Tour and Tasting at Nobska Farms in Woods Hole

On Sunday, September 15 from 2-4pm, you can taste hot peppers from around the world at a tiny farm in Woods Hole, and help raise funds for the Woods Hole Library at the same time.

A "hobby gone wild" is how Rooster and Marianne Fricke describe their Woods Hole micro-farm, tucked behind their house on Nobska Road in Woods Hole. After a lifetime of unusual learning experiences (camping in the Arctic while doing academic research; small-scale commercial beekeeping in Texas), the couple settled in Woods Hole in 2003, where Nobska Farms grew out of their interest in gardening and Rooster's love of peppers.

The micro-farm specializes in growing exotic, rare, hard-to-find, and super-hot chili peppers from which they create products for commercial sale with names such as "Demon Dust Chili Powder", "Rooster’s Spicy Ghost Pepper Chocolate", and "Pocket Rocket Hot Sauce". The farm caters to chili enthusiasts and regional chefs and Rooster and Marianne can often be found at regional farmers' markets.

The farm began as a summertime activity but expanded to a year-round operation with the acquisition of a greenhouse, which has allowed them to continue production despite New England winters. The operation has sustainability as a core principle: the farm minimizes use of electricity, fuel, fertilizer, and water and focuses on collecting as much as possible of what comes out of the sky. As Rooster says, "in come sunshine and rainwater, out go chili peppers." Rooster is interested not only in producing peppers, but in developing growing systems that can be tailored to intensive food production for other crops. Research is ongoing to develop ways to increase production through the application of science and technology in integrated systems.

Come join Rooster and Marianne Fricke at Nobska Farms and learn about how peppers traveled from their South American beginnings to every continent. Enjoy a guided tour, finger food, and stories. Learn about the hundreds of varieties of peppers they’ve grown over the last seven years and see the peppers in their glory while benefiting the Woods Hole Library. Nobska Farms products will be available for purchase.