Edible Garden Confidential blog

The 12 Days of Seed Catalogs

12/15/2023

The is the start of a fun campaign called The 12 Days of Seed Catalogs. For 12 days I will introduce different seed companies. Each day, I will feature two companies -- one that prints a physical catalog and one that offers only an online catalog.

My purpose is to introduce you to some great seed sources and unique varieties, to encourage you to buy organic, heirloom, open-pollinated seeds and to do some seed saving this season. I also want to get you started thinking about planning for 2024. Finally, I want to help you grow your best garden yet so I will be offering discounts on my online edible gardening classes, Garden Planner and landscape coaching sessions. There will be at least one giveaway – this is going to be huge!

The 12 Days of Seed Catalogs
Now is the time to put in your requests for seed catalogs – these wonderful publications will arrive in your mailbox in late December and January. Perusing online seed catalogs is wonderful and extremely convenient. Still there isn’t a better way to spend a dark winter day than reading a printed catalog, browsing seeds and reading all the juicy descriptions from your comfy chair while sipping a tasty beverage.

My catalog reading isn’t limited to seed catalogs. I could get lost for half a day in the fruiting trees, shrubs, canes and vines offered by the Raintree Nursery, Burnt Ridge Orchard and One Green World. The other half day, you’ll find me studying tool catalogs from Lee Valley Tools and AM Leonard. Such fun. This is some of my best reading.
I am looking forward to sharing some of my favorite seed companies and their fantastic catalogs on my blog – Edible Garden Confidential – later this month. Tune in during December for the 12 Days of Seed Catalogs campaign.

I want to share with my newsletter readership the WHOLE list of seed companies I am reviewing. Here is the big list of seed companies that offer organic, open pollinated and heirloom seeds. Many of these companies have taken the safe seed pledge that they are not knowingly trading in genetically engineered seeds or plants. These seed companies support sustainable and regenerative practices that are safe for people and the soil. I am also including three great local/regional nurseries specializing in fruiting trees, vines and shrubs. The list ends with my favorite places to get quality tools. Check out these companies and order up a few catalogs.

The 1st Day of Seed Catalogs

Seed Company Spotlight
Kitazawa Seed Company

Location: 175 West 2700 South, Salt Lake City, Utah 84115
Inquiries: [email protected]
Phone 510-595-1188
Kitazawa Seed Company: www.kitazawaseed.com
Request a Catalog: https://kitazawaseed.com/products/2023-kitazawa-catalog

If you are looking for some new edibles that will thrive in our Maritime climate, look at Kitazawa Seed Company. They specialize in the harder to find Asian vegetables that are common in Japanese, Thai, Indian, Chinese and Korean cuisines. This is the place to find many delicious and surprising varieties of greens and cole crops. I have been a big fan for years.

This company has been around for 107 years. It was a family-owned business, started by Gijiu Kitazawa in 1917 in San Jose, California. At that time vegetable varieties used in Asian cooking could not be found in US grocery stores. Kitazawa was the first to offer Asian vegetable seeds so Asian Americans could grow the foods they used in their cuisines.

The Kitazawa family sold the business in 2000 to Maya Shiroyama and her husband Jim Ryugo who continued the long tradition of offering a stunning variety of Asian Vegetables. Selling non-GMO, heirloom, organic as well as hybrid seeds.

In 2022, Shiroyama and Ryugo turned the stewardship of the company over to True Leaf Market. True Leaf Market is a seed company in Salt Lake City, Utah that specialized in sprouting and microgreen seeds. They will handle the day-to-day operations while maintaining the unique Kitazawa Seed Company brand. Shiroyama and Ryugo will continue as the company’s ambassadors.

Here are a few of my favorites.
Holy Basil – Green and Red. Also called Tulsi, it is the queen of herbs and is used in the Indian Ayurvedic tradition. Plants are beautiful, fragrant and distinctive.
Burdock – Ha Gobo. This variety is grown for its delicate edible leaves, typically burdock root is used in cooking. They offer four different Japanese burdock varieties.
Chinese Mustard – Gai Choi. This mustard is delicious and hardy. It grows through the winter if sown in June. It has a pungent taste that isn’t bitter or spicy.
Bunching Onions – They offer many Japanese single stalk green onion or scallion varieties. I have had great success growing Heshiko, Evergreen White Nebuka, Ishijura Improved and Ishikura Long Winter.
Cress – True Watercress (Nasturtium officinale). This hardy dark leafy green perennial grows in moist soil. Young tender leaves are a delicious, peppery addition to salads.

At the tail end of the catalog after 14 varieties of turnips, you’ll find some recipes. All sorts of ways to cook the Asian Vegetables. Brilliant! There are even more recipes on their blog https://kitazawaseed.com/blogs/recipes Add something new to your garden and plate this season with some Asian vegetables from Kitazawa Seed Company.

Seed Packet photo credit: www.kitazawaseed.com

Burdock, Ha Gobo photo credit: Lisa Taylor

Bunching Onions photo credit: Lisa Taylor

Garden Planner

Get organized with a special Garden Planner! This Garden Planner is just what you need to create order from the chaos of paper floating about the house and garden workstation! It comes in both a digital version and a printable one.
Check it out here: Garden Planner

Seed Company Spotlight
Deep Harvest Seeds

Location:   PO Box 515, Freeland, WA 98249
Inquiries:   [email protected]
Phone:   503-989-8490
Website: https://deepharvestfarm.com
Online Catalog Only: https://deepharvestfarm.com/shop/

Deep Harvest Seeds is the closest seed farm to my garden and home so they are one of my go-to sources for varieties that will perform well for me. They are the real deal and are committed to growing regionally adapted seeds for Northwest farms and gardens.

They are a seed, vegetable and flower farm on South Whidbey Island. Most of their seeds are grown regionally – right on the farm and sourced from a small network of regional farmers. They offer 100% organic, open pollinated, non-GMO seeds year-round as well as fresh vegetables and flowers from June to December. They grow over 140 varieties right on their farm because they believe that a “thriving local food system starts with regionally-adapted seed.” The majority of their varieties are grown on Whidbey Island and “all are well-adapted to the soils, climate and disease pressures of the Pacific Northwest.”

Over the last decade they have expanded the varieties they offer with some real garden gems that perform beautifully in our Maritime climate. If you live in Western Washington or Oregon, I would check here first before buying any seeds since their seeds are locally grown and adapted to our climate and soils. “Every year, we perform variety trials to assess which ones thrive in our particular Northwest soils and climate. Our seed catalog features these winning varieties, and we are confident they will also excel in fields and gardens across the Northwest and other cool, northern climates. Furthermore, by saving seeds only from the best plants, selecting for beauty, vigor, disease resistance, and tolerance to extreme temperatures, we have further adapted these varieties to our corner of the world.”

To encourage wildlife and native pollinators, every year they expand their native hedgerows, flowering perennials and fruit orchards. They also grow 30 varieties of flowers on their 1/2 acre flower field and sell all sorts of arrangements for wedding and events.

Not all of the seeds offered by Deep Harvest Seeds are grown on their Whidbey Island Farm, to flush out their catalog, they also source from a small, regional network of growers. Learn more about Deep Harvest Farm and discover who all is in their grower’s network here https://deepharvestfarm.com/about-us/

Look here for warm season tropical and long-season crops aka things that are more difficult to grow here . . . like tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, winter squash since all their seeds are grown by within our region, they may be better adapted to grow here. Deep Harvest seeds were grown in this region and so are uniquely adapted to grow well in the Maritime Northwest climate.

Here are a few of my favorites.
Peppers – Miniature Red Bell. These small, super early sweet peppers are productive even in cool climates. If you have been looking for a short season sweet pepper, give these cuties a try. Great in a lunchbox or stuffed.

Tomatoes, cherry type – Black Cherry and Pink Honeydews. There is nothing like nibbling on sweet cherry tomatoes right off the vine. These two varieties offer beauty and flavor on manageable indeterminate vines. Pink Honeydews are new this year and are great for snacking. Black Cherry are a trusted variety that can be used in many ways in the kitchen.

Ground Cherry – Otto’s Bush Creek. I am a big fan of ground cherries and this is a new variety to me. These beautiful and distinctive plants produce a “tropical” fruit that is delicious eaten fresh but becomes something extraordinary when cooked down as a preserve.

Winter Squash – Burgess Buttercup. This small winter squash will grow and produce reliably. These will climb a trellis so they are a great choice for small gardens. The seeds are huge!

Mustard Greens – Ruby Streaks. Beautiful, hardy and delicious. Ruby streaks is one of my favorite mustards. Start some in late summer and they will overwinter, producing enormous heads ready in early spring. This mustard is smoky and pungent without bitterness or heat.

Amaranth – Hot Biscuits. I grew this amaranth for the name alone and I was rewarded with tall orange-bronze plants with great sprays of golden flowers. Pollinators and people love this one.

Quinoa – Brightest Brilliant Rainbow. Yep, you can grow quinoa and use the seeds in your favorite quinoa recipe – the seeds are tiny and you’ll need to collect many to make a meal. Even if you don’t eat the seeds, this variety is stunning. Tall plants put on a multicolored show that delights gardeners and butterflies.

If you are a Maritime Northwest gardener looking for something new to grow this season, head over to Deep Harvest for varieties that will thrive in our climate and produce reliably.