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Chili peppers
were once a significant agricultural crop in
this area. At the industry’s peak in 1930,
Orange County produced 9,433 tons of peppers,
according to Chris Jepsen at the Orange County
Archives.
Anaheim was the
first to grow chili peppers. A farmer named
Emilio Ortega brought chili pepper seeds to that
settlement in the early 1900s, thus the name
Anaheim Chili. Also called the California chili
or Magdalena, they become chile seco del norte
when dried. Long and green, the Anaheim chili
pepper turns red as it matures. These large and
mild peppers are widely used for chili rellenos
and diced for used in sauces, soups and
casseroles. Although Anaheim became known as a
center for growing and curing chili peppers for
market, farmers in Garden Grove, Huntington
Beach and Tustin also grew chilies. E.C. Utt was
one of the first to plant them as a crop in the
Tustin area.
Pleased with his
success in growing them on his Lemon Heights
acreage along with grapes and peanuts, Utt
proposed the idea of planting chili peppers as
well as lima beans, peanuts and nursery stock
between the rows of young walnut, orange and
lemon trees growing on the San Joaquin Fruit Co.
Ranch.
The San Joaquin
Fruit Co. Ranch was an agricultural enterprise
formed in 1906 when Utt went into partnership
with Sherm Stevens, another Tustin entrepreneur,
and negotiated a 10-year lease for 1,000 acres
of land on the San Joaquin Ranch. James Irvine,
owner of the land, joined Utt and Stevens as a
third partner.
This extremely
successful project encouraged Irvine to plant
extensive citrus and walnut orchards on the
Irvine Ranch. Eventually the San Joaquin Fruit
Co. expanded outside Orange County to develop
agricultural property in Ventura County.
Chilies were
cured like walnuts by being spread out to dry in
the sun until Utt invented the first chili house
dehydrator around 1905. This variation of his
earlier peanut dehydrator reinforced his
reputation as one of Orange County’s most
progressive agriculturists.
When Tustin
growers lost interest in chili peppers sometime
in the late ’30s, Utt bought several hundred
acres of land close to Point Mugu, according to
his grandson, Leigh Robertson. After the land
was drained to rid it of the salt, Utt planted
row crops including peppers.
Despite the
increasing popularity of chili peppers
nationally in southwestern cuisine, the only
chili pepper crops found in Tustin today are in
backyard gardens.
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