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The SimplySalad™ Global Gourmet blend from PanAmerican Seed, grows from a pellet (Photo courtesy of the National Garden Bureau).
Latest 2011 seed catalogs show new fruits and veggies
By Bobbie Whitehead
Backyard growers planning their next garden will have plenty of choices among the countless new fruits and vegetables available for the spring as the latest seed catalogs continue to appear.
Among the spring trends, which include new varieties with better disease resistance, production and flavor, gardeners can find more fruits and veggies for containers or small gardens, including plants ready to grow from pellets, additional heirlooms and new vibrant colors.
Backyard growers planning their next garden will have plenty of choices among the countless new fruits and vegetables available for the spring as the latest seed catalogs continue to appear.
Among the spring trends, which include new varieties with better disease resistance, production and flavor, gardeners can find more fruits and veggies for containers or small gardens, including plants ready to grow from pellets, additional heirlooms and new vibrant colors.
Gardeners interested in leaf lettuce may want to try the PanAmerican Seed leaf lettuce collection called SimplySalad™. This leaf lettuce line grows from pellets with “a multi-species mix of loose-leaf lettuce and greens that were specially selected to be delicious, colorful and interesting to display,” according to the company product description.
This collection offers continuous harvests, and the company writes that the salad can grow in containers and is “ready to harvest in 4-7 weeks.” PanAmerican Seed, a wholesale company, sells its SimplySalad™ line for home gardeners through several retail seed companies, one being Harris Seeds.
Another company, Comstock, Ferre & Co. LLC, the oldest, continuously-operated seed company in the United States, sent out its first catalog under the ownership of Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Co. in Mansfield, Mo.
Comstock, Ferre & Co., located in Wethersfield, Conn., includes a company history with photographs of old buildings and drawings of the founder in the catalog. In addition, the company notes that “all of our seed is non-patented, non-hybridized, non-GMO and untreated,” and it also offers several organic seed options for customers.
Among the heirloom fruit and vegetable varieties offered is the Copenhagen Market, an early variety cabbage “of Danish origin” with large heads, “round and solid with small outer leaves,” as noted in the catalog. The variety first came to the United States in 1911, according to Comstock, Ferre & Co.
The four-color catalog is itself a collectible with the history and unique drawings. In addition to fruit and vegetable seeds for sale, Comstock offers flower and herb seeds and books on a variety of gardening subjects, among other items.
To celebrate New England’s oldest seed company, the Greenhorn’s Seed Circus will mark the 200th anniversary June 5 from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. at 263 Main St. in Wethersfield, Conn. For more information on the anniversary, visit www.comstockferre.com.
Gardeners can find additional older varieties from Seed Savers Exchange, which specializes in heirlooms. For spring, The Seed Savers catalog includes seed for the Edmonson cucumber, dating to 1913, that matures to a deep red-orange. Another new cucumber Seed Savers has is the Russian Pickling cucumber, brought from Perm, Russia, by “German-Russian immigrants in the 1870s,” according to the catalog product description.
Seed Savers Exchange lists 11 new heirloom seeds this year in its catalog along with three reintroduced varieties. One new and unique tomato, described as a pink beefsteak tomato “with rich tomato flavor,” is the Kolb from Storm Lake, Iowa.
In addition to heirlooms, an assortment of tomato colors, particularly chocolate-colored tomatoes, too, appears to be popular on the market for the spring. Gurney’s Seed & Nursery Co. of Greendale, Ind., has new the Black Velvet indeterminate tomato, described as having a streaked chocolate-brown color and sweet flavor.
Gurney’s also has new the Zebra Cherry tomato striped with red and yellow colors as well as the Pink Cadillac tomato that’s described as a “bright raspberry pink,” according to its catalog.
The spring fruit and vegetable seed catalogs feature many new varieties to suit gardeners’ tastes. For additional new varieties, visit these links:
1. New 2011 varieties
2. Pear tomatoes in different colors
3. National Garden Bureau announces new varieties
This collection offers continuous harvests, and the company writes that the salad can grow in containers and is “ready to harvest in 4-7 weeks.” PanAmerican Seed, a wholesale company, sells its SimplySalad™ line for home gardeners through several retail seed companies, one being Harris Seeds.
Another company, Comstock, Ferre & Co. LLC, the oldest, continuously-operated seed company in the United States, sent out its first catalog under the ownership of Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Co. in Mansfield, Mo.
Comstock, Ferre & Co., located in Wethersfield, Conn., includes a company history with photographs of old buildings and drawings of the founder in the catalog. In addition, the company notes that “all of our seed is non-patented, non-hybridized, non-GMO and untreated,” and it also offers several organic seed options for customers.
Among the heirloom fruit and vegetable varieties offered is the Copenhagen Market, an early variety cabbage “of Danish origin” with large heads, “round and solid with small outer leaves,” as noted in the catalog. The variety first came to the United States in 1911, according to Comstock, Ferre & Co.
The four-color catalog is itself a collectible with the history and unique drawings. In addition to fruit and vegetable seeds for sale, Comstock offers flower and herb seeds and books on a variety of gardening subjects, among other items.
To celebrate New England’s oldest seed company, the Greenhorn’s Seed Circus will mark the 200th anniversary June 5 from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. at 263 Main St. in Wethersfield, Conn. For more information on the anniversary, visit www.comstockferre.com.
Gardeners can find additional older varieties from Seed Savers Exchange, which specializes in heirlooms. For spring, The Seed Savers catalog includes seed for the Edmonson cucumber, dating to 1913, that matures to a deep red-orange. Another new cucumber Seed Savers has is the Russian Pickling cucumber, brought from Perm, Russia, by “German-Russian immigrants in the 1870s,” according to the catalog product description.
Seed Savers Exchange lists 11 new heirloom seeds this year in its catalog along with three reintroduced varieties. One new and unique tomato, described as a pink beefsteak tomato “with rich tomato flavor,” is the Kolb from Storm Lake, Iowa.
In addition to heirlooms, an assortment of tomato colors, particularly chocolate-colored tomatoes, too, appears to be popular on the market for the spring. Gurney’s Seed & Nursery Co. of Greendale, Ind., has new the Black Velvet indeterminate tomato, described as having a streaked chocolate-brown color and sweet flavor.
Gurney’s also has new the Zebra Cherry tomato striped with red and yellow colors as well as the Pink Cadillac tomato that’s described as a “bright raspberry pink,” according to its catalog.
The spring fruit and vegetable seed catalogs feature many new varieties to suit gardeners’ tastes. For additional new varieties, visit these links:
1. New 2011 varieties
2. Pear tomatoes in different colors
3. National Garden Bureau announces new varieties
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