Vegetables for Spring & Early Summer 2021
Beans:
“Roma II”: An improved Romano, bush-type, green bean with 6 inch to 7 inch-long pods that are very flavorful.
“Marvel of Venice”: The pods are a yellow wax type but are wide and flat like Romas. Very filling.
“Cantare Green”: Straight, dark-green pods that are 4-5 inches long and stringless. Great flavor with a high yield.
“Golden Butterwax”: Bright yellow pods that are 5 inches long, with superior flavor. Great for canning and freezing.
Beets:
"Golden Beet": The very sweet beets are a rich, golden yellow, and they won’t bleed like red beets. The greens are also very tasty.
"Cylindra Beet" A wonderful heirloom from Denmark, this one is famous for slicing with its long, cylindrical roots. Produces much more uniform slices than round beets. This tender and sweet variety is also known as “Butter Slicer” because of its wonderful texture.
“Chioggia”: The candy-cane striped roots have a crisp crunch when eaten raw in salads. Those who are averse to that signature earthy beet flavor will appreciate this variety, as the flavor is remarkably mellow. The greens are crisp and high quality. The flesh is very tender, mild, and sweet.
“Boldor”: Beautiful, bright yellow flesh that keeps its color when cooked. Strong tops with great flavor.
Broccoli:
“Calabrese Green Sprouting”: Italian heirloom variety. 5 to 8 inch heads with many side shoots.
“Rapini”: Italian heirloom variety of non-heading broccoli. Flavorful asparagus-like spring shoots and leaves
“Romanesco Italia”: Popular Italian heirloom variety that has bright green apple color and unique fractal patterned heads.
“Green Magic”: Beautiful, smooth, medium-sized heads of blue-green broccoli. Plants produce lots of side shoots that are just right for snacking or sautéing.
“Di Cecco”: Old, reliable Italian heirloom variety that produces many sweet, flavorful shoots that are great along with their leaves when chopped and sauteed.
“Marathon”: Standard, multi-use variety with a high dome, small bead, and heavy head.
“Santee”: Abundant, tender burgundy spears and mini broccoli heads are flavorful and packed with nutrients.
Brussel Sprouts:
“Hestia”: Extra-fancy variety bred for flavor and productivity offers heavy yields of solid, crunchy, bright green sprouts
Carrots:
“Chantenay Red Core”: One of the sweetest, this variety was introduced in 1929 and is a large stump-rooted carrot with a deep red-orange center, great for juicing or fresh eating.
“Napoli”: An Early Nantes type, with a sweet taste when sown in fall for winter harvest. Up to 7" cylindrical, smooth, blunt roots with strong tops.
“Sugarsnax”: Tapered roots are sweet and tender, smooth, and a uniform 9–10" long. High in beta-carotene, an antioxidant and important source of provitamin A. Strong, medium-tall tops.
Celeriac:
“Giant of Prague”: Root celery, this variety is grown for its large, white roots that are superb fried or in soup. Taste and texture are much like regular celery.
Eggplant:
“Listada de Gandia”: 7 inch long fruit that is white with lovely, bright-purple stripes. Fabulous flavor with sweet, tender flesh.
“Rosa Bianca”: Pink-and-white italian heirloom, round, plump, and ribbed with mild, creamy flavor.
“Rosita”: Lovely 8x4 inch neon lavender-pink fruit with mild, sweet, white flesh. The skin is tender and not bitter. Puerto Rican variety.
Kale:
“Dazzling Blue”: Smoky blue lacinato type kale with fantastic purple and blue leaves.
“Nero di Toscana”: Italian heirloom that has beautiful, heavily savoyed, deep black-green leaves that can be 24 inches long. Popular in Tuscany and central Italy for making soups and stews and is extremely flavorful.
"Tronchuda": Heirloom Portuguese Kale. Leaves are large, flat, rounded, similar to collard, but very large and with very prominent white veins. The leaves are more succulent, and the flavor is more cabbage-like than other kales. The fleshy stems or petioles are enjoyed as well.
“Russian Red”: A highly nutritious kale variety with eye-catching color and form, Russian red is very tender and mild at any size, but especially well suited to use as baby greens. The oak-type leaves of this pre-1885 heirloom variety have a red tinge, and the stems are purplish-red, adding color to the garden and the dinner plate!
Kohlrabi:
“Early Purple Vienna”: Delicious, cabbage-flavored bulbs that grow above ground. Purple skin and sweet, white flesh; good cooked or raw. Kohlrabi makes a real staple crop with high yields; cold hardy. A pre-1860 heirloom.
Onion:
“Round of Tropea”: Calabrian heirloom. Deep purple rounded bulbs with sweet light and enjoyable taste. Great for baking, broiling, and preserving.
“Bianca di Guigno”: Cipollini type onion, small flat and sweet. Great for grilling or pickling.
“Guardsman”: Cross between bulb and bunching onion. Large tops, mildness in bulb.
Radishes:
"Giant of Sicily": Large, 2-inch, round, summer radishes are bright red in color, with great taste and good quality.
“Watermelon”: Has 4-inch round roots with white-and-green skin, but the magic is in their rose-red center, which is sweet, crisp, and delicious. A good radish to add color to salads and stir fries. It is a root that most kids love and packs an extra load of antioxidants in its sweet, red flesh.
“Purple”: this radish is a soft lavender-to-purple color from pith to skin and boasts amazing, spicy flavor to match! An exceptionally nutritious root crop, this variety works wonderfully sliced thin and eaten raw or pickled, perfect for those who like a spicy, pungent radish.
“Easter Egg Mix”: A mixture of red, purple, pink, and white round radishes that are crisp and mild.
Spinach:
“Gigante d’Inverno”: This European heirloom produces large, broad, deep green leaves well into the fall and winter months in many areas. This flavorful variety comes to us from Italy.
“Galilee”: A true spinach hailing from Israel. Leaves are triangular with pointed tips and a dark green color that indicates high nutrient levels. Fabulous flavor eaten raw or cooked harvested for both baby spinach or large leaves.
“Carmel”: Great fall semi-savoy with stunning dark green color and upright growth habit. For baby leaf or full size.
“Kolibri”: Semi-savoy with medium-dark green leaves. Great for producing baby spinach leaves.
Swiss Chard:
“Bright Lights”: Nicely savoyed green or bronze leaves with stems of gold, pink, orange, purple, red, and white that come in both bright and pastel varieties.
*Descriptions of varieties are most often taken from seed suppliers, and may be edited for clarity