Eschscholzia californica (Bag) – Franchi Sementi

Endive Cuor d'Oro - Golden Heart. Early. Nice sized head, loose leaves. Dark green with golden center. Good cooked in salads and soups. If you want a really white center, blanch the heart by covering with bucket or tying up top 10 days or so before harvesting. 10 and 30 gram packet. Approximately 900 seeds per gram.

*Heritage Variety*
Endive Cuor dOro: Similar to Pancalieri but with a tighter head and a larger golden heart once blanched. Sow from June to end of August and harvest until the end of December, although they will usually overwinter in our mild UK climate. Dont be tempted to sow them in the spring along with your other lettuces, you wont get very good results. Its an endive, not a lettuce, even if it looks more like a lettuce. They need heat initially to germinate and start their journey, and then cold to develop. Most varieties are very hardy and will tolerate sub-zero. There are several varieties of escarole and endive; the open-headed ones should be tied up about seven to ten days before harvest to blanch the heart and make them tender. Or you can just stick a bucket on top and, when you harvest that head, move the bucket to the next one. Be lazy – use an elastic band. Be even lazier and plant them closer than the standard 20 cm apart, so they all bunch up and blanch themselves.

Sow: from June to the end of August
Harvest: from September to the end of December.
Approximate seeds quantity: @4800
Suitable for winter cultivation


Partnership plant: Tomato, Leek.

What to sow after: Cauliflower & Cabbage, Cucumber, Bean,
Aubergine, Melon, Pepper, Pea, Tomato, Radish, Courgette.

This is an Early variety producing round fruit of medium size. The skin is consistent thick and of a dark green colour. The flesh is sugary and of an intense red colour.

To be sow from March to June and harvest from July to September.
Approximate seeds quantity: @60 seeds.

Sugar Baby is an heirloom variety, introduced in 1956, that has remained popular because of its compact size and sweet flavor. It is considered an icebox melon because the fruits are small enough to fit in the icebox, or what we call a refrigerator. The melons are round with dark green, smooth skin and finely textured red flesh. It is one of the sweetest watermelons you can grow. The melons weigh 8-10 pounds and are about 8 inches across. Vines are long, running to 12 feet. Plants should be spaced 4 feet apart. Sugar Baby is one of the earliest melons to mature, requiring about 75 days from planting. Each plant should produce two or three melons. 6 gram packet = 150 seeds. Approximately 6-20 seeds per gram.

Cabeza Negra. Also known as Cavolo Cappuccio. (Red Cabbage). Solid red smooth leaf cabbage. Large head, good taste. 85 days. Best color if planted for fall harvest. 6 gram packet, approx. 1200 seeds. Approximately 190-300 seeds per gram.

V57 - Frost resistant. Firm, deep red. A Christmas favourite braised sweet and sour.

Approximate seeds quantity:@1500
Sow: from May - end July


Partnership plant: Chard, Cucumber, Bean, Lettuce, Pepper, Pea,
Tomato, Leek, Spinach.

What to sow after: Chicory, Bean, Endive, Lettuce, Pea, Leek,
Spinach, Lamb's lettuce.

Radicchio Palla Rossa 3 has probably the greatest color contrast of the red radicchios. It is fairly easy to grow in that it consistently forms nice heads. Nice taste and texture. 75-80 days. Best in fall. Most intense color in late fall during cool weather. Sometimes need to be 'forced'. Grow like Radicchio di Chioggia. 7 gram packet.

Days to maturity: 90 - 100

R12 - Classic Palla Rossa Radicchio. Compact tight redhead. RHS Award of Garden Merit winner.

Seeds quantity: @6000 seeds.
Sow: from May-Aug
Harvest: Aug-Nov.

Partnership plant: Carrot, Bean, Fennel, Lettuce, Pepper,
Tomato.

What to sow after: Cauliflower, Cabbage, Cucumber, Bean,
Aubergine, Melon, Pepper, Pea, Tomato, Radish, Courgette.