Category Archives: Heirlooms
Broccoli Calabrese
Introduced to the seed trade around 1910 this variety was brought to our shores-and our gardens-by Italian immigrants. A deliciously old-fashioned broccoli it boasts dark bluish-green central heads about 5″ across. Tall erect 30-36″ plants give way to multiple side
Radish French Breakfast
Heirloom. Oblong roots grow 1 3/4″ long and 3/4″ wide. Scarlet skin shades to white at base. White flesh is crisp and mildly pungent when young. Fast and easy to grow radishes are best in cool weather and planted in
Mustard Southern Giant Curled
With crumpled frilled edges the bright green leaves impart a mild mustardy flavor. Served raw the young leaves are tasty in salads-they’re also delicious lightly stir-fried or sauteed. Superb candidate for freezing or canning. Cold-resistant and slow to bolt the
Pepper Hot Fish
You may have encountered (and savored) this heirloom pepper in the oyster and crab houses around the Chesapeake Bay. One of the prettiest peppers ever to grace our test gardens this African-American heirloom predates the 1870s. Boasting handsome variegated foliage
Pumpkin Small Sugar
Small Sugar is even better for pies than its larger cousin Connecticut Field pumpkin. When Mr. Burpee offered it in 1887 he said: “A very prolific and handsome little pumpkin; usual size about 10″ in diameter; skin is a deep
Tomato Black Cherry
An heirloom too rarely encountered this delectable variety fully merits a place in the garden and on the dinner table. Yields plentiful clusters of perfectly round 1″ true cherry tomatoes that are deep red with a blackish hue. The flavor
Kale Lacinato
Also known as Dinosaur or Tuscan Kale this Italian heirloom dates back to the 18th century and is an essential ingredient of caldo verde (green broth) a popular soup in Portugal. By whatever name the sweeter milder blue-green
Tomato Yellow Pear
This extremely old variety makes a vigorous plant that bears enormous numbers of bright yellow bite-sized fruit. The flavor is deliciously tangy. Perfect for summer party hors d’oeuvres.
Carrot Touchon
Touchon is still one of the finest of the Nantes-type carrots. The best for eating out of hand and free from hard fiber. This old French variety is quick-maturing to about 6″ long and 1″ across.
Raspberry Heritage
Luscious flavor and heavy yields of juicy sweet red fruits. Space 3′ apart in rows 6′ apart. Plants produce berries on old canes in early summer and on new canes from August to frost. Vigorous and hardy. Self-pollinating. Grows best
Asparagus Mary Washington
Asparaguses are perennial vegetables so you just plant them once and enjoy season after season of succulent spears. Seeds can be started indoors in spring for transplanting out around last frost. Bare roots can be planted as soon as they
Cucumber Lemon
Don’t be fooled by this heirloom’s unusual shape-these bright yellow balls are excellent for salads and pickling. They have a clean crisp taste and are never bitter. Normal-sized vines yield heavily and for a long time.
Tomato Mortgage Lifter
This huge heirloom beefsteak (up to 4 lb.; average 2 1/2 lb.) consistently wins taste-tests. Developed in the 1930s by a gardener who planted the four biggest varieties he knew and crossed one with pollen from the other three. He
Kale Red Russian
This delicious grey-green kale is pretty enough to plant among the flowers. Much larger than regular kale (2 to 3′ tall) the stems are purplish and the leaves are shaped like big oak leaves and colored a velvety gray green.
Pepper Sweet California Wonder
HEIRLOOM. The standard bell pepper for many decades this 1928 introduction is still the largest open-pollinated heirloom bell you can grow. A perfect stuffing pepper-blocky 4″ x 3 1/2″ thick-walled tender and flavorful.
