Harmony Springs Farm at Exchange Place Spring Garden Fair 2026

112 Precision-Grown Pepper Plant Varieties — Kingsport, Tennessee

Saturday April 25 (10 AM–5 PM) · Sunday April 26 (12 PM–5 PM) · Exchange Place Living History Farm, 4812 Orebank Rd, Kingsport TN 37664

Varieties we will have at the Spring Fair

If you are looking for pepper plants in the Tri-Cities area this spring, one event delivers more variety than anywhere else in the region: the Exchange Place Spring Garden Fair in Kingsport, Tennessee.

This year, Harmony Springs Farm is attending with 112 precision-grown pepper plant varieties — from backyard-friendly jalapeños and Hatch chiles to some of the highest-SHU superhots grown commercially in East Tennessee. Every plant on our table started as a seed in our Blountville facility in January 2026. None were purchased wholesale. None were raised in a climate-controlled commercial greenhouse with no connection to Appalachian growing conditions.

These plants are ready for your garden.

Event Details (Garden Fair)

Exchange Place Spring Garden Fair — 40th Annual

4812 Orebank Rd, Kingsport, TN 37664

Saturday, April 25, 2026: 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM

Sunday, April 26, 2026: 12:00 PM – 5:00 PM

Admission: $5 general | Under 12 free

exchangeplacetn.org

Arrive early. The rare superhot varieties and limited-stock specialty peppers are the first to sell out, typically within the first two hours on Saturday.

What We're Bringing: 112 Varieties, Zero Filler

The 2026 lineup is the most diverse we have ever assembled. Here is the breakdown by category:

39 Superhot Pepper Plants

This is our flagship category. If it clears 500,000 SHU, it's in here.

• Carolina Reaper

• 7 Pot Primo — returning by popular demand

• Jay's Peach Ghost Scorpion

• Tiberius Mauler — one of the rarest varieties at the fair

• Multiple Ghost pepper cultivars (red, chocolate, white)

• Multiple Scorpion varieties (Trinidad, Chocolate, Yellow)

• Additional Capsicum chinense extreme-heat cultivars

Rare superhots are the primary reason collectors and sauce makers drive hours to reach this event. If you have been hunting a specific variety and cannot find it locally, we very likely have it.

16 Jalapeño Varieties

Jalapeños are the most underestimated category at any plant sale. We carry 16 distinct cultivars — not 16 flats of the same supermarket jalapeño.

• Classic jalapeño (multiple heat levels)

• Mammoth jalapeño — thick walls, excellent for poppers

• Deadpool Jalapeño — the standout variety this season, expect it to sell fast

• Specialty and heirloom jalapeño cultivars

9 Hatch Chile Varieties

We heard the requests and responded. Nine Hatch varieties spanning the full mild-to-hot spectrum.

• Mild, medium, hot, and specialty Hatch strains

• Ideal for roasting, stuffing, green chile sauce, and big-batch cooking

• Grown from the same seed-to-seedling protocol as our superhots — no shortcuts

49 Culinary & Specialty Peppers

Nearly half our lineup is built for flavor-first gardeners, home cooks, and market gardeners.

• Cubanelle, Fushimi, Shishito (thin-walled frying types)

• Poblano (ancho when dried)

• Italian frying peppers

• Sweet snacking types

• Smoky, fruity, and specialty cultivars not found at big-box nurseries

Why Harmony Springs Farm Plants Perform Better

We are an engineering-run commercial pepper operation. That distinction changes how we grow plants.

Germinated in January — Not March

Germination Log

Capsicum chinense superhots require long germination windows and extended vegetative development. We start in January specifically so plants arriving at Exchange Place in late April have three to four months of root development — not six weeks. The root mass on our plants is the visible difference between a plant that transplants without shock and one that sulks for two weeks before establishing.

Grown in the Appalachian Foothills

Our facility is in Blountville, Tennessee. Our plants experience the same humidity swings, temperature fluctuations, and light cycles your garden does. They are not being pulled from a heated warehouse in Florida and dropped into East Tennessee spring weather. Hardening-off is standard protocol, not optional.

Daily Monitoring and Documentation

Jennifer has managed daily seedling operations since January — watering schedules, tray rotation, airflow management, thinning, and visual health checks. We maintain germination logs, environmental sensor records, and seedling progression data on every batch. When we say a plant is healthy, we have documentation to support it.

Backed by Engineering Process Control

Harmony Springs Farm applies industrial process-control thinking to every stage of cultivation. Inputs are controlled, outputs are measured, and deviations are corrected. The tagline Precision Grown. Engineer Verified. is not marketing copy — it describes how we actually operate.

We ship fresh pods, powders, and seeds nationwide at harmonypeppers.com — but live plants are available first at events like Exchange Place. If you want plants from our 2026 seedling program, this is your window. Contact us at Harmonypeppers.com if you are unable to attend and would like plants.

Worth the Drive: How Far People Come for Rare Pepper Plants

Exchange Place draws plant buyers from across the Southeast. For rare superhot varieties and engineering-verified seedlings, collectors and sauce makers regularly make long drives. Here is the distance and drive time from common origin cities:

City	Miles	Est. Time	Route
Johnson City, TN	23 mi	~30 min	I-26 W direct
Bristol, TN/VA	25 mi	~30 min	I-81 S or US-11W
Abingdon, VA	40 mi	~45 min	I-81 S
Boone, NC	55 mi	~1 hr 15 min	US-421 S / US-221
Morristown, TN	55 mi	~1 hr	I-81 W
Asheville, NC	82 mi	~1 hr 45 min	I-26 W
Wytheville, VA	85 mi	~1 hr 20 min	I-81 S
Spartanburg, SC	95 mi	~1 hr 45 min	I-26 N
Pigeon Forge, TN	95 mi	~1 hr 45 min	I-40 E to I-81 N
Greenville, SC	110 mi	~2 hrs	I-26 N
Knoxville, TN	102 mi	~1 hr 40 min	I-40 E to I-81 N
Charlotte, NC	150 mi	~2 hrs 45 min	I-85 N / I-77 N
Roanoke, VA	150 mi	~2 hrs 30 min	I-81 N

If you are making the drive, arrive Saturday morning. Rare varieties move fast. By Sunday afternoon, superhot inventory is typically well reduced.

A Note From the Grower

We have been running seedling operations since the first week of January. Hundreds of trays. Thousands of plants. Daily care from Jennifer and consistent monitoring from both of us.

Exchange Place is one of the best plant events in East Tennessee because the crowd is serious about growing. We get to talk actual cultivation with people who want to know soil prep, spacing, fertilizer schedules, and what to do when a superhot starts dropping leaves in July heat. We are not a booth trying to move inventory. We are growers who want your plants to succeed after you get them home.

Come find us at Exchange Place. Bring a box. You are going to need the room.