Ecological Crop Improvement For and By Farmers
Welcome to our 2013 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 2013
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.

Citrus Sherbet Mix Calendula
A bright new mix of pastel orange and lemon doubled flowers, with petals of various lengths, widths, and shapes. This is our first calendula outside the 'Flashback Series,' and represents the diverse gene pool from which our next new varieties will arise. Farm Original Variety! Pricing and More Information
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Pokey Joe Cilantro
This is reputed to be the best tasting cilantro out of an extensive trial by Gabe Cox at Groundworks Organics here in the Willamette Valley. Also said to have the best roots for the root-conscious markets. Brian Campbell of Uprising Seeds shared this with us for spring planting. Pricing and More Information
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Gilfeather Turnip Rutabaga
'Gilfeather Turnip' leaves have the color and shape of rutabaga, with a good kale-like flavor. The root is shaped like a football rather than a sphere, lacks the purple top of both common turnips and rutabaga, has the color of a white turnip (as opposed to the yellowish flesh of common rutabaga), with a texture and flavor intermediate between the two. When cooked and mashed, the color and texture would mislead many to think of mashed potatoes. The flavor is mild, with less of the sulfurous taste that we associate with the Brassica family. Pricing and More Information
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French Vanilla Quinoa
Named for the appearance of the large seedheads that look like overloaded ice cream cones. Selected out of 'Brightest Brilliant', this new variety reaches 6-7' tall with little branching when spaced a foot apart in rows 16" apart. The large heads ripen uniformly, making harvest more straight-forward than in varieties with many large branches. Seeds are white or buff in color. We are still learning the growing range and traits of this variety. And BTW, 2013 has been declared Year of the Quinoa by the United Nations, noting its untapped crop potential. Farm Original Variety! Pricing and More Information
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Rubens Romaine Lettuce
A very a attractive semi-dwarf romaine, bright fruity-red wrapper leaves surround lime-green hearts of semi-savoyed leaves. Recommended to us by the Student Organic Farming Club at Oregon State University. This is for them! We used to sell this variety back in the 1990s when we used it in our salad business. A cross involving 'Rubens' and 'Valeria' in the 1990s created 'Hyper Red Rumple Wave', one of our most popular original varieties. Pricing and More Information
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Pandero Lettuce
This is a deep-deep red 'Winter Density'-type mini-romaine with excellent downy mildew resistance. The purple-red color develops early and thoroughly in the high density head. With a single cut, these mini-head type romaines create instant salad mix. Thanks to Adaptive Seed for this terrific import to the US seed market. Pricing and More Information
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