Foreign seeds

Think outside the nursery

By Liz Crain

April 14, 2008

Genie, of the Iowa City food blog The Inadvertent Gardener, recently posted about Italian vegetable seeds.

In February, Genie visited an Italian-imports store in Washington, D.C., and although she’d visited the store many times before for specialty foods, she’d never noticed its seed selection. Unable to resist the unusual vegetable-seed packets, she picked up a handful to plant in her home garden:

And at least I can guess what Di facile coltivazione anche su balconi e terrazzi means. It means, “Your handsome Italian gardener will plant this for you while you sit on your balcony or terrace and sip a glass of Montepulciano. It will be easy.”

Many seed companies carry diverse selections, but if you’re on the lookout for hard-to-find international seeds, follow in Genie’s footsteps and visit food markets as well as nurseries.

Or follow the suggestions of Genie’s readers and bring seeds back from your next foreign foray. Just watch out for the customs inspectors.