Serving the entire Northern Michigan Area

We never use any chemical pesticides, just good compost, weeding and organic remedies to pest problems.  Below is a list of some of the different variety we're hoping for, along with some fun tidbits on a few of the items.  We are actually hoping to grow even more than what is listed below, and are working to get the complete list put together here for your review and excitment!

 

Flowers:

Lilacs, Poppies, Daisies, Wildflowers, Peonies, Tiger Eye Sunflowers, Lily of the Valley, Double Mock Orange, Dara Flowering Carrot, Honeysuckle, Summer Gown Nasturtium & more, Marigolds, 

 

FUN INFO:

Elephant Head Amaranth (and other amaranths): This heirloom was brought to the USA from Germany in the 1880’s and so named because the huge flower heads often take on the appearance of an elephant’s trunk. The 3- to 5-foot plants produce flowers that are deep reddish-purple in color. A striking variety that is among the most unique of amaranths.

 

Thai Red Roselle: A valuable plant for making cranberry-flavored bright red beverages, jelly, pie and tea. Much grown in Asia and the mid-east as the flavor is wonderful. A tasty sauce can be made by boiling and sweetening the fleshy calyxes; the leaves are also used to make a drink. The entire plant of this Hibiscus is red and very beautiful. Citrus-flavored flowers are delicious on frozen deserts. This plant has too many uses to name. Seeds collected in Thailand.

 

Lettuces/Chard/Spinach/Celtuce:

Nettles, Lambsquarter, Red Romaine, Red Kitten spinach, Five star lettuce mix, Bright lights chard, Wasabi arugula (Arya picked this specifically), Watercress, Spring Tower Chinese Celtuce, Garden Cress, Pepper cress, Flamingo Pink Chard, Oriole Orange Chard, Perpetual spinach, Verde de Taglio, Wonder Wok Mix, Corn Salad Dutch, Black Mustard Greens, Jiu Tou Niao Mustard, Rossa Di Treviso Radicchio, Rossa di Verona Radicchio, Sugar Loaf Chicory, Italiko Rosso Dandelion, Rocky Top Lettuce, Siamese Dragon Stir Fry Mix, Giant Noble Spinach, Red Malabar Spinach, Amsterdam Prickly Seeded Spinach, Merlot Lettuce, French Dandelion, Ice Queen Lettuce (Laura is really excited about organic iceberg lettuce)

 

FUN INFO:

Flashy Butter Oak Lettuce: Here’s a newer lettuce introduction that combines crimson-red splashes with the leaf form of apple-green oak-leaf lettuce, and a butter-cos lettuce habit! It might sound mixed up but that’s a good thing because “Flashy Butter Oak” combines superior taste, texture and form—truly at the forefront of today’s open-pollinated breeding. The texture is silky, the taste is mild, juicy and sweet. 

 

Strawberry Spinach: An old-fashioned plant that dates to 1600 in Europe. This curious plant produces greens that are picked and cooked like spinach, but it also produces attractive, red berries that are bland in flavor. These add a nice touch to fruit salads. Easy-to-grow plants are similar to “Lamb’s Quarters”, a wild relative. Found and saved from a monastery garden.

 

Potatoes:

Beauregard Sweet Potatoes, Gold Rush, Elba, Red Pontiac, Stampede Jerusalem Artichokes, Kennebec, Okinawan Purple Sweet Potato, 

 

FUN INFO:

Molokai Purple Sweet Potato: 

Purple-fleshed type that is a locally-developed, signature type on the islands, but seldom offered elsewhere. Much higher in antioxidants than orange-fleshed types. Very sweet-fleshed and creamy, with overtones of chestnut in the flavor. Perfect as-is when baked or roasted, needing no further adornment. Deep purple flesh and skins.

 

African Potato Mint:  Also known as Kaffir Potato. This mint relative is grown for its potato-like tuber. These tubers can get very large, up to 4 lbs., are very high in protein, carbohydrate, iron and calcium. A so called “lost crop” of Africa that in fact is of immense value today! Thrives in hot and fairly dry conditions. Requires 6 months of warm to hot growing conditions to yield mature tubers; in most of the nation we recommend starting plants indoors in containers and setting outdoors after weather has warmed in late spring.

 

Yacon:  Here’s a delicious and unusual South American relative of Dahlia and Jerusalem Artichoke. Sweet-potato-like tubers weigh up to 3 lbs and are produced in 3-5 months from planting. Yacon plants reach 4-5 feet in height, and occasionally bloom, bearing small yellow daisies. The flavor is like a crisp apple combined with Asian pear. The roots contain inulin (may be useful to diabetics), and possess anti-oxidant and pro-biotic qualities.

 

Squashes:

Alligator, Spaghetti, Red Kuri, Delicata, Dill’s Atlantic Giant Pumpkin, Japanese Pie, Juane Gros De Paris, Kakai, Long Island Cheese, Marina Di Chioggia, Melonette Jaspee de Vendee, Miranda, Sweet Dumpling, Winter Luxury Pie, Green Egg, Cupcake, Serpente di Sicilia Edible Gourd, Tambuli Edible Gourd, Mayo Bule Gourd, Black Futsu, Big Max, Galeux D’Eysines, Australian Butter, Baby Green Hubbard, Howden, Boston Marrow, Candy Roaster, Canada Crookneck, Cream of the Crop, Lemon, White Scallop, Ronde De Nice, Lebanese White Bush Marrow, Early Golden Crookneck, Odessa, Green Bush Vegetable Marrow, Tatume, Honey Boat Delicata, Ambar, Blue Hokkaido, 

 

FUN INFO:

Luffa Gourd:  Burpee’s 1888 catalogue said, “A natural dishcloth, and a most admirable one. Many ladies prefer this dishcloth. The fruit grow about 2’, and the vine is very ornamental, producing clusters of yellow blossoms, in pleasing contrast with the silvery-shaded, dark green foliage. In the North this variety requires starting in a hotbed. The dried interiors of these gourds have already become an article of commerce; grown in Florida, they are sold by Philadelphia and NY druggists.”

 

Zucchino Rampicante:  The famous Italian heirloom vining zucchini and pumpkin; long slender 15-inch fruit have a flat bulb at the bottom. They are one of the best eating summer squash: very tender, mild and sweet tasting. The flavor is superb! This squash is also great as winter squash. The Italians use it for stuffing in gnocchi and ravioli; the flesh is rich and flavorful, great for baking and pies! The mature fruit grow very long. 

 

Kakai Squash: Kakai’s completely hull-less seeds are superb for roasting! Slightly oblate, delicately ribbed fruits are an unusual shade of yellow-orange, mottled here and there in dark green to virtually black. Simply scoop the seeds out of the 5- to 8-pound pumpkins, rinse, salt if desired, and roast in the oven until slightly browned. Semi-bush plants are compact and great for smaller gardens.  

 

Hawaiian Dance Mask Gourd: Uniquely-shaped fruits like a large flat bottom pear, about 10 inches tall and around 8 inches across at the base. Hawaiians used the gourd to make ritual helmets or “makini” prior to European contact. The small end of the gourd was removed, the large end hollowed out, eye openings cut, and the entire piece was decorated with fern fronds or sedge grass and white streamers. Each item had ritual significance, as the masks were worn at Makahiki, the annual festival honoring Lono, the deity of fertility and harvest. Could there be a better symbol for nature’s abundance than gourds?  

 

Gelber Englishcher Custard:  Clear lemon-yellow fruits are a patty-pan type, but with a bizarre twist. Fruits are oddly flattened—impossible to describe. Productive bush plants yield over a long season if kept picked. Recommended for cooler climates like the Pacific Northwest. This unique variety originated in Gatersleben, Germany. Described in Amy Goldman’s book “The Compleat Squash.”

 

Melons:

Pepino, Snow Leopard Honeydew, San Juan, Serenade, Sweet Granite, Ali Baba Wm, Blacktail Mountain Wm, Colorado Preserving Wm, Early Moonbeam Wm, Orange Flesh Tendersweet, Kleckley’s Sweet Wm, Golden Midget Wm, Orangeglo Wm, Long Ex Snake, Cream of Saskatchewan Wm, Jubilee Wm, Vert Grimpant, Green Skin Bittermelon, Muskateer, Ananas D’Amerique A Chair Verte, Green Nutmeg, Emerald Gem, Old Time Tennesee, Mother Mary’s Pie, Cassabanana Melecoton, Amarillo Oro, Boule d’Or, Noir de Carmes, Hero of Lockinge, Sakata’s Sweet, Metki Painted Serpent, Metki White Serpent, Mango, Thai Golden Round, Rich Sweetness 132, Apple, Bateekh Samara, 

 

FUN INFO:

Sweet Dakota Rose Watermelon:  One of the best-tasting and most reliable watermelon varieties! Striped fruits are nearly round and weigh in at 8-15 lbs. Superior flavor, sunburn resistant, and has very few seeds. Thin, firm rind makes it an excellent keeper! Developed decades ago by North Dakota farmer David Podoll, who stabilized a cross between Early Canada and Black Diamond.

 

African Horned Cucumber: Very unusual fruit with spiny “horns.” The green-yellow skin turns a bright deep orange when ready to harvest, and the pulp resembles lime-green Jell-O. The fruit has a sour-sweet, banana-lime-tropical fruit taste and is good juiced. This fruit is appearing regularly in U.S. markets. Native to Africa, it is hardy and easy to grow; can be grown just about anywhere you can grow melons. Beautiful vine and fruit! Tiny seed.  

 

White Wonder Watermelon:  Beautiful, snow-white flesh is so pale it’s almost transparent! The flavor is unique, fruity, and so delicious. White-fleshed watermelons were common in the 1800’s, but due to corporate agriculture, these genetic treasures are about to be lost. That is a shame, as white-fleshed varieties date back hundreds of years and were developed in Africa from wild strains. This early variety is not for shipping as it cracks easily, but you will enjoy its unique crispness, fresh from the garden.

 

Metki Dark Green Serpent: An ancient heirloom introduced from Armenia into Italy as far back as the 1400’s. It is a melon but is used like a cucumber. Picked small (18 inches or less), it is very mild and tasty, but the fruits can grow to over 3 feet long! Easy to grow and good yields; it should be planted in more gardens.

 

Prescott Fond Blanc: The most unique and beautiful French melon we sell! The fruit is 4-9 lbs., very flattened and ribbed, with warts and bumps. Melons have grey/green skin turning straw color; flesh is salmon-orange. Once one of the best known melons, it was mentioned in the 1860’s, but it likely is much older. The flavor is very rich if picked at perfection, and the fragrance is heavenly. This is a favorite melon of many seed collectors; almost unheard of in this country.

 

Banana:  Banana-shaped fruit with smooth yellow skin and sweet, spicy salmon flesh. 16-24 inches long, 5-8 lbs. It was listed in 1885 by J. H. Gregory’s Catalogue, which said, “When ripe it reminds one of a large, overgrown banana... It smells like one, having a remarkably powerful and delicious fragrance.” This is seed collectors all- time favorites, being very sweet.

 

Cucumbers:

Lillie Mae’s Little White, Suyo Long, Salt & Pepper, Northern Pickling, Fresh Pickles, Summer Dance, Mexican Sour Gherkin, Crystal Apple, Hmong Red, 

 

FUN INFO:

Telegraph Improved:  Smooth, straight, dark-green fruit, 18” long. Flesh is very crisp, tender and mild; superb flavor.  This is an excellent English heirloom variety, introduced around 1897.

 

Sikkim:  The historic cucumber of Sikkim. Fat, large fruit can reach several pounds in size. The ripe fruit is a unique rusty red color and is good eaten cooked or raw. In Asia, cucumbers are often stir-fried and are quite tasty. This variety is grown in the Himalayas of Sikkim and Nepal. Sir Joseph Hooker first discovered it in the eastern Himalayas in 1848. Here is part of what he wrote about it: “So abundant were the fruits, that for days together I saw gnawed fruits lying by the natives’ paths by the thousands, and every man, woman and child seemed engaged throughout the day in devouring them.”

 

Dragon’s Egg:  Beautiful cream-colored fruit are about the size and shape of a large egg! Mild, bitter-free and sweet-tasting, this little cucumber set massive yields in our gardens. So fun to grow, and very unique-looking; great for children and all who like delicious cucumbers. We were sent this new favorite by Reinhard Kraft, a German seed collector, but this heirloom originated in Croatia.

 

Beans/Peas:

Large Green Lentil, Large Red Lentil, Cannellini, Tongues of Fire, Christmas Pole Lima, Dixie Speckled Butterpea, Henderson’s Bush Lima, Kind of the Garden Lima, Barnside Sweet, Golden Sunshine, Painted Lady, Chinese Green Noodle, Chinese Mosaic Long, Taiwan Black Seeded Long, Clay Cowpea, California Blackeye Cowpea, Rice Cowpea, Monkey Tail Cowpea (Arya’s Pick), Mammoth Melting Sugar Snow Pea, Sugar Snap Pea, Sugar Ann Snap Pea, Corne De Belier Snow Pea, Carouby De Maussane Snow Pea, Ozark Razorback Cowpea, Maestro Pea, 

 

FUN INFO:

Asian Winged: This is one of the most unique beans; it produces delicious pods with four winged edges, the leaves are cooked like spinach and the roots have a delicious, nutty flavor. This high-protein bean is an excellent crop and is so useful in the kitchen. Was featured in Mother Earth News.

 

Tongues of Fire Bean:  Also known as Horto.  Reputedly originated in Tierra del Fuego in South America, but extremely popular in Italy, where cooks like the beans’ subtle characteristic of picking up other flavors from a dish. Bush-type plants yield pods of white with flame-like red streaks, making great snaps when very young; beans are light pink with darker red mottling, reminiscent of the Cranberry Bean. Makes an outstanding baked bean.

 

Taiwan Black Seeded Long Bean:  This is the true “Yard Long” bean, with light green pods 38” long, with black beans. The long vines set heavy yields of these delicious pods that will amaze your friends! Long beans should be lightly fried and not boiled. They have superior flavor to common beans. This variety was collected from a Taiwanese immigrant in the 1970s. RARE!

 

Eggplants:

Jade Sweet, Rosa Bianca, Traviata, Kermit (Arya picked this specifically), Turkish Orange, Bangladeshi Long, Ukranian Beauty, Edirne Purple Striped, Kazakhstan, Korean Red, Early Black Egg, 

 

FUN INFO:

Mitoyo:  Large fruits are oval to teardrop-shaped and nearly black. Flesh is very tender and sweet, it is even highly recommended for use without cooking! Fruits are also excellent baked or roasted, and are often used in pickling as well in their native Japan, were the variety was originally collected at a local market. Traditionally grown in the Mitoyo and Kanonji areas. One of the best tasting eggplants we have ever tried.  

 

Thai Yellow Egg:  Famous in Thailand, the egg-sized fruit are picked when they are bright golden-yellow. They are used in many Thai dishes and as a garnish.

 

Cambodian Green Giant: Here is a large, round, flat variety from the kingdom of Cambodia. This was collected in 2004, when Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds were touring this once war torn southeast Asian country. Attractive fruit are pale green with dark green stripes, and are lightly ribbed. This is a very unique color pattern for a large variety. Rare Seeds is one of the first companies to offer varieties from Cambodia, a country with a delicious cuisine that is in danger of being lost. These are great eating, and have a deep, full bodied eggplant flavor.

 

Okra/Peppers/Celery:

Emerald Okra, Jing Orange Okra, Eagle Pass Okra, Red Velvet Okra, Jambalaya okra, Tango Celery, Ancho Pepper, Gourmet pepper, Flavorburst Pepper, Yankee Bell Pepper, Big Boss Man Pepper, Sweet Thunderbolt Pepper, Black Hungarian Pepper, Anaheim Pepper, Chinese 5 Color Pepper, Bhut Jolokia (Ghost Pepper), Lemon Drop Pepper,  Golden Cal Wonder Pepper, Italian Pepperoncini, King of the North Pepper, Bulgarian Ratund Pepper, Friariello Di Napoli Pepper, Sigaretta De Bergamo Pepper, Sheepnose Pimento Pepper, Chervena Chuska Pepper, Midnight Dreams Bell Pepper, Canary Bell Pepper, Giant Prague Celeraic, Tendercrisp Celery, Giant Red Reselection, Beck’s Big Buck Horn Okra, 

 

FUN INFO:

White Habenero Pepper:  Small bushy plants yield loads of these 1”-2” creamy-white, bullet-shaped fruit. This Caribbean variety is a favorite for its smoky, fruity taste and extreme heat. 

 

Red Cheese Pepper: Candy-sweet, round, flat, 3-inch pimento-type peppers that have thick, red flesh; great for stuffing or fresh eating. So good they are almost addictive. Very productive plants. Once used to color cheese.

 

Stewart’s Zeebest Okra:  This spineless okra produces extra tender, green pods that are round and not ribbed; tasty. Tall, branching plants set heavy yields of this great Louisiana heirloom.

 

Peppermint Stick Celery: This attractive ‘candy-striped’ variety retains its color even when cooked! Use the spicy stalks fresh or let plants bolt and use the seed as a spice.

 

Brassicas:

Skywalker Cauliflower, Belstar Broccoli, Torage No 4 Cabbage, Diablo Brussel Sprouts, Nautic Brussel Sprouts,Waltham Broccoli, Romanesco Italia Broccoli, Purple of Sicily, Snowball Self-Blanching, Aubervilliers Cabbage, Glory of Enkhuizen Cabbage, Greyhound Cabbage, Tatsoi, Sweetheart Lettage Caraflex, Tiger Collards, Dwarf Siberian Kale, Fringed Kale Mix, Superschmelz White Kohlrabi, Morris Heading Collards, Georgia Southern Creole, Vates Collards, Ching Chang Bok Choy, Siamese Dragon Stir Fry Mix,  

 

FUN INFO:

Scarlett Kale:  A lovely curled “red” kale that produces lots of delicious, frilly leaves and takes on the chill of winter with stride! Pretty in the flower garden or on the plate. Rich in nutrition and flavor.

 

Herbs:

Anise, Ginger, Stevia - Sweetest Stevia, Saltwort, Salad Burnett, Papalo, Giant of Italy Parsley, Mountain Mint, Mint, Calypso Cilantro, Amethyst Improved Basil, Sweet Thai Basil, Genovese Basil, Oregano, Multiple varieties of Sage, Lovage, Goldkrone Dill, Zefa Fino Fennel, Common Thyme, Arat (parsley root), Goldenseal (not harvestable for 2 years), American Ginseng (not harvestable for 2 years), Feverfew, Epazote, Staro Chives, Garlic Chives, Common Chives, Vertissimo Chevril, Roman Chamomile, Angelica, Borage, Perfect Skewer Rosemary, French Tarragon, Red Shiso, Green Shiso, Britton, Stevia, Lavendar, Spruce tips, Camellia Sinensis Tea, Rouge d’Alger Cardoon, Saffron Crocus, Pandan, Katuk

 

Root Vegetables:

Salsify - Mammoth Sandwich Island, Black Salsify, Gobo - Japanese Burdock, Mars - Celeraic, Yaya Carrots, Chiko Burdock, Belstar Super Salsify, Red Meat Radish, Nero Tondo Radish, Rover Radishes, Albino Beets, Bull’s Blood Beets, Lutz Salad Leaf Beets, McMardi Gras Radishes, Mokum Carrots, Atomic Red Carrot, Cosmic Purple Carrot, Amarillo Carrot, Joan Rutabaga, Golden Globe Turnip, Shogoin Turnip, Petrowski Turnip, Boule D’or Turnip, Wilhelmsburgery Rutabaga, Swede Ostgota Rutabaga, Oxheart Carrot, De 18 Jours Radish, Zlata Radish, Chinese Green Luobo Radish, Rat’s Tail Radish, Formosa Giant Luo Buo Radish, Saxa 2 Radish, Pusa Asita Black Carrot

 

FUN INFO:

Gregor’s Favorite Beets: Old dual-purpose variety is grown for both its leaves and its roots. The leaves are unique: long and narrow, incredibly dark ruby red, with an unusual, silky sheen. The long, cylindrical roots, which can reach 6 inches long, are unusually colored: red, yes, but with overtones toward purple-blue. The dark color translates to increased phytonutirents-- among the highest of any beet variety! This Scottish heirloom, also called Dracena, was until recently almost extinct.  

 

Tomatoes/Tomatillos:

Golden Husk Cherries, Toma Verde Tomatillo, San Juanito Tomatillo, Aunt Molly’s Ground Cherry, Cuatomate Currant, Hawaiian Currant, Ildi Currant, German Johnson, Amish Paste, Indigo Rose, Aunt Ruby’s German Green, Emerald Evergreen, Green Bell Pepper, Green Doctors, Green Giant, Green Skin Long Keeper, Malakhitovaya Shkatulka, Blueberry, Amana Orange, Orange Icicle, Yellow Brandywine, Bali, Goliath Tomato, Northern Pickling Tomato, Cloudy Day Tomato, Omar’s Lebanese, Pearly Pink, Brave General, Pink Accordion, Pink Icicle, Raspberry Lyanna, Cour Di Bue, Principle Borghese, Buckbee’s New Fifty Day, Sioux, Reisetomate, Granny Cantrell German Red, Moskvich, Black from Tula, Black Prince, Japanese Black Trifele, Paul Robeson, Carbon, Purple Calabash, Violet Jasper, Vorlon, Ananas Noire, Isis Candy Cherry, Nature’s Riddle, Great White, Cream Sausage, White Tomesol, Transparent, Large Barred Boar, Pork Chop, Solar Flare, Wapsipinicon Peach, Golden King of Siberia, Indigo Apple, Hungarian Heart, Chocolate Pear, Minibel, White Cherry Tomato, 

 

FUN INFO:

Berkeley Tie-Dye Green: Incredibly colorful and delicious large-fruited slicing variety! Fruits run 8 to 16 ounces. Exterior color is green with stripes in red and yellow. But the flesh is truly tri-color! Creamy green flesh infused with various shades of red and yellow. Each of these colors has a different flavor resulting in a spicy, sweet, tart tomato with good acid all in one fruit. Discovered in a planting of Beauty King. Fair to good production. A truly incredible new open-pollinated variety, and a new favorite of many chefs.

 

Corn (we are usually not very successful with corn, last year we got a few ears and lots of baby ears, but this was an improvement over our typical record):

Oaxacan Green, Golden Bantam, Bedwell's Supreme White Dent, Bloody Butcher, Merit

 

Asparagus/Horseradish/Rhubarb:

Precoce d’Argenteuil & Jersey Supreme Asparagus (may or may not be harvestable this year, just planted last year - typically takes 3 years), Large Variety of Rhubarbs, Himalayan Rhubarb (may or may not be harvestable this year, just planted last year - typically takes 2 years), Victoria Rhubarb, Horseradish, Shiitake Mushrooms, Button Mushrooms (just starting this year), Portobello Mushrooms (just starting this year), Spiderwort, Glaskins Perpetual Rhubarb

 

Onions/Garlic/Leeks/Shallots (we had really awesome, tasty and huge onions last year, excited for this year, we will plant even more):

Evergreen hardy green onions, Candy onion, Variety of Garlics, Scapes, Ramps, Giant Musselburgh Leek, Bulgarian Giant Leek, Bleu De Solaise Leek, Autumn Giant Leek, Ishikura Onion, Northern Onions, Parade Bunching Onions

 

Grains/seeds:

Hi Yield Quinoa, Multi-Hued Quinoa, Spring Wheat, Hard Red Winter Wheat, Mennonite Sorghum, Black Seeded Sesame

 

Fruits (all of these are very variable, some years we get lots, some years none - please note there WILL NOT be strawberries, we don't have enough for shares):

Peaches, Raspberries, Blackberries, Apples, Plums, Tart Cherries, Sweet Cherries, Cranberries, Variety of Blueberries, Variety of Gooseberries, Pears, Honeyberries, Variety of Grapes, bush cherries, Saskatoons, Thimbleberries, Autumn Olive, Sumac Blossoms, Figs, Cornus Kousa, Garden Huckleberry, Naranjilla, Wonderberry, Jaltomato, Litchi Tomato, Passiflora Foetida, Tamarillo, {the following are all new fruit plants this year, so they probably won’t fruit - Orange Master Pomegranate, Pink Banana, Dwarf Coffee Plant, Dragon Fruit, Goji Berry, Mulberry, Possum Purple Passion Fruit,  Truly Tiny Banana, Edgar’s Baby Dragon Fruit, Musa ‘Dwarf Nam Wa’ Banana, Hardy Kiwis}