I recently received these seeds from Hudson Valley Seed Library. They are offering these 16 new Art Packs for 2010 containing heirloom vegetable, herb and flower seed varieties. In addition to having an interesting selection of heirloom varieties, the packets themselves are true works of art.
Art Pack seeds from Hudson Valley Seed Library
Each image was created by a different artist to celebrate the beauty in heirloom gardening and seed-saving. I first heard about these beautiful seeds from a post by Thomas at A Growing Tradition. He had received some as a gift, and I though it would be neat to check them out for myself.
front side of Art Packs
back side of Art Packs
Each packet has petal shaped flaps on the back, and can be opened and closed without messing up the artwork. I think the packets are beautiful enough to be framed. Plus, I am looking forward to growing heirloom varieties like Spotted Trout romaine lettuce and Fox cherry tomato.
Their Piracicaba broccoli is a relatively new open-pollinated selection that is reportedly halfway between a heading broccoli and a broccoli raab. Writer and gardening professional Barbara Damrosch gave this variety high praise in a Washington Post article from 2006. It is supposed to have both cold and heat tolerance, as well as a great taste. I can hardly wait to grow it this spring!
How lovely! I’m so glad they’re supporting local artists while carrying on the local seed heritage. The two go together beautifully, and I want to thank you for alerting me to their site and their efforts. 🙂
I am a sucker for heirloom plants, and artistic packages to boot! This is a great way to benefit artists and gardeners together. Spotted trout romaine lettuce sounds fantastic.
Very cool. Thanks for the tip. I will definitely check these out.