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Plant and Seed List

Here are some plants and seeds that I am looking to sell or trade. Originally intended for the Seed Swap but it was rained out.  Just email me what you are interested in and we can work something out. I will mail seeds, but plants must be gotten in person.  All the proceeds will go into further locally adapted plant research that is my ongoing passion.

I will have more to come, also feel free to contact me with questions or requests.  I actually might have something you want that is not listed or could grow it this season for you.

Just EMAIL me at feralkevin (at) gmail (dot) com

Black Nightshade: 

Also known as sunberry, these plants are 3rd generation container grown in the garden.  They are very productive, very tasty, unusual wild fruits that  don’t need nearly the time, sun, heat, or soil that tomatoes do, but very similar to them and closely related.  Small black/dark purple fruit size of a huckleberry.  Has a long fruiting season, producing both early and late.

I only have a few plants left — in 4 inch pots.

black nightshade for blog

Wild Onion Lilies: Originally given to me as transplants from Mia Andler at her Fairfax, CA home, these beauties are musts for Bay Area gardens.  When hearing about what I do (teaching wild food and foraging classes) folks often ask if I gather wild onions.  And the short answer is “no” because we don’t really have wild onions in most of our ecosystems here.  The wild onion lily is the only major exception and is a frequent and very tough weed in many urban and suburban settings.  It’s very beautiful in most opinions, with delicious spicy edible and beautiful white lily like flowers.  The greens add an exciting wild flare to various dishes, eaten raw or cooked.  Another wonderful thing about wild onion lilies besides how easy they are to grow, is that they only appear during the cooler months of the year.  Disappearing completely by June, you can grow a summer plant (like a tomato) in the same container and when the tomato is finishing up in the Fall (or dies from frost) the wild onion lily reappears from its warm season dormancy, brightening your winter blues.

Great for under deciduous fruit trees such as apples, plums and persimmons, but still excellent for containers and gardens, either in ground or raised beds.

I have seeds and plants!

wild onion lily flowers for blog

Longevity spinach cuttings:

Gynura procumbens. I only have unrooted cuttings, but they are easy to root!

This plant is one of my most favorite finds in recent years. I first heard about it from John Kohler at growingyourgreens.com.  It’s a sunflower family member (not related to spinach) from tropical and subtropical Asia where it is renowned for its healing and superb nutritional properties.  Beyond that, the leaves taste great!  Very crunchy and succulent in salads and accents to summer dishes.  It can grow year round, dying back if there is a frost, so it might need winter protection briefly in certain parts of the Bay Area.  But for a tropical frost sensitive plant, it sure seems to be tough in long periods of cool weather.  Grows very quickly in warm weather, even in hot places.

longevity spinach for blog

Stinging Nettles: 

All are from my stinging nettle mother plant  (either cuttings or seedlings) from my original Oakland planting nearly 10 years ago as seen in one of my original YouTube videos.

This is the stinging nettle you want.  Very easy to grow, productive, gourmet-delicious, and can be one of the most nutritious foods on the planet.

nettles for blog

My Extraordinary Tomatoes:  These tomatoes I’m hoping are going to be something special.  Last year, January 2015, I fertilized/mulched many of my winter plants and pots with my own homegrown worm castings.  Several tomato seedlings came up in my pots as weeds basically.  The extraordinary thing was, it was in January!  I have never in this area (Walnut Creek, CA) seen tomato seeds come up this early out in the open (no greenhouse). Not even close.  Extraordinary thing #1.

The varieties:  I only eat heirloom or open pollinated tomatoes that I grow myself.  That’s all it could have been in the compost.  I knew the main variety I had grown and eaten that year was either Black Krimm or Cherokee purple (unfortunately got my labeling mixed up and these tomatoes are very similar.)  The others I did not know the variety, except that we only order open pollinated heirloom seeds. Hillbilly potato leaf was one of them I remember.  I grew out two of these January seedlings.  One was certainly either Cherokee purple/Black Krimm but the other was something different.  It was straight red and a bit segmented or jagged.  Super early fruiting, and one of the most productive tomato varieties I have grown.  Very mild flavored, versatile tomato. Enjoyed them over a very long season.

red prolific tomato for blogcherokee purple tomato for blog

The other thing is that these tomatoes did very well and produced sweet and delicious tomatoes for a long time.  An Extraordinary thing #2 — they were both grown in pots too small for them and in a place that doesn’t get  but a few hours of direct sun each day.

I saved those seeds and was going to plant them out in mid to late January of this year. However dozens of tomato seedlings came up in the same fashion as the year before from my worm castings. This year they came up outside with no overhead protection or extra heat, in EARLY January!   Extraordinary thing #3.  I suppose they could be seeds from 2014 season that did so well for me last year.  Or they could very well be the seeds from the food scraps of the 2015 Extraordinary tomatoes.  I think the latter is the most likely, so I would assume either my segmented prolific red or my CP/BK.

So I’ve potted them up and have way more than I can plant.  Looking to sell or trade.

Seeds only:

Tulsi (Kapoor.) Originally from Horizon herbs, now 4th generation from my backyard container garden.  Grows mainly in the summer months. It is actually a type of basil (holy basil) so grow accordingly.

Prized in Auryvedic medicine for thousands of years as a healing, tonic herb, it is held sacred my many peoples. Its most common use is as a tea.  This particular variety has an almost “bubble-gum” like flavor that in our opinion doesn’t show up in simply using it for tea.  I like it in smoothies and especially in the tulsi berry sorbet seen below.

tulsi sorbet for blog

Cape Gooseberry. Physalis peruviana — also known as goldenberry, poha, Incan berry (of superfood fame), and ground cherry.   5th Generation seeds  stretching back to when I first got this plant in 2005.  Since then, each generation seems to have gotten more tropical tasting.  I think this should be all over the Bay Area in markets and restaurants.  It is something amazing and unusual that is greatly suited for our unique Bay Area climate, and can’t be grown in the vast majority of the U.S.  They are similar to tomatoes in many ways but have a wonderful tangy rich tartness that always reminds me of pineapple and coconuts.

cape gooseberry for blog

  Just EMAIL me at feralkevin (at) gmail (dot) com