Other Vegetable Starts-OLD

ARTICHOKE

Violetto di Chioggia – 120 days, heirloom. This Italian variety is known for its purple-green heads and has been grown in northeastern Italy for more than 2,000 years!

ASPARAGUS

• JERSEY KNIGHT – Bundled roots. All-male hybrid with bigger spears. Does not make seed, so doesn’t become weedy. Best selection for dense clay soils. Very productive and disease-resistant.  Zone 2.

• PURPLE PASSION – Bundled roots. Beautiful deep burgundy-colored spears with high sugar content, tender, less stringy, great raw in salads. Zone 2

BROCCOLI

• ARCADIA – 94 days hybrid.
• Rugged plants stand up to heat, cold, mildew; refined heads in summer hold well, good side-shoot production.

• DI CICCIO – 60-70 days from transplant, Heirloom, OP.Considered one of the finest tasting broccoli. Vigorous plants produce heavy crops of 3-4 inch wide, blue-green, central heads. Naturally staggered maturity and good side-shoot production make De Ciccio an excellent choice for extended harvests. An Italian heirloom from 1890.

• FIESTA – 86 days, hybrid.Compact plants, tight domed heads, big side-shoots, stands hot, cold

• Gypsy – 60-65 days, hybrid. A very adaptable variety with a strong root system for summer or autumn crops, with uniform, well-domed heads with a medium-small bead size and medium-sized stem. Large, healthy plants tolerate heat and have some resistance to downy mildew.

• Happy Rich hyb. (mini broccoli) – 55 days, F1 hybrid.A great variety for successful summer broccoli production. Uniform, vigorous, dark-green plants produce jumbo-size florets that resemble mini heads of broccoli, and have an excellent, sweet, broccoli flavor. Produces ample amounts of side shoots when first floret is pinched out and plants are spaced 12-18″ apart.

• NUTRIBUD – 58 days, open pollinated. Nutritious, large heads, many side-shoots, delicious mild flavor, very early

BROCCOLI RAAB and other broccoli-like vegetables:

• ASPABROC – 50-60 days, OP. A gourmet variety with exceptional flavor and texture, from top to bottom, Aspabroc is the original Broccolini, developed more than 20 years ago, a cross of Italian Sprouting broccoli and Chinese Kale (Gai Lan), a leafy, thick-stemmed type with fabulous flavor. The asparagus look and texture of its slender, succulent stems, and peppery-sweet bite of its broccoli flavor inspired the name. Very high-yielding; the key to harvesting Aspabroc is to cut the tiny central head as soon as it’s formed, to promote great side-shoot production for many weeks to come. Asprabroc will thrive in spring or fall, but isn’t as frost-tolerant as heading broccoli. Protect with Row Cover cloth in freezing temperatures. Plants reach 20-24” and should be spaced about 8-10” apart. Great in containers too!

• CAVOLO/SPIGARIELLO/LEAF BROCCOLI – 65 days, open pollinated, heirloom. Instead of heads this Italian heirloom produces sweet, broccoli-flavored leaves and tops over a long season.  The more you cut, the more you get!  Pick as needed for soups, stews, pasta, ravioli-stuffing, stir-fries and salads.  A gourmet treat used in the traditional Italian soup ‘Minestra’, hence the name.

• RAPINI – 60-70 days. An Italian non-heading broccoli grown for flavorful, asparagus-like spring shoots and leaves. Great to cook or in salads. Best when grown in cool weather.

CABBAGE
Cabbage is a low calorie food, an excellent source of vitamin C, and contains significant amounts of glutamine, an amino acid with anti-inflammatory properties. Cabbage is an annual cool-season crop, hardy to frost and light freezes. Plant in rows 2 1/2 feet apart, with 12-16 inches between plants.

• ALL SEASONS – 65 to 90 days, Heirloom, Open-pollinated. Also known as ‘Vandergaw’, this 1886 American heirloom cabbage is very reliable, heat resistant, fine-flavored and produces light green, symmetrical, hard heads 10-12” in diameter, weighing ~12lb., round but flattened on top. A superior all-purpose variety useful for early, intermediate and late season harvests. Great for salads, sauerkraut. Also resistant to ‘yellows’.

• RED ACRE – Open pollinated. Solid, round red-purple heads weighing 2-4 lbs.  Compact, sure-heading, stores well. Good size for raised beds, small gardens.

CAULIFLOWER

• EARLY SNOWBALL’ – 55 days, heirloom, OP.Heads are about 5-6” across (3-5 lb.) and quite erect; smooth tops are pure white and mature uniformly. Plants are medium sized with good foliage cover, and foliage is tasty, too.  Cauliflower is a heavy feeder, so transplant into rich, well composted soil and side dress w/ organic fertilizer when buds begin to form.

• GRAFFITI PURPLE – 80 days, hybrid. Delicious, gorgeous heads are brilliant purple raw & cooked, self-blanching, high in antioxidants.

• PUNTOVERDE (Romanesco type)   NEW! 78 days, Hybrid. An excellent variety of the amazing, delicious, glowing green fractal-headed Romanesco Cauliflower/Broccoli! Strong, rugged plants produce almost-too-beautiful-to-eat, high-quality heads for summer or fall harvest. Considered the most reliable all-season Romanesco, and outperforms typical Romanesco types under stressful weather conditions.

• Violetta Italia – 85 days, Open-pollinated, Italian heirloom. 
• Stunning, large, bright purple cauliflowers, which turn bright green when cooked. Delicious raw, cooked or steamed. This purple variety also boasts high levels of anthocyanin, which can slow clotting and prevent heart disease. Easy-to-grow vigorous plants.

CUCUMBERS

• ARMENIAN – 65 days, heirloom. 12-18″ crisp, juicy, sweet, burpless, tolerates dry, hot

• BROWN RUSSIAN

• BUSH CHAMPION – Open pollinated. Tasty, crisp, bright green 11″ slicing cukes on very compact prolific plant, even in pots

• DIVA – 58 days, hybrid. Sweet, crisp, seedless, no peeling, disease resistant

• HOMEMADE PICKLES – 55 days, open pollinated. Perfect for 1″-5″ pickles, solid, crisp, also great fresh

• MARKETMORE 76.70 days, Open pollinated. Highly reliable, long-bearing, very sweet fresh slicing cuke, a home-garden favorite.

• PARADE – NEW – 50-60 days, heirloom, OP. Russian heirloom that tolerates weather extremes, sets heavy yields of uniform 5’x2″ fruits maturing in a short period of time, making them good for processing.  Also good fresh – sweet and crunchy.

• SALT & PEPPER.49 days, Open pollinated. A white-skinned pickling cucumber with powdery mildew resistance. The 3–5″ fruits have good flavor and disease resistance. Black spines.

• SILVER SLICER – Open pollinated, 54 days. A great slicer with excellent flavor and lovely creamy white, thin, smooth skin. Fruits are 2” wide, 5-6” long, similar to Boothby Blonde with a longer, narrower shape and better flavor. Bred by Cornell University for resistance to powdery mildew. Superb juicy, sweet and mild flavor and good crunch.
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EGGPLANT

• BLACK BEAUTY: heirloom, 80 days. Large, firm, oval, glossy, deep purple fruits with excellent flavor & quality are borne on attractive, vigorous, compact 21” to 30” plants. Adapts well to a variety of conditions. Fruits are broad and sometimes beautifully ‘fluted”.

• CASPER   NEW! 70-75 days, Open-Pollinated.Medium size (5-6” long), very attractive, Japanese-type, smooth ivory-white fruit that has a very mild mushroom-like flavor. Flesh is silky and tender, without bitterness. Prolific and easy to grow, tolerant of cooler conditions. Fruit ripens early and often bears right up to frost. An excellent variety for home gardeners.

• GALINE – 72 days, hyb., Early, dependable Italian-style eggplant, mild, creamy-fleshed fruits averaging 1 lb., with glossy black skin.

• LISTADA de GANDIA – 80 days, Heirloom. Old heirloom from the renowned vegetable growing province of Valencia, on the Mediterranean coast of Spain. Beautiful oval fruits are 5-8″ long with beautiful white and purple stripes, tender flesh, excellent flavor and very thin skin that does not require peeling.  Very attractive plants are small, 14” tall, and produce heavy yields. Thrives in full sun and hot weather. Can be grown in containers.

• LONG PURPLE Asian type – 75 days, Open-Pollinated. Good yields of tasty 12″ long by 2 ½” wide dark purple eggplants. A large Asian-type from India, very flavorful and tender.

• PALOMA   NEW! 65 days, Hybrid. Very early for an Italian-style eggplant! Paloma’s beautiful, plump bell-shaped fruits have gleaming white thin skin and distinctive ribbing. Fruits are 5.5” long and 4” diameter, and weigh more than a pound. Their flavor is delicate and sweet, with creamy texture and few seeds. Plants are productive, short, healthy and vigorous.

• PINGTUNG LONG . 58 days, F-1 hybrid. A prolific Long Chinese eggplant named for a town in Taiwan that produces 11″ long glossy purple fruit with sweet, bitter-free flesh. Starts producing early for a good overall yield and can bear as many as 20 fruits each. The erect plants are stress-tolerant, very sturdy, vigorous and resistant to bacterial wilt, and. Great for cooks who prefer to work with uniform slices. Its light purple color is especially attractive if harvested before full maturity. As it approaches its full 11″, its skin darkens but retains a pleasing sheen.

• PROSPEROSA: 65 days, OP. Baseball-sized round deep violet, prolific, delicious Tuscan heirloom.

• ROSA BIANCA – 80-85 days, Heirloom OP.A lovely Sicilian variety with rosy pink fruit streaked with white and violet. Plump, rounded 5-6” fruits have mild, creamy flavor adored by chefs, no bitterness and few seeds. Perfect for slicing, baking, roasting. Good yields on 2’ tall plants.

• SLIM JIM Asian-type Eggplant. 60 days, Open Pollinated.An exceptional ornamental edible, with striking, very dark purple foliage and iridescent violet flowers leading to early, high yields of mild, non-bitter, beautiful long and slim purple eggplants which can be harvested as baby eggplants, or allowed to mature to 5” long. It’s a knockout planted near contrasting plants such as lime-green Seafoam Swiss Chard, and/or flowers like Zinnia, Marigold, or Dahlia in hot colors – orange, gold, scarlet, fucshia. Slim Jim grows to about 36” tall and can be grown in a large pot.

GREENS

• AMARANTH: Hopi Red Dye

• KALE: Baltisk Red Purple, Dwarf Blue Curled, Red Russian, Tuscan (syn. Lacinato, Dinosaur, Nero di Toscana), White Russian, Winterbor, and more!

• BALTISK PURPLE KALE – 64 days, heirloom, open-pollinated. An incomparable ornamental edible, this stunningly beautiful heirloom variety originated in the Baltic states (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania). The whole plant is deep purple-red, especially after frost, and the frilly leaves are super curly. Sturdy 2′ tall plants have highly nutritious, medium-sized foliage and are very cold-hardy. The mild-flavored leaves turn dark green when cooked.

• Winterbor Kale: 60 days, hybrid. One of the most winter-hardy kales, with finely curled, thick, blue-green leaves.  Very vigorous, up to 2’ tall, with abundant fancy ruffled leaves great for salads, sauté, etc.  lends itself to successive cuttings. Really sweet and juicy after a light frosts! Tolerates frost and snow. For fall crop.

LETTUCE: Anuenue, Buttercrunch, Farmer’s Market Mesclun, Forellenschluss, Jericho Romaine, Little Gem, Red Romaine, Skyphos, Tom Thumb, Winter Density, Leaf, Heirlooms, Reds, Greens, Purples, Speckled, and more!

Freckles – 55-70 days. This heirloom is a classic romaine with beautiful, tender, glossy, apple-green leaves splashed with maroon-red speckles. A heat and sun tolerant, long-standing variety that resembles Speckles Butterhead but with more substantial leaves that have a crisp, slightly bitter flavor.

LEEKS: Bleu de Solaize, King Richard, American Flag

SPINACH: Tyee hyb., Space, Giant Nobel, Perennial/Hablitzia

• Caucasian Mountain Spinach (Hablitzia tamnoides): Perennial Vine hardy in Zone 3-6. Though small and slow-growing in its first year, this edible wild plant will need trellising for its many well-branched stems. Like our familiar spinach, it’s a member of the Amaranth family. Originating in the Caucasus, it is a very hardy perennial, growing 6–9′ long for 2–3 months in the very early spring when few other edible greens have surfaced. It’s also tasty: both early shoots and subsequent leaves make a delicious and tender spinach-like vegetable without any bitterness. It’s also beautiful, and was introduced into Sweden around 1870 as an attractive vine to screen houses with its heart-shaped leaves. Emerging shoots are green and red. And, finally, though it is best grown in sun to maximize its productivity, it will also do well in its native habitat, the understory of temperate forests. Leaves and shoots are eaten raw or cooked. Flavor is said to be similar to nettles. A cultivated sensation in Scandinavia where, in the short northern growing season, the Spinach Vine will put on nine to twelve feet of bushy growth.

• Spinach ‘Space’ –Smooth, dark green, spoon shaped leaves, resistant to bolting due to high proportion of female plants. 41 days

SWISS CHARD: Bright Lights, Fordhook Giant, Perpetual Spinach, Red Rhubarb Chard

OTHER GREENS:

Arugula ‘Adagio’ – 30-40 days, OP. Arugula Adagio is bred to withstand the heat of summer. It is slower to bolt that all other Arugula types. The nutty, spicy flavour remains in this outstanding warm weather salad green. Try some chopped to top fresh vegetable soup.

Kohlrabi ‘Winner’, Tatsoi, Pak Choi, Radicchio, Senposai, Sorrel, Tatsoi, Mizuna, Yokata-na, and more!

MELONS: Jenny Lind, Minnesota Midget, Noire des Carmes

ONIONS:

• COPRA –(Yellow, storage) plants, 104 days, ~30 per half-bundle or ~60 per bundle

• REDWING – (red, storage) plants, 115 days, ~30 per half-bundle or ~60 per bundle

• WALLA WALLA – (yellow, sweet) plants, ~30 per half-bundle or ~60 per bundle

• SPECIALTY VARIETIES – in pots (Ailsa Craig, Red Marble, Cippolini, and more)

POTATOES:

• GERMAN BUTTERBALL (‘seed’ potato) – (heirloom yellow).German Butterball offers everything you could want in a potato: heirloom quality, deep golden flesh, and a delightfully mild flavor.  Versatile for every kind of preparation.  Best if harvested when small to medium sized. Superior storage.  Approximately 110 days to maturity.

• KENNEBEC:Kennebec is an excellent, widely adapted, medium to late, all-purpose, white potato, bred by the USDA in 1941. This fast-growing variety has high yields of round to oblong tubers with shallow eyes, buff skin and white flesh that maintain good quality in storage. Plants do best when planted at 8-10” spacing to avoid overly-large tubers. The ivory flesh is firm and starchy with minimal water content and offers a rich, earthy and nutty flavor. Excels as a frying potato (fries, hash browns, chips, etc.) and is well suited for baking, mashing or roasting. Kennebec potatoes keep their shape when cooked, perfect for potato salads, curries, soups, stews. Resistant to Potato Virus A and Potato Virus Y; moderate resistance to Potato Virus S, Potato Virus X, blackleg, and foliage late blight.

• MOUNTAIN ROSE (‘seed’ potato).Red inside and out! Bred in & for Colorado. Excellent as potato chips, French fries, oven fries, and also great for baking, mashing, and Fourth of July potato salads. High in antioxidants!  Early to Mid-season

• PURPLE MAJESTY (‘seed’ potato).Uniform, high-yield, deep purple skin and flesh, very high in anthocyanins (high-potency antioxidant) Bred in & for Colorado

SQUASH, SUMMER:

• BLACK ZUCCHINI – 50 days, OP, heirloom standard

• COSTATA ROMANESCA – 55 days, heirloom, ranked best-tasting zucchini, vigorous, large

• EARLY SUMMER YELLOW CROOKNECK

• JACKPOT HYBRID ZUCCHINI

• RONDE DE NICE – 50 days, heirloom, delicious, spherical, light green fruits to harvest young, or stuff at 4″ diameter. Plants are compact, vigorous, high-yielding.

• SAFFRON STRAIGHTNECK – 42 days, Open Pollinated. High-quality 4-6” yellow semi-crookneck, less warty than straight-necks.  Small bush has open structure, large leaves for sun-scald protection.

• TROMBONCINO – 60 days, heirloom climbing ‘zucchini’, mild, sweet, crisp, firm – never mushy

SQUASH, WINTER:

• BLUE BALLET HUBBARD

• BURPEE’s BUTTERBUSH Butternut Squash – 87 days, Open Pollinated.Introduced in 1978, “the first bush butternut and still the best”. This highly esteemed variety bears fruits averaging no more than 1 ½ lb each, making each a perfect one-person serving with moist, deep red-orange flesh “as sweet as the best sweet potatoes”. The compact bushes with short vines crawl only 3-6’, and average yield is 3 – 5 ripe fruits per plant. Ripens much earlier than Waltham, making it possible to grow in short-season and cooler areas. Also an excellent keeper.

• HONEY BEAR HYBRID ACORN

• HONEY BOAT DELICATA  NEW! – 90 days, Open Pollinated, (C. pepo).One of the sweetest squash varieties in existence. Oblong, 1 to 1.5 lb. fruits have Delicata’s  green stripes, but with copper-tan skin instead of yellow. The golden-orange flesh has exceptional sweet, nutty flavor and smooth texture, produces early and holds its sweetness in winter storage. Ideal 2-person side dish. Needs no embellishment, but can be stuffed. Enjoyed even by some who profess to hate winter squash. High in calcium, potassium, folate, and vitamins A and C. Developed by Dr. James Baggett, Oregon State U, vegetable breeder par excellence.

• POTIMARRON

• SIBLEY (aka Pike’s Peak) – 100 Days, Heirloom. Large slate-blue banana-type squash to 8-10 lb on vigorous 10-15’ vines.  Wait ‘til January to eat – rich, sweet orange flesh becomes even sweeter, drier & tastier after winter storage.  Excellent keeper.  On Slow Food’s Ark of Taste.

• SPAGHETTI

• TETSUKABUTO – 91 day hyb. Productive Kabocha-type, round ~8″ dark green with exceptionally sweet, dry, thick, smooth, nutty, yellow flesh. Requires a pollinator (buttercup, butternut or hubbard). Comes partnered with Blue Hubbard for best pollination. Eve’s other favorite.

• THELMA SANDERS HEIRLOOM ACORN:  heirloom, Very productive, beautiful small creamy-white acorn-type with great flavor.  From Seed-Saver’s Exchange.

• UNCLE DAVE’S DAKOTA BUTTERCUP – 95 day OP, Buttercup type, selected over 40 years by Pennsylvania family for color, taste, sweetness, vigor, thick flesh, small seed cavity, high productivity and cold-hardiness. Gets raves!

TOMATILLOS:

• Aunt Molly’s Ground Cherry –65 days. Polish heirloom variety has unusually fine flavor, very sweet with a nice hint of tartness. 1/2”-3/4” fruit is enclosed in a papery husk which drops to the ground when fully ripe. High pectin content makes this one choice for pies and preserves.

• Green

• WATERMELON: Blacktail Mountain, Early Moonbeam, Golden Midget, Sugar Baby