Basil (A)
This is the plant that most people want year round, but it is a heat loving plant that only thrives during the warm summer months. We can lengthen its growing period by starting seed indoors and transplanting well-established plants into the garden when the weather has warmed, and we can bring the plants in in the fall. But ultimately, the plant knows and it simply stops. We encourage you to try basil varieties that tolerate cool weather and grow a little longer in our coastal climate; Thai and Cinnamon basil are the first plants that we offer in March and April, with the cold sensitive Sweet Italian coming along in May.

Care: Transplant into a warm, sunny part of the garden or into containers. Keep well watered and protect from snails, slugs, and other garden pests.

CARE: Transplant into the garden or 6” or larger container in well-drained soil. Full sun, moderate water, and keep pruned.

CARE: Transplant in 6” or larger container for winter in well-drained soil or leave in hanging basket. Transplant out in garden in spring. This plant grows quite lush with moderate water, but is drought tolerant. Will reseed.

CARE: Thrives in warm, moist climates but does well on the Central Coast with a little extra water while becoming established and partial shade. This variety has fewer flowers than the German, but can be used in teas just the same.

Chervil (A)
This is a lovely, lacy annual herb that looks gorgeous and tastes great in salads, egg dishes, and as one of four herbs in the blend ‘herbes fines’. Chervil thrives in cool weather and is harvested like parsley. For More Information: http://www.gardenguides.com/herbs/chervil.htm

CARE: Transplant this very carefully, disturbing the roots as little as possible. Can be kept in a 6” pot or larger in well-drained soil. Keep somewhat moist in partial shade. Will do well lit kitchen or window with moderate sun.

Chives, Common Garden and Garlic Variety (HP)
Both varieties do well in containers or in the garden. Garden chives have a pink flower; Garlic, a white flower. Use the stems and flowers in soups, salads, eggs, potato dishes and a host of other foods that benefit from a gentle onion or garlic flavor. For More Information: http://www.gardenguides.com/herbs/chives.htm

Care: Our chives come in 3” pots and may appear quite young. The roots are quite vigorous and take transplanting well, so go ahead and put them in a larger container or in the garden. In winter, they will probably get enough rain to suffice, but in summer keep them well watered. Use often to keep new growth coming.

Cilantro, (A)
This plant grows very fast and makes some gardeners feel like failures. It isn’t you, it’s the plant. By the time the plant has its true leaves, its life is nearly over. Your best bet is to buy some seeds and plant a few every week to assure a continuous crop. You can transplant our little seedlings but buy them very young, before they even have their true leaves, and plant them deep. Let a few go to seed for the future.

Care: Transplant into the garden or container in well-drained soil, full sun, moderate water. This plant grows slower in the cooler weather.

CARE: Transplant in large container or in the ground. Keep well watered and protect from heavy frost or freeze. Keep well trimmed or it will get leggy.

Dill, Fernleaf (A)
This is one of those lovely and useful herbs that can be grown year round; in pots, in containers with other herbs, in the ground, as a border, so many possibilities. One plants lives four or five months, depending on the season and how much you use it. Dill is especially good with salmon, fresh white cheeses, and in home baked bread. For More Information: http://www.superbherbs.net/dwarfdill.htm

CARE: Transplant into well-drained soil and give moderate water. Does well in full sun or a little less. Watch for aphids; blast them off!

Epazote (A)
It’s a rare herb, it’s a weed, we can live without it, we can’t live without it – Epazote is all of those things. We assure you, once you acquire a taste for the leaf of the epazote in your bean and cheese dishes, you will not want to be without it.

Care: Transplant into the garden and water as needed. Pinch off flowers to avoid reseeding. Leaves may be used fresh, frozen or dried.

Fennel, Bronze & Green (P)
It’s both a vegetable and an herb but we place it here because the lacy foliage is a great seasoning in salads or as part of a mix for a rub.

Care: Transplant into the garden or large container. Make sure it is in well drained soil. This plant wants full sun.

Lavender, Sweet (HP)
What’s not to love about Sweet Lavender? It looks good, smells great, lives long, and can be used with a variety of foods. We offer Sweet Lavender because it’s our favorite in the Herb Box for the herb blend Herbes de Provence. It’s a stunning plant on its own, as well, and we sell it in 3” and 5” pots throughout the year. Can be grown in containers but needs sun and air to thrive.

Care: Transplant into well-drained soil in the garden or a large container, 12” deep if possible. Keep in sunny location year round. Moderate water, but drought tolerant once established.

Lemongrass, East & West Indian (TP)
There are two types of this fragrant grass. West Indian (Cymbopogon citratus) is what we see in the grocery stores and on Asian American farmers’ market tables. This is the one with the enlarged leaf base used in Thai and Vietnamese cookery. It’s easy to grow in the ground in a protected area of your garden or in a pot. Warmer weather increases the size and lushness of the plant.

East Indian (Cymbopogon flexuosus) is a smaller lemon-scented grass that is used for its lemongrass oil. Use this one in teas and potpourris.

Care: Transplant into well drained soil in the garden or large containers. Harvest West Indian stems from the center in its second year or when stems reach approximately 1/4” - 1” in diameter. Harvest East Indian at any time in small amounts.

Lemon Verbena (TP)
The scent of the leaf of this plant is deliciously sweet and lemony. Keep the plant near you so you can smell its summertime aroma often. The leaves harmonize with other tea herbs and enhance drinks, salads, jellies, sauces, soups fish or meat dishes.

Care: Transplant into well drained soil in the garden or container. In our climate, the plant may lose leaves in the colder winter months. Keep well pruned or it may get leggy.

Lovage (HP)
This is a dramatic plant with terrific flavor for winter hardy soups and stews. A terrific addition to any vegetable stock. This is a perennial member of the celery family and is used in place of celery in any recipe.

Care: Lovage can reach up to 6” if planted in rich garden soil. Its deep taproot assures its return each spring, even if winters are cold. Not recommended for containers. Moderate water.

Marjoram, Sweet (P)
One of the most underrated and underused herbs we sell. A sister of oregano, it can be used whenever oregano is called for. It’s flavor and aroma is slightly sweeter, more aromatic than oregano. It’s cold hardy and looks lovely year round.

Care: Transplant into medium to large pot or plant in the ground, about 12 inches from other plants. Water to establish, drought tolerant.

MINT, (P)
All the mints we offer are hardy plants best kept in containers. The mints are elegant and tasty additions to teas, salads, soups and desserts. The spearmint variety is lovely in springtime Mint Julips or Mohitos any time. We offer Kentucky Colonel Spearmint, Chocolate Peppermint, Apple and Orange Mints.

Care: Best to keep mints in containers, as they are invasive. Refresh their soil every year or so. Moderate water.

Oregano, Greek (P)
This is a classic herb garden staple and very easy to grow. Use leaves anytime. When the plant sends up long stalks with flowers, harvest for drying if your plants go dormant in the winter. These leaves have the most oil, therefore the most flavor. If your garden is warm enough, your plant may flourish year round.

Care: Transplant into the garden or a roomy container. Use gritty, well-drained soil. Water deeply when dry. Like the other Mediterranean herbs (marjoram, lavender, sage, thyme, etc.) this plant thrives in hot and dry conditions. Minimal water.

Oregano, Hot & Spicy (P)
A spicier version of classic oregano, great in chilies and on pizza where a little more heat is desired. Care as Greek Oregano.

Oregano, Mexican (TP)
This plant is not a true oregano; this Lippia graveolens is the major source if oregano in Mexico. Mexican Oregano is a shrub or small tree growing from 3 – 9 feet tall. In our coastal climate, the plant needs protection from winter frosts. The aroma and flavor is not the same as Mediterranean oregano, but offers a flavor unique to Mexican recipes.

Care: Transplant into a sandy soil in sunny garden location. Water in. Drought tolerant.

Parsley, (B)
We offer large Italian flat leaf, medium Italian flat leaf, semi curl and triple curl varieties. Parsley loves cool weather winter rains. This is an herb that deserves greater use; chopped fresh in salads, whirled into pesto, cooked with olive oil and garlic for tossing with pasta, or juiced into a healthy drink.

Care: Parsley is a cool weather plant that sets a deep taproot, so plant in your kitchen garden or keep in a fairly deep container near your kitchen door. Use often by trimming outer leaves. Put three or four plants in a barrel for continuous use. Feed if leaves begin to yellow. A healthy plant should live two years. Once it sets seed, it turns bitter and should be replaced. Moderate Water.

Rosemary, (P)
Roast potatoes, leg of lamb, baked chicken must be cooked with rosemary. And that’s just the beginning. You can eat the leaf of most rosemary plants, but its better to select those varieties that have an upright habit (stems can be used for skewers in grilling) and thicker stems for chopping into your favorite recipes. We offer Tuscan Blue and Gorizia.

Care: Plant it and forget it. If space is limited, rosemary can be contained if the plants are lifted every year or so and the roots trimmed. Minimal water.

Sage (P)
Fresh is so much sweeter and complex than dried. Once your plant is well established, you can pick stems off the outside of the plant frequently to use in fish, chicken, salads, and to make a tasty tea. Sage is the classic ingredient in holiday dressings. We offer the classic garden variety, as well as ornamental golden, purple and tri-color. These can be used just as the garden variety, and as a lovely fresh or deep fried garnish.

Care: Transplant into the garden or container in well-drained soil. Water to establish and then maintain with minimal water. Prune in the fall or lift and divide to keep it under control.

Sage, White (Salvia apiana) (P)
This is one of the few plants we offer that is not edible. Rather, this sage is an important ceremonial herb used for purification in Native American culture. Leaves are formed into smudge sticks and burned. We start our plants from seed, so there is some variation in leaf texture and color.

Care: Plant into well-drained, sandy soil and water to establish. This plant wants full sun and tolerates cool weather.

Salad Burnette (P)
This plant has not developed the following it deserves among herb growers and users. It has a reputation as being an invasive plant, but we find that if the flowers are picked off before they mature, it’s an easy plant to control. The young leaves have a cool refreshing flavor like cucumber, and the plant is available long before your garden cucumbers ripen. So give it a try in early salads, coleslaw, and in plain yogurt.

Care: Plant in the garden or a deep pot, it has a deep taproot. Moderate water. Pinch off flower stalks. Cut back in fall to encourage fresh early spring growth.

Savory, Winter (P)
This is the low growing, perennial sister to Summer Savory. The flavor is similar and available to the cook year round. It’s a nice addition to salads, stews, and tomato based dishes such as vegetable soups, pasta sauce and chili.

Care: Transplant into the garden with enough space to accommodate a small shrub. Keep it well trimmed. Tolerates dry conditions once established.

Stevia (P)
This is the plant that is used as a sugar substitute. The active ingredient is stevioside, which is hundreds of times sweeter than sugar without the calories.

For More Information: http://www.stevia.net/
Care: Plant in the garden or in a container. Keep well trimmed. Water as needed.

Summer Savory (A)
This is a very easy plant to grow in the summer herb garden. Its an aromatic and tastes great in bean, pea and lentil dishes. Use also as an addition to vegetable juices and meat dishes. An essential component of the dried blend Herbs de Provence.

Sweet Woodruff (P)
Not a culinary herb as much as an aromatic ground cover. Leaves are used in spring to flavor wine for celebrations in Germany. Leaves have a licorice scent when dried.

Care: Thrives in cool, shady spots. Tolerates more water than most, and may need regular summer watering here on the Central Coast of California.

Tarragon, French (P)
It really isn’t that hard to grow this plant. One rule, though. It must be allowed to go dormant in the winter for two or three months; longer if possible. So plant it in the garden or in a container in a cool location. The early spring foliage will return with vigor in March or April. Use this plant well and lift it occasionally to divide the roots that may get hopelessly knotted and can strangle themselves.

Care: This is a Mediterranean plant that thrives in a warm sunny spot in your garden. Make sure you soil drains well and give moderate water. Can be grown in a container if left in a cool part of your deck or porch over winter. It should disappear in winter.

Thyme (P)
Use thyme every day! It goes with everything except ice cream; though some might argue for lemon thyme sprinkled on a sorbet. This plant is easy to grow and asks only for a little water and consistent use. Our German Thyme is the most popular as a year round herb for soups and stews. The Lemon Thymes go well with chicken and fish. Oregano Thyme can be used with any pasta dish. The Creeping Thyme is a handy fresh salad thyme and can also be used as a ground cover. We offer French and English thyme in the summer months as both are a little more delicate.

Care: A great little plant in combination with other Mediterranean plants. Transplant in well drained soil, water to establish, water sparingly after that, use consistently.

(A): Annual. Completes its life cycle in one year or less. Example: Basil and Chervil.

(B): Biannual. Completes its life cycle in two years. Example: Chard and parsley.

(TP): Tender Perennial, means it will live more than two years if protected from winter frost. Example: African Blue Basil should be well mulched in the winter garden or put into a pot and brought inside for winter.

(HP): Hardy Perennial, means it lives for more than two years and survives frost and some freeze. Example: Rosemary. Just plant it in the garden or container and forget about it in winter.

WINTER VEGETABLES

The winter salad is a riot of colors and textures and is easy to grow. From October through February, you can let nature take care of your watering duties, worry less about garden pests, and salute a light frost for its positive influence on the flavor of your garden greens.

All the plants listed below grow best during the dark days of winter in our Coastal California climate. A long period of soggy rain or a wicked hailstorm in early spring can do a little damage, but not enough to deter your efforts. Long, hot dry summer days accompanied by the myriad of bugs that munch your greens is much more destructive. So give it a go and you will be rewarded with a highly nutritious and delicious salad mix.

Hint: A half wine barrel near your kitchen door can accommodate a large assortment of these greens, especially arugula, six lettuces, a chard or two, some spinach, and a couple of six packs worth of corn salad.

Arugula
Corn Salad/Mache
Cress, Persian
Dandelion, French
Lettuce, Romain Type Parris Island Cos
Lettuce, Butterhead, Green
Lettuce, Leaf Type Black Seeded Simpson
Lettuce, Leaf Type Simpson Elite
Lettuce, Leaf type, Green Oakleaf
Lettuce, Leaf Type, Red Oakleaf
Lettuce, Leaf Type, Sanguine Ameliore
Lettuce, Lollo Type, Natividad
Lettuce, Romain Type Little Gem
Lettuce, Romain Type Ruben Green Leaf
Lettuce, Romain Type Rubin
Lettuce, Romain Type Flashy Trout’s Back
Mizuna, Japanese Mustard
Mustard, Hon Tsai Tai
Mustard, Osaka Purple
Mustard, Purple Wave
Mustard, Tsai Tai
Radicchio, Early Pallo Rossa
Sorrel, French type
Spinach, America

Artichoke, (P)
We start these plants from seed. We offer two types; Green Globe and Violetto. They should flower in March or April after fall planting. Both live 4 – 8 years and set side shoots each year. These plants are large, so give them about 18” in each direction. If you have a gopher problem, be sure to plant these in protective baskets. Ancient wisdom says the deep taproot is a favorite of the pregnant female rodent in spring.

Beets (A)
Beets are best direct seeded but can be transplanted if done early. We offer three types; Bulls Blood, Golden and Chioggia. Bulls Blood is often grown for its intense red foliage, which can be harvested at about 35 days. The root is dark red with candy-stripe zoning. Golden beet is a little more delicate to start, but vigorous once established. Harvest in about 55 days for a sweet, juicy golden beet that doesn’t ‘bleed’. Chioggia is the classic candy-striped beet great eaten roasted. Try a few and you will soon forget every bad beet experience you had in 3rd grade.

Broccoli (A)
Broccoli is related to cabbage and cauliflower and does best in cooler weather. Plant in fall for a winter and spring harvest. Good winter rains and frost just make it better.

Broccoli Raab (A)
We could list this as a green or a vegetable, since it is eaten raw in salads when young, or braised and served as a vegetable when a little more mature. We like to chop it into soups a few minutes before serving. The same is true of collards and kale. We sell this one in six packs because most of our customers use a lot of it, and often in the winter months.

Cabbage (A)
In times past, cabbage was best grown by people in very cold climates with large gardens, root cellars, and a taste for sauerkraut. That is no longer the case. The cabbage plants that we sell are smaller than the typical plant, can be placed closer together, and the cabbages harvested when they are young and sweet. Cool weather and winter rains make the cabbages sweet and provide fewer opportunities for the cabbage worm that we hate because of its uncanny ability to hide from us. You can make sauerkraut or slaw from these cabbages, and you can eat them raw in salads as well.

Chard, Bright Lights (B)
We can’t resist the dramatic colors found in each tiny seed of Bright Lights, a type of Swiss Chard. We sell it in six packs or singles. If you have a small garden or are putting together a salad mix, try one or two chard plants of the color of your choice. Flavor, there are differences but I can’t tell them apart since we normally eat chard braised with a flavorful olive oil and lots of sautéed garlic. Cook the stems a little longer, then throw in the chopped greens, cover and steam for a few minutes.

Cucumber, Greenhouse (A)
We offer a specialty cucumber that grows readily, and bears fruit, in the protected conditions of the unheated greenhouse or cold frame.

Growing Instructions for Greenhouse Cucumber: Telegraph Improved

Cucumbers are somewhat easier to produce in the greenhouse than tomatoes. Cucumbers grow more rapidly and produce earlier than tomatoes. Seedless or parthenocarpic varieties are particularly well suited for greenhouse production because they do not require pollination. Two to three crops can be grown each year.

Seeds should be started in their permanent pots if possible. Two to 5 gallon pots are sufficient for greenhouse growing. Use a good quality potting soil and clean pots. Six to 9 square feet of bench space is required for each plant. Plants need to establish a strong root system and vegetative stem before fruit is allowed to set. All lateral branches, flower and tendrils should be removed until the plant has 8-10 leaf nodes. Twist the support string around the plant as it grows, always in the same direction. Remove all lateral branches, training the plant to a single stem, remove bottom leaves as new leaves form on the upper portion f the stem leaving 50-60 inches of green, healthy leaves. When the plant reaches the top of the trellis wire it can be allowed to grow another 30 inches and hang from the support wire. Pinch the end to terminate growth.
                Cucumbers need a weekly feeding with a balanced solution of a fertilizer like 10-52-17 or 15-30-15. Soil and tissue analysis is necessary to diagnose serious nutritional problems.
                Maintain an adequate supply of water to the plant roots. Excess water reduces soil aeration. Young plant put in the greenhouse mid-winter may only need to be watered every 10 days while plants in mid-summer may require 1/2 to 3/4 gallon of water per day.
                Most insects, fungal and viral diseases can be controlled with proper pesticides, the use of beneficial insects as well as proper sanitation and sterilization of soils, pots and equipment. Contact your local county agent for specific diseases and insect control measures.
                With good management, 15-25 pounds of fruit can be picked over a 4-month harvest. Cucumbers can be held 10 – 14 days at 50-55 degrees F with a relative humidity of 90-95%. They are subject to chilling injuries if held or longer than 2 days at temperatures below 50 degrees F.

Re-printed from Territorial Seed Company, PO Box 157, Cottage Grove, OR 97424

Fava Beans (A)
Plant in fall (October through December) for spring harvest. These ancient beans need no support. Plant more than you want to eat, though, so you can turn some back into the garden before they flower. If you haven’t eaten fava beans, you will find them to have a rich, creamy flavor that goes well with those gold beets you grew. Everything you would ever need to know about fava beans is included in the UC Davis pamphlet below:

Kale & Collards (A)
These brassicas can be planted from late summer through late fall for winter harvest; again in late winter for spring harvest. In short, there are very few weeks in the year when you can’t plant or harvest kale and collards. Both can be harvested as baby greens and eaten raw or braised and served as a side dish. We offer Red Russian, White Russian, Winterbor, and Dino kales and two varieties of collards, both of which are cold hardy and slow to bolt.

Leek (A)
This is a non-bulbing onion that benefits greatly from transplanting. The bigger the transplant the bigger the leak. You can plant these anytime late fall through mid-spring for harvest the following summer through fall. Plant a lot of them and harvest some when they are small and others when they are quite large. To blanch the stems (we usually eat the white part), pile soil up around the base as they grow.

Onions, Walla Walla (A)
These sweetly delicious bulbing onions are planted in the fall for summer harvest. Plant seedlings at least 4 inches apart to allow for mature growth. Don’t plant them in the same area where you will be wanting to plant tomatoes because they ripen about 6 weeks after tomatoes need to be planted. Walla Walla’s are easy to grow – they just need time. Some gardeners start them in early spring (April) but we find you get fuller growth by starting them in late fall.

Peas (A)
If you have a warm sunny location in your garden (perhaps you live in Campbell?) then you may be able to grow snow and sugar snap peas all winter long. Others may find their peas just sit there til February. We offer three types: Sugar Snaps which require a trellis and may grow up to 8 feet, Snow Peas which don’t grow quite so tall, and; Shelling or English peas, which grow to about three feet and may do without a trellis. It’s always best to direct seed peas, so select six packs of seedlings that have just emerged and plant out within a few days.

Note: Sweet peas are a flowering variety that are NOT edible. We do not sell those.

Tomatoes, Greenhouse (A)
We offer two varieties from Territorial Seed. The image if from their website and the instructions below are from their seed insert.

Greenhouse Tomato
When the transplants are about 8 inches tall transfer them to their permanent location. They should be planted into no less than 2.5 gallon pots using a good quality potting soil. About 4 square feet of bench or floor space are needed for each plant. Plants should be trained to a single stem and supported by strings from overhead wire. The vines can be twined around the string and secured using soft sting tied in a loose know.
                Fertilize weekly using a solution of balanced fertilizer such as 16-16-16 or 20-20-20. The clay and organic fractions of the soil normally provide micronutrients. Soil tests are necessary to determine if additional micronutrients are needed. At the time of planting, and application of 1/2 cup bone meal or foliar applications of calcium nitrate can help avoid blossom end rot.
                Maintain an adequate supply of water to the plant roots. Excess water reduces soil aeration. Young plants put in the greenhouse in mid winter may only need to be watered every 10 days.
                Under greenhouse conditions, tomato flowers need to be agitated manually or a fruit set spray needs to be sprayed on the flower cluster regularly to ensure blossom set. Smaller greenhouse growers use the‘flick’method where they flick the blossom cluster each morning to encourage pollen shedding and fruit set. Cluster pruning can be used to encourage larger fruit size. Generally no more than 3-4 fruit per cluster should be allowed to form. Fruit number per cluster is the factor that affects fruit size, assuming all other growth factors are adequate.
                Most fungal and viral diseases can be controlled with fungicides and proper sanitation. It is important to sterilize your soils, containers and equipment. Contact your county agent for specific disease treatments. A good sanitizer for the home greenhouse grower is 1 part household bleach to 10 parts water. Use this solution to sterilize pots, benches and equipment. Flush with fresh water after a 10 minute soak.
                Harvest at nearly ripe stage or at the mature green stage and allow to ripen off the vine. Store mature-green fruit at 55-70 degrees F and ripe fruit at 45-50 degrees F and at a relative humidity of 90-95%. It usually takes about 3 to 4 months from seedling to your first crop.

Territorial Seed Company PO Box 158 Cottage Grove, OR

Herbs in a Window Box [photos to come]
12” Window Box with three or more herbs
24” Window Box with five or more herbs

Salad Bowls
16” Round Salad Bowls filled to overflowing with a lush variety of leaf lettuces and unique surprises such as dill, maybe even a beet, radish or salad onion or two.

Spring & Early Summer Planted Vegetables
(Note: many of the vegetables listed above can be planted as late as May in our climate)

Bush Beans (A)
Unlike pole beans, bush beans are determinate plants that do not require a trellis and produce an abundant harvest for a longer period of time. If you want a continuous harvest, then you need to plant beans every two weeks or so after the soil warms up to 60 degrees. This is the bean that used to be called a string bean, but the strings are gone now, so we call them snap beans. We offer five varieties: the classic Blue Lake, a yellow wax Roc D’Or, the exotic purple Royal Burgundy, variegated Dragon’s Tongue, and the rich Italian flat Romano type.

Edamame (A)
This bush soybean plant needs a little more warmth than we have near the coast, but if you live inland and/or have a sunny, warm garden site, give these a try. Highly popular as a fresh bean, these are boiled and served warm in the pod, lightly salted.

Cucumbers (A)
It seams each culture has it’s favorite cucumber and we try to bring a wide variety. In general, all cucumbers want a rich, well drained soil, room to sprawl or, even better, a trellis, and sunny days. The plants are a little fussy about being transplanted so select plants that have no more than one set of true leaves and transplant quickly and carefully. You will be rewarded. We offer Marketmore (slicing), Tasty Jade (seedless/slicing), Little Pickle (slicing and pickling), Striped Armenian (striped and curved), Lemon (looks like a lemon), and Mouse Melon (tiny little cucumbers found ‘round the world).

Cucumber: Mouse Melon (A)
This is not a true cucumber. Latin name is Melothria scabra; but it grows like a cucumber and tastes like a cucumber. Growing this would be a great project for the Young Gardener!
Check out the article in Mother Earth for more information about this little heirloom: http://www.motherearthnews.com/library/2005_June_July/Mouse-Melons

Eggplant (A)
Talk about your edible ornamental! The eggplant is a pretty plant with lovely flowers and makes a dramatic border plant in your landscape as well as in the garden. If you love olive oil and garlic, you will love the produce from the plant too. We offer the large Italian types, the smaller Japanese types, and a variety of color and shape.

Fennel (A)
It’s an herb, it’s a vegetable, it’s an annual, it’s a perennial, it’s big, it’s small. What is it? It’s fennel! If you like fennel, the annual vegetable that you harvest for the bulb, then it’s Finocchio and we sell it in the spring in six packs. It does transplant if done early and it does not become a weed because you will harvest the whole thing. If you are interested in the leaf, then we sell the bronze variety as an herb. Makes a great butterfly habitat.

Cantaloupe (A)
We offer cool weather varieties that ripen in about 80 days. We suggest that you set them out in June or July for fall harvest during our warmer months of September and October.

Onions, Bunching/Scallions (A)
A summer garden would not be complete without a patch of ‘green onions’ for eating raw or chopping into salad. These are very easy to grow and you can harvest them whenever they reach a size that pleases you. We offer red and white ones.

Peas (A)
Our Sugar Snaps, Snow and shelling peas may be grown thoughout the summer if you live in a cooler climate. Time your planting, though, so they don’t ripen when it’s hot. Peas become tough in hot weather.

PEPPERS (A)
In general, peppers are grown as annuals and come in sweet and hot (chili) varieties. In fact, many peppers can be grown as perennials in our mild coastal climate, and we offer a number of those types. Ideal seedlings for transplant will have sturdy stems and buds, but no open flowers. If you are planting in sandy soils, make sure you add calcium and phosphorus.
            Bell Peppers: These are grown as annuals. All varieties start green but ripen to a variety of colors including red, orange, yellow, purple and white. Begin harvest as soon as the pepper has matured to the size and color desired to insure more production.
            Ethnic Peppers, Sweet: Our favorite is the Italian type of bullnose peppers which are grown like bells and produce great quantities of 4 – 8 inch long peppers. The plants are very vigorous and produce for months in protected areas of your garden.
            Ethnic Peppers, Hot:
                        Hungarian Hot Wax
                        Habenero
                        Paprika
                        Thai
                        Ahi: Old Mother’s Teat
                        Serrano del Sol
                        Jalapeno
                        Ancho/Poblano
                        Dame de Noche
                        Cycle City Chile: This is a plant that found us and it’s true identity is, for now, unknown. We can tell you that it is a beauty, about 3 feet tall, with an open habit which is covered with hundreds of tiny red, juicy chiles that are hot, hot, hot. It has perennialized in our garden and produces from July through November.

HERBS

WINTER VEGETABLES

Territorial Seed Company PO Box 158 Cottage Grove, OR