Kitchen Garden Seeds

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Direct-Sow Poppies NOW for Blooms Next Summer!

Poppies are best sown directly into your garden beds in late fall or winter, or early spring at the very latest. Their seeds need the stratification that winter provides, and they also need chilly temperatures to germinate in spring. Poppies also abhor root disturbance, so transplanting seedlings grown indoors will likely result in failure.

Once you've selected your Poppy seeds, choose the spot in which you'd like them to grow. It's essential that poppies be grown in lean, well-draining soil, though Oriental Poppies are an exception--they prefer richer soil. For all other Poppies, simply clear the spot of any lingering weeds or debris, scratch the soil up lightly with a rake, and sprinkle the seeds on the surface. Poppy seeds are small and dark~mixing the seeds with sand will make it easier to sow them evenly and to see where you've sown them.  Poppy seeds need light to germinate, so don't bother covering them. Fall rains and winter snow cycles will nestle them into the soil perfectly. In spring, once the seedlings begin to pop up, thin them to about 6" to 10" apart.

Plant Your Garlic and Shallots Now, Too
It's time to plant Shallots and Garlic in your garden for a bountiful harvest next summer! In most parts of the U.S., both Shallots and Garlic are best planted after the time of the first fall frost date. In fact, they can be planted up to and even into December. They both need just enough time to set down their roots and get established before the ground freezes. Order your Shallots and Garlic now before they sell out for the season, and while we ship them out, start preparing your beds for planting.
 
We have just two softneck varieties of Garlic left for fall planting: Inchelium Red Garlic and Early Italian Purple Garlic. When deciding how much Garlic to order and grow, consider that, depending on the harvest, one pound of Softneck Garlic will include about seven heads with six to 20 cloves. One pound of Hardneck Garlic will include about six heads with eight to twelve cloves. One clove will yield one head. A Garlic fanatic may use 80 heads of Garlic a year. A more casual Garlic lover may use 30 heads a year. It never hurts to plant more Garlic! Find full Garlic planting instructions HERE.

We have just one type of Shallots remaining for fall planting: French Red Shallots. Plant them now and forget about them until next spring, when all you'll have to do is keep their bed weeded and watered until they're ready to harvest in midsummer. Find full Shallot planting instructions HERE.


Seed-starting season isn't over yet! If your region isn't in the full grip of a chilly fall yet, if you've got a cold frame or two, or if you've pulled out your row covers, why not grow some fall salad greens? Spinach, Arugula and Kale are especially cold-tolerant, as are a multitude of colorful, delicious Lettuces. And there isn't a green that's fresher tasting, more local, cheaper, faster or easier to grow than Sprouts. When most our gardens are succumbing to fall and winter, we can keep harvesting fresh healthy veggies packed with vitamins A, C and E, iron, potassium and amino acids every week from our kitchen counter. 

We added so many wonderful new varieties to our catalog this year, and we hope you had a chance to give them a grow. We know we're madly in love with our new Bloody Mary Nasturtium Mixture that flaunts blooms in cream to deep red and every streak and blotch in between. We hope you're enjoying the entire Queen Lime Zinnia Series--the new colors are stunning! The cabernet hues of Dara Queen Anne's Lace have us swooning this year, and the puffball blooms of Split Second Morning Glory are such a delight. We've got even more new goodies to share with you next spring! We'll be updating our website for the 2020 season in mid-December. Start planning next year's garden NOW, while your 2019 garden is still fresh in your mind.

If you didn't receive a copy of our new 2019 catalog, request a copy HERE. Doing so will also ensure that you receive our 2020 catalog in January. Or just start shopping on our website HERE. Sign up for our eNewsletters to get notifications of new varieties, alerts of website specials, and scrumptious recipes.

A Gift Certificate is Always a Hit
A garden embodies hope and renewal in ways nothing else can. This holiday season, give the gift of unlimited possibilities with a Kitchen Garden Seeds Gift Certificate. Gift Certificates can be sent in any amount you wish. We'll mail them out either to you or directly to the recipient with a copy of our 2019 catalog. They'll automatically be signed up to receive our 2020 catalog next year. They'll happily daydream about picking Peas and pulling Carrots as the garden warms, and gathering armloads of blooms for their kitchen table when the garden is in full swing. Visit our Gift Certificate order page and indicate the amount of the gift certificate, the recipient's name and mailing address, your gift message, and your billing information. We'll do the rest!

eCookbook
Check out our eCookbook for easy, tried-and-true recipes, like Holiday Cranberry Chicken, Roasted Vegetable Melange and Fairytale Panna Cotta with Calvados Sauce. It also features tantalizing recipes from renown American chefs like Alice Waters, Rick Bayless and Odessa Piper, to name just a few.

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Use the Advanced Search to see your choices by plant type, growing season, sowing method, horticultural zone, days to maturity, attractiveness to wildlife, and many more criteria.

Most Recent Blog Post

TEACHING AN OLD PLANT NEW TRICKS: Nasturtiums are one of the most beloved annuals ever. For years, we were satisfied with the classic colors, but in the last few years, Nasturtiums are getting even more exciting. Our three newest Nasturtiums are perfect examples.

Horticultural eNewsletter Sign Up
We publish a series of horticultural eNewsletters to share information for growing delicious fruits and vegetables, aromatic herbs and beautiful flowers in your own lovingly tended garden. Sign up and you'll receive carefully timed planting suggestions, expert growing tips, delicious recipes for your harvest, notice of Website Specials and more.

The Essential Seed-Starting Timetable

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Bee-Loved Romantic Cosmos

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Basil-Basking Global Cusine

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Sweet Potatoes: The Garden's Superfood

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Soul-Satisfying Eggplant

There are some nights, particularly blustery cold winter nights, when we crave Eggplant to the point of obsession. We remember and hunger so strongly for it that we can almost smell again the last piping hot, cheese-bubbling, meaty Eggplant Parmesan that....Read more

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