Sweet Basil (2 Pack)

This herb is known around the world for its wonderful fragrance and flavor. The key ingredient in classic Italian pesto, Sweet Basil has big leaves that are fast and easy to grow so that you can make your own pesto to freeze for year-round use. It loves hot weather, so always wait until all danger of frost is past before planting in the garden in the spring, then harvest before the weather starts to cool down in fall. Great for containers, but be sure to keep watered. If you were to grow only one herb, this should probably be it. Dried basil just doesn’t have the aromatic quality of the fresh leaves, which are often added at the last minute to many Asian dishes. Organic varieties are only available at retailers.

Cherokee Purple - Heirloom Tomato (2 Pack)

Heirloom. Cherokee Purple seeds, originating from Tennessee, are thought to have been passed down from Native Americans of the Cherokee tribe. This heirloom tomato variety consistently ranks very high in taste tests. Slice Cherokee Purple tomato for rich, dark color and unmatched sweet, rich taste on sandwiches or in salads. The tomato is a beautiful dusky pink with a deep, rich-red interior. Cherokee Purple grows well in most regions of the U.S. Let the fruit ripen on the vine for the best flavor. This one is a consistent taste test winner at tomato fests around the country. For an heirloom, it is a good producer. In our Alabama test garden, where conditions are ideal and the season is long, we harvest and average of 20 or more fruits from each plant. Vigorous vines benefit from strong staking or caging.

Sun Sugar Yellow Cherry Tomato (2 Pack)

Although called yellow cherry, these little tomatoes are orange at their peak, making almost more bite-sized bursts of sweetness than you can imagine on each plant. A single healthy plant is capable of producing hundreds. Several years ago, Sun Sugar was named by Sunset magazine as the best tasting tomato in their trials for its sweetness and rich tomato flavor that includes just the right amount of tartness. This disease-resistant plant is one of our very best cherry tomatoes and are easy to grow. The fruits are fantastic for salads or to just set out in bowls for snacking. Give the vines plenty of room; they can get 7 feet long or more and will bear through heat until frost, so give them a tall cage for support. Plants are resistant to fusarium wilt and tomato mosaic virus.

Jalapeno Hot Pepper (2 Pack)

Named for the town of Jalapa, Mexico, this is the most popular chile pepper in the United States. Jalapeño produces 3-inch, thick-walled, moderately hot pods with deep green color that matures to a bright red. The skin may show a netting pattern as fruit ages, but it does not affect flavor. Often, the heat of the peppers will vary, even those from the same plant. If peppers grow fast, get plenty of water, and are harvested soon, they may be milder than peppers that stay on the plant a long time, or that develop slowly and under stressful conditions. Widely adapted, jalapeño plants yield a bountiful harvest in dry or humid, hot or cool climates. The compact plants grow well in containers. Use jalapeño on nachos or in salsa, or smoke the mature red ones over mesquite chips to make your own chipotle sauce. Jalapeño became the first pepper in space when a bag full of pods accompanied astronauts on the shuttle Columbia in November 1982! Organic varieties are only available at retailers.

Cilantro (2 Pack)

If you like the aromatic flavor of salsa served in Mexican restaurants, you'll like cilantro. The leaves have an instantly recognizable fragrance that fills a room when you cut them. Sometimes called Chinese parsley, its distinctive aroma and flavor is also part of Caribbean and Asian foods, lending flavor to recaito, salsas, curries, salads, chutneys, herbed butters, and meat marinades.Cilantro looks like flat leaf Italian parsley, but the leaves are thinner. It grows in a rosette of stemmy leaves that are ready to harvest shortly after planting. Young leaves have the best flavor, so be sure to harvest often. It is a fast-growing annual except in milder climates where it will overwinter. Cilantro grows tall and blooms at the end of its life, usually after the weather gets hot. After it blooms, harvest the seeds--they are what you buy in spice jars as coriander, another common ingredient in Asian cooking. You can grind the seeds or use them whole. Some gardeners also let the seeds drop to make new plants.Fall is a great time to grow cilantro in mild climates, as the plants are frost tolerant and love the cool weather in fall, winter, and early spring.Organic varieties are only available at retailers.

Sweet Green Bell Pepper (2 Pack)

Bonnie's best hybrid sweet bell pepper! A heavy yielder of large fruits. A good all-round pepper for slicing, stuffing, and freezing. This bell produces lots of fresh bell peppers gradually over the growing season. Plants in our Alabama garden produce from June through October, yielding 30 or more peppers from each plant. (Your results will vary based on care and the length of your growing season.) This is a good-sized plant, so be prepared to stake if needed. Organic varieties are only available at retailers.

Shishito Pepper (2 Pack)

Grow the pepper that’s long been prized by restaurants and is a favorite among chefs. Shishito is a Japanese sweet pepper that produces handfuls of finger-long fruits. Usually used when green (though also fine to eat when red), the peppers are thin-walled, making them ideal for tempura and stir fries. On this side of the Pacific, it’s wildly popular as an appetizer—tossed with oil, then char-grilled or pan-seared to a blackened, blistered state and salted. Plants are compact and perfect for containers. Use one plant per 18-inch pot.

Lieutenant Broccoli (2 Pack)

Well adapted to warm weather, these plants form smooth, dark green heads on medium-sized stems with few side shoots. Heads offer classic flavor and all the vitamins and protein broccoli is known for. Water plants consistently for best yields, especially as temperatures climb. If you like Packman, you’ll like Lieutenant Broccoli.

Golden Cross 45-day Cabbage

This is our favorite "mini-cabbage." It matures extra early with tight, softball-sized, round heads. The small plants allow closer spacing in the garden or for growing in containers.

White Hybrid Cauliflower

Inner leaves wrap to protect the deep, white curds. Produces heavy yields. Try raw with dips or broken into salads. More resistant to cold than many cauliflower varieties. Rich in vitamin C.