Our 2015 Seed Picks

The outdoor gardening season is upon us in the northeast, and if you've been looking forward to it since last year, you've probably already started the bulk of your seeds by now.  For plants like peppers and tomatoes, you're at that almost-too-late point to start from seed, but if you're determined enough do not wait any longer.  You still have plenty of time for your fall and winter greens/vegetables, and we've got some great picks for this year.  The only seeds we sell are from High Mowing Organic Seeds - they're 100% organic and now Non-GMO Project Verified.  They are the first seed company in the United States to be recognized by that organization, look for the label:

We carry a variety of their seeds, but here are our favorites for 2015:

Sylvetta Wild Arugula - One of the spiciest and most flavorful of all of the arugula varieties (in our opinion), a great salad or micro green.  Plants grow slowly, stay compact and are very resistant to temperature extremes (slow to bolt and make for a great fall/winter crop).

Golden Nugget Tomato - These plants produce a LOT of tomatoes, starting pretty early on in the season.  1-inch, juicy fruit, resistant to cracking.

Rosie Basil - We love the unique dark purple color of this basil, plus it is very aromatic with strong stems and uniform germination.  Great as a micro green, too.

Bangles Mini Bell Pepper Blend - A pretty mix of different shades of mini bell peppers (fruit develop to about 1.5" wide).  Each plant has a different color of pepper that ripens to red, gold or chocolate. 

Chioggia Guardsmark Beet - An improved strain of the traditional heirloom Italian Chioggia beet, these have better uniformity and are bolt-tolerant.  Plus the "bullseye" markings just look cool.  

Toma Verde Tomatillo - It is very hard to find organic tomatillos, so why not grow your own?  Tart when picked early, fruit get sweeter as they ripen.  Make your own salsa verde.

Tadorna Leek - A great fall/winter crop, but they need a long season (110 days to maturity).  You want to get these going and in the ground ASAP, that way you can start harvesting them in the fall.  We like the Tadorna strain due to their strong disease resistance.  

Pirat Lettuce - This heirloom lettuce variety is one of our absolute favorites.  Not only does it have great flavor, coloring and texture, it can handle almost anything.  Heat tolerant, resistant to downy mildew, tip burn, white mold and bacterial head rot.  Perfect for an outdoor garden but works just as well indoors.  

New 2014 Seeds Are In!

Today we received our first batch of 2014 seeds from High Mowing Organic Seeds!  As always, they're 100% organic and non-GMO.  Our picks for this year are:

Copia Tomato - Indeterminate with yellow and red stripes on the outside and awesome marbling on the inside, produces large tomatoes, 85 days.

High Mowing's Gourmet Lettuce Mix - This mix takes the work out of choosing - a great blend of versatile lettuces that are excellent as baby: Black Seeded Simpson, Parris Island, Rouge d'Hiver, Red & Green Salad Bowl, Lolla Rossa.

Moon & Stars Watermelon - This heirloom variety is not only really pretty with a dark rind and yellow "moon & star" spots, it produces large, sweet fruit especially in the hot summers of the northeast. 95-100 days.

Valentine's Day Radish Mix - A mix of round garden radishes in red, pink, purple and white, along with the red and white elongated heirloom French Breakfast radishes.  25 days.

This is a 2-strain pick.  Yellowstone and Cosmic Purple Carrots.  Their interesting colors make them great for farmer's markets or just to add some color to a meal.  Yellowstone carrots tend to get a little longer at 9" (Cosmic Purple get to be about 7") and they are both mature at 70 days. 

Corno di Toro Sweet Peppers - This Italian Heirloom variety is one of my favorites.  Nice sweet flavor, Italian "horn" shape, grows really well in New York, ripens to red in 78 days.

These are just a few of our favorites, stop by to see our full selection or call with inquiries.  We can also special-order any varieties we don't currently carry and bulk seeds for microgreens or large plots.  Check out the High Mowing website to view their full selection.   

Seeds of Change

We just received our first order of seeds for 2012. We buy our seeds from Seeds of Change because they're a great, conscious company and all of their seeds are 100% USDA certified organic. We chose some great varieties this year:

- Genovese Basil*

- Thai Basil

- Slow Bolt Cilantro*

- San Marzano Tomato* - Love these...great for sauce and salsa

- Beefsteak Tomato

- Fox Cherry Tomato

- Black Beauty Eggplant

- Dark Star Zucchini* - Excellent flavor in both the zucchini and the blossoms.

- Cal Wonder Bell Pepper* - Classic heirloom sweet bell pepper

- Bendigo F-1 Bell Pepper

- Jalapeno Chile Pepper

- Habanero Chile Pepper

- Leonardo Radicchio* - Great in salads

- Red Russian Kale

- All Lettuce Mix

- Mesclun Mix

- Arugula

(* some of my personal favorites)

We also have their Tomato Garden Starter Kit and the Herb Garden Starter Kit...great for kids or to give as gifts.

It's still early in the year and this was just our first order of seeds. If there are any varieties you'd like us to carry or if you'd like to place a special order, let us know!