Midwest Vegetable Garden Pack

Basil, Italian Large Leaf (Sweet)
Germination: 5 to 7 days A native to Europe and cultivated for centuries as a fresh and dried culinary herb. Common in America by the late 1700s. The plants grow to about eighteen inches, and provide several harvests. The leaves are used fresh to make pesto, and can be dried and used as a seasoning. A favorite in Italian dishes. Prefers well-drained soil, even moisture, and full sun.

Blue Lake 274 Bush Green Garden Bean
Pick the pods while young as they are more tender and succulent and less likely to be stringy. This variety is a canner's favorite as it tends to mature its heavy crop all at once.

Detroit Dark Red Beet
Very tasty fresh out of the garden, it also maintains its taste and texture well after being canned or pickled. Globe shaped, excellent color, sweet, smooth and tender.

Waltham 29 Broccoli
Developed to withstand the increasing cold of fall. Best for late summer or fall harvests. Compact plants with large crops of side shoots and solid medium green heads. Can survive dry spells.

Catskill Brussels Sprouts
The 20 to 24 inch tall plants produce heavily. The sprouts are large (up to 1¾ inches), dark-green and firm. Used for fall harvests, it is good fresh or frozen. Developed in 1941.

All Seasons Cabbage
Also known as 'Vandergaw', this variety is heat resistant, fine-flavored and produces good, hard heads that are ten inches in diameter, average about 12 pounds and are round but flattened on top. Released in 1886.

Scarlet Nantes Carrot
Outstanding for flavor, this strain has a strong top with four to five inch semi-tapered roots.

Early Snowball Cauliflower
Uniform maturing, smooth, pure white heads weighing three to five pounds and six inches across. It is a medium sized plant with good leaf coverage. Released in 1941. It is reliable. Freezes well also.

Perpetual Swiss Chard
Leaves are smooth, dark-green in color with fine midribs. It is very vigorous and provides an almost "perpetual" harvest. If you garden in an area with a hot climate, it is a great choice for a continuous supply of tasty summertime greens.

Triple Play Sweet Corn
'Triple Play' is an early maturing sweet corn variety that is tolerant of cooler soil temperatures and ideal for locations with shorter growing seasons. If you are blessed with a longer growing season, it can be planted in intervals for an extended fresh corn harvest period.

Muncher Cucumber
Strong, vigorous vines that prolifically produce smooth, tender fruit that reach nine inches in length. Good slicer that does not get bitter and is burpless. Cucumber mosaic virus resistant.

Winter Luxury Pie Pumpkin
Winter Luxury produces dense 6 lbs. rounded fruits. This pumpkin’s skin is orange with netting. This is the variety you need to try if you want the perfect texture for your pumpkin pie. This has been a long-time favorite of our family especially for making pies.

Galeux d' Eysines Winter Squash
'Galeux d' Eysines' is an extremely vigorous, healthy and productive variety. The fruits are beautifully "ugly," weigh between ten and fifteen pounds each and mature to a salmon colored rind that is covered in warts.

Waltham Butternut Winter Squash
Light tan, seven to nine inches long with a thick neck and a small seed cavity. The flesh is a wonderful, bright orange. An "All-American Selection®" in 1970.

Diamond Eggplant
70 days — Diamond Eggplant is a beautiful and versatile variety of eggplant that produces large (6-9 inch), deep purple fruits that are glossy and smooth. This eggplant variety is prized for its sweet and delicate flavor, making it a favorite among gardeners and chefs alike.

Arugula
Also known as rocket or roquette and is popular in Italian cuisine. Adds an interesting tangy flavor to an otherwise bland salad. All plant parts are edible and harvest is enjoyed over a long period as it is a cut and come again plant. It prefers cool weather so start sowing successive plantings directly in the garden as soon as the soil can be worked in the spring. Also try an early to mid-fall planting in a cold frame or greenhouse for harvest throughout the winter. Sow seed ¼ inch deep in a location that receives full sun to partial shade. Best soil temperatures for germination is 40 to 50ºF. Sow about one inch apart thinning plants to a spacing of about six inches. Harvest when the leaves are 2 to 3 inches long.

Dwarf Blue Curled Scotch Kale (Vates)
The leaves are finely curled, bluish green, low growing at twelve to fifteen inches tall with a spread of twenty four to thirty inches. It stands well and is hardy.

All The Year Round Butterhead Lettuce
Medium-sized heads stay firm and solid even in hot weather. Can be sown in most locations from about March through August for a nearly "year-round" harvest periods. It does well in both hot and cooler locations.

Cimmaron Romaine Lettuce
Sow in the spring or late summer. The medium sized heads stay firm and solid even in hot weather. Does well in the North.

Honey Rock Melon
The fruits are up to 6 inches in diameter with a tough, coarsely netted skin and sweet, flavorful salmon colored flesh. The plants are vigorous, produce 5 to 7 fruits per plant and are disease resistant. Introduced in about 1920.

Tatsoi Mustard
The leaves are harvested and used the same as spinach leaves; as salad greens or lightly cooked. Reportedly can withstand cold temperatures down to 15°F (–10°C).

Red Burgundy Okra
'Red Burgundy' okra was developed by Leon Robbins[1] at Clemson University in South Carolina and introduced in 1983. It was an "All-America Selection®" winner in 1988.

Warrior Bunching Onion
Warrior Bunching Onion is an easy-to-grow, low-maintenance variety that can be grown year-round in most regions. It is a hardy plant that can withstand cold temperatures and is also resistant to diseases.

Yellow Sweet Spanish Onion
Extra large (up to six inch) globe shaped onion. The skin is a straw color and the flesh is white. It has a popular mild and sweet flavor. 'Yellow Sweet Spanish' is an indeterminate variety that reportedly does well in long day regions and stores well.

Italian Parsley
Plants have deeply cut, dark green leaves with a rich, strong flavor; generally stronger in flavor than the curled types. Excellent for flavoring. Parsley has been cultivated for centuries and is used as a garnish, palate cleanser, flavoring in soups, salads, as a seasoning in other recipes, and medicinally.

Sugar Snap Pea
Young pods are tasty and tender but develop strings at maturity. Vines can reach 6 feet and need trellised. Freezes well but will not stand up to canning temperatures. Released and an " All-American Selection®" winner in 1979.

Jalapeno Hot Pepper
The fruit are dark green, tapered, three inches by one inch, turning red when mature. Good for pickling or used fresh in salsas. They have thick walls so do not dry well. They can range from 2,500 to 10,000 Scoville units in heat.

California Wonder (Bell) Pepper
The plants are upright, strong, and produce four or five fruits that are mostly four-lobed, blocky, and 4 by 4½ inches with thick flesh that is mild and sweet.

French Breakfast Radish
These radishes are oblong with a blunt tip. The skin is scarlet with white tips and they have crisp, white flesh. They have a great, mildly pungent taste. Introduced prior to the 1880s.

Bloomsdale Longstanding Spinach
Leaves are dark green and crumpled. Stands well in hot weather. Named after their farm in Bristol, PA, D. Landreth & Co. released ‘Bloomsdale’ in the 19th century. 'Long Standing Bloomsdale' was developed and introduced in 1925 by Zwaan and Van der Molen, Voorburg, Netherlands.

Mexican Sunflower
Sow outdoors in full sun, directly into prepared soil, after all danger of frost is passed. Cover with ½ inch of fine soil and firmly pack. Thin to 18 inches apart. The plants are erect, can reach six feet in height, has leafy stems with leaves that are large and triangular shaped. They have bright orange flowers that are four inches wide with multiple flower heads per stem. Attractive to bees and butterflies. This annual wildflower is native to Mexico and Central America. Prefers well-drained soils in a sunny location. Heat and drought tolerant. Makes a great cut flower and terrific at the back of beds and borders.

Toma Verde Tomatillo (Green Tomatillo)
Sow seeds indoors (do not direct sow into the garden), using sterile seed starting mix, 6 to 8 weeks prior to your last expected frost date. Plant ¼ inch deep, water lightly, but keep moist until emergence. Optimal soil temps for germination is between 75 to 90°F. After emergence water as needed. Full light and cooler temps (60 to 70°F) will help to prevent the seedlings from becoming too leggy. If plants become root bound before you can safely set them into the ground, transplant into larger pots. Harden off plants before planting outside. Young plants are very susceptible to frost and sunburn damage. Avoid too much nitrogen. Water evenly but not in excess.

Beefsteak Tomato
90 days, indeterminate — The fruits are large meaty, ribbed and deep scarlet in color. Weights average of about twelve ounces. Fairly soft skinned for easy slicing.

Dwarf Eagle Smiley Tomato
60 days, dwarf — Extremely productive, rugose, regular leaf plants reach 5-feet tall. Bright to golden-yellow, 1oz, globe-shaped fruit that are borne in clusters of 8 to 10 tomatoes.

Purple Top White Globe Turnip
Round roots that are bright purple on the upper part and white below. The globes grow four to five inches in diameter but are best when harvested a little smaller.

Sugar Baby Watermelon
The best and most popular small or icebox melon around. One of the sweetest and earliest melons with very small seeds. Fairly tough, thin rind which keeps for a long time.