Genovese basil, an Italian heirloom variety, is prized for its large, shiny, dark green leaves, a sweet, slightly spicy flavor, and strong aroma, making it a favorite for pesto and other culinary uses. 

Genovese basil is a traditional Italian basil variety, particularly famous for its use in making pesto, and is grown in the Genoa area of Italy. 

It features large, shiny, dark green leaves that are slightly crinkled and can grow up to 3 inches long. 

The leaves have a sweet, slightly spicy flavor with a strong, pleasant aroma, making it a versatile herb for various dishes. 

Genovese basil is widely used in pesto, caprese salads, and other dishes that require large, fresh basil leaves. 

Packet: 9-10 grams of seed

Cultural heritage. From 1880. Dark green. Very tasty. Gives many side shoots and rich harvest throughout the country. Good for freezing.

Cultivation from seed:

Pre-cultivated indoors March-April. Cover the seed with clear plastic provided with air holes and place at about 20 degrees, bright and cooler after germination. Planted after softening when the risk of frost is over. Can also be sown directly in the open air when the soil has been heated to at least 15 degrees. Avoid dehydration. Cut off the flower heads early for more side shoots. Non-woven fabric or cabbage net protects against pests.

A favorite squash of Sicilians, cucuzza squash, meaning ‘super long squash,’ is gaining some popularity in North America. Never heard of cucuzza squash plants? 

Also known under a wide range of other names such as Zucchetta Cucuzzi, Serpent of Sicily, Italian Edible Gourd, Longissima, Bottle Gourd, Calabash, Suzza Melon, Zucca, Tasmania Bean, Guinea Bean, New Guinea Bean, White Flowered Gourd and Indian Squash, is a vine is an annual plant with hairy, shallow lobed leaves and white flowers (unlike squash which are always yellow flowered). The vines can run up to 25 feet in length.

Cucuzza is a summer squash in the botanical family of Lagenaria, which boasts a plethora of other varieties. This edible squash is related to the calabash, also known as water gourd or bird’s nest gourd. A vigorous squash, fruit is born from vines that can grow two feet (0.5 m.) a day. The fruits are straight, green gourds, occasionally with a minor curve to them. The skin is dark green and medium hard. The fruit itself can grow 10 inches (25 cm.) per day and will be 18 inches to 2 feet (45-60 cm.) long. The squash is usually peeled and the seeds removed from the larger fruit. The squash can be cooked just like any other summer squash – grilled, stewed, fried, stuffed, or roasted. Intrigued? I bet you’re wondering how to grow cucuzza squash now.

Late variety, very productive, also known as broccoli or top of turnip

It is a type of turnip whose inflorescences and the tender part of the stem with the leaves are used

The plants are cut 5-10 cm from the ground so that it can drive other numerous axillary jets from the base of the stem

Sowing: from September to the end of October in rows 30 cm apart

Harvest: about 120 days from sowing

Cuor Di Albenga is an heirloom oxheart tomato from Albenga, Italy, known for its large, meaty, pleated, teardrop-shaped fruits that are typically red or orangey-red. It has a sweet and savory flavor that makes it excellent for both fresh use, such as in salads, and for cooking, especially roasting, sauces, and canning. These plants are indeterminate, vigorous, and productive. 

Origin: From the Ligurian coast town of Albenga in Northern Italy.

Shape: Large, pleated, teardrop or ox-heart shaped.

Size: Fruits are large, often weighing 10–16 ounces (about 200–300g).

Color: Ranges from pinkish to red or orangey-red.

Flesh: Meaty with few seeds and little juice, with a firm and sweet pulp.

Growth: Indeterminate, vigorous, and productive plants that require staking or caging. 

Fresh: Excellent sliced and eaten raw in salads, or used in Caprese salads.

Sauces: Ideal for homemade sauces, pasta dishes, and stews due to its rich, meaty flesh.

Roasting: Roasting brings out its savory richness.

Other: Also suitable for canning and making fresh juice. 

Lettuce seeds can be planted directly into the garden soil.

Sow the seeds directly into the garden soil beginning in early spring starting 2 weeks prior to the last frost-free date. 

Plant the tiny seeds 1/4" deep and later thin to 10" apart. Seeds can be planted every 3 weeks for a staggered harvest or once again in late summer for a fall harvest. Fall planting can occur 10 weeks before your average first frost date.

Build up a raised row of soil about 8" wide. Scatter the seeds in a line on top and then cover with 1/4” to 1/2" of soil. Keep the soil evenly moist. Lettuce seeds will germinate in 5-10 days depending on the soil temperature. Germination is slower in the cold weather of spring. 

Lettuce has shallow roots so gently mulch around it to deter weeds and retain soil moisture.

The ways to harvest lettuce include harvesting it as a baby green by picking individual young leaves, harvesting the outer leaves as needed and letting the plants grow, or by harvesting the entire head by slicing it off about an inch above the soil.

Each packet contains 500 Little Gem Lettuce seeds. Lactuca sativa. Annual. Open-pollinated, heirloom, Non-GMO. Harvest in 50 days. 

This packet plants a 60' row with 72 plants. 

The 'golden' onion of Parma, Italy. A late maturing onion with golden upright top-shaped large bulbs. Excellent storage quality. Compares to any of the top yellow varieties for taste. The shape makes for great slicing. Long Day. Untreated seed.

Golden onions of Parma stand out for their refined simplicity, enclosed in a skin with a sophisticated colour. On the inside, however, it is extremely simple and genuine, so much so that it is appreciated worldwide. It is, in fact, an antique variety famous throughout Europe.

Golden onions of Parma are particularly resistant and easy to preserve. They are large and pyramid in shape and range from straw yellow to intense gold.

This variety takes a long time to develop. It is sown in mid-winter between December and February, but is not harvested until the summer, between mid-July and the end of August. One of the reasons that makes it so successful lies in its storage properties: golden onions of Parma can be perfectly preserved until well after the winter, especially if stored in a cellar or pantry, inside a basket covered with a sheet of newspaper, in a paper bag or cardboard box, where any chance of humidity that might cause the growth of micro-organisms is kept under control.

Which cooking methods bring the best out of the golden onion of Parma? Thanks to its intense taste, it is not very suitable to be consumed raw. On the contrary, its sweet taste can be best savoured in dishes that are cooked slowly, such as soups or braised meats. These qualities have earned it a place of honour on any table in Emilia, but also the Marche region – where it is popular in onion and tomato omelette – and in Umbria, the home of the “cipollata”, or onion stew. Even in simpler preparations, the golden onion of Parma will bowl you over with its sweet taste: try it baked, cut into slices and fried with breadcrumbs, served with anchovy fillets or a few slivers of hard cheese.

From a nutritional viewpoint, the golden onion of Parma is rich in vitamin C and calcium. It also has vermifuge, antiseptic and diuretic properties, being very close to the true rustic onion that are so popular with Emilian farmers.