house with a lettuce bed, my zucchini plants, my citrus trees, and a nespolo (loquat) tree.
Here is the left side of my garden: 
Here is the right side:
Not bad for an urban metropolis like Oakland!
{ 25 comments… read them below or add one }
Your garden is beautiful and amazing. I think I’m in love with those Cuore di bue.
Andrea,
Thanks for checking out my garden. I just found your blog and really like it.
I am looking to grow the peperoni di sienese but can’t find the seeds. Do you know how or where I can find them?
thanks
James,
I am not aware of any place that sells the seeds of the Peperoni di Senise. I will send you an e-mail message and if you like I can send you some of my seeds for next year.
Rosetta,
Your gardens are an inspiration.
I too am intrigued with the Peperoni di Senise and would very much like to plant a row of these in my garden next year if you’d be willing to sell me some seeds. I’d ideally like to end up with about 4 dozen plants of these and have no idea how many seeds you may have saved (or are saving.) Would you let me know? Thanks so much!
John
John,
I am happy to share some of my seeds. I will send you a separate e-mail message so you can send me your address.
My husband and I have taken some of your classes. As I was looking over your garden (how amazing!), you mentioned that you have a loquat. We have one too and eat them fresh off the tree. Are there other ways to use or prepare loquats? Love your website and classes! Thank you.
Elein,
We eat them fresh right off the tree, in Calabria I have seen a liquer and jam made with loquats. If you have a lot of them and can’t eat them fresh I would suggest making jam.
I recently visited Basilicata and I fell in love with these peppers. Do you know where I could buy them online? PS – Love your blog
Louis Iacoviello
http://www.OverUnderWear.com
Louis,
Since we grow and dry them ourselves I have never purchased them. Elaine from theitaliandishblog.com told me that she buys them from http://www.dipaloselects.com Hopefully you will be able to buy them also from Di Palo Selects.
Rosetta
What an impressive garden full of all the good things from Italy. I import Italian vegetable seeds from Franchi Sementi into Australia and sell from my website, in shops and at gardening events. I grow a lot of vegetables at home and in a community garden and am familiar with many of the varieties you illustrate.
Lately I have been reading about pepperoni di Senise and would like to buy some seeds.
Best wishes from down under
Geoff
I am growing chilis and peppers in Stockholm, Sweden.
It´s not always that easy so high up north in Europe, but I built a 200 sq feet green house last year ( shabbycandchic.blogspot.com ) and last year was actually quite succesful.
A couple of summers ago I spent some time in Italy where I really learnt to appreciate pepperoni di Senise.
I have been trying too find those peppers (dried) for cooking for quite some time and haven´t had any success and seeds seem impossible to find.
If any of you have been succesful in finding the seeds or would be willing to sell me some, I would be very excited.
/erik
Erik,
You wouldn’t believe how many people have asked me for the seeds of the Peperoni di Senise. I have been spreading my seeds around the world. I am more than happy to send you some of my seeds. I will send you an e-mail message and you can send me your address.
Hopefully they will grow in Stockholm.
I stumbled onto your website while searching for Peperoni di Senise seeds, and would appreciate it if you would also advise me hos I might obtain the same
Thank you for your consideration.
Michael,
I can send you some seeds if you want to plant some.
What a great garden! Thanks for sharing your pictures and ideas. Amazing stuff. I really love your father’s trellis. I trellised my tomato plants last year with wooden stakes and twine. I think this year I’ll try to build one similar to yours since I have a lot of scrap wood and metal pipes hanging around. I was wondering how far apart you space your tomato plant and what the dimensions of your tomato plot are.
Thanks again.
Jill
Jill,
My father plants the tomatoes about 22 to 24 inches apart. The plot where we plant our tomatoes is 30 ft long by 6 feet wide. We plant two rows of tomatoes, about 15 plants in each row.
Rosetta
Hi Rosetta, I just found your blog & website and I’m really enoying it!! There is nothing like farm fresh eggs! My friend has her own chickens and always shares with us. My husband and I love to garden also and was wondering if you might be willing to share some of your Peperoni di Senise seeds with me? I could trade you some of our hot pepper seeds from Isola di Ponza that I brought back in 2006. Thank you for your consideration.
Just stumbled on your web site. Was particularly interested in your pepperoni di senise peppers. We grew some this year from seeds from a friend who brought back dried peppers from Italy. They grew o k but for some reason, they don’t have any seeds. They were in our green house with corno de toro peppers “carmen and italia” that did outstanding. Would they cross pollinate? Anyway, is there any way I could buy some of your seeds as you don’t seem to have that problem. Thanks very much Darrell
Rosetta – I happen to stumble upon you website when I was searching for peperoni di senise. My father used to grow them I was looking for some seeds to grow some here in Georgia. Would you be willing to sell some of those fabulous seeds. We love the peppers and have been unable to locate either seeds or plants. Your garden is absolutely beautiful. It reminds me of my fathers garden. We had no grass in the back yard, it was all vegetable garden and he harvested things from early spring until late fall, and sometimes over the winter with his cold frame. Thank you for bringing back such wonderful memories. It is amazing what love can produce. Thank you.
susan
I absolutely love the photos of your beautiful garden! I wish I could manage to keep mine that neat
By August here the weeds begin getting the better of me although the areas where I have raised beds are not as bad as the rest. I have been looking everywhere for seeds for hot Calabrian peppers like yours. The only ones I am finding are the small round hot peppers like naso di cane or baccio di santana or a cayenne type. Can you put me in touch with a source for the large long hot peppers like yours? Or if you are willing to trade some of your seeds I have seeds of an Italian Heirloom paste tomato that my father gave me after a friend of his brought it back from Italy over 20 years ago. I have been selecting for the largest fruit for the last twenty years, and while it is an indeterminate type, I just let it sprawl or cage it for best production. Most of these tomatoes are in the 12 ounce range(when neglected and water deprived) with many weighing a pound with even modestly favorable growing conditions. All meat and almost no seeds or gel inside. Thank You.
Hi There!
I just stumbled across this posting while looking for peperoni di senise seeds online. I was wondering if I might get in on the seed sharing action. I am desperate to grow some of these peppers after working with them in a butcher shop in Italy. No other pepper I have tasted really comes close to the senise for its mild, sweet heat and hearty flavor.
Please let me know if you are still sharing seed. I would be happy to swap some seeds for some fresh Italian sausages which I make by hand if you are interested.
Grazie,
-Chris
I love your blog thank you so much for all of the info. I am chef in souther california looking for calabrian chilis seeds and can not find them anywhere . I am planning on doing a calabrian pepper roof top garden and and going to fry the chilis in olive oil to make a chili oil to put on my pizza. Primarily the small and short calabrian peppers that you have. I believe they are the senise chilis That you find jarred in olive oil with a little vinegar. I will try cherry peppers to but love the short ones. Can you please send me some seeds. That would be amazing.
Jason
Actually they are the hot red pepperoncini
Hi Rosetta,
I bought your book and it’s amazing! I have cooked from it many times and love it. I live on the Peninsula, so one day would love to take some of your cooking classes as well. Like others in this thread I am coming up short on seeds for some of the great peppers and tomatoes you grow and seems like a shame to not use them in your recipes. Any chance you can share any seeds with me? Looking for the Hot Calabrian Pepper (long) The sweet one, Peperoni di Senise, and of course, San Marzano Tomato. I can’t seem to find these anywhere. Many Thanks! and if you are too overwhelmed by requests or work, any idea where you can get any?
Eddie
(Fingers crossed for seeds in Millbrae,CA.)