Sweet Goccia D'Oro Pepper (Capsicum annuum)
"Drop of gold pepper" - That's what the Italians call this old sweet heirloom and the name fits. These large super-sweet peppers start green, turn to gold and then are dark orange and red when fully ripe. The huge blocky fruits grow up to 10" long so you'll definitely want to stake the tall 30" plants!
The skin of Goccia D'Oro is thin which makes this an excellent frying pepper. Nearly all the Italians we know who grow this variety insist that frying is the best way to enjoy the peppers, especially since the thick meat of the peppers get wonderfully soft too. While we know better than to disagree with our Italian friends and family to their faces, we love to eat Goccia D'Oro peppers fresh and they make a great salad pepper too.
The flavor of Goccia D'Oro is sweet and fruity without a hint of heat and the variety is an early to mid-season pepper in our zone 7B garden. Note: While the pepper is sweet and delicious throughout all stages of ripeness, we've found that peak sweetness is when the fruits have turned from green to gold.
Origin: Here's where things get a little tricky! We have cousins who live in Ospedaletti, Italy on the Ligurian coast just across the border from France. The parent seed of our Goccia D'Oro came from their garden where it has been grown for generations. They claim, with enthusiastic hand gestures, that the variety originated in their region. However, friends of our in Tuscany, who gave us our parent Sweet Nonna Pepper seeds, insist that the variety is Tuscan through and through. As with many old heirloom varieties, it's hard to trace an exact origin but this pepper is definitely Italian and the precise origin may not ever be known.
(Approximately 20 seeds per packet)
Germination Rate: All of our seed varieties exceed 80% germination and are re-tested every 6 months.
Planting Instructions: We recommend starting peppers indoors in a sunny and warm location 4-6 weeks before last frost in spring. Plant outdoors in full sun after danger of frost in spring. Note: pepper seeds need soil temperatures to be at least 70 F to germinate and we use a heating pad under the seedling tray to maintain temperature.
