Chef's Garden Variety Pack

Do you like to experiment in the kitchen? Looking to maximize the flavours from your garden? Then the Chef's Garden Variety Pack has been tailored for you! Included are 5 varieties of tasty fruits and vegetables ranging from fruity to spicy to bitter, all of which flourish in a Canadian kitchen garden. Varieties included:

1) Velour Bush Beans. This tasty dwarf variety abounds with rich purple beans with a soft "velvet" pod. Deliciously crunchy when fresh; when cooked, they will change colour from purple to green (this is due to the break down of anthocyanin, the chemical responsible for blue and purple colours in many vegetables). Minimum 30 beans.

2) Rezha Macedonia Pepper. A rare ancient hot pepper variety that produces gigantic striated red peppers. Must-see-to-believe plant. Despite its woody appearance, fresh peppers soften up in cooking and dry up nicely for flakes or powder. Plants can reach about 3 feet high in a season and appreciate ample sun, water and nutrient-rich soil. Minimum 30 seeds.

3) Purple Tomatillos. Related to ground cherries, these round purple and green fruit behave roughly like a tomato during cooking, but are sweeter in taste. Their most common use is in salsa, but they are versatile in the kitchen, included in everything from curry to jam. The 3 foot bushy plants only need water during drought and benefit from staking. Minimum 50 seeds.

4) Green Curly Kale. I've included kale on this list because of the sheer quantity of nutritious food a few well-tended plants can provide. Once established, kale flourishes for most of the year and typically survives even a harsh winter. Kale can be frozen for a winter supply of harvest-fresh goodness. Minimum 50 seeds.

5) Costoluto Genovese Tomatoes. An incredibly tender variety of Italian heirloom tomato that has a "ruffled" or "accordion" shape (see photos). These tomatoes make for a show-stopping slicer at a summer picnic, but they are also versatile in the kitchen and make a wonderful canning tomato. Blemish and crack-resistant. Minimum 30 seeds.

Grown organically with love and tenderness in the Bruce Peninsula, Ontario, Canada, in the summer of 2022. All open pollinated. Germination tested.