Bull Nose Sweet Pepper is an heirloom that carries genuine American history in its fruit. This medium-large bell pepper was a favorite in early gardens, including Thomas Jefferson's own plot at Monticello, and remains one of the first bell-type peppers developed in America. The strain you'll grow today likely dates to the mid-to-late 1800s and typically produces good-sized peppers ready to harvest in 70 to 85 days. Grown as a tender annual outside frost-free zones, it thrives in full sun with moderate water and moderate warmth, rewarding patient gardeners with delicious fruit equally at home in fresh salads or cooked dishes.
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Bull Nose carries the romance of American agricultural heritage, still grown at Monticello today alongside the variety Jefferson himself tended. The peppers are notably larger than what early American gardeners cultivated, giving modern growers a robust, generous plant. This is a pepper with genuine flavor for the kitchen and a story worth telling to anyone who tastes it, making it as rewarding to grow for its narrative as for its harvest.
Fresh Bull Nose peppers shine in salads, where their good size and sweet flavor are showcased raw alongside other vegetables. They cook beautifully too, mellowing and deepening in flavor when roasted, sautéed, or stuffed. The substantial flesh handles stuffing well, holding together through baking. Many gardeners preserve them by drying, freezing, or canning for winter use.
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Start seeds indoors 6 to 8 weeks before your last expected frost date. Maintain soil temperature between 70 and 85 degrees Fahrenheit for reliable germination. Seeds typically sprout within 7 to 14 days under these conditions. Keep seedlings under bright light once they emerge, and maintain warmth until transplant time.
Harden off seedlings gradually over 7 to 10 days before moving them outside. Transplant once nighttime temperatures consistently reach 70 degrees Fahrenheit and all frost danger has passed. Space plants 18 inches apart in their final location. Water gently after transplanting to settle soil around roots.
Peppers can be harvested green or allowed to mature to red for sweeter flavor and higher vitamin content. Pick peppers when they reach good size, typically after 70 to 85 days from transplant. Use a clean knife or pruners to cut fruit from the stem rather than pulling, which can damage the plant. Harvest regularly to encourage continued production throughout the growing season.
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“Bull Nose Sweet Pepper's journey begins in early America, where it earned its place in home gardens and the kitchen gardens of founding farmers. Thomas Jefferson grew the original Bull Nose at Monticello, where it continues to be cultivated today as a living connection to 18th-century American horticulture. The strain circulating among gardeners now likely evolved during the mid-to-late 1800s, as seed savers and farmers selected for larger, more productive fruit. Unlike many vegetables lost to industrial agriculture, Bull Nose was rescued and preserved by heirloom seed companies, ensuring that modern gardeners could grow the same pepper that graced American tables for generations.”