Locally grown, harvested, and packed seeds from Orange Pippins!
Borage
This enthusiastic plant overflows with blue starflowers that bees positively adore. The flowers taste like honeysuckle and cucumber and look great frozen in ice cubes. Mix them with lemon juice and they magically turn pink! In medieval times knights would drink wine flavored with borage before going on their missions because the plant was thought to cheer the heart and bring courage. In modern-day Spain borage's leaves are sautéed and eaten alongside boiled potatoes.
Direct sow in direct sun year-round. The seeds will germinate when soil warms.
Fava Beans
This fava, or broad bean as it’s also known, is from Alan Adesse of Hands on Organics in the Willamette Valley. It has small, sweet beans which can be eaten fresh or dried. Move over avocado--it’s favacado toast time. It’s also fantastic for improving your soil.
Direct sow in full sun in early Spring or Fall.
Radish
Mild, sweet, and crunchy, and arguably the most beautiful radish around, this old heirloom has it all. They make a fun snack dipped in a bowl of salt as the French do or sliced in salads and sandwiches for a little zip and color. The greens also make a verdant green pesto and are lovely in soups. A must-have for the Spring garden and so fun for kids to grow.
Direct sow in full sun in the cool of Spring and early Fall.
Beets
This old Italian heirloom is THE beet to grow if you can only grow one. It’s hard to believe that something so bright and festive emerges out of the dirt. Their striking beauty is best appreciated sliced raw or in matchsticks, but they are also wonderful for roasting where their color and flavor will mellow. And don’t forget to eat the greens too, steamed with lots of butter. Yumm.
Beets are a cool season plant. Direct sow in full sun through Spring and late Summer to early Fall.
Parsley
This new variety and chef’s favorite, intensely flavored and very sweet, was developed by Frank Morton. In mild climates you’ll find it growing nearly year-round when few green things are in the veggie patch and providing an herbal, verdant flavor to salads and sandwiches and soups. It really livens up any dish!
Be patient and sow more than you think you’ll need--it can be slow to germinate. Some have best luck presoaking seeds the day before planting. Start indoors or direct sow in full sun to light shade in late Winter through early Spring.
Scarlet Runner Beans
A summer garden necessity. THE plant for growing summer forts and teepees! Gorgeous edible flowers with delicious fresh young beans that are equally tasty dried. Native to Central America, but beloved by the English and referred to in our neck of the woods as the "Oregon Lima Bean", this vigorous, vining plant can climb more than 10 feet in a season and will turn your yard into a festive jungle of crimson flowers and bean pods. The shining, scarlet-dotted dried beans are sweet and buttery. The flowers drive hummingbirds wild. A winning plant!
Direct sow in full sun when warm.