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• PHILADELPHIA WHITE BOX RADISH -aka Earliest White Forcing Radish -Rare- circa 1880- Round , small, white, super early, winter radish that was poplular for market growing and "forced" in greenhouses . It hails from the Philadelphia region, and ws sold by the nation's oldest seed house, David Landreth & Sons, ( founded in 1784) . Very delicate flavor, which in the 1880s was often cooked like baby turnips.
• JAUNE HATIF or Early Yellow Turnip Radish-Super Rare~ I got my original seeds from France. It was pale yellow and sweet with white flesh. This radish was described in Vilmorin's Vegetable Garden ( 1885). Not many seeds of this in the mix.
• FRENCH BREAKFAST - Sweet ,mildy pungent tasting- Radishes in the old days were eaten at all meals and often cooked as well as eaten raw. It is called French Breakfast because it has been especially popular in Paris markets since before 1879. Olive shaped rose red with a white tip, very pretty and easy to grow. I actually have planted about 3 cultivars of this one , each slightly different, and they are all included in the mix. Always a gourmet treat.
• PLUM PURPLE - The wildest purple color of all! Round, with white flesh and very hardy and adaptable.Just a fabulous brilliant vivid purple color, with a great mild taste that keeps sweet even in the heat.
• HAILSTONE - Fast growing, super early, pre 1900 heirloom. Pure white and round, rather small and can be planted very close together. Crisp and no larger than 1 inch in diameter . Really small leaves. Flavor holds well.
• LONG SCARLET SHORT TOP RADISH - Nearly Extinct! EXCEEDINGLY RARE~- In Italian called: "Ravanello Il Candela di Fuoco", which loosely translates as "Radish Fire Candle". This radish isn't red or scarlet, it is brilliant fushia! A glow in the dark hot cerise that looks like a giant hot pink carrot when pulled out of the ground. I got my original seeds from Italy where it still found. This one likes deep well tilled, very soft soil as it will bend otherwise. The look on people's faces when I pull it out of the ground is wonderful! Good crisp taste, very slim and fabulous on a plate.
• ZLATA ORANGE POLISH HEIRLOOM RADISH- Scarce~This old time radish from Poland was supposed to be orange but was more of a yellow color for me. Perhaps in Poland it grows deeper in color? Somewhat pungent and with white interior flesh. Nice and crispy. Resistant to bolting, but best in spring and fall. Really cool looking in a salad.

NOTE: THIS IS A MIX ONLY, I DO NOT SELL THESE VARIETIES SEPARATELY - A pack is a big handful of the mixed dried seed pods- about 20 seeds or more. **SOLD OUT FOR 2008 SEASON!!

Heirloom PSYCHEDELIC COLORS HEIRLOOM CARROT MIX - *** SOLD OUT FOR 2008 SEASON *** (Formerly "Rainbow Heirloom Carrot Mix") NEW FOR 2008~Now in 8 Colors~PLEASE NOTE- THESE CARROT SEEDS ARE SOLD ONLY AS A MIX, NOT SEPARATELY!~

First, some history about carrots. The common orange carrot is a relatively recent phenomenon. It was first documented in Dutch paintings in the 1600s. But the first cultivated carrots, which originated in Afghanistan around a.d. 900, were purple. And then in the 10th century, yellow carrots were documented in the Middle East. Purple carrots have been cultivated in Afghanistan for a thousand years, while white and yellow carrots were common in Northern Europe before the 1600's These early purple and yellow carrots were used for human consumption as well as for animal fodder. By the 14th century, carrots had reached Europe and China. Europeans, preferring the yellow types for their tables, began selecting for culinary attributes such as flavor, texture, and storability. By the 1600s, white and orange carrots emerged on the scene, the latter being prized for the human diet, probably because of its rich color. Over the next 200 years, orange became the carrot color of choice.

Yellow carrots have long been valued in Europe as a winter storage vegetable and are now becoming available in North America as well. The color comes from a group of pigments known as xanthophylls, several of which are phytonutrients containing health-promoting properties. The most visually exciting of these newly available carrot colors is purple. Shades can range from dark violet to reddish purple. The pigment responsible for these beautiful hues is anthocyanin, a powerful antioxidant that has shown promise in reducing certain forms of cardiovascular disease and cancer. Red carrots are still used in parts of Asia and now in North America. As part of a traditional New Year's dish in Japan, they are served cooked and sliced with other root vegetables. In India they are frequently cooked in clarified butter (ghee), to bring out their beautiful deep ruby red color. The pigment responsible for this color is the phytonutrient lycopene, the same pigment found in tomatoes and watermelons. When consumed on a regular basis, this phytonutrient has been shown to lower the risk of prostate cancer. Red carrots look and taste best cooked, offering a rich, earthy, almost zesty flavor.
Carrots are a biennial, which means it takes me 2 years to get seed. It is very difficult to stabilize these carrots and keep them separate from other varieties so they do not cross. I did everything I could to keep the blossoms separate and covered in order to keep the seeds pure, but there may be some crossing nevertheless. In fact the lovely wildflower "Queen Anne's Lace" is actually a wild form of carrot and will cross with regular carrots. The photo is of my carrots in flower, not Queen Anne's lace! 25+ of my own fresh organically grown seeds.

In this MIX there is a variety of carrots including, but not necessarily included:

"PAKISTANI PURPLE CARROT" -NEW COLOR-VERY RARE! -EXCLUSIVE SEED - I got the original seeds of this very rare carrot as a gift from a woman just returning from working in Pakistan. Rare, deep dusky purple color, more on the red side. It looked alot more like the "search for the holy grail carrot" that I remembered from my teaching years in Kashmir, India. These carrot seeds came from a remote Pakistani village not 50 miles from the border of Kashmir, so it may very well be the missing carrot I remembered. This one definitely grew a better purplish/reddish color than my "Deshi" carrot. Very strong spicy taste, best eaten when cooked. There won't be alot of this color in this year's mix. To the best of my knowledge, I am the only commercial source of these seeds for sale in the USA.
"BELGIUM WHITE CARROT"- NEW COLOR - This is a very rare, and unusual color for carrots to us Americans, although in Europe it can be found in specialty markets. Larger, longer carrots are sweet and very mild and tend to have a touch of green at the very top right where the stalks of leaves grow. They may have an inch of the green showing above the soil line but the part underground is pure ivory white in color. There will be more of this color than any of the others in this year's mix.
"LUNAR WHITE CARROT" NEW COLOR- Another gorgeous white carrot , but not so large as the "Belgium White". There will be a lot of this color carrot also in this year's mix.
"COSMIC PURPLE CARROT " - NEW COLOR - Another purple type of carrot that is very sweet and not so "wild " tasting as my other purple carrots. It has purple skin and on the inside it is bright orange
" ATOMIC RED CARROT" NEW COLOR - This carrot had a pinkish coral tinge to its redness and looks a bit like the "Deshi" in color but is sweeter and not so "wild " tasting, as well as not being such a landrace type as the "Deshi". This is another carrot that tastes best when cooked.
"GOLDEN SUNSHINE CARROT "- This is a lovely lemony yellow carrot. It tends to get slightly greenish "shoulders" ( the half inch on the top of the carrot). But the entire carrot is so sweet and very crunchy and especially good for snacking and crudités. It doesn't get really big, maybe 5". This is a must have for the "rainbow garden". There won't be a lot of this color in this year's mix.
"PURPLE DRAGON CARROT "- "- I think the best purple carrot variety available right now is probably "Purple Dragon". This early-maturing (65 days) Kuroda-type carrot has a spicy, sweet flavor that does not get harsh in hot weather .The most exciting feature of 'Dragon' is that, when sliced raw, it reveals orange, orange-and-yellow, or pure bright yellow interiors in brilliant contrast to its purple exterior. I don't have any photos that really do justice to the wonderful color of this carrot. It is a truly brilliant jewel tone purple, much more so than in these photos. The only drawback is that this relatively thin purple layer will bleed when cooked, although the interior orange and yellow pigments are stable. This lovely carrot tastes very "wild" when eaten raw. It really is better when cooked. Also, it should be noted that the foliage has some purple color to it and the flowers ( which look like "Queen Anne's Lace", a relative,) are light lavender in color.
"DESHI Red-Pink" CARROT From India~ ~ VERY RARE~ EXCLUSIVE SEED! Years ago I taught school in Kashmir, India, high in the Himalayan Mountains. This is the carrot most commonly eaten there. It grew a very bright apple red there, but when I grew it here in the states, it has stubbornly refused to be that color and comes out a lovely pink color instead. However, when have you ever seen pink carrots, either? My students thought it was really funny when I told them that we eat orange carrots here in Amerce! ( I searched for years for that carrot seed and finally got them from a friend who is a botanist, who was visiting India., and was able to get the correct seed ) This tends to be what is called a "hairy" carrot, and is not smooth like what you are used to seeing, probably because it is still rather "wild" in its genetics. Really good flavor but strong, and tastes best when cooked. I like to roast my carrots in the oven, brush them with oil or butter and cook at 350 degrees for an hour or more until they brown. Really brings out the sweet flavor! There won't be a lot of this color in this year's mix.
"TOUCHON" Orange French Heirloom ~NEW COLOR THIS YEAR~ This is an old French Heirloom carrot, known for its earliness. It's tender and sweet and does not have a hard core like many heirloom carrots. This is considered a nantes type carrot meaning it has a stumpy root not really pointed at the end. Matures in about 65 days and is shortish at 6 inches long.This is the only orange carrot I ever grow. There won't be a lot of this color in this year's mix. *** SOLD OUT FOR 2008 SEASON ***

TUSCAN BLACK PALM CABBAGE, NERO DI TOSCANA, LACINATO KALE- Brassica oleracea, Acephala group - By any name this is a showstopper! These plants are so primeval looking that they have earned the nickname "Dinosaur Kale"! They have huge heavily crinkled (savoyed) leaves of black-green nearly 2 feet long. It grows up to 4 ft high in good, rich, soil.

This heirloom dates back to the 1700's and is prized for soups and stews in its native Tuscany, Italy. It is great cooked in olive oil with garlic. This truly is one of the most beautiful and adaptable kales you can possibly grow. It is very cold hardy , but also remains tender and sweet in summertime when other kales become tough and bitter. A touch of frost only sweetens it more. "Lacinato" kale makes a fabulous edible ornamental for both the kitchen or the flower garden. As the name suggests, it really does look like little black palm trees. (60 - 70 days) Please note: these are very young plants in the photo and they get a much darker, blacker color as they mature! 20 fresh organic seeds