SEED Collection Southern Heritage Seed Collective - Working Food
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fall & winter
2019-2020
SEED
Collection
Southern
Heritage
Seed Collective
art by
Melissa DeSa
SAVING SEED & GROWING COMMUNITY
Cheryl, Joan, and Rosa helping process Ethiopian Kale seeds at Grow Hub
SOUTHERN HERITAGE SEED COLLECTIVE
·
Collaborating with growers and organizations to help grow and save seed.
Educating all ages about seed saving and Florida gardening.
Sharing unique varieties with other growers and seed companies around the country.
Integrating our seed program with special needs adults at Grow Hub that learn to
grow, harvest and package seeds.
Collaborating regionally to support and grow a Southeastern Seed Network to
provide better varieties for seed by uniting breeders, growers, chefs, researchers,
and other stakeholders.
Our planet is changing, our climate is more unpredictable and extreme. If you learn to
diversify your plantings, and are open to trying better adapted but unfamiliar varieties,
you will have more success while others struggle. Local food needs local seed!
SAVING SEED & GROWING COMMUNITY
Miles & collards
Bruce and a bag full of
Vernon and Bill cleaning up seeds native wildflower seeds
Dina and Melissa at the UF Kale trial
Tim and Huxley harvesting Maruba
Santoh seeds
Gwen, Andrew, and Rosa packing seeds
Kids Count learning about corn seeds
really beautiful plant with soft, tender, rounded
chartreuse leaves that are semi-heading and have
excellent flavor. A mild mustard, not too spicy, not
bitter, not bland like lettuce (sorry lettuce, but it’s
true!) The flat white stems are juicy and crisp with
Arugula a pac-choy taste. This will be a staple in our garden
Eruca sativa as it grew really well and was great to eat. *Locally
~100 seeds produced seed from Tim Noyes!
40 days. Distinctive peppery leaves, an easy and
prolific green to grow. Readily self-seeds, coming Asian Mustards, Red Rain (Hybrid)
back year after year. Flowers are gorgeous, Brassica rapa
delicate, and yummy to both people and ~100 seeds
pollinators. A favorite in our garden year after year. 21-42 days. Deeply toothed leaves are similar in
*Locally produced seed from Angie Minno! appearance to a mustard but with a mild rather
than hot taste. Excellent for full size bunching or
Asian Mustards, Hon Tsai Tai baby leaf and holds well. We don’t typically offer
Brassica rapa hybrids but a large bag was given to us from
~100 seeds Charlie at Hammock Hollow Farms and if he likes it,
37 days. In the ongoing quest to find healthy greens it’s a good one. Thanks Charlie! Let us all know
that grow well here, we started growing this one in what you think of it.
2015 and have loved it ever since. It’s one of those
plants that checks all our boxes: easy to grow, Asian Mustards, Tokyo Bekana
healthy, flavorful, beautiful, self-sowing, attracts Brassica rapa
pollinators, seed can be saved. It has even ~100 seeds
volunteered itself with no prompting from us 45 days. The pale green, lettuce-like leaves of this
whatsoever, and thrived during warmer months! baby Chinese cabbage are sweet and mild, never
Plants produce abundant long purple stems, with bitter. They are great in salad mixes, make a
lovely yellow flowers that attract pollinators. Tastes wonderful slaw, and can be bunched and used like
great at all life stages from baby greens through a Chinese cabbage. You can pretty much sub this
flowering. It has a pleasing mild mustard taste that for lettuce and it’s surely more nutritious since
even kids are OK with. It may be used raw in salads brassicas are nutritional powerhouses. They can be
or on sandwiches, lightly cooked in stir-fries or harvested quickly as young baby greens, or up till
soups or however you do your greens. Harvest when they form very loose heads. This will be a
multiple times from the leaves, stems and flowers. staple in our garden for sure.
Chef Eddie Cromer at Daily Green made a delicious
pesto from the flowers! A staple in our garden, we
think you’ll love it too. *Locally produced seed from
our gardens at Grow Hub!
Beet, Chioggia
Asian Mustards, Maruba Santoh Beta vulgaris
Brassica rapa ~ 60 seeds
~100 seeds 60 days. A unique and beautiful striped beet, this is
35 days. We first learned about this from a a newer strain of the popular Italian heirloom. One
Virginia-based gardening blog, in our quest to find of our favorites for sure. Some gardeners find
a diversity of greens that grow well here. It is a
1
beets tricky to grow, so read up and do your seeds are expensive and you can’t really save seeds
homework. If all else fails, eat your beet greens! from them, so we don’t regularly offer them.
We’re skimping on the seed count in each packet
Beet, Detroit Dark Red to make sure we spread these further. Good luck!
Beta vulgaris VERY LIMITED STOCK.
~60 seeds
60 days. Used for canning and fresh eating, this Broccoli Leaf, Spigariello Liscia
blood-red 3" diameter juicy beet is a great historic Brassica oleracea
variety introduced in 1892 by D.M. Ferry & ~50 seeds
Company. Some gardeners find beets tricky to 45 days. Since broccoli heads are challenging in
grow, so read up and do your homework. If all else warm Florida winters, why not try this leaf broccoli
fails, eat your beet greens! instead? Spigariello is an Italian variety eaten for
leaves, rather than heads (Yay! So much
Beet, Three Color Grex easier!!). Harvest leaves continually, as well as
Beta vulgaris the small florets for a sweet broccoli/ kale flavor.
~60 seeds Recommended by local garden friend Chris Quire
54 days. An interbreeding mix (GREX) of three many years ago, this is only now finally available
heirlooms: Yellow Intermediate, Crosby Purple in bulk. We’ve grown it ever since and really
Egyptian and Lutz Saladleaf. Such a genepool want to save seed, but have trouble because it’s
shows great variation that continues to morph. so bolt resistant! For broccoli flavor without the
This is not a stable line, but a mix, showing in
frustrations of trying to grow a big head,
varying shades of pinkish red, orange, bright gold
Spigariello is our vote.
and an iridescent orange. We thought they’d be
fun for you to play with! Some gardeners find
beets tricky to grow, so read up and do your
Cabbage, Charleston Wakefield
Brassica oleracea
homework. If all else fails, eat your beet greens!
~ 50 seeds
VERY LIMITED STOCK
75 days. Dark green, compact, conical shaped
heads can reach 4-6 lbs. Developed in 1892 for
Broccoli, Emerald Crown (Hybrid)
Southern growers, and still remains a great
Brassica oleracea
heirloom for the South. Seems to tolerate the
~10 seeds
fluctuating warm/cold of our winters and spring
We seriously hesitate to recommend certain crops
and still taste good! When we grow cabbage, this is
after years of fine tuning our gardens, and
certainly one of our favorites.
observing what gardeners experience through
forums like Grow Gainesville. As the winters seem
to get warmer each year, things like broccoli seem
Cabbage, Perfection Savoy
Brassica oleracea
to become more challenging, along with
~50 seeds
cauliflower and Brussels sprouts, which we refuse
89 days. Flattened, round 6-8 lb heads are white
to grow anymore! But it is a loved vegetable, and if
inside, wrapped on the outside with well-savoyed,
you provide the right conditions and are blessed
blue- green leaves. Decent warm weather
with some chilly weather, you may just get a big
tolerance for a cabbage. A favorite garden variety
and beautiful head of broccoli! In these cases, a
at the homestead of Angie Minno in Alachua.
hybrid variety may also come to the rescue, which
is why we are offering this one that came
recommended by our farmer friend Jordan Brown
at The Family Garden Organic & Fair Farm. Hybrid
2
**If you are looking for a stunning, magnificent Excellent for freezing and juicing. A great standard
and humungous cabbage, look no further than the variety that many gardeners have praised over the
variety called Megaton. Our friends Jesse and Chris years as a standard and reliable go-to.
swear by it, and fancy themselves a whole lot of
homemade sauerkraut each season. We didn’t get Carrot, Shin Kuroda
any seed because it was pricey, being a hybrid and Daucus carota
all, but find yourself a pack on line and tell us if it’s ~ 300 seeds
as awesome as they say! 75 days. A stumpy and squat-shaped carrot that is
tender and sweet, scoring high in taste tests at
Carrot, Jaune de Doubs Fedco Seeds. Bright orange color. This variety was
Daucus carota developed from the old Chantenay types and is a
~ 300 seeds good storage carrot. Highly recommended by our
70 days. Bright yellow skin with conical roots about friend Cody at Siembra Farm who had a bumper
8-10 inches long. We grew this years ago because crop of carrots this past winter!
we had a free seed pack from Seed Savers
Exchange and thought we’d give it a try. We loved Collards are the quintessential Southern
how easily it grew, and how beautiful and big the vegetable, with a long history in our region. Only
carrots were. It’s an old French heirloom that recently has it been “discovered” that hundreds of
seems a bit more wild than the tamed domestic varieties exist. For so long we’ve been limited to the
carrots, so it may have an “unrefined” appearance few available commercially. If you are interested
and taste to some gardeners. Last year they were a read Collards: A Southern Tradition from Seed to
big hit in our youth gardens! Table.
Carrot, Pusa Rudhira Southern Exposure Seed Exchange and Seed Savers
Daucus carota Exchange are working together to revive and
~100 seeds distribute the numerous varieties available that are
85-90 days. A red carrot high in beta-carotene and currently very rare. We’ve been growing as many
lycopene. Great for juicing! It was developed as we can, and have loved the uniqueness of each
particularly for small farmers in India. Angie told us one. Our all-time favorite is Yellow Cabbage
about how much she loved this beautiful pinkish- Collards. Sadly, there was not enough this year to
orange carrot, AND that it went to seed! This is go around! We were asked to help with seed grow-
very unusual for carrots in our region because they outs but it seems that collards do not reliably go to
are biennial and typically need a cold winter and seed this far south, so we didn’t want to risk taking
two growing seasons to reproduce. Carrot flowers on a rare variety. We’ll wait for seed from others in
are gorgeous and very attractive to pollinators. the south that have the right conditions.
Thanks to Angie and Ethan’s observations and
efforts, we can offer this rare carrot seed to you. Over the next few years, we hope the Heirloom
Limited seed quantity per packet, we don’t have a Collard Project will make more varieties readily
lot in stock. *Locally produced seed from Angie available so we can all enjoy them!
Minno!
You’ll notice that some of the older “landrace”
Carrot, Scarlet Nantes varieties are not uniform. They have not been
Daucus carota heavily selected for, so there is often variation
~ 300 seeds among plants. Which is a good thing in our books,
70 days. A favorite garden variety with mild flavor, especially for gardeners.
averaging about 6” long. Bright red-orange flesh.
3
Collards, Alabama Blue
Brassica oleracea
~25 seeds
75 days. A landrace variety with wide variation of “A variable population, which is identifiable and
beautiful leaf colors. We definitely noticed a usually has a local name. It lacks “formal” crop
difference between each plant for color and leaf improvement, is characterized by a specific
type. This diversity is fun for gardeners! They have adaptation to the environmental conditions of the
smaller leaves than most collards, so you can get area of cultivation (tolerant to the biotic and
away with closer spacing. The leaves are more abiotic stresses of that area) and is closely
tender and faster to cook, and plants hold their associated with the traditional uses, knowledge,
sweetness longer in hot weather. Rare and hard to habits, dialects, and celebrations of the people who
find. developed and continue to grow it. “
~ Food and Agriculture Organization of the United
Collards, Even ‘Star Landrace Nations
Brassica oleracea
~25 seeds Kale, Dazzling Blue
50 days. Vigorous and diverse, selected for Brassica oleracea
tenderness and mild flavor over uniformity of ~ 50 seeds
leaves. The small leaves are sweet enough for use Developed in Oregon in the Willamette Valley by
as young salad greens. This variety was a winner in farmers and plant breeders that grow ecologically,
Kathy Whipple’s garden last season. It was the first resulting in superior varieties and high quality
by several weeks to be harvestable, and the leaves seeds for those growing under organic conditions.
remained tender and sweet even at a later stage Dazzling Blue was developed by plant breeder
with large leaves. The extreme heat in May did Hank Keogh. We trialed this in our 2018-2019
send some bolting along with other collards too. growing season in partnership with the University
Seems resistant to powdery mildew, and tolerant of Florida Field & Fork program. Over two
of a wide range of soils while being very cold semesters, undergraduate students helped design
hardy. Kathy seeded 16 plants at the end of the study and collect data with our support. This
October and these provided a mess of greens at lacinato variety is so beautiful and would easily
least twice a week, plus 5 gallons of greens put by pass as an ornamental in your garden! Purple
in the freezer! stems and veins are common, and some plants
were absolutely stunning with purple hues coloring
Collards, Georgia Southern the leaves entirely. It performed well in taste trials,
Brassica oleracea despite being described as fibrous and a bit
~ 50 seeds tougher than the standard lacinato (hint: better for
75 days. An old standard variety dating back to kale chips!) There is some variation from plant to
1879, that still holds strong as a great variety. Deep plant, which is actually a trait we like in our
blue/green color leaves, slow to bolt, non-heading gardens. Students did chlorophyll tests and found
growing about 2-3ft tall. Tolerates heat and poor this variety to have the highest content. This
sandy soils. A classic staple in Southern gardens for beautiful green pigment is what allows plants to
many generations. You can’t go wrong with perform the magical chemical process of
Georgia collards. photosynthesis, and also has many health benefits.
This will be a staple in our gardens as long as seed
is available! Read about The Kale Trial on our blog!
4
Kale, Ethiopian Kale, Red Russian
Brassica carinata Brassica napus
~ 50 seeds ~ 50 seeds
40 days or much less if you eat as a tender baby 40 days. Mild, tender leaves with purple/pink veins
green. We originally found this in 2014 from Echo and light purple on the margins. Grows up to 2ft
Florida’s seed collection and loved it right away. tall. A reliable standard and beautiful kale variety
Again, it’s one of those plants that checks all our for our region (and just about anywhere else).
boxes: easy to grow, tasty, self-sowing, easy to More tender than Lacinato. VERY LIMITED STOCK
save seeds, flowers that are tasty to both people
and pollinators. It’s not a true kale, so don’t go Kale, White Russian
thinking this will replace traditional kale you are Brassica napus
used to. It’s unique in its own way; not quite a kale ~ 50 seeds
and not quite a mustard, but somewhat like both. Developed in Oregon in the Willamette Valley by
We entered it into The Kale Trials and not farmers and plant breeders that grow ecologically
surprisingly, it came out as the superior variety, resulting in superior varieties and high quality
especially as a fall planted vegetable. It won across seeds for those growing under organic conditions.
the board in all categories: flavor, vigor, uniformity Similar to Red Russian, but with whitish stems and
and yield. It was overwhelmingly the favorite in the veins. It’s good reviews for vigor, resilience and
taste trials, described as “thick, rich, spicy, garlicky, flavor made us want to test it out down as part of
delicious, and funky”! Even when it’s flowering, it The Kale Trial. It turned out to be a clear winner,
still tastes good. It gets much taller than a coming in second behind Ethiopian in field growth
traditional kale, is multi-branching and has smaller and flavor. Folks really liked the texture, and it got
leaves, producing vigorously. It stands up well in a lot of thumbs up in the taste tests. It was very
warmer weather, but performs best when planted high yielding and resilient in the field, and had
during cooler months, compared to a spring great shelf life after harvest.
planted crop. When the spring insects descended
on the field, Ethiopian kale withstood the assault Lettuce, Celtuce
much better than the others. This is not a very Lactuca sativa
commonly available seed although it is being ~50 seeds
grown at huge scales commercially for its use for This unique lettuce was recommended to us by
jet fuel and other things! Read more about the Angie, who had saved a few seeds from her garden
SPARC Team at UF and their work advancing this and passed them along to us to try. This “stem”
crop. We love Ethiopian kale and think you will lettuce grows like a romaine type and used as you
too! *Locally produced seed from our gardens at would normally for salad. Until… the really neat
Grow Hub! part happens! The stem elongates as the plant
matures, then you get to harvest the long sturdy
Kale, Lacinato stem to play with in the kitchen. Chop it up and
Brassica oleracea toss it in stir fries and soups, pickle it, or eat it
~ 50 seeds fresh. Has a nice juicy crunch. It is found
60 days. A dark green heirloom kale, sweet throughout Asia but is not so common here. We
delicious and very cold hardy. Blue/green bumpy love diversity in our gardens, and think you should
leaves like the skin of a dinosaur, 11-19” long try this one out and lettuce know what you think!
leaves. A reliable standard kale variety for our *Locally produced seed from our gardens at Grow
region (and just about anywhere else). Great Hub!
texture for kale chips.
5
Lettuce, Devil’s Ears A large cos-type lettuce with big leaves and
Lactuca sativa very large heads. Individual leaves can be
~100 seeds harvested for a leaf type cut-and-come-again, or
50 days. Described by Angie as part of her 2017- the entire head can be cut. Exceptionally slow to
2018 lettuce trial as slightly tougher than a bolt in warm weather. This is our fourth saved
butterhead type, but with a surprisingly sweet generation in Gainesville, always saving from later
flavor even with warmer weather. Massive plants, bolting plants. We sourced this originally from
semi-heading with deer tongue shaped leaves Echo’s seed bank in South Florida. Very rare seed,
splotched with burgundy edges and crunchy green be sure to save your own if it does well for you and
midribs. A very slow to bolt variety which makes it sends up flowers! *Locally produced seed from our
heat tolerant and delicious! We grew this at the gardens at Grow Hub!
recommendation of Cody from Siembra Farm, who
reports that it pops up all over the farm as a Lettuce, Salvius
vigorous volunteer. Really pretty, stood out to Lactuca sativa
everyone who visited our garden. *Locally ~ 100 seeds
produced seed from Tim Noyes! 58 days. Medium green, upright plants with an
open habit makes it more suitable for heads. Crisp
Lettuce, Magenta texture and sweetness, with high resistance to
Lactuca sativa downy mildew. Recommended to us by local
~100 seeds gardeners, Jesse and Chris. It reminded us a little of
48 days. This variety has been recommended to us Queensland and Nevada combined. It isn’t among
so many times by different growers! Crispy, bronze the last to bolt, but in our gardens lasted quite a
tinged/reddish leaves with a bright green heart. while before it did. Angie found it have the best
Tolerant of warmer temperatures, slower to bolt, flavor of any of the romaine types she tried in her
strong disease resistance and good shelf life. lettuce trials. *Locally produced seed from our
gardens at Grow Hub! VERY LIMITED STOCK
Lettuce, Manoa
Lactuca sativa Mustard Greens, Feaster Family Heirloom
~100 seeds Brassica juncea
55 days. This variety has been adapted by the ~100 seeds
growers at the University of Hawaii, from the 45 days. An old family heirloom grown by the
century-old “Green Mignonette”, which was Feaster family in Shiloh, FL for over a hundred
known for being tolerant of warm temperatures. A years (and maybe more)! We are so proud to have
little mini-headed type, grown widely in the Islands acquired this seed for you to enjoy! Broad, pale
for its resistance to heat and tip burn. Deep green green, smooth, enormous leaves have a nice spicy
and semi-savoyed leaves form compact plants that bite. They self-sow, and are known to show up all
can be spaced very closely (6” all around). It is over the garden and in side-walk cracks and other
classified as a semi-head but size and firmness of unexpected places. A must grow mustard for our
head varies considerably with growing conditions. area! Thanks to Jerome Feaster and his
Heavy rains may bruise the soft leaves. *Locally stewardship of this family heirloom that we can
produced seed from our gardens at Grow Hub! now all enjoy. The past couple of years, Bricky from
Morningside Nature Center, and Charley Lybrand
Lettuce, Queensland the Union Street Farmers Market Manager, grew
Lactuca sativa out quantities of seed for the collective. Fun fact,
~100 seeds we had many self-sow in our summer garden and
they did well. This mustard loves growing here.
6*Locally produced seed from Jerome Feaster and crop, seems to do best if you plant seeds when the
Charlie Lybrand! real cool weather arrives. No trellis necessary but
it’s better if you do!
Mustard Greens, Hawaiian
Brassica juncea Pea, Sugar Snap
~100 seeds Pisum sativum
45-50 days ~45 seeds
From the seed collection at the University of 50 days. Straight heavy pods on vigorous short
Hawaii, and a selection of mustard from a farmer vines. Stringless, tasty, tender and very juicy. Does
on the island of Molokai. We grew this and saved best trellised. Extended harvest, good yield.
it’s seed last fall, and enjoyed it. A great mustard
with some kick but not as spicy as some others Pea, Sutton’s Harbinger
we’ve had. It did well for us, although admittedly Pisum sativum
not as well as the locally adapted Feasters. There is ~25 seeds
a small chance some Feaster genes are in this 52-60 days. An early and heavy producing variety.
batch, since we let a few volunteers flower for the A shelling pea, also great to eat like a snow pea. It’s
pollinators at the same time. Figured it would be a an old heirloom that we’ve grown for several years
good infusion anyway! *Locally produced seed now, from Seed Savers Exchange. It has quickly
from our gardens at Grow Hub! become a favorite for its vigor, tenderness and
sweetness. We finally have enough of our own
Mustard Greens, Myers Family home-grown seed to offer you a sample. Packets
Brassica juncea are smaller, but still plenty for a row or two and
~100 seeds some for seed saving. These are hard for us to save
A rare family heirloom from Mississippi that is hard in large quantities so be sure to save your seeds for
to come by. We acquired seed from Seed Savers next year. *Locally produced seed from our gardens
Exchange in 2014 and grew out a bunch. They were at Grow Hub! VERYLIMITED STOCK.
super easy to grow, got really tall and vigorous
with their frilly green and textured leaves. Not as Radish, Black Spanish Round
tender as other mustards, with a firmer leaf Raphanus sativus
texture. Quite spicy, as you would expect from a ~100 seeds
true mustard. We loved it, and found it to be the 53 days. Large 5-inch roots, probably grown since
last mustard to flower and seemed most resistant 16th century or before. Striking for their size, black
to pests compared to others. Note this is 2015 skin, and white flesh. They keep awhile in good
seed but germ tests show over 90% germination conditions. Fairly hot flavor, great raw, cooked or
rate. *Locally produced seed from our gardens at fermented. Recommended a few years ago by our
Grow Hub! gardening, fermenting, and herbal magic friends
Susan Marynowski and Karen Sherwood who raved
Pea, Oregon Giant Dwarf Snow Pea about its superb fermentability. Turns out it grows
Pisum sativum easily here, so win-win! Grow your own ferments!
~45 seeds It takes longer than most radishes and can similarly
60 days. An edible snap pea that has the qualities get a bit pithy if you wait too long to pull them.
for earliness, productivity, and a compact growth
habit. The sweetest of the dwarf snap peas. Can be
eaten like snow peas, or let them fill out to eat
with peas inside like a snap pea. A cool weather
7Radish, Farmer John’s Daikon white flesh. The roots are both hot and sweet, and
Raphanus sativus the tops are tender, smooth and yummy.
~100 seeds
We obtained this from one of the best-known Sorrel
farmers around, “Farmer John” in Starke. Daikons Rumex acetosa
often grow partially above ground, and can get ~40 seeds
massive, although you can pick them young. 40 days. Sorrel grows great here and tends to last
Excellent for pickling, fermenting, fresh eating and through the summer heat surprisingly, especially if
cooking! Farmer John has been growing and saving kept in shadier and well mulched parts of the
this daikon for a long time, but with his age and garden. Its roots are very strong and sturdy,
time limitations has not been able to continue full making it difficult to remove without some serious
stewardship of the seed. We rescued a shed full of digging, so plant it where you want it to stay
old pods and stalks a few years back and planted awhile. Sorrel has a lovely tangy, lemony, acidic
out hundreds to make sure we saved them. They flavor that is a great addition to salads, and is used
are vigorous and happy here! He’s been trying to in French cuisine to wrap up fish fillets before
select for purple roots, but it’s hard with an out- baking. Kids really like sorrel and can’t stop picking
crossing crop and our amateur plant breeding skills at it once they are hooked (which doesn’t take
to get to a fully purple root any time soon. So it’s a long). We call it the Sour Skittles Plant” at our
lovely mix of mostly whites but still lots of purples, youth garden sites!
and some of the foliage is deep purple too. Very
lush leaves can be cooked and eaten, or fed to your Spinach, Responder (Hybrid)
chickens. This is still a work in progress, but we’re Spinacia oleracea
happy to carry it and share this local treasure with ~50 seeds
you. *Locally produced seed from our gardens at 42 days. Spinach seems to be a tricky one to grow
Grow Hub! in our climate, so do your homework on growing
great spinach, and perhaps opt for a hybrid variety
Radish, Felicia (Hybrid) like this one with more vigor than the older open-
Raphanus sativus pollinated types. This fast-growing spinach seems
~100 seeds to resist disease and holds nicely in the field. Thick,
25 days. Similar to the popular French Breakfast arrow-shaped, semi-savoyed deep green leaves.
Radish, this specialty variety has cylindrical, purple Spinach tends to give gardeners trouble here, and
roots with white tips. Should be harvested young we usually recommend growing other greens that
and succession planted in cooler temperatures. are easier. Donated by Charley from Hammock
Very mild flavor with stunning purple color! Thanks Hollow Farm.
to Charley from Hammock Hollow Farms for
donating his extra seed for us to try. We know if Swiss Chard, Fordhook Giant
it’s a variety he likes, it must be good. Beta vulgaris
~30 seeds
Radish, Shunkyo 55 days. There’s not a lot of variety of Swiss Chard
Raphanus sativus out there, but this is the one we tend to go back to.
~100 seeds Medium green leaves with wide ride ribs and
30 days. A highly recommended variety from our veining, and big lush leaves.
friend Cody at Siembra Farm. This radish from
Northern China, is 4-5” long with red-pink skin and
8Turnip, Purple Top White Globe height of about 3'. Can grow much bigger with
Brassica rapa irrigation and good soil Showy lavender and cream
~50 seeds flowers are perhaps the best Florida wildflower for
57 days. A traditional southern variety with smooth attracting vast numbers of pollinators. From
round purple roots above ground and white below, summer through fall the blooms attract pollinators.
getting about 3” wide. Flesh is white, fine grained Very drought resistant. Tastes like spicy intense
and tender. Large, lobed greens great for eating. oregano, and used in the kitchen as an herb or tea.
Keeps well. VERY LIMITED STOCK Locally produced seed through the Florida
Wildflowers Cooperative!
Turnip Greens, Seven Top
Brassica rapa Blanket Flower
~50 seed 45 days. Popular southern variety grown Gaillardia pulchella
only for greens, and not roots. Leaves grow 18-22” Annual re-seeding bright orange and yellow
tall, but should be harvested when young and flowers on sprawling 12-18" wide and tall plants!
tender. Turnip greens are a Southern staple! This Peak flowering is mid spring to late Summer. It has
was requested for us from years ago to be carried a reputation as being tough as nails; so if you have
in the collective and thus we’ve kept it. Easy to an open, sunny sandy spot where nothing grows,
grow, hard to go wrong. VERY LIMITED STOCK try blanket flower. Locally produced seed through
the Florida Wildflowers Cooperative and our
gardens at Grow Hub!
Calendula
Calendula officinalis
Beach Sunflower ~30 seeds
Helianthus debilis 55 days. These lovely and cheerful orange and
Native to the Gulf Coast of Florida, a multi- yellow flowers are one of the few that bloom in the
branching plant that grows to 6 ft. Yellow flowers cooler months. There are many things to love:
sit on a long stem while the leaves are similar to a edible, medicinal, attractive to pollinators, easy to
cucumber. Drought tolerant and really vigorous grow and beautiful. Grown in our gardens since
once it gets going. It can and will take over a sunny, 2012, this is a very happy and adapted flower to
sandy spot. Blooms for three months, really our area. A couple of years ago we re-invigorated
beautiful and tough as nails. Locally produced seed the local stock by allowing them to make friends
through the Florida Wildflowers Cooperative! with some calendula we were gifted from
California. Many of those flowers had multiple
Black-eyed Susan branching blooms per flower, it was really
Rudbeckia hirta spectacular. A great colorful splash in the winter
About 1-2 ft tall, yellow aster-like flowers with a garden. Low growing up to 2’, good border plants
brown central disc. Blooms from spring through or to mix in with your veggies. Locally produced
fall. Perennial that reseeds easily. Locally produced seed from our gardens at Grow Hub!
seed through the Florida Wildflowers Cooperative!
Coreopsis, Lanceleaf
Beebalm/ Horsemint Coreopsis lanceolata
Monarda punctata Plants are 1/2 to 3ft tall on delicate stems. Self-
Also known as dotted horsemint, a perennial that seeding annual with copious delicate yellow
dies back to the ground in North Florida unless we flowers with dark center. Blooms spring and early
have a warm winter. Bushy with 2-4' spread and summer. Plant somewhere it can easily re-seed
9without too much competition. This is what you things in the garden without competing, or as a tall
see in fields and roadsides throughout the border plant. It will re-sow easily and come up all
summer. Locally produced seed through the Florida over the place if you let it go to seed. Chill seed in
Wildflowers Cooperative! refrigerator for 7 days for improved germination.
Locally produced seed from our gardens at Grow
Coreopsis, Leavenworth’s Hub!
Coreopsis leavenworthii
Plants are up to 3ft tall on delicate stems. Similar Strawflower
to lanceleaf coreopsis, it is a self-seeding annual Bracteantha bracteata
with copious delicate yellow flowers with dark ~50 seeds
center. Blooms spring and early summer. Plant 90 days. This was a mini project/favor we took on
somewhere it can easily re-seed without too much when flower seed producers in the Pacific
competition. This is what you see in fields and Northwest asked us to grow them out over the
roadsides in the summer time. Locally produced winter while it was cold up their way. They needed
seed through the Florida Wildflowers Cooperative! information on the color specifically, before they
In fact, this year, our friends Bruce and Kathy at could sell the seeds next season, as they thought it
Lost Valley Farm produced this seed for the co-op! may have mixed with some other colors. Labelled
as “apricot mix” they certainly were a mix, but
Giant Ironweed probably a bit more variation in colors than they
Vernonia gigantea expected. Didn’t matter for us! They were fun and
A very tall and robust plant with small but showy easy to grow, and absolutely lovely. All winter we
purple flowers that is well adapted to a variety of had an assassin bug spending time hunting among
conditions. It tends to sucker a lot and may require the flowers that were covered in good (and some
weeding eventually as it propagates itself. Plant in bad) insects. They are lovely flowers for the
the fall, winter or spring. Grows best in sandy soils garden, especially if you like fresh cut bouquets or
in full to partial sun. Blooms mid to late summer dried flower arrangements. They last nearly
and seems to pop up in semi-shaded, edge areas forever as a dried flower, so make good craft
getting up to 6’ tall. Pollinators go crazy for items. They get quite tall, about 42”, and should be
ironweed. Locally produced seed through the spaced 12” apart or less. Seed requires light to
Florida Wildflowers Cooperative! germinate so do not cover with soil or mulch. Easy
to save seeds, and they will readily self-sow lifting
Larkspur off on their little parachutes when the time comes.
Consolida ambigua We love strawflowers, and everyone that comes to
~50 seeds the garden notices them! Locally produced seed
100 days. Beautiful tall spiked flowers of mixed from our gardens at Grow Hub!
colors include mostly shades of purple, mixed in
with whites and pinks too. We’ve been growing
and saving this since 2012. Originally, we got our
seed from Master Gardener Lois McNamara who
got them from Mrs. Barbara Feaster in Shiloh,
Florida, the same Feasters who have been
stewarding their family’s mustard. A wonderful
flower loved by pollinators. Planted in the fall, it
starts blooming in the spring and the blossoms last
a long time. It is tall, thin and wispy so we’ve found
it does well mixed in with our veggies and other
10Cilantro
Coriander sativum
~30 seeds
55 days leaf, 120 seed. Both leaves (cilantro) and
Basil, Eleonora seeds (coriander) are used in Chinese, Indian and
Ocimum basilicum Mexican cuisine. This cold hardy plant does not like
~100 seeds warmer temperatures and must be grown during
65 days. Downy mildew always does basil in, and our cooler months. Good rich soil and full sun will
this is the first organically available variety with help. No matter what you do, it seems that cilantro
some resistance! European breeding of sweet basil is quick to bolt. Don’t stress over it. The flowers are
produced this more upright plant with elongated lovely and very attractive to both people and
stems for better airflow and intermediate downy pollinators. If they produce seed then you have
mildew resistance. It is not as bolt tolerant and coriander. It’s a two-for-one deal!
may need more trimming. Basil is frost sensitive
and we expect you’ll get an early fall planting out Dill, Bouquet
of it, before the cold does it in. Remember though: Anethum graveolens
it’s resistant to downy mildew not immune. So you ~50 seeds
may still get it if conditions are right. 50 days leaf, 100+ days seed. Plants can grow up to
6’ tall, seed heads are beautiful and can grow to
Celery, Cutting 18” across! Dill seed is great for pickling, leaves can
Apium graveolens var. secalinum be used fresh or dry. This is a host plant to
~300 seeds swallowtail butterflies so you may find the
80 days. We learned about this one many years caterpillars eating up your plants, if you are lucky.
ago from our friend James Steel of the Melrose Plant more of this, parsley and fennel to provide an
Herb Garden, when he brought it to the Downtown extra row for the hungry! We’ve been growing this
Farmers Garden and it grew wonderfully (neither variety since 2012 and saving seed. The flower
the herb farm or downtown garden are in heads are massive and lovely. Locally produced
operation anymore, sadly). It’s not used like the seed from Angie Minno!
celery you’re used to with big juicy (and bland)
stalks, but rather for its small skinny stems and Fenugreek
leaves. It’s more of an herb, to be used lightly. Its Trigonella foenum-graecum
flavor is like a concentrated essential oil of celery! ~25 seeds.
The chefs we’ve had nibble on it really like it, but We decided to grow this herb/vegetable also
would suggest using it sparingly, like as a great known as “methi” and offer it through our seed
Bloody Mary garnish or to be snuck into a dish that collective, at the request of some of our Indian
could use a celery twang (like a soup or stew), gardener friends. There’s a great thread in the
maybe tossed lightly as a garnish on a pasta dish. Grow Gainesville Facebook group from over a year
Don’t juice it, will be too intense! It can handle part ago (search for Fenugreek), discussing the various
shade. If you cut at the base, new stalks and leaves ways to use it, and how north vs. south Indians use
will grow from there. Germination is low in these it differently! The flavor of the leaves is a bit bitter
itty-bitty seeds, so oversow and thin if you need to. or maybe even bland, depending on your taste
Locally produced seed from our gardens at Grow buds. Think of this more as a medicinal herb or
Hub! green leaf vegetable to be used sparingly in various
curries. It’s supposed to be quite good for you, and
the seeds which smell like maple syrup, are used as
a decongestant tea and for lactating women to
11increase milk production. What a cool plant! This is
actually a legume so it’s good for your soil! Grows
about 1-2’ tall and we found they could be spaced
quite closely.
Parsley, Dark Green Italian Flat Leaf
Petroselinium crispum
~40 seeds
78 days. This flat-leaf variety is a classic parsley,
and is excellent as a dried herb. This can handle
partial shade and we’ve seen in growing
sometimes in hotter months if it’s well watered
and shaded from the intense sun. Flowers are
much loved by tiny pollinators, so even if you’re
not saving seed, let them flower! Foliage is a host
plant for swallowtail butterflies!
12It is important to know the species of a plant, so that you can read up more on how to save and grow the
seeds. If the plant is known to be pollinated by insects or wind, knowing the species name will give you a clue
that they may cross themselves together in your garden, if they are flowering at the same time. Each and every
living thing on the planet has its own unique scientific or Latin name that consists of two words- the genus and
species. If BOTH words are the same as another plant, it means they are the same species (even if they seem
really different to you!) and if they are flowering at the same time in the garden, they may cross.
For example, if you are growing both broccoli and broccoli-leaf Spigariello, and they happen to flower at the
same time, it is highly likely that the insects will move pollen from one to the other. They are BOTH Brassica
oleracea. The same species. The seeds you save from these plants if you do, will be like neither plant, but a
hybrid version of the two parents. Which is fine! But you won’t know what to expect next season when you
plant them out. If you are saving a variety that you really want to preserve and not “contaminate” with other
varieties, be sure to isolate it.
Brassicas (broccoli, Spigariello, Asian greens, arugula, kale, cabbages)
Direct sow or transplant 1/4” deep, spaced 10-18” apart depending on how large each plant gets. Generally
heavy feeders depending on the plant, and will always do best in good fertile soil with some occasional organic
fertilizers, thick leafy mulch and regular watering if it gets really dry.
Brassicas within the same species will cross-pollinate if flowering at the same time. Insects love their flowers
and so they will easily cross. Isolation distances that prevent cross-pollination are often greater than a home
gardener can achieve; about ½ mile!
More plants flowering at once produce the best quality seed, 20-80 + recommended. More is always better! So
yes, that means we’re suggesting growing 80+ arugula plants if you really want to do the best job you can at
saving arugula genetics.
Always save from later bolting plants. After flowering and pollination, small green pods will form and continue
growing a, eventually drying and turning brown. Gather them at this point. If seed pods can mature and dry on
the mother plant a long time without being excessively rained on and thus get moldy, this is the ideal situation.
It seems we do not regularly or reliably get seed production from kale, cabbage, Spigariello broccoli, and
collards. Surprising for collards, right? Sometimes they do flower though, in fact in the winter of 2017 many of
our varieties produced some seed. It seems by the time they do flower at all, it is late in the spring and the
plants are suffering from heat, insects and maybe disease. It has rarely presented a good opportunity, so we
leave the seed production up to our friends in more favorable climates.
Ethiopian kale, and all the mustards and most Asian greens however readily flower and produce seeds.
13Beets
A rule of thumb is to always direct sow root crops and legumes. Direct seed beets about 1/4”-1/2” deep, 3
seeds per inch, thinning to 1-2” apart. Crowded roots result in poor growth formation. Beets tend to be
challenging for beginner gardeners. Even watering, rich soil, full sun and thinning may help. Unfortunately
beets are very unlikely to produce seeds in Florida. They are biennials meaning they need a winter dormancy
and two seasons of growth for seed production which does not happen this far south!
Carrots
A rule of thumb is to always direct sow root crops and legumes. Direct seed carrots ¼” deep or less, with very
little soil on top. 3 seeds per inch, thinning to about 2”. Keep well-watered. Thinning is key to good carrot
production. Crowding creates stunted, twisted roots. Like beets, even watering, rich soil, full sun and thinning
are useful.
Unfortunately, carrots are unlikely to produce seeds in Florida. Carrots are biennials, meaning they need a
winter dormancy and two seasons of growth for seed production which does not happen this far south! There
are a few exceptions, like Pusa Rudhira and one other we know of (Uberlandia) that produce seed in one
season. If you want to save carrot seed, you need a large population (over 200 flowering at once), and you
can’t eat your carrots AND save seed. Selection is important. This is NOT recommended for beginners or small
gardeners.
Lettuce
Lettuce can be direct seeded or transplanted. Soaking for about 6 hours in cool water in a well-lit area helps
germination. Sow very shallow, spaced 6-10” apart. Lettuce needs light to germinated, do not bury! We tend
to do transplants, but that’s just us.
Lettuce is a great crop for beginner seed savers and is quite easy, if you have the extra time to let it fully
reproduce in the garden (a few extra months!). It is an inbreeding plant and is not likely to cross with other
flowering lettuces. However, if you plan to save seed from more than one variety, it’s still best to give them a
little space, about 10ft or more apart just in case. Always save from later bolting plants as this is a desirable
trait to select for.
5-20 plants are recommended for good seed but one healthy plant is also fine! It’s best not to harvest heavily
from a seed plant for food. If your lettuce is exhausted after a season of heavy picking and eating, it might not
have enough resources to make good seeds. A seed crop can always still use a little extra TLC, after all they are
making babies! Keep them watered and even give a little extra fertilizer or compost.
After lettuce flowers, small pods form with little white fluffy tops. Ideally, they dry down on the plant if the
weather permits. Each pod contains several seeds. Maturity is staggered over time so on the same plant it may
take weeks to get all the seed off. You may also pull the plant out of the soil, roots and all once half or more
shows maturity, and further dry indoors. Fall planted lettuces are best for spring seed, they’ve had a full
season to get strong before producing healthy seed. It’s easy, but it takes a bit of time and extra space in the
garden.
14Peas
A rule of thumb is to always direct sow root crops and legumes. Direct seed 1” deep, spaced 6” apart.
Peas really like cooler weather, so do not plant until all traces of summer heat are gone! This may not be till
December or January. Use a soil inoculant to boost harvest if you can. Mix it with the seeds and plant
immediately, as inoculant is sensitive to UV light (it lives in the soil). We find that pre-soaking or “priming” our
larger seeds like this for 6-12 hours is helpful for better, and more even germination. Most peas want to grow
on a trellis, even the dwarfs.
Peas are an easy beginner seed saving project! They are inbreeding plants and not likely to cross with other
pea varieties in the garden. That is unless you have a lot of heavy bumble and carpenter bees like we do!
Let a few plump pods from your best plants fully mature and ideally, dry down on the plant. Although they are
inbred and you could save from just one plant, it’s always best to save from more for diversity, 5-20 plants are
recommended.
Radishes
A rule of thumb is to always direct sow root crops and legumes. Direct seed 1/4”-1/2” deep, 4-6” apart. Give
daikons more room, about 12” or more. Regular watering helps with better growth and keeps them less
pungent. Harvest as soon as they are ready, rather than leaving in the ground too long, to avoid them
becoming pithy.
Not all radishes will readily seed here, but we’ve found that Black Spanish and Daikon do! When fall planted,
good specimens will produce spring seed. Radishes require a fairly high number of flowering plants at once for
good seed set; 20-80+ recommended. They get enormous and may need staking. If you can’t take them all the
way to seed, consider letting the flowers bloom awhile, as they are much loved by pollinators.
After flowering and pollination, green pods will appear that are really tasty! Save some and let them dry up
and turn brown. The longer they mature on the plant, the better.
Turnips
A rule of thumb is to always direct sow root crops and legumes. Direct seed 1/4” deep, spaced 4-6” apart. Like
all root crops here, they can be somewhat challenging for new gardeners especially. Make sure you have good
healthy soil, even watering and full sun. Thin crowded seedlings.
Turnips are unlikely to go to seed in our climate because they are biennials, requiring vernalization
(overwintering) to trigger flowering. Don’t bother!
Herbs
Basil
Easily produces seeds that may drop in the garden or be collected. More plants flowering at once is best, we
recommend 20-80 plants. Seed can be collected off just a few plants too, but don’t expect them to be great
after a couple of seasons, they’ll just be too inbred. The tall flower stalks (that pollinators love!), will eventually
dry down and tiny black seeds are tightly wrapped inside each flower.
15Cilantro
Wait for small round brown seeds to develop after flowering finishes. More plants flowering at once is best,
we recommend 20-80+ plants. Flowers are much loved by tiny pollinators, so even if you’re not saving seed, let
them flower!
Cutting Celery
The flowers that come later in the season don’t seem to affect the flavor, and are really attractive to
pollinators. Copious quantities of tiny seed are produced. More plants flowering at once is best, we
recommend 20-80 plants.
Dill
Dried brown flower heads that form after the magnificent yellow flowers finish up, contain loads of seeds that
are easy to save. Save from the biggest “mother umbel” for the biggest and best seeds for planting, saving the
smaller ones for cooking. More plants flowering at once is best, we recommend 20-80+ plants. If you are lucky,
Swallowtail Butterflies will find your dill and eat it. Plant more!
Fenugreek
The long green slender pods can be hard to spot. Watch them grow and eventually turn brown until you can
peel them open to reveal the fragrant seeds. It’s a legume and thus on the inbred scale of reproduction, so you
can safely save from a fewer number of plants and be ok. It won’t be crossing with anything else in the garden.
Parsley
Easy to save, allow several of the tiny brown seeds to mature after the lovely white flowers are finished.
Parsley may act perennial in some gardens. More plants flowering at once is best, we recommend 20-80
plants. The flowers like all herbs here, are much loved by pollinators as a nectar source. However, the plant
itself is also enjoyed as a host plant for Swallowtail Butterfly caterpillars. So if you spot them, don’t kill! Plant
extra!
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