Ecological Crop Improvement For and By Farmers
Welcome to our 2014 catalog and website!
We are an organic seed and vegetable farm in the Pacific Northwest. We produce farm-original varieties of many salad greens, vegetables, herbs and a few flowers.
All of our seed is Organically Grown at Gathering Together Farm
along the winding Marys River on the edge of Philomath, Oregon. All of this seed is open pollinated, untreated, germ and vigor tested in living soil mix, and well cleaned. These varieties have proven themselves popular and profitable in farmer's markets locally and in fine restaurants on both coasts. Many of these same seeds are for sale in the other catalogs that we supply, but this is the only source for the entire commercial collection of Wild Garden Seed from Gathering Together Farm, organically certified since 1987.
Most stock seed for our crop production has been reselected under stress and disease pressure in our breeding nurseries at GTF and Shoulder to Shoulder Farm, five miles upriver in the colder dry foothills of the Oregon Coast Range. Many of these varieties originated in our on-farm breeding program for organic conditions and improved fresh market quality. These are denoted by our farm-original mark  . Other varieties have come to us over twenty years as heirlooms or reliable commercial standards, now with generations of selection on the farm.
Our ecological approach to plant breeding and crop protection generates superior strains and varieties for farmers who don't use chemical crop protectants and fertilizers. The small-scale care and authentic fertility of our production fields yield fat seed with exceptional seedling vigor, a key trait for organic crop success.
New Additions for 2014
Gift Certificates are now available! Click here for more information.
These are a few of our new offerings. Be sure to check out all our new additions on our New Products Page.
Lemon Pastel Calendula
Bright light yellow doubled calendulas with a variety of petal lengths, some short and tightly curled inward, others long and straight. Some yellow flower petals still have a few orange veins, giving the citrus yellow a subtle warm glow. Farm Original Variety!
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Orange Sherbet Calendula
Brilliant high toned orange doubled calendulas. These come in a variety of petal lengths and widths, creating textural diversity within a color theme inspired by creamed frozen fruit dessert. This color lights up your face. Farm Original Variety!
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Mint Vanilla Quinoa
New selection out of 'Brightest Brilliant', bright white-headed quinoa with very white seeds in a green-tinged panicle. Limited quantity. Farm Original Variety!
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Late Lusia/Lusia di Tardiva Chicory
A beautiful round variegated chicory for winter harvest, similar to 'Castelfranco' in color pattern, but more enclosed, compact, and blanched. Makes a very pretty mid-winter salad with chervil, chickweed, and 'Red Ursa' kale. Plant between July 15 and September 15, 12" to 9" apart in the row (early plantings need more space). Harvest after frost, mid-October through winter. Hardy to around 15 F, depending on conditions.
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Hirayama Kai Choi Mustard: Indian
A hearting Hawaiian juncea mustard from Extension Agent Glenn Teves on Molokai. Beautiful shiny green oval leaves on meaty petioles form a small blanched heart from August-September sowings (in the Northwest, that is, not Hawaii). Earlier plantings will bolt before full development. Has a pleasant, sweet pungency, the hearts are traditionally pickled or used for kim chi.
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Frilled Dragon Magma Mix Mustard: Indian
A combination of three favorite pungent mustards, including crosses between them. 'Gold Frills', 'Dragon's Tongue', and 'Magma' make a textured and colorful spicy blend for stir fry or salad mix. The contrasts in leaf color, shape, surface texture, midribs, and sweetness or pungency create an exotic range of mustard diversity. Farm Original Variety!
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Splendid Parsley
An aromatic wide-leaf Italian parsley, medium green, with the best bolt resistance we've seen in years. Good recovery from harvest, and good winter survival for an Italian type. Strong stems for bunching, and high yielding.
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Stocky Golden Roaster Peppers
A golden variation on the 'Stocky Red' theme. Broad, smooth, thick-walled, and sweet. These make 6" fruits in early sets, and can yield large numbers of smaller fruits in late sets. Perfect for roasting over coals. The skins roast evenly thanks to the smooth, uncrumpled surface of the fruit, which allows the cuticle to slip off cleanly. Farm Original Variety!
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Better Devil Lettuce
A medium red, moderate sized butter-cos derived from 'Devils Tongue.' More compact and uniform than 'Devils Tongue,' especially good for early spring planting. Black seeded. Farm Original Variety!
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Balady Aswan Lettuce
This is an Egyptian celtuce that Eric found in the US seed bank (GRIN) system while searching for sources of virus resistance for breeding. The emerald green leaves have a completely different taste than our familiar kinds of lettuce, a rich non-bitter creamy flavor, like a lettuce smoothie. Celtuce, or stem lettuce, is one of the most ancient forms of the vegetable, derived originally from oilseed lettuce, and is frequently depicted in ancient hieroglyphs as a symbol of male virility. Celtuce is typically harvested when the plant has bolted enough to have a 12-14" stem, but leaves can be harvested anytime. Supply Limited
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Cougar Batavian Lettuce
A smooth, svelt, bronzed batavian lettuce with a crisp juicy texture, sweet in the heat of summer for cutting mix or fresh market heads with creamy hearts. We found this as an errant seedling in a flat of unrelated lettuce. It appears to be one of our batavian types crossed to 'Brown Goldring'--and it tastes that way too. Uniform heads with bronze slightly ruffled leaf margins. Farm Original Variety!
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Robinhood Mix Lettuce
This is a Lincoln green band of three head types--a tight round crisphead ('Little John'), an upright romaine type ('Robinhood'), and an open looseleaf ('Lincoln Greenleaf'). Glossy, thick leaves are crisp and juicy as cut leaves or whole heads. These are all late-bolting (as compared to 'Concept') with superior downy mildew, botrytis, and sclerotinia resistance. Limited Supply. Farm Original Variety!
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| Remember to check the New Products Page for all twenty of this year's introductions! |
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