Seeing Green: Wood County business growing peppers at West Virginia University at Parkersburg farm

Jun 10, 2023

Around 1,000 pepper plants were planted on a quarter acre of ground at the West Virginia University at Parkersburg Riverhawk Farm as part of a partnership between the university and Pancho Picante, a business based in Washington, W.Va. The peppers will be used to make salsa, hot sauces and spice mixes sold by the business. (Photo by Brett Dunlap)

PARKERSBURG — Peppers grown at the West Virginia University at Parkersburg Riverhawk Farm are going to be used in salsa and hot sauces by a local company.

Javier Santelices, owner of Pancho Picante, planted 1,000 pepper plants on a quarter of an acre he's leasing at the farm. The peppers will be used in salsas, hot sauces and spice mixes made by Pancho Picante based in Washington, W.Va.

Santelices is an Ag Workforce student at the university and has been working over the last year on opening his business, Pancho Picante. He has a Multi-Disciplinary Studies degree from the university with four minors in business, communications, sociology and psychology.

"The Riverhawk Farm is leasing him ground and assisting with the growing of these peppers in order for him to use the product to make the salsa, sauces and spices his business offers," said John Riggs, director of Agriculture at WVU-P. "Javier wanted to use local produce."

The business started in 2020 during the COVID pandemic. Santelices had grown a variety of peppers for a few years and not knowing what to do with them he would make salsa at home.

Javier Santelices, owner of Pancho Picante, and John Riggs, Director of Agriculture at West Virginia University at Parkersburg, stand in the field at the school's Riverhawk Farm where 1,000 pepper plants were planted. The peppers grown on the farm will be used in salsas, hot sauces and spice mixes sold by Pancho Picante, which is based in Washington, W.Va. (Photo by Brett Dunlap)

He usually made so much, he and his wife started sending salsa to friends. After a while they started to get responses back from people wanting more and if he would be selling it.

"After hearing that a few times and COVID happening and not knowing what to do about school, I just decided to go ahead and get a minor in business and try to figure out Pancho Picante," Santelices said.

He has been growing peppers himself for about five years, crossbreeding them in different combinations for the best taste and spiciness. He goes and picks the best-looking ones with the best taste and takes the seeds from those for planting.

"We now have a good selection of peppers here that we are going to be using," Santelices said.

The Riverhawk Farm is already growing potatoes for the Mister Bee Potato Chip Co. and has been looking for other partnerships.

Javier Santelices, owner of Pancho Picante, and John Riggs, Director of Agriculture at West Virginia University at Parkersburg, check on pepper plants recently planted at the university's Riverhawk Farm. The peppers being grown at the farm will be used in products sold by Pancho Picante. (Photo by Brett Dunlap)

"We are really happy to help Javier grow his business as well as grow agriculture within the Mid-Ohio Valley," Riggs said.

Each pepper plant will yield, depending on the variety, several pounds of peppers. Peppers are picked in the fall to early winter when the spicier variety will be ready. Some peppers can take over 180 days, around six months, to ripen from seed to pepper.

"They take a long time," Santelices said.

Some jalapenos are ready in 90 days from planting, but the spicier varieties take longer to grow and ripen.

Santelices said Pancho Picante recently got a food manufacturing license and a 10-by-6 trailer has been converted into a food truck and manufacturing facility.

Maggy Criser, a student worker at the West Virginia University at Parkersburg Riverhawk Farm, and Javier Santelices, owner of Pancho Picante, recently planted 1,000 pepper plants on a quarter acre of ground at the farm. The plants are part of a partnership between the university and Pancho Picante to grow peppers for salsas, hot sauces and spice mixes made by the company. (Photo Provided)

Much of the work is done by hand, such as dehydrating garlic and onions and processing the peppers to be smoked, roasted or toasted to bring out the best taste, Santelices said.

"We do everything by hand," he said. "We do extremely small batches, that way I can control and maintain the process myself. I’m not doing big batches that I can't control. Every pepper touches my hand, because I want to be sure it is perfect."

Santelices is originally from California and many of the pests that have bothered pepper plants in California are not present in West Virginia, but the plants do require daily checks.

"I go out every day and check them," Santelices said. "The plants talk to you depending on how the leaves are, what color they are, what the variations are, how they look, how their striations are, they are telling you exactly what they need."

If plants need calcium, the leaves slightly wrinkle, he said. If it is magnesium, the veins turn yellow. If it is nitrogen, the whole leaf starts to turn yellow.

He addresses those needs and the physical needs of the plant, too, like tying up the stems to prevent the weight of the peppers from breaking the branches. Some plants will be 6 feet tall.

The plants will also need supplements of water, because they are nutrient and water hungry, Santelices said.

Riggs estimates it will take an inch of rainfall a week to supply the plants with their water needs.

"We have an irrigation system setup and in place so Javier can grow the best peppers he can," Riggs said.

They have specialty equipment, like the rain flow bedmaker and the rain flow water wheel transplanter to help supply the plants with what they need.

Santelices’ father is from Mexico and his mother was from Spain. He talked about how many family gatherings centered around good food and good times.

His father, Francisco, was nicknamed "Pancho" and his company is named after him. Although his father is still alive, Santelices said that just adds to the pressure of putting out a good product because his father will be judging it.

"Good food puts you in a good mood," he said. "We are trying to give people a reason to gather and enjoy being with each other."

Brett Dunlap can be reached at [email protected]

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For more information on Riverhawk Farm, email [email protected]. For more information on Pancho Picante, check out the website at panchopicante.com and PanchoPicante on Facebook and Instagram.

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