7 Unique Heirloom Seeds to Grow This Year

Every year, we pick some new (to us!), unique heirloom seeds to grow in our garden. As seed savers, we have a growing seed collection of our favorite vegetable varieties, from rare heirlooms to brand new open pollinated cultivars. These are 7 of our favorite unique heirloom seeds we grew last year!

 

7 Unique Heirloom Seeds to Grow This Year

 

 

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#1 Carouby De Maussane Snow Pea

 

If you love unique vegetables, you’ll love this 19th century heirloom, originally grown in Maussane, France!

 

 

What stands out most about Carouby is its beautiful purple flowers, different from the typical white snow pea flower. These plants reach 5-6′ in height and need a sturdy trellis.

Ours produced boatloads of crisp peas from early July through September, providing fresh snacks and salads, filling our freezer and finally giving us lots of seeds to plant next year. Months later we are still enjoying the frozen peas in stir fries and soups!

You can find Carouby De Maussane here at Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds.

 

#2 Black Nebula Carrot

 

History suggests that dark colored carrots might actually predate today’s more common orange ones, being widely grown in the Middle East.

One of the darkest carrots you can find, Black Nebula boasts a dark, near black purple coloring, with a white star in the very center.

It’s hard to beat this one for beauty, and it’s a great producer, too!

Black Nebula boasts a high vitamin content. It’s rich color makes a great dye, and it even retains its color in cooking!

 

 

You can find Black Nebula Carrot Seeds right here from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds.

 

#3 Hulless Pumpkin

 

Also known as “Styrian Pumpkins” or “Naked Seeded Pumpkins”, Hulless Pumpkins have seeds with an almost invisible paper thin hull. That means they can be eaten straight out of the pumpkin without trying to remove the tough white hull that most pumpkin and squash seeds have.

If you like pumpkin seeds, you definitely want to give these a try!

 

 

Grown since at least the 1800’s, you can read more about hulless pumpkins, and find seeds right here: How to Grow Pumpkin Seeds

#4 Forellenschlauss Lettuce

 

I know, Forellenschlauss is quite the mouthful, but it’s fun to say once you get the hang of it! This Austrian heirloom also goes by the name “Speckled Trout’s Back”. To make it even more confusing, the name is also sometimes spelled without the a: “Forellenschluss”.

 

 

We’ve grown this beautiful romaine in our garden for almost ten years, and have found it reliable even in a bad gardening year. But the most interesting part of Forellenschlauss is its gorgeous bright green leaves streaked and speckled with deep maroon!

You can find seeds for Forellenschlauss here at Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds.

 

#5 Costoluto Genovese Tomato

 

New to our garden this year, Costoluto stood out for its beautiful fluted edges.

A good producer even in a mediocre gardening year, it also made a splendid Italian sauce!

 

 

Costoluto has been popular in Italy since the early 1800’s. Chefs worldwide use this flavorful tomato fresh and in cooking.

You can find seeds for Costoluto Genovese here at Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds.

 

#6 Mangel Beet

 

Mangel, or forage beets, are a historical livestock fodder crop that has been grown for centuries on small farms.

Less sweet than the typical table beet, they can also reach enormous proportions. Some kinds grow to 40 pounds or more!

 

 

Mangel Beets can be harvested small and used in the kitchen, or let them get huge to supplement your livestock feed over the winter. They are also a great choice for cut and come again beet greens!

You can find Red Mangel Beets here at Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds.

Get Yellow Mangel Beet Seeds right here!

 

#7 Costata Romanesco Zucchini

 

This beautiful deeply ribbed Roman zucchini is lighter in color than the typical black zucchini. It also remains tasty even at 12-16″ long!

 

 

This productive summer squash has been a favorite of ours for years, and seems to thrive even in poor weather. We use it in the kitchen,  but any extras make great feed for livestock!

Costata Romanesco is also popular for squash blossoms, bearing an abundance of large blossoms over a long season!

You can find seeds for Costata Romanesco right here at Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds!

 

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Growing Heirloom Seeds

 

I love all the unique colors, shapes and flavors found in heirloom vegetables! Their rich histories are fascinating to me!

My favorite part about seed saving is that I get to be part of preserving these rare varieties!

If you would like to learn more about heirloom seeds, I would highly recommend the book, Heirloom Vegetable Gardening: A Master Gardener’s Guide to Planting, Seed Saving, and Cultural History.

 

 

What heirloom variety is your favorite? Let me know in the comments!