2012 Seed Purchases (Part 2): Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds

This past Christmas, I asked my parents for a gift certificate to either Pinetree Garden Seeds or Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds. They chose Baker Creek and gave me $25. Strangely enough, I had a difficult time spending all $25 (mainly because most of the varieties on my wish list were cheaper at Pinetree), but eventually I found enough things to use the entire gift certificate. I've grown the fava bean before, but everything else will be new for the 2012 vegetable garden! Here's what I ordered (and the descriptions provided by Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds):

Broad Windsor Fava Bean 
75 days. Yields gourmet high-protein beans on upright nonbranching
plants. An old English favorite. 


Mammoth Red Beet
100 days. Huge, up to 20 lbs. each with large yields per acre. Highly used for livestock feed in the 1800's. Or picked small for table use. 


Tepehuan Canteen Gourd
This gourd was collected from the Tepehuan people at
Santa Rosalia, Chihuahua, a Sierra Madre mountain town
in Mexico. Green fruit are tear-drop shaped and 6”-8” tall.
They have a nice hard shell. Great for crafts 


European Mesclun Mix
Grow this mix of greens for one of the tastiest salads ever! Flavors range from sweet-mild to sour-hot-tangy, and colors come in red, purple, yellow, and green. Colorful lettuce, radicchio, arugula, endive, orach, mizuna, kale, mustard, corn salad and more. A favorite with market growers. 


Extra Dwarf Pak Choy
The perfect baby vegetable for marketing, this tiny pak choy is picked when just 2 inches tall! It has dark green, wrinkled leaves with thick, white petioles and can be used whole to make amazing salads and stir-fries! Very tender and delicious! 


Corn Salad or Mache-Verte D'Etampes
This variety was popular in 1880’s France. It
produces flavorful, deep green leaves, and the small
plants are fairly cold-hardy. In 1885 Vilmorin said,
“They bear cold weather remarkably well, and they
have the advantage of losing their freshness less than
those of any other kind while they are being brought
to market.” 


Costoluto Genovese
The fluted, old Italian favorite that has been around since the early 19th century. Fruit are rather flattened and quite attractive with their deep ribbing. This variety is a standard in Italy for both fresh eating and preserving; known for its intensely flavorful, deep red flesh. This variety has also became very popular with chefs in this country. 


White Queen
70-75 days The favorite white variety of many tomato collectors, this heirloom is said to have been introduced in 1882 by A.W. Livingston, though many people question the exact date of introduction. 4-8 oz. fruit have one of the best flavors of all tomatoes, being fragrant, fruity and intensely sweet. It's creamy white in color and very attractive. A productive variety that has become very rare. 


Garden Huckleberry
(Solanum melanocerasum) 75 days. Large purple berries that are cooked and sweetened, (do not eat raw). Great in pies; huge yields of fruit all summer long. Plant 14 inches apart. Strong tall plants do not have to be staked. Grow plants like peppers. Great for anyone wanting quick easy berries and a huge yield. Originated in Africa. 

Baker Creek includes a free (random) packet of seeds with every order. This year I got 'Red Romaine' lettuce.