Hudson Valley Heirloom Seeds

A hundred years ago spotted lettuces, maroon sunflowers, flowery zucchini and sweet broccoli lined the furrows of New England gardens. They’re reminiscent of familiar industrial vegetables, but unlike the predictable, unvarying varieties piled high in misted supermarket produce aisles, these exotic cousins have some taste tricks up their sleeve.
 
The Hudson Valley Seed Library grows or gathers (from other, neighboring organic seed producers) a catalog of hardy, affordable seeds that are rooted in the history and soils of New York. Further on the theme of Northeast pride, Ken Green and Doug Miller, the men behind the Library, enlist local artists to design frame-worthy seed packs. 

Costata Romanesca Zucchini: Striped summer squash with a nutty flavor, the costata is great eaten cooked or raw. Plenty of males to bear showy, delicious squash flower blossoms.

Piracicaba Broccoli: Flavorful and abundant all season long, this little broccoli can be harvested until early December. Sweeter with a looser head than the grocery store kind.

 
Ragged Jack Kale: Slightly unkempt around the edges but still dapper, ragged Jack has tender, bluish-green leaves and pinkish-red veins. Succulent, amazing with garlic and very nutritious.

 
Cilantro: An easy-to-grow, refreshing herb deemed indispensable by cultures the world over. Don’t let he genetically-hobbled cilantro-haters dissuade you, cilantro is handy for Mexican, Vietnamese, Moroccan, Indian and whatever other food you happen to invent.

 
Basil Bouquet: Different basils do different things. Hardy Genovese is good for pounding into pesto, and aromatic Thais don’t give up their flavor in a frying pan. Sow the seeds and experiment with the different fragrant leaves that turn up.

Spotted Trout Lettuce: Crisp romaine lettuce, flecked with festive dark violet. These leaves are softer and more tender than plain romaine. Easy to grow and can be sown directly into the ground every 2–3 weeks for a continuous salad supply through the summer and into Fall.

Note that date suggestions for seed sowing reflect the early- to mid-May last frost date in New York’s Hudson Valley, so you’ll need to adjust according to your climate. 

Spotted Trout Lettuce: Sow seeds indoors anytime from March onwards, or direct sow from early April until summer heat sets in. Harvest spring sowings promptly to prevent bolting. Resume sowing seeds from early August through September for lovely, long-standing fall crops. Lettuce likes steady (but not excessive) moisture and can become prematurely bitter during dry spells; keep irrigated.

Piracicaba Broccoli: Sow indoors in March or April, then transplant into fertile soil just after last frost. Harvest inner head promptly; it naturally looks looser than standard broccoli. Forms many outer shoots; harvest these every two days to keep them producing and to prevent flowering. Sow seeds in late June or early July for fall crop.

Ragged Jack Kale: Sown in early March and transplanted in mid-April, you can begin harvesting delicate frilly leaves in late May. Sow seeds again in late June or early July for a fall crop, which will provide leaves that turn ambrosial when sautéed with garlic and doused lightly with apple cider vinegar, salt, and pepper.

Kale likes to be transplanted — even the summer sowing — and it wastes less garden space to do so. It also gives the seedlings a head start against the flea beetles, which will happily munch on kale seedlings if eggplants and mustards aren't around. Give the plants highly fertile soil and a spacing of twelve to eighteen inches.

Cilantro: Direct sow in succession every two weeks from about a month before last frost until early fall. Succession seed-sowing is all-important with cilantro; it bolts after only a couple of weeks of harvest. Not picky about soil and quite tolerant to a range of conditions, tough leaves grow low to the ground and are purple-hued in cold weather (they remain tasty and edible, though). Harvest confidently lest plants bolt before you get your share.

Basil Bouquet: Direct sow after frost, or start indoors up to one month before last frost date. To stay in fresh basil the whole season, start in succession at one-month intervals. Pinch off tallest growth in order to keep basil from flowering; flavor intensifies once in bloom. Good seed for garden or container plantings.

Costata Romanesca Zucchini: Sow each seed about 24 inches apart in a row at a depth of about an inch the third or fourth week of May. Or, start squash three weeks earlier under protection for quickest yields; seeds sown in soil blocks transplant easily.

If you harvest plants regularly, when the fruit are at a fairly young stage, they will continue to produce additional squash for weeks, even months. However, squash plants often begin to look ragged, succumbing to mildews and other diseases that slow down production. It's best to make two additional sowings at one-month intervals to have summer squash available all season.

Velvet Queen Sunflower: Direct sow after frost in a spot where you’d like a tall plant with dramatic impact. This queen casts shade, so consider this when planting. Sow in clumps of 2–3 seeds, with the clumps spaced 12–18 inches apart; thin to one seedling per clump. To save seeds, cover ripe flower heads with paper bags; this will keep the birds off.

Every year, Ken Green and Doug Miller, the duo behind the Seed Library, grow organic, heirloom seeds on their two-acre farm in the Hudson Valley of New York. They also collect seeds from neighboring farms — the string beans and rutabagas that would otherwise never see the sunshine on land outside the kooky farmer’s who’s been growing them in obscurity for decades.
 
Behind it all is Ken and Doug’s desire to increase the biodiversity of New York plants — a project whose end-result is tasty to the individual, strengthens the current stock, and leads to discoveries (or rediscoveries) of funner, hardier or handsomer varieties. 

Please email support@kaufmann-mercantile.com.  We reply to every email promptly. Or call us at 347 529 5122.

To stay updated on product launches and articles on our blog, follow us via mail, RSS, Twitter, Facebook, Google+ or Pinterest.