Blog

We had a tremendous summer garden this year and we ate our fill of zucchini, tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, and basil. As the days shorten and the nights turn chilly, we find ourselves losing interest in the flavors of summer and instead craving a crisp green salad. Luckily, this is the perfect time to grow lettuce, arugula, escarole, and other salad greens.Our go-to system for fall salads is to plant one of the misticanza selections from Fra… Read more

We recently asked our customers to tell us about their favorite zucchini varieties. Quite a few people mentioned two varieties that technically aren't zucchini at all — they are known as Zucchetta. But the flavor is comparable and perhaps even better than most zucchinis. And they are not subject to the common problems of summer squash such as squash bugs and powdery mildew. In appearance, they differ from zucchini in one crucial respect — they ar… Read more

Arugula is one of those typically Italian vegetables that has become mainstream in America. And for good reason. It's a delicious green, with a lot more flavor than lettuce, plus it's quick and easy to grow. We offer three types and here is a quick explanation of how they differ:Arugula Coltivata is the quickest of all types, ready to pick in just 30 days from direct seeding. It tends to be most responsive to temperatures, changing leaf shap… Read more

In our global economy, where almost every kind of food can be imported from afar, only rare, regional, and highly perishable foods remain elusive. Agretti is a prime example — it’s a Mediterranean vegetable available for only a few weeks each spring at Italian markets. It’s rare to find it in the U.S., and then only at farmers markets.Unless you grow your own, you may never enjoy the salty, sour, crunchy green that Frances Mayes, author of Under… Read more

In late 2019, the United States Department of Agriculture abruptly imposed a ban on the import of tomato and pepper seeds until they are tested and found free of a new virus that is afflicting commercial tomato and pepper crops around the world. The new regulation has thrown the seed industry in Europe into disarray as seed companies rush to complete the required tests on thousands of seed lots of hundreds of varieties.At this time, Franchi is ha… Read more