Spring & Summer 2020 S E E D Collection e v i t c e l l o C

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n r e h t u o art by S Wendy Free it, as it comes up readily on its own! It’s a reliable , food, and pollinator in Blazing Star our summer gardens, and gets plenty of Liatris tenuifolia attention when visitors tour the gardens. ~100 seeds Grow a bunch one year and you may never A stunning native plant with long 3-6’ spikes of have to get seed again from us! For continuous tufted lavender-colored flower heads. Very harvest, plant every 2-4 weeks attractive to pollinators. Seeds come from Linda Duever of Mockernut Botanical Garden These are traditional greens throughout in Shiloh, Florida. She sows into fresh burns western and central Africa and the most regardless of season, or disturbed soil widely eaten greens in Nigeria. , tender whenever there is a chance. Nature typically stems, and young flowers can all be used like scatters the seeds November-December spinach. Closely related Callaloo with similar which is the ideal time, but we are distributing growing requirements- easy! Locally saved by these now anyway as spring planting is still ok. SHSC at Grow Hub You can also hold onto these and scatter early fall when cooler temperatures arrive. Do not Cosmos over fertilize or water, these are native Cosmos bipinnatus that will actually suffer with too much care! ~45 seeds Locally saved by Linda at Mockernut Hill 52 days. An easy to grow spring, summer, and Botanical Garden in Shiloh fall flower that readily produces seeds and volunteers year after year, while attracting Cockscomb Purple Celosia loads of pollinators. Mostly orange but some Celosia argentea occasional yellows show up. Carefree, wispy ~300 seeds and drought tolerant. They show up in our 60 days. A stunning and long-lasting garden gardens every year. The latest seed batch flower in the amaranth family. Wonderful in came only from volunteers- the toughest and bouquets and irresistible to pollinators with most resilient plants! Cosmos hate being showy bright pink flowers. The leaves are also soggy, and have struggled in really wet edible and nutritious, prepared like any summers, but still produce and send out lots of cooked green. Plants reach about 5’ tall or seeds and volunteers. Prefers full sun but more depending on soil fertility. Drought tolerates some shade. Once established, tolerant. Sow very shallowly and somewhat cosmos seem to tolerate poor soils and thickly (to accommodate for naturally lower drought conditions. Sow 1/4” deep about 12” of the tiny seeds), about 12” apart. Can be direct sown after last frost. Grow apart. Can be direct sown, and will likely self- a bunch one year and you may never have to sow in the garden, if left to go to seed. We get seed again from us! Locally saved by SHSC originally acquired this seed from Michael at Grow Hub Adler’s Edible Plant Project many years ago, and have been growing and saving it for over 7 years. Many years we don’t intentionally grow 1 Mexican Sunflower Intensely flavorful. The flowers are fragrant Tithonia rotundifolia and very attractive to pollinators. We find that ~65 seeds Lemon, Thai, and Tulsi basils do not get downy 80 days. A wonderful and hardy plant reaching mildew that afflicts the sweet Italian basil 6-7’ tall, with bright neon orange flowers. One varieties. Grows to be 20-24" tall. Sow ¼” of the most attractive flowers for our local deep, 18” apart. pollinators and other beneficial insects. Sun- loving and drought tolerant once established. Roselle They can get a bit lanky in appearance, so if Hibiscus sabdariffa you keep a tidy garden this tough plant may ~35 seeds not be for you, or better planted along a back 150-200 days. Beautiful large hibiscus fence where it can still receive good sun and be with showy flowers and edible red calyxes. admired. Sow ¼-1/2” deep, spaced 9-12”. Can Roselle was called "Florida cranberry" in the be direct sown after last frost. Will self-sow. 1890s and is also known as sorrel or Jamaican Locally saved by SHSC at Grow Hub sorrel. Harvest the red calyxes anytime. Use fresh or dried to make faux cranberry sauce, tea (red zinger), jelly, sauce, vinegars, candies, herbs , fire ciders and so much more! Judith Eleonora Basil adorned a chocolate cake with a decadent Ocimum basilicum roselle sauce one year that was gorgeous and ~200 seeds delicious. The immature green seed pods 65 days. This variety exhibits some downy contain natural pectin which assists in the mildew resistance, although with the gelling process of jam and sauce making. prevalence of this disease here, we’ve noticed Space 5’ apart or more. They require little care this one eventually gets it too. It’s upright form once established, but will thrive in full sun, and with more elongated stems allows for better good soil fertility. Susceptible to frost. We are airflow which reduces the incidence of not sure if this is the early or late fruiting disease. However it is not as bolt tolerant and variety, sometimes it is mixed. A must have may need more trimming. Large, medium Florida garden plant. Easy to save seed from. green, lightly serrated leaves with good old Locally saved by Kathy Paterson & Bruce sweet Italian basil flavor. A must have to pair Proctor at Lost Valley Farm in Shiloh with your tomatoes. Sow very shallowly, spaced 12” apart. Continual sowing through the spring and early summer ensures plenty of melons basil. Jelly Melon/African Horned Melon Cucumis metuliferus Mrs. Burns Lemon Basil ~20 seeds Ocimum basilicum 120 days. We grew this one time only when we ~100 seeds had the farm out at Prairie Creek and it 60 days. Sweet and tangy lemon basil. Very was….wild! Be warned! Climbing, vigorous, bright green small leaves, with white blooms. spiny are very productive and should be 2 trellised. Don’t plant this where you can’t have the same family farm for over 100 years and it take over! If you have some extra room and have definitely adapted to growing conditions a sturdy fence in the sun, go for it. They will there. If you succeed with these monstrosities out- perform any , resisting wilt and (up to 40lbs each), start saving your seeds and extreme heat. Early when green, they taste a selecting for the best under your conditions! lot like cucumbers. When they further ripen to Nat has some very specific and helpful a yellow/orange they were a bit sweeter, even planting information on the Sow True Seed fruity. The are spiny and the leaves a bit website. One packet of 12 seeds is $8.95 on prickly, so garden gloves are recommended. the market so get these while you can. Not for the faint of heart. **Please save your own seeds for future use. Very limited supply.** Melon, Edisto 47 Cucumis melo Crimson Sweet Watermelon ~ 20 seeds Citrullus lanatus 90 days. A great variety for hot and humid ~20 seeds conditions like ours. It exceeds disease 95 days. A classic and favorite melon, crisp and resistance of many hybrid cantaloupes, with sweet, medium-red flesh, mild flavor. A resistance to alternaria spot, powdery favorite for flavor of farmer Jordan of Family mildew, and downy mildew. Mildly sweet Garden (although he has not tasted a fresh flavor. A favorite of seed producer and farmer Bradford!). Fruits are about 15-20 lb. The breeder Edmund Frost. Fruits are 6-7” in plants have some disease resistance to diameter. Plant ½” deep with 18-24” spacing fusarium wilt and anthracnose. Watermelons between plants, with rows 4-5’ apart. are heavy feeders, be sure to fertilize and keep well-watered. Sow 1/2” deep with 12-18” Bradford Watermelon spacing between plants, with rows 6’ apart. Citrullus lanatus *Very limited supply.* ~20 seeds 85 days. If you haven’t heard about the legumes Bradford Watermelon please go Google it now! This legendary sweet heirloom melon Dade (Pole) Bean from South Carolina was once known as one of Phaseolus vulgaris the sweetest melons ever grown. Its thin rind ~10 seeds can easily crack, so it lost favor in the A favorite of Renee Ward’s mother, who has commercial market in the early 1900’s since it been growing and saving them for the last couldn’t stand up to shipping. It truly is three years. “Mom loves them! Not much of a delicious, we’ve had the chance to taste them string on them. Very easy to grow with no in peak season and it blows all other melons issues growing them at all.” Originally Renee out of the water. Full disclosure, we have tried acquired through Wright Heirlooms, a source growing it here a couple of times and didn’t for Appalachian bean seeds. It’s a beautiful get them as awesome as Nat Bradford does up long-podded and white-seeded pole bean. in South Carolina. They have been grown on 3 Tender beans bear heavy over a long period of time. Pods are 8-9” long. Tim Noyes grew Magic Velvet (Pole) Bean them out for seed increase so we could share Mucuna pruriens var. utilis them with you this year. Limited supply. If you ~3 seeds like them, save your own seed and share it! 200+ days. A plant with many common names **Please save your own seeds for future use. you may have heard? Bengal velvet bean, Very limited supply.** Locally saved by Florida velvet bean, Mauritius velvet bean, Renee’s mom and Tim Noyes Yokohama velvet bean, cowage, cowitch, lacuna bean, and Lyon bean. This tropical Manoa Wonder (Pole) Bean legume is a vigorous producer in our climate Phaseolus vulgaris where it absolutely thrives, climbing 15’ high ~20 seeds and bearing loads (loads!) of beautiful deep From the University of Hawaii’s Seed Lab, dark purple flowers and black velvety pods. Manoa is a green bean variety resistant to root One seed survived the rabbits this spring and knot nematode. Pods are flat maturing to 5- produced an estimated 1,600 seeds! It takes a 6”. Sow 1” deep 3-5” apart on a trellis. long time to fully mature, so plant in April or **Please save your own seeds for future use. early May for a long frost-free season. This Very limited supply.** variety is a non-irritating or itchy one, although with the amount of time we spend Provider (Bush) Bean with them they do get a bit irritating. Most of Phaseolus vulgaris the year as they were growing, we’d pet them ~45 seeds and say hello. So velvety! Grown for soil 50 days. Standard market variety green bean improvement and silage and fodder for can be planted earlier than other beans as they livestock, it is also edible and medicinal. Both germinate well in cool soils. Sow 1” deep, the immature pods and mature seeds are spaced 4-6” apart. edible, and like other legumes benefits from soaking and boiling to remove anti-nutritive Rattlesnake (Pole) Bean compounds. It is very high in protein and Phaseolus vulgaris considered a significant food source in regions ~20 seeds where it is most commonly grown. We can’t 60-90 days. Also known as the Preacher bean. even begin to summarize all the medicinal 8” long pods resemble the skin of a uses and applications, you will have to rattlesnake with mottled purplish coloring. A research that yourself- from aphrodisiac to good bean variety for our humid climate and neuroprotective, there is so much to learn and would make a good fall bean as well. When love about this magic bean! Here’s a start: established they are drought resistant. Not https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/P stringy, and produce loads of delicious beans. MC3942911/ Vines grow to 10’. Sow 1” deep, 2-4” apart on Locally saved by SHSC at Grow Hub a trellis. **Please save your own seeds for future use. Very limited supply.**

4 Grandma Ernestine’s Heirloom (Pole) their pockets before being forced across the Butterbean Atlantic. Even if a few stray beans arrived this Phaseolus lunatus way, more likely slave owners began to import ~10 seeds African crops after their captives refused to eat. One of the first varieties passed on to Melissa that was a personal project to keep a family Hardee (Pole) Cowpea US #1136 heirloom alive. Nine years ago, her friend Vigna unguiculata Adam shared these butterbean (lima bean) ~50 seeds seeds from his Gainesville garden. They were A new-ish cowpea variety released in 2010 by his grandmother Ernestine’s, and a variety the Agricultural Research Service branch of that has been grown in Mississippi since before USDA. This variety has a very vigorous and 1900. This vigorous, drought tolerant, indeterminate growth and like most productive lima bean bears loads of tasty cowpeas, is recommended for use as a cover pods. Vines will climb over 10 ft tall, be sure to crop. The new strains are from improved trellis them. We sow in April and they produce selections of older landrace varieties for rapid until frost, with plenty for eating and plenty for growth, high biomass production, long seed saving. As far as cooking: most Southern vegetative growth period, and southern root recipes begin thus: "First, fry three strips of knot nematode resistance. bacon..." Butterbeans usually get boiled from the dry or fresh state with a bacon-grease or We grew these up the Dudley Family Heirloom ham-bone addition for flavor. The bacon and Corn in the summer of 2019 at The Family grease of course isn’t really necessary….the Organic Garden and they were indeed flavor is rich enough to do without. Locally vigorous and productive. It was almost a saved by SHSC at Grow Hub **Please save mistake on our timing as the peas wanted to your own seeds for future use. Very limited take over the corn rather than co-exist! But we supply.** harvested the corn just in time to let the peas take over. A little history lesson about our cowpeas, excerpted and mildly edited from the book This “Hardee” selection has long pods filled “Beans and Field Peas” by Sandra Guiterrez. with beautiful red seeds. Eat pods when young and green, let grow longer for seed and you The peas were brought from West Africa to the can eat them that way too, and save your best New World by human traffickers in the same seeds for next year. We tasted a few different ships that carried the enslaved during the varieties and liked the red one best, a little African diaspora, and they are known to have more richness and good texture. A staple arrived in Jamaica around 1675. The peas protein source in the South that can be used in provided at least one familiar food source for so many ways. Locally saved by SHSC at The enslaved Africans in the New World. By the Family Organic Garden 1700’s they were widely cultivated in Florida and North Carolina. We often have this image of enslaved people secreting their favorite seeds in 5 Tyler (Pole) Cowpea US #1138 Vigna unguiculata cucumbers ~50 seeds DMR-264 (variety name- FAIL!) Same back-history as above Hardee. Also very Cucumis sativus long pods and a vigorous climber, with much ~25 seeds smaller cream-colored seeds. Very abundant 70 days. We wish there were a better name, and tasty pods and seeds. Locally saved by but this has shown excellent downy SHSC at The Family Organic Garden mildew resistance, surpassing any other green slicing cucumber in the trials at Pigeon Pea Commonwealth Seed Growers in Virginia. We Cajanus cajun know these growers personally and have ~20 seeds walked their fields and saw this trial up close. 70-150 days. A multipurpose plant: edible, This is a new release from Cornell University, hedge or windbreak, a trellis for other veggies, bred by Michael Mazourek, whose breeding nitrogen-fixer, and provides light shade for program at Cornell focuses on breeding for other plants grown beneath it. May also be organic conditions. (He also bred the grown in a three sisters type garden in Florida. incredible Habanada Pepper). These are Pigeon pea can be eaten as garden peas or smaller than a standard slicer and should be lentils. A perennial shrub 5 to 7 ft. tall, but picked at 5 inches. Direct sowing is best, ½” tends to die back in our frosts and is treated deep 6-12” apart. Cucumbers are best trellised more like an annual unless warm winters and if possible for cleaner, straighter that will microclimates allow. They are day length be healthier overall. sensitive and won’t flower until fall or winter, so we’re often harvesting for a short window Little Leaf before they die back. Although the last two Cucumis sativus winters they have survived and provided loads ~25 seeds of peas all winter. We had two different types, 57 days. A longtime favorite of ours because of one with yellow flowers and one with pink. We the smaller leaves and more compact vines, have so many pollinators in our garden, that that make the cukes easier to spot, and offers the bees may have crossed them, so our peas a more open and airy plant that dries out may be a hybrid between the two. David the better in the humid rains of early summer. Good, “The Survival Gardener”, has a good Broad disease resistance and stress tolerance write up of this plant. Locally saved by SHSC at as well. Blocky medium-sized fruits are good Grow Hub for fresh eating, and pickle well. Parthenocarpic (plants can set fruit without ). Direct sowing is best, ½” deep 6- 12” apart. Cucumbers are best trellised if possible for cleaner, straighter fruit that will be healthier overall. *Very limited supply*

6 Mexican Sour Gherkin/Mouse Melon scabra eggplant ~15 seeds 60-70 days. These itty bitty 1” cucumbers Halep Karasi native to and Central America, Solanum melongena bear loads of fruit that already taste like they ~ 10 seeds are pickled, and resemble tiny watermelons. A Turkish heirloom from Mehmet Oztan of Kids and adults love them, and they often Two Seeds in a Pod. We grew this out for his don’t make it to the kitchen, being eaten collection last summer, and saved a few seeds straight off the in the garden! Grows well for ourselves, sending the rest back to him. It on a trellis, and grows with similar care as produced over a very long period of time and other cucumbers. Sow ¼-” deep spaced 12” we eventually had to just take them out when apart on a trellis ideally. it was time to transition the garden- they would have kept on going all summer! An Parade interesting shape, not long and skinny like the Cucumis sativus Oriental types, nor huge and round like the ~25 seeds more conventional types, but long and meaty 50-60 days. A popular Russian variety and a with a curve at the blossom end, and a deep favorite at Seed Savers Exchange, as well as purple almost black color. Firm and flavorful, locally by Angie Minno, who shared some of holds up well on a grill. Tender skin is edible her saved seed with us. “I’ve trialed a lot of and flavorful. Great for frying, stuffing, grilling cucumbers and this one always has the best and stewing. Sow 1/4-1/2” deep, spaced 24- sweet flavor and beautiful fruit. It’s never 36” apart. Locally saved by SHSC at Grow Hub bitter, great for pickling and slicing, edible **Very limited availability, please save your even when fairly large, prolific and easy to own seed** grow.” The uniform fruits mature at relatively the same time, making it a good processing Long Green Hawaiin variety. Fruits are 5" long by 2" in diameter, Solanum melongena Resistant to extreme weather conditions. ~25 seeds Direct sowing is best, ½” deep 6-12” apart. 100 days. From the seed producers at the Cucumbers are best trellised if possible for University of Hawaii. A long Oriental- type cleaner, straighter fruit that will be healthier green eggplant. Tender, mild (but flavorful), overall. Locally saved by Angie Minno at Fairy excellent for cooking. Has very few seeds. We Ring Farm like the long eggplants, because they are easy **Very limited supply. Please save your own to dice into small rounds for cooking or baking. seeds for future use.** Fruits are 8-12” long. An excellent producer for back yard gardens. Sow 1/4-1/2” deep, spaced 24-36” apart.

7 Ping Tung are enormous providing a canopy over the Solanum melongena pods. You could probably encourage more ~25 seeds okra production (is that necessary?!) by 70 days. Disease resistant Taiwanese variety pruning a few big leaves out for more sun with shiny deep lavender fruits, up to 11” long, penetration, but it’s not necessary. Seeds can making impressive filets in the kitchen. High be hard to germinate, so soak overnight and/ yielding and tasty, about 20 fruits per plant. A or abrade seed coat with sandpaper. Sow 1/2- favorite at Siembra Farm and with us too! The 1” deep, spaced 18” apart. Locally saved by long skinny fruits are easy to dice in the SHSC at Grow Hub kitchen. Sow 1/4-1/2” deep, spaced 2-3’ apart. Burgundy Abelmoschus esculentum okra ~25 seeds If you are not an okra lover, we need to talk!! A 55 days. Large crimson pods on vigorous first step to rehabilitating your mind over this plants with beautiful red stems and veining. amazing vegetable, would be to get yourself a Plants grow 4-5’ tall, with spineless pods up to copy of our friend Chris’s book The Whole Okra: 10” long. They are most tender at 7” or less. A Seed to Stem Celebration. Whether you like it Seeds can be hard to germinate, so soak or not, you live in the south and okra just grows overnight and/ or abrade seed coat with well here and is a part of our history. Learn to sandpaper. Sow 1/2-1” deep, spaced 18” apart. love it! Embrace the slime- it’s healthy and can Locally saved by students at the University of be harnessed for good. Beyond gumbo, fried, or Florida Ethnoecology Garden. pickled okra, okra binds ingredients in a dish, makes for a moist chocolate cake, chewy “Turkish-like-delight” candies, or roasted seed squashes & gourds flour. That’s right, you heard it here first. You will be amazed at the power and potential of A quick little lesson to clear up some confusion. this much maligned vegetable. “Winter” squash refers to a squash typically with a longer growth season and also a much Bradford Family Heirloom Okra longer storage life. A winter squash may last for Abelmoschus esculentum several months depending on the quality and ~25 seeds variety, with a hardened skin and richer, 60 days. Another great family heirloom from sweeter flesh than a summer squash that is the Bradford Family in Sumter, South Carolina harvested much earlier, has tender skin and and someone we know personally and whose more neutral-tasting flesh. “Summer” squash farm we have visited. A spineless type that mature much quicker and are often more tender rivals the common Clemson Spineless, and do not have a long storage time like the especially since its prized quality is tender winter squash. pods even as they mature. Like all okras they eventually get tough but these ones definitely stayed tender longer than others. The leaves 8 Chinese Tropical Pumpkin (winter) fry, grill, and slice into a fancy hasselback. This Cucurbita moschata variety has been grown out by Joe and Trace ~15 seeds at Possum Hollow Farm in Alachua for over 6 120 days. A small squash that displays years, originally from Cuba and brought back beautiful hues of blue/green blotches coated from a birding excursion they went on. They in a lovely chalky coat, or white bloom, when have been selecting for long, meaty necks and ripe. If left to sit even longer, it will turn a shelf life, but a good deal of crossing occurs creamy tan color and get sweeter. Flavor is among other types, keeping the line diverse. rich, sweet and creamy. Eddie from The Daily Sow ½” deep, spaced 36” apart in rows a few Green used the puree in his famous vegan Mac feet apart, preferably up a sturdy trellis. n Cheese and it was amazing!!! Displays good Caution! They will climb anything and downy mildew resistance, and was one of the everything they contact, give them room. We top performers in a 2014 downy mildew trial in pulled a few off of Joe’s starfruit trees, hanging Virginia. Not a long keeper though at about 3 10’ off the ground! Locally saved by Joe months. Our friend Stephan from Beaten Path Durando and Trace Giornelli at Possum Hollow Garden grew these two years ago in his food Farm with very minimal care and under erratic conditions (dry when sown, very wet during Jamaican Cushaw (winter) fruit set) and he was impressed with their Cucurbita argyrosperma tenacity. Last year Tim Noyes grew them at ~25 seeds his seed garden for seed increase so we could 95 days. Big white and green striped fruit, share them with you. This is a new favorite oblong shape with round bottoms, pale yellow winter squash for our climate, something else flesh. Vigorous vines, sprawl far and wide. to add to the mix of squash we love besides Grew exceptionally well for us when we trialed just Seminole Pumpkin. Sow ½” deep, spaced them several years ago, producing hundreds 36” apart in rows a few feet apart, preferably of pounds of squash in a relatively small space. up a sturdy trellis. Caution! They will climb This was a surprise in our friend Cyd’s home anything and everything they contact, give garden when we gave her a bag full of old them room. Pumpkins will grow vertically on a seeds for a kids art project, and they grew from sturdy trellis like a chain link fence. Locally the discards she tossed to her compost pile out saved by Stephan Barron and Tim Noyes back. She loves them and so do we! Originally **Please save your own seeds for future use. from the West Indies from earlier than 1700, Very limited supply.** it’s a 10-12lb fruit with yellow flesh only slightly sweet and medium-coarse. It’s great Cuban Calabaza (winter) for pies and baking, or used in a savory dish. Cucurbita moschata Sow ½” deep, spaced 36” apart in rows a few ~25 seeds feet apart. **Very limited supply.** 100 days. A wonderful variety similar to the Seminole Pumpkin for its hardiness and flavor. The long meaty neck that shows up in many of the squash is ideal for slicing rounds to bake, 9 Seminole Pumpkin (winter) of careful selection is a squash that is mostly Cucurbita moschata butternut shaped but with the flavor and ~25 seeds disease resistance of the Seminole. Melissa 120 days. The best squash to grow in our brought a few home after visiting Edmund last climate, hands-down! Vigorous plants resist winter, and can vouch for their taste and our insects and disease more than other texture: SO AMAZING!! It had a lovely sweet varieties, producing sweet pumpkins with flavor and a texture. Some had a flaky almost have a long storage life. The flavor is incredible spaghetti-squash like texture but moist and and one of the better winter squashes in this held together. You can read more about department. This old Florida heirloom grown Edmund and his work in this breeder profile on by Native Americans for centuries has a lot of the People’s Seed website. variability in size, shape and color. The https://thepeoplesseed.org/plant-breeder- Miccosukee tribe referred to it as edmund-frost/ Chassahowitska meaning hanging pumpkin. **Please save your own seeds for future use. Our “variety” is definitely diverse, reflecting Very limited supply.** the local conditions and growers that have kept it for many years. May have crossed with Tatume (summer and winter) other Cucurbita moschata, explaining some of Cucurbita pepo the wide diversity we see in our crops. ~25 seeds Regardless, it is a vigorous and delicious locally 65 days. A must in Mexican cuisine, where they adapted pumpkin. Sow ½” deep, spaced 36- are known as “calabacita” or little pumpkin. 48” apart in rows a few feet apart. Caution! This old heirloom is quite rare, so be sure to They will climb anything and everything they save your seeds if you like it! Picked small contact, give them room. Pumpkins will grow about the size of a baseball, it is like a zucchini vertically on a sturdy trellis like a chain link but with much better flavor and firmer texture. fence. Locally saved by students at the Farm to Its shape allows for easy cutting into thick School to Work program round patties for easy cooking, grilling, baking. Left longer to mature, the orange South Anna Butternut (winter) skinned mature fruit is like a winter squash. Cucurbita moschata Unlike other summer squash, this is a vigorous ~10 seeds vining plant, that takes up quite a bit of room This is a delicious and beautiful example of the in the garden. They are fairly resistant to exciting work that farmer-breeders can disease. Recommended initially by Tim Noyes accomplish! Our friend Edmund up in Virginia a few years ago, and grown out for a trial at orchestrated the perfect union of Waltham Siembra Farm. They did well, but customers Butternut squash (a commercial favorite with were reluctant to buy them because they were lots of flesh, decent flavor, and poor disease a bit odd, not a typical looking squash. Silly! tolerance) with the Seminole Pumpkin (low They are delicious and cute. Their vining habit consumer appeal, amazing flavor, less flesh makes them a more tolerant summer squash with a larger seed cavity, and excellent disease to pests, but not immune. **Very low supply. resistance). The result after many generations 10 **Please save your own seeds for future use.** summer greens Forget lettuce and spinach, at least this time of Thelma Sanders Sweet Potato (acorn) year! You live in the sub-tropics, it’s time to Cucurbita pepo expand your horizons if you crave fresh greens ~10 seeds throughout the year. Check in with us in the 90 days. An old family heirloom from Thelma spring for plants not available as seed including Sanders in Adair County, Missouri. This acorn- moringa, longevity spinach, Malabar spinach, type squash is small, about 6” long with cranberry hibiscus and more. Others that we beautiful golden/tan ribbed shaped, and offer from seed are often prolific breeders and yellow flesh with excellent texture and flavor. will self-sow in your garden year after year if you This is one of a few staple open-pollinated let them. crops that Charlie at Hammock Hollow Farm grows every year. Simply sliced along the Amaranth, “Purple Mammoth” ridges and baked with oil, salt and pepper Amaranthus spp. they are sublime! This is now part of the Slow ~300 seeds Food Ark of Taste. They sweeten over time in This “variety” is likely a mix of different storage, and grow quite well here, and with amaranths we’ve grown over the years. The short runners. Plant 30” apart with 4’ in flowers are large, reddish pink, purple and between rows. drooping, a real beauty! The leaves like all amaranths, are edible. These got about 5-7 ft Did you miss our fall Pumpkin Tasting Pop Up? tall. Not knowing what variety it is anymore, This event showcased the never ending we’re just calling it Purple Mammoth! Drought creativity around local pumpkins! From pumpkin tolerant. Sow very shallowly (tiny seeds) about cheesecake and panna cottas to pumpkin ale 12” apart. Can be direct sown, and will likely and mac n cheese…. there are so many great self-sow in the garden. There was low ways to gobble up these nutritious squash! germination on this one, so we’ve stuffed the packs more and recommend you sow a bit Luffa thicker. Locally saved by SHSC at Grow Hub Luffa aegyptiaca ~30 Seeds Amaranth, Cockscomb Celosia 50-90 days. Vigorous climbing vines will reach Celosia argentea 20’ or more and clamber over everything. They See flowers and herbs at beginning of catalog. produce loads of beautiful flowers much loved by bees. Young fruits are edible, reminiscent Callaloo, Black- Seeded of zucchini-okra. Large, dried fruits can be Amaranthus cruentus grown for sponges. Sow ½-1” deep about 12” Callaloo the dish, originates in West Africa apart on a trellis. Locally saved by SHSC at the where the greens were domesticated. It is also old Forage Farm back in 2016 (yes the seed is cherished in many parts of the Caribbean. We still good!) originally got our seed from Michael’s Edible Plant Project many years ago. Last year we 11 sent a sample by request to Southern Magenta Lamb’s Quarters Exposure Seed Exchange and they trialed it giganteum with other varieties, liking this one the best. ~100 seeds They now offer it in their seed catalog! Plants 45 days or less. This plant is awesome but can get 6-8’ tall. Space 18” apart and beware it can get very weedy if you let it go off succession plant through the season for to seed! But it’s beautiful, prolific, easy to grow continual supply. The beetles like callaloo too, and nutritious. The magenta coloring rubs off so be prepared. **Please save your own seeds like magical plant glitter. If you’re worried for future use. Very limited supply.** about weediness, just be sure to clip the plants before they produce seed heads. This seed Egyptian “Spinach” aka Molokhiya was originally from Michael’s Edible Plant Corchorus olitorius Project and recently grown out by us. In just ~50 seeds one season of saving for seed, it’s now 70 days. If you want easy, n0 fuss greens and prolifically growing everywhere. We started it have room for a small annual shrub, grow this! around March and were harvesting seeds in Mokokhiya is a Middle Eastern super-green, November. Throughout our warm winter of known as Jew's mallow or Egyptian spinach. 2019-2020 it self-sowed all over the place and Leaves are rich in beta carotene, iron, vitamin we were eating lambs quarters all winter. C and antioxidants. This “food of kings” dates Direct sow shallowly 12” apart. Locally saved back to the time of the pharaohs, when an by SHSC at Grow Hub Egyptian king drank it in soup to recover from an illness. Today, it’s one of the most widely Amaranth greens may be harvested at any time, eaten vegetables in Egypt. In the Philippines, although they are more palatable when the it is called "saluyot" and is widely grown for the plants are younger. They may be prepared by leaves. simply steaming or boiling for 10 minutes and seasoning as desired, or used in the place of In our gardens it has reached about ten feet spinach in recipes. tall. We’ve found that when cooked, it has the consistency of okra, but not when fresh. The Susan Marynowski points out that there are a seeds are used as flavoring and an herbal tea is number of properties about amaranth relevant made from dried leaves. Sow 1/4” deep, to current global human health trends, spaced 18 inches apart or more. Easily including anti-cancer, antiviral, and liver, nerve produces seed, and scatters them around too. and heart protective properties. Locally saved by SHSC at the old Forage Farm back in 2014 (yes the seed is still good, over 90% For people wishing to incorporate amaranths as germination!) a preventive and health-promoting home remedy, typical preparations would include as a nutritious super-food, as an infusion (tea, up to 3 cups per day), or even as an herbal tincture (alcohol extract of fresh or dried leaves, 30-60 drops 4 times per day). 12 was absolutely not a sweet corn but more of a odds & ends field corn better for other uses than fresh Some things that didn’t quite fit above or that eating. Sow ½” deep 6-8” apart. we have just a handful of packets left to share. Everglades Tomato Bedie’s Tabasco Pepper Solanum pimpinellifolium Capsicum frutescens 80 days. Indeterminate, currant-sized tasty 90 days. An old heirloom introduced to little maters. This “Wild Florida Everglades” is Louisiana that became famous for use in hot a naturalized tomato in south Florida, and sauces. Hot little peppers grow on a shrub that some of us here have found it to naturalize in can reach 4-6’ tall. This particular pepper came our yards as well. This sprawling and prolific from Shiloh, where it grew for years after the plant bears loads of tiny red delicious fruits. death of its caregiver, Bedie Rogers. Jerome When other tomatoes can’t take our summers, Feaster kept it growing (although with very this one keeps on going. Give them room to minimal care), where it grew in front of the sprawl, let some drop which is easy to do, and steps of the McIntosh Hardware Store for they will likely continue coming back year years. We snagged a few seeds from Jerome’s after year. No staking required. A favorite of plant a couple years ago and grew some in our Chef Justin Langer, whose experience with the garden. It is prolific and beautiful with upright Everglades tomato was that of surprise and little peppers like holiday lights, and we concur love. “The perfect pop, filled with a soft but that it grows with very little care. So hot! Great supple sweetness although balanced with a to dry and store. Locally saved by SHSC at tart back end. I actually recommend eating Grow Hub with the sepal attached for the weirdly perfect combo.” Locally saved by SHSC at Grow Hub Corn, Hawaiin Supersweet Yellow #9 Zea mays Papalo or “Summer Cilantro” ~70 seeds Porophyllum ruderale 75 days. From the University of Hawaii Seed ~20 seeds Program, a sweet corn with good resistance to 80 days. A cilantro substitute that likes our Maize Mosaic Virus. Stephan grew it out and heat, and is used widely in Hispanic cuisine. found it to be a shorter statured corn, faring The small leaves have a citrusy, minty and better in storms than taller varieties. About 3 cilantro-like flavor. Yum! A little goes a long ears per plant and was absolutely delicious. way. For all the cilantro haters out there, this Sow ½” deep 6-8” apart. one might be for you. Once they flower, the flavor can be quite pungent. One site describes Corn, Hawaiin Supersweet Silver #9 the “skunky fragrance as a shocking cross Zea mays between citrus and cilantro on steroids.” Sow ~70 seeds shallowly when conditions are warm, spacing 75 days. From the University of Hawaii Seed to 12” apart. Plants can reach up to 5’ tall. Early Program. Stephan grew it out and reported pruning encourages branching. that only one ear per plant formed and that it 13 Yam Bean Pachyrhizus erosus seed would cover a 1,000 square foot ~15 seeds garden. 150-200 days. Tropical legume vine grown for its tuber. Texture is crisp and similar to For more information about buckwheat as a water-chestnuts with a slightly sweet flavor. cover crop, read the IFAS bulletin: Can be eaten fresh or cooked. The root is the Buckwheat: A Cool-Season Cover Crop for only edible part of this plant, flowers & Florida Vegetable Systems. beans are toxic and should NOT be consumed. Also known as "Jicama" or Sunn Hemp "Mexican Turnip". Long frost -free growing Crotolaria juncea season required to produce large tubers. A tall legume that can get woody if not Origins in Latin America. Sow 1” deep 8-12” pruned. Adds nitrogen to the soil after it’s apart incorporated, similar to cowpea. Can be pruned many times to increase branching and biomass. Yields more nitrogen than cover crops cowpea. There are about 15,000 seeds/lb; about 3/4lb would cover a 1,000 square foot We’ve got you covered! 1lb bags available garden. (not part of the CSA- additional $4). Why cover? Read more on IFAS’s website. Great seed descriptions and planting rates can be found on Hancock Seed’s website, which is where we get our seed from.

Each bag is $4

Buckwheat Fagopyrum esculentum

An extremely fast growing cover crop, blooms in just 3-5 weeks from sowing. It’s quick lifespan makes it a great in-between crop for building soil and attracting pollinators while you wait to sow the next crop. Susceptible to frost and extreme heat, it is best sown fall and spring. Beautiful white flowers are attractive to pollinators. Seeds easily. Sow ½- 1 ½: deep 6-8” apart. There are about 15,600 seeds/lb; 3 lbs of

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