Assortment - Older varieties

This assortment consists of 10 organic seed packets of sometimes forgotten heirloom vegetables. Old varieties are seeds that have been meticulously selected over hundreds of years by independent farmers around the world. Their genetic heritage has evolved to adapt perfectly to the terroir and gardens in which they were propagated. That's why growing farmer seeds means preserving a living, diverse natural heritage that's tending to be forgotten.

An ancient vegetable is a variety that has been cultivated for centuries or even millennia, but has become less popular over time, often to the benefit of more standardized varieties. These ancient vegetable varieties are often hardier and better adapted to local conditions, making them of interest to gardeners wishing to grow diversified foods that are often more resistant to disease and climate change.

This assortment is sown in spring. A calendar on the back of the sachets indicates the sowing and harvesting periods for each species.

Why grow heirloom vegetable seeds?

There are many advantages to sowing seeds of forgotten vegetables:

• Adding diversity to the diet by discovering new tastes and textures
• Contribute to the preservation of biodiversity by maintaining varieties that have been lost over time.
• Increase adaptability to local conditions through resistance to disease and climate change
• Become more food self-sufficient by reducing dependence on industrial food products, while contributing to the planet's sustainability.

F1 hybrid varieties are becoming increasingly common in our daily lives. Created for production and mechanization, their sole purpose is to generate yield. Their use has undermined the quality of the food we eat, as well as destroying ecosystems.

Unlike F1 hybrids, traditional varieties represent a vast genetic resource adapted to diverse environments. Not only do they offer superior flavor, they are also more adaptable. They adjust easily to garden soil, climatic conditions and disease. By multiplying seeds, their productivity will gradually increase.

Which organic heirloom vegetable varieties to sow?

We have carefully selected 10 organic seed packets of forgotten heirloom vegetables from our network of local and international growers who have preserved these seeds over the years.

• Giant oxheart tomato

This old-fashioned variety, not very sensitive to bursting, produces very large, fleshy, heart-shaped fruits weighing 500 to 700 g. Their dense flesh contains few seeds and has a very mild flavor.

• Zucchini Genovese - Elongated

This old variety produces elongated "Cocozelle"-type fruits with light-green skin marbled with gray and completely smooth. Their creamy-white flesh has a delicate flavor.

• Chioggia beet

This ancient variety produces an abundance of round roots with intense red skin and pink flesh veined with white. De Chioggia beet has a firm texture and a mild, sweet flavor, much appreciated in cooking.

• Early long purple eggplant

This very old variety, sometimes thorny, produces club-shaped purple-black fruits 20 to 30 cm long and 8 to 10 cm in diameter. It has a strong growth habit and can reach 1 m in height.

This extremely early variety can be grown in cool regions.

• Purple and white Gniff carrot

This not very heat-sensitive variety reaches 80 cm in height and produces sturdy, upright stems bearing an abundance of double, coral-red flowers.

• Golden spring batavia lettuce

This old-fashioned variety has golden-blond, wavy foliage forming a crisp head. It has good vigor and excellent eating qualities.

• Musselburgh Giant Leek

This very old variety produces very thick barrels with gray-green foliage.

• Le généreux cucumber

This ancient, highly productive and vigorous variety produces an abundance of cylindrical fruit, about 20 cm long, with a sweet, bitter-free flavor. Harvested young, they can be prepared like gherkins.

• Beefheart green cabbage

This old, vigorous and hardy variety is very early and productive. It forms a green-gray conical head, up to 40 cm high, with large, rounded, fairly thick leaves.

• Squash pepo Vegetable spaghetti

This old variety offers 2 to 5 fruits, white then amber when ripe, weighing 1 to 3 kg. Their low-calorie, orange-yellow flesh breaks down into spaghetti-like strands when cooked. They keep for 6 to 12 months.

This variety grows very vigorously.