© 2025
NPR News, Colorado Stories
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
In the NoCo

Meet the man who gave Colorado its own signature chile pepper – and sparked a rivalry with New Mexico

Mike Bartolo, a man in a green shirt and olive green Colorado State University ball cap, stands in a corn field holding two green chile peppers, one in each hand.
Photo of Mike Bartolo by William A. Cotton
/
Colorado State University
"Everybody will have a certain idea what the perfect prototype of a chile pepper is," says retired Colorado State University agriculture specialist Mike Bartolo. "I guess the test is in if people are going to be able to use it and incorporate it into the dishes that they truly love."

Visit any farmers’ market in Colorado and you’ll see long lines of people waiting to buy produce that’s grown in the state.

And when fall arrives... it’s all about Pueblo chiles. The tantalizing aroma of those dark green peppers roasting as they spin in large metal tumblers fills the crisp autumn air. People often buy extra bags of them – some to use now, some to freeze for use during the chilly winter months.

But the popularity of those Colorado-grown peppers is a relatively recent phenomenon. Although farmers in Pueblo and other parts of Colorado have been growing different kinds of peppers for decades, Colorado didn’t really have its own signature variety of chile until the early 2000s.

That’s when Dr. Michael Bartolo, an agriculture professor with Colorado State University, developed the unique Mosco variety of the Pueblo chile. And in a few short years, they’ve become a regional rival to New Mexico’s more famous Hatch chiles.

ITN host Erin O’Toole spoke with the now-retired Bartolo to learn more about what makes the Pueblo chile so beloved – and why he thinks green chile is such a source of pride for many Coloradans.

KUNC's In The NoCo is a daily slice of stories, news, people and issues. It's a window to the communities along the Colorado Rocky Mountains. The show brings context and insight to the stories of the day, often elevating unheard voices in the process. And because life in Northern Colorado is a balance of work and play, we celebrate the lighter side of things here, too.
As the host of KUNC’s new program and podcast In the NoCo, I work closely with our producers and reporters to bring context and diverse perspectives to the important issues of the day. Northern Colorado is such a diverse and growing region, brimming with history, culture, music, education, civic engagement, and amazing outdoor recreation. I love finding the stories and voices that reflect what makes NoCo such an extraordinary place to live.
Ariel Lavery grew up in Louisville, Colorado and has returned to the Front Range after spending over 25 years moving around the country. She co-created the podcast Middle of Everywhere for WKMS, Murray State University’s NPR member station, and won Public Media Journalism awards in every season she produced for Middle of Everywhere. Her most recent series project is "The Burn Scar", published with The Modern West podcast. In it, she chronicles two years of her family’s financial and emotional struggle following the loss of her childhood home in the Marshall Fire.