2011 Seed Descriptions

All seed packets are $3 each, except for those marked “discontinued,” which are $2 each. Price includes sales tax. Sold out varieties are crossed out on this list.

This year’s selection features three varieties grown and collected here in Lexington: Red Velvet Okra, New Big Dwarf Tomato, and Sarah Black Tomato.

BEANS

Empress
Bush variety. Exceptional flavor, stringless green snap bean, great for fresh eating, freezing, or processing. 55 days.

NEW! Fin de Bagnol – Certified Organic
Bush variety. French filet bean, also known as haricot verts. The epitome in gourmet flavor. Best picked every two days while beans are still very young and 1/8 inch in diameter. Older beans will become tough and begin to form strings. 50-60 days.

Gold of Bacau
Pole variety. Golden color, Romano type flat bean. 6-10 inches long. Sweet flavor. Stringless and tender. 65 days.

Provider – Certified Organic
Bush variety. THE most dependable early green bean. Heavy yields on compact plants, disease resistant, germinates in cool soil, good for fresh eating and canning. 50 days.

Rattlesnake Snap – Certified Organic
Pole variety. Dark green pods are brushed with purple streaks, drought resistant. 60-90 days.

NEW! Royalty Purple Pod
Bush variety. Bred at the University of New Hampshire. Bright purple, stringless, 5 inch pods on attractive plants with purple foliage and flowers. Germinates well, even in cool soil. 55 days.

Sultan’s Golden Crescent – Certified Organic / Very Rare
Pole variety. Nearly extinct! Curved yellow snap bean, stringless, and prolific. 75 days.

BEETS

Albino – Discontinued (ask about special order)

Early Blood – Certified Organic / Rare
Dark red, sweet, crisp and tender. Good for summer and autumn planting. 48-68 days.

Burpee’s Golden
Introduced before 1828. Globe shaped orange roots turn golden yellow when cooked. Tender and mild, even when roots are large. Color does not bleed. Leafy tops are edible, too. 55 days.

BROCCOLI

DeCicco – Certified Organic
Made U.S. debut in 1890. Italian origin. Early variety. Compact plants with 4 inch main head, prolific side shoots. 48 days from transplant.

CABBAGE

Winningstadt
German heirloom introduced to American in 1866. Sweet mild flavor and dense heads are great for sauerkraut or other favorites. Excellent keeper. 85 days.

CARROTS

Danvers – Certified Organic
High yields in clay and heavy soils. Uniform 6 inch roots. Bright orange, sweet, and nearly coreless. 65-80 days.

Paris Market
The best carrot for Kentucky soil. Early maturing, 2 inch globe roots perform even in stony soil. Great for container gardens, even window boxes. 50-65 days.

CORN

Country Gentleman – Certified Organic
Introduced in 1890. Late season white, “shoe peg,” 7-8 foot stalks often produce two ears. 88 days.

CUCUMBERS

Armenian
Heavily ribbed, pale green, burpless, no need to peel. Retains flavor at 12-18 inches long. 50-75 days.

Bushy – Certified Organic
Early. The standard, old fashioned cuke. Great for limited spaces as this compact bush variety has vines that only spread 3-5 feet. Great fresh and for pickling. 47 days.

Boothby’s Blonde
From the Boothby family in Livermore, Maine. No peelin’, fresh eatin’. Crisp sweet flavor and pale green skin make it a great choice for bread and butter pickles. Best picked at 4 inches. 55-60 days.

Crystal Apple – Certified Organic
Originated in New Zealand. Unique creamy green, apple shaped variety, very prolific. 65 days.

Mexican Sour Gherkin – Discontinued (ask about special order)

Miniature White – Discontinued (ask about special order)

Parisian Pickling – Discontinued (ask about special order)

White Wonder
Introduced in 1893 from New York. Blocky, ivory-white, 7 inch fruits are great raw or for pickling. Highly productive, even in hot weather. Cukes start to turn yellow when past maturity. 58 days.

EGGPLANT

Applegreen – Discontinued (ask about special order)

Listada de Gandia – Certified Organic
Gorgeous purple striped Italian variety. Forget look-a-likes: Seed Savers Exchange guarantees this is the best strain on the market for color, taste, and yield. 80 days from transplant.

New! Rosa Bianca
Gorgeous Italian variety. Round, 4-6 inch fruits are lavender-pink with cream shading. Perfect for eggplant Parmesan. 70-85 days from transplant.

Thai Green – Closeout
Long and slender 12 inch fruits are light green, no peel, and absorb spicy flavors well, hence their use in Thai cuisine. Drought-resistant. 75 days from transplant.

LETTUCE/GREENS

Amish Deer Tongue – Certified Organic
Slow bolting. Unique triangular green leaves with straight edges. Broadcast for fantastic baby leaf, cut-and-come-again lettuce, or wait for very loose bibb heads. 30 days baby. 55 days head.

NEW! Arugula – Certified Organic
Fast growing Mediterranean green. Sharp, nutty, distinctive flavor. Self-seeding and cold hardy. 40 days.

Broccoli Raab
Fantastic! This delicious “leaf” broccoli has succulent leaves, tender stems, and tiny broccoli florets at maturity. Absolutely one of the fastest and easiest vegetables to grow. Plant successively from spring through fall. Try it in salads or sauteed in garlic butter. 42 days.

Bronze Arrowhead
Medal winner at the 1947 All American Selections. One of the very best. Red and green oak leaf type, looseleaf. 45 days.

Crisp Leaf – Certified Organic
Romaine type. Flavorful heads grow to 10 inches tall with serrated leaves. 45-55 days.

Forellenschuss – Rare
Romaine type. Austrian heirloom. Superior flavored lettuce with green leaves and maroon splotches. Holds well in summer. 55 days.

Grandpa Admire’s – Certified Organic
Butterhead type. From Civil War veteran George Admire. Bronze tinged lettuce that forms large, loose heads. Slow bolting, stands up well to summer heat. 60 days.

Merveille des Quatre Saisons
Butterhead type. French heirloom chronicled in 1885. Attractive reddish bibb type rosette with excellent flavor. Color and flavor do best in cool spring/autumn climate. 60 days.

NEW! Micro-Greens Mix
Trendy gourmet micro-greens are the first set of leaves from a premium blend of brassicas and mustard greens. Highly nutritious. Sow continuously. 12-18 days.

Reine des Glaces (Ice Queen) – Certified Organic
Crisphead type. Great slow bolting summer variety. Dark green, deeply pointed, lacy leaves. Use as leaf lettuce once head is cut. 62 days.

NEW! Rossa di Trento
Leaf lettuce from Milan, Italy. Winner of the 2010 SSE lettuce tasting. Gorgeous red-tipped, savoy leaves. Can be used as a greenhouse variety, too. 50-60 days.

Rouge d’ Hiver (Red Winter) – Certified Organic
Romaine type. Green heart with brownish red leaves. Grows 10-12inches tall. Great for salad mixes. 60 days.

Tennis Ball – Certified Organic
Butterhead type. First introduced in the 1850s. Small, tight rosettes of light green leaves form loose heads no bigger than 7 inches. 50 days.

KALE

NEW! Red Russian – Certified Organic
Siberian Kale brought to Canada in 1885. Considered the hardiest and most tender of all kales. Excellent as a baby crop. Blue green leaves. Reddish purple stems and highlights accentuated during cooler weather. 40 days baby, 60 days mature.

LEEK

Blue Solaize
Beautiful French heirloom. Blue colored leaves turn violet in cool weather. Very large 15-20 inch stalks, sweet flavor, very hardy. 100-120 days.

LIMA BEAN

Christmas
Pole variety. Dates back to the 1840s. Heavy yields of large white beans with maroon spots and swirls. Use as a green shell lima or dry. Does well even in extreme heat. 75-90 days.

MELONS (canteloupe/honeydew etc.)

Delice de la Table – Very Rare
Nearly extinct, late 1800s French heirloom. Small 1 to 2 pound fruits are mottled orange, have deeply ribbed fruits, and are very sweet. 85-90 days.

Ha’Ogen – Rare
Israeli variety. Deep yellow-orange rind with slight green ribs. Green flesh is sweet with spicy undertones. 75-80 days.

Minnesota Midget – Certified Organic
Extra early, short vined variety. Round 4 inch-plus fruits have high sugar content and are edible to the rind. Resistant to fusarium wilt. Developed at the Universty of Minnesota in 1948. 60-75 days.

Petit Gris de Rennes – Certified Organic
French melon grown nearly 400 years ago in the garden of the Bishop of Rennes. Sweet orange flesh. 80-85 days.

Tigger – Discontinued (ask about special order)

OKRA

Clemson Spineless – Closeout
AAS winner. 5 foot plants with tender, spineless pods. 50-60 days.

NEW! Red Velvet – LOCAL
Stunning plant with scarlet stems and deep red pods. Grown in the garden of Faith Feeds board member Mary Powell. 60-70 days.

ONION

Long Red Florence – Closeout
Italian heirloom. Elongated, bottle-shaped bulbs with mild flavor. Great for fresh use. For spring and fall planting. 110 days.

NEW! Pearl Drop
Snow white, round bulbs about the size of ping pong balls. Nice tops for bunching. Well suited to Kentucky climate and daylength. 65 days.

Purplette – Certified Organic
Temporarily unavailable: Ask about special order.
Our favorite onion. This versatile, easy-to-grow purple onion can be picked as baby pearl onions, or at the size of golf balls. Good flavor, fast growing. 60 days to full maturity.

PEAS

NEW! Dwarf Gray Sugar
Recorded in 1892. Pale green, 3-4 inch pods are stringless and free of fiber. Well suited for steaming or stir fry. 60 days.

PEPPERS (Heat scale 1 to 5)

Alma Paprika (1)
The best for drying and grinding into paprika. Can also be eaten fresh. Round, thick walled peppers are slightly warm and sweet. Ripens from cream-white to orange to red. 75 days from transplant.

Bull Nose Large Bell
Grown by Thomas Jefferson at Monticello. Crisp, flavorful peppers turn from green to red. Very productive. 70-80 days from transplant.

Fatalii (5)
One of the hottest peppers we know of. Three inch long, top-shaped, golden-yellow peppers have a citrus flavor, with very few seeds. Can be grown in large pots and kept alive for several seasons. 90 days from transplant.

Fish (3)
Pre-1870s, African-American heirloom. Variegated leaves are creamy grey and dark green, making this a nice edible ornamental. 3 inch fruits start out cream with green stripes, then ripen to orange with brown stripes, then finally red. Use in white stage for cream sauces, or for salsas and fresh use at any stage. 80 days from transplant.

NEW! Golden Treasure
Italian Sweet Pepper. Excellent for frying, roasting and fresh eating. 9 inch long fruits ripen from green to shiny yellow. Use at any stage of maturity. 80 days from transplant.

Jamaican Hot Chocolate (4)
From Port Antonio, Jamaica. This gorgeous, habanero-type pepper is a deep chocolate brown when ripe. Caribbean flavor that is strong and smoky. Great for hot sauces. 85 days from transplant.

Mustard Habanero (5) – Rare
Unique colors and shape. Starts out pale green with a purple blush, then mustard orange, then finally reddish orange. 95 days from transplant.

Miniature Chocolate, Miniature Red, Miniature Yellow
From the Lucina Cress family in Ohio. 2 inch, mini 2-3 lobe peppers. Great for stuffing or pickling. 90 days from transplant.

Pasilla Bajio (1)
10 inch long, cylindrical, thin walled peppers turn from green to dark brown. Has a rich smoky flavor, used in authentic Mexican dishes. Great for drying. 75-80 days from transplant.

Pepperoncini (1)
Early and abundant. 4 inch long, wrinkled green peppers are used for pickling and salads. Mild heat. You may notice them delivered with your Papa John’s Pizza. 62 days from transplant.

Quadrato Asti Giallo – Rare
Large blocky bell pepper from Italy. Ripens very slowly from green, to green and yellow, finally to a golden color. Sweet and spicy flavor at any stage. Thick, crisp flesh. 70-80 days from transplant.

Tolli’s Sweet Italian – Certified Organic
Sweet red Italian heirloom is versatile and tasty. Great for fresh eating, canning, or added to tomato sauces. Heavy yielding, 4-5 inch long tapered fruits. 80 days from transplant.

RADICCIO

NEW! Fiero
“Trevisio” type of Italian origin. Tangy chicory flavor. Add to salad mixes for texture, color and taste. Distinctive maroon-red color is enhanced with cool weather. 60-68 days.

RADISH

Plum Purple – Certified Organic
Exceptional variety. Round, deep purple roots, white flesh, sweet and mild all season, hardy and never pithy. 25-30 days.

SOYBEAN

Agate – Certified Organic / Very Rare
Historic New Mexico heirloom. Highly productive, medium-sized yellow seeds with reddish-brown saddles. 80 days.

SPINACH

Bloomsdale – Certified Organic
Fantastic variety. Very tender, well flavored, heavy yielding and slow bolting. One of the few spinaches adapted for spring and summer planting. 39-56 days.

Strawberry Spinach – Very Rare
Grown in Europe for centuries. 16 inch plants have triangular toothed leaves and tender shoots good in salads or steamed. Red mulberry-like fruits grow on the same plant and are edible, good for drying or mixing in with salads. A self-seeding annual.

SQUASH

Galeux d’ Eysines – Discontinued (ask about special order)

Musquee de Provence – Closeout
Seed Savers Exchange Prize winner. From southern France, introduced to America in 1899. Gorgeous, flat “pumpkinesque” fruits average 20 pounds and ripen from green to a rich brown. Deep orange flesh is perhaps the very finest for baking, and is a good keeper, too. Often mixed into fall ornamental displays. 100-110 days.

NEW! Spaghetti Squash
Bake or boil these medium size yellow squash and fork out the noodle-like fibers to make vegetarian sphagetti! Enjoy pasta without the starch. 88 days.

Thelma Sanders Sweet Potato – Certified Organic
CROP FAILURE: Ask about limited quantity.
Ohio heirloom from the Knoche family, noted squash collectors. Cream-colored acorn-type squash is great for baking. Very productive. 85-90 days.

SWISS CHARD

Five Color Silverbeet – Certified Organic
Unlike most commercial “rainbow” chard, all the colors in Silverbeet are grown in isolation to insure a proper balance, and give you the best color. 50-60 days.

TOMATO

Black Krim – Certified Organic
Absolutely one of the best tasting tomatoes. Balanced flavor with a hint of smoky/salty undertones. Mahogany colored fruit with green shoulders can turn almost black with alot of heat and sun. We’ve grown this for years and it never dissapoints. Indeterminate. 70-80 days from transplant.

Blondkopfchen (Little Blonde Girl) – Certified Organic
Perhaps the very best all-around grape tomato. 1inch golden-yellow fruits with sweet taste, high yields, grows in giant clusters, and unlike many grape/cherry varieties it does not crack. Bears until frost. Indeterminate. 75-80 days.

Chalk’s Early Jewel – Certified Organic
Introduced by John Chalk in 1910. Expect heavy yields of 6 oz., round, red fruit. Indeterminate. 70-75 days from transplant.

Isis Candy
Gorgeous grape tomato marbled with red and has a cat’s eye starburst on the blossom end. Almost too pretty to eat. Sweet and fruity. Indeterminate. 70-80 days from transplant.

Jaune Flamme
Deep orange, apricot-shaped heirloom from France. Excellent, “bitey” flavor. Great for drying as well. 2-3 oz. fruits, borne in clusters. Indeterminate. 70-80 days from transplant.

John Baer – Certified Organic
Great all-around tomato. Use for canning and fresh eating. Bright red, smooth and round, meaty with a balanced flavor. Indeterminate. 70 days from transplant.

NEW! Kellogg’s Breakfast
West Virginia heirloom. Delicious orange beefsteak, with a good balanced flavor. Productive plants produce 1-2 pound fruits. Indeterminate. 80-90 days from transplant

NEW! Marianna’s Peace
Dark pink fruit that weighs 1-2 pounds and has a superb balance of acidity and sweetness. Productive for a large fruited variety. Indeterminate. 80 days from transplant

Martino’s Roma – Certified Organic
Seed Savers Exchange’s pick for best Roma variety. Good flavor for a Roma, unlike the supermarket. As always, great for sauce, salads, and salsa. Rugose. 75 days from transplant.

Moonglow – Certified Organic
Seed Savers Exchange Prize winner. Medium size, bright orange fruit, with orange meat and few seeds. Winner of Seed Savers Exchange 2007 Heirloom Tomato Tasting. Wonderful flavor. Indeterminate. 80 days from transplant.

New Big Dwarf – LOCAL Organic
Compact, 3 foot tall plants produce lots of 1/2 to 1 pound pink beefsteak tomatoes. Old-fashioned flavor with a hint of sweetness. This the favorite tomato of Masten and Dingus of Bella’s Bakery and Catering in Chevy Chase. (Grown at Victory Lutheran Church.) Indeterminate. 65 days from transplant.

Plum Lemon
Seed found in Moscow market during the 1991 coup. Small, yellow, meaty, pointed end fruits really resemble a lemon. Sweet, refreshing flavor. Indeterminate. 72 days from transplant.

Ponderosa Red – Certified Organic
A wonderful beefsteak tomato. Mild and sweet flavor. 1-2 pounds. Tends to surpass most varieties in humid areas (like Kentucky). Introduced in 1891. Indeterminate. 80-90 days from transplant.

Purple Russian
From Erma Henkel in the Ukraine. Plum shaped, purple-black fruits are meaty with the fantastic “black” flavor, but without the heavy cracking most other black tomatoes have. Indeterminate. 80 days.

Sarah Black — LOCAL Organic
4-5 foot tall vines produce round, 8 oz. dark red/brown fruit. Has great, rich, black tomato flavor with more uniform production and is less prone to cat-facing. Grown in the back yard of In-Feed director Bob McKinley. Indeterminate. 70 days from transplant.

Striped Cavern (a.k.a. Schimmig Stoo) – Discontinued (ask about special order)

Sudduth Brandywine
From the Sudduth family. Seed Saver Exchange’s best selling tomato. Has all of the famous Brandywine flavor, in a more productive plant. Pink beefsteak that can grow up to 2 pounds. Indeterminate. 90 days from transplant.

NEW! Virginia Sweets
Superior tasting, heavy producing gold-red bi-color tomato. Golden yellow beefsteaks with red stripes that turn into a ruby blush on top. Rich, sweet flavor in 1 pound-plus fruits. Indeterminate. 80 days from transplant.

ZUCCHINI

NEW! Costata Romanesco
Italian variety with nutty flavor, superior texture. Excellent as baby zuke, or up to 12 inches long. Has distinctive ribs that create a unique “gear” shape when sliced. 54 days.

HERBS

Basil: Sweet Genovese – Certified Organic

Basil: Mrs. Burn’s Lemon – Certified Organic
Great in salads, makes an unusual pesto with light flavor. Steep in hot water for an herbal tisane with beautiful color and a delicate taste of lemon.

Cilantro – Certified Organic

Greek Oregano

Parsley: Giant from Italy – Certified Organic

Thyme

FLOWERS – NEW! (ornamental and edible)

Nasturtium: Empress of India
Gorgeous Victorian era flower. Red blooms can be added to salads or crushed into pasta for a peppery zing. Great for containers. Hardy annual.

Sunflower: Tarahumara
Edible white seeded, solid gold flowers, of Canadian Mennonite origin and used by the Tarahumara Indian tribe. 8-10 blossoms per plant. Grows 6 feet plus. 80 days.

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locally Grown seed These seed varieties were grown and collected in Lexington. Talk to us about becoming a local seed supplier! Red Velvet Okra (grown by Faith Feeds board member Mary Powell) New Big Dwarf Tomato (grown by In-Feed at Victory Lutheran Church) Sarah Black Tomato (grown by In-Feed director Bob McKinley)