I eat a salad for lunch every day that I'm not working, so I love having greens around!
Ice-bred arugula was sold by Fedco in 2013. 2014 was a crop failure, but I had seed held over:
Ice-Bred Arugula OG (44 days) Open-pollinated. Brett Grohsgal crossed two excellent European heirloom strains in 1989 and has been selecting for cold-hardiness and vigor since. He’s bred one tough cookie here. Mid-ribs and whole leaves develop a lovely purple hue in winter freezes. Recovers in spring even if plant goes dormant under very cold conditions. Seedlings can stand drought, compete against weeds and don’t require high soil fertility. They were also 1–2 days slower to bolt than other arugulas in my spring-sown 2010 and 2012 plots. This is arugula with more bite, vigorous with complex full flavors. Seed in short supply, order early. MD-certified.
Yokatta-na was new to me this summer. It was a really productive green. I mostly threw it in salads, but mixed it in cooked with Swiss chard when I was running short on chard.
3223YN Yokatta-Na (21 days baby; 45 days mature)
Brassica rapa(narinosa group) F-1 hybrid. “What a surprise! The heads grow well larger than a foot tall and the young or 2nd growth heads we ate whole like young bok choy. Neighbors asked us to bring more over…notable because Asian greens aren't exactly standard fare around here. Held unbelievably long through the hot days and damp summer, not shooting seed till early December after over two months of frost, a huge snowstorm and temperatures in the mid-teens,” reported the Wolperts in Belington, WV. Quick-growing and versatile, tolerating both heat and cold, it can extend your season at either end, while simultaneously broadening your culinary range. Use it either raw in salad mixes or cooked in stir-fries. The deep green tender leaves, though flavorful, lack the mustard “bite” found in so many Asian greens and can be harvested as a cut-and-come-again crop or at maturity. “I am in love with it—best new green I've had in ages!” summed Diana Kushner of Arcadian Fields, Hope Valley, RI.
Item
A=1/16oz for $1.40
Tatsoi grows in a wide rosette, and doesn't have very big leaves. I throw what I can get in my salad.
Are you familiar with curly cress? I love it, although it doesn't always survive the winter. I am a sucker for any Fedco description that includes a poem. Put a poem in there, and I'm buying it!
3056WO Wrinkled Crinkled Crumpled Cress OG (30 days)
Salad green that will impress.
Mix some lettuce, add some dress.
Stir it up, sit down and fress.
Banish cares and summer stress.
With a designer's eye, a discerning palate, and a breeder's deft touch, Frank Morton crossed Persian and curled cresses to create a gene pool, from which he selected Wrinkled Crinkled. Broad leaves are extremely ruffled and wrinkled along the margins and savoyed in the middle. A fluffy spicy addition to your salad mix, imparting a tang, plus an irresistible sweetness. Can be bunched for market. OT-certified.
I had left the greens uncovered because we were having a sunny warm spell. The chickens managed to escape their fenced-in area and pushed their way into the hoop house.
