Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Seeds from Italy!!

My in-laws have returned from their trip to Italy. They brought me seeds!! I am so excited and can't wait to germinate and plant them!


Tomato - Pomodoro - S. Marzano
Tomato - Pomodoro - Early Pack 7 (These are green at the top. They said that they are served in the restaurants in Italy)
Eggplant - Melanzana - Lunga Violetta Di Firenze (A long slender type)
Chicory - Cicoria - Rossa
Spinach - Spinacio - Matador
Lettuce - Lattuga - Quattro Stagioni Sel. Rossina Di Pescia
Escarole - Endivia - Scarola verde fiorentina
Arugula - Rucola - Coltivata

I did a little research and this is what I came up with.

Tomato - Pomodoro - San Marzano
     Classic Italian plum tomato used mainly for cooking as it has very little water inside, few seeds and is very meaty. Use for making Passata, cooking, sauces and passata. Indeterminate. Fruits typically of 70-100g each in weight.

Tomato - Pomodoro - Early Pack 7
     I have not found any information on this tomato. I think that it may be a beefsteak type of tomato.

Eggplant - Melanzana - Lunga Violetta Di Firenze
      Long purple. 8 inch long rustic deep purple eggplant. Classic rich eggplant taste. Good producer, reliable. 70 days.

Chicory - Cicoria - Rossa
     Has very good colour contrast between the red leaves and white ribs and veins, is fairly easy to grow and consistently forms nice heads. Nice taste and texture. Sow to mature in autumn/winter about 75-80 days after planting to get the best colour and flavour.

Spinach - Spinacio - Matador
     Spinach Matador Dark green plant, very smooth leaves. Excellent taste. Nice for salad mixes. 47-50 days.

Lettuce - Lattuga - Quattro Stagioni Sel. Rossina Di Pescia
     A 'butterhead' variety with soft round, medium sized hearts for sowing and harvesting throughout the spring and summer. The outer leaves and heart show an attractive bronzed-red colour. Lettuce is very suitable for inter-cropping between taller, long-standing vegetables , such as beans, tomatoes, peppers, etc.

Escarole - Endivia - Scarola verde fiorentina
     Probably the most widely used in Italy. Large, splaying head with golden coloured heart. Sow Jun-end Aug and harvest till mid Dec.

Arugula - Rucola - Coltivata
     This is a herbaceous plant found in the wild in Italy. It is quite short and has thin, serrated leaves which are bright-green in color and have an intense aroma. Owing to its strong but pleasant flavor it is particularly suitable for mixed salads or on pizzas. The plant grows well in any type of soil and requires little care.

2 comments:

  1. What a wonderful set of new seeds! I have grown Matador (never had any luck with spinach in general), Rucola Coltivata - standard arugula that we grow here (very good) and I think that I have grown San Marzano tomatoes, but I’m not sure.

    I’m looking forward to see these seeds growing into plants!

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  2. Hello neighbor! I'm over in South Jersey, I know not exactly around the corner but close enough.

    I'm so jealous, I'm slowly collecting Italian varietals but but haven't gotten any from the Mother country yet. I'm planning on gray zuchinni, marconi and nardelli peppers, and a huge pumpkin called a Naples Long.

    Are you going to save seeds from this batch for next year's harvest? I'm really big on the concept but haven't gotten that far yet. Until this year I've primarily bought plants from a nursery but I'm fully on board with the open pollinated movement.

    I'll be following your progress, check out my blog at shovelsandspoons.com sometime. I just started it this year, so might be a little baren until I spend some more time getting lived in. Ciao!

    Mike

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