2023 Seed Picks for the Garden
After 16 years of growing, you might think I’ve found all the best seeds out there by now. But surprisingly they come out with new and improved varieties of seeds every year. I grow mostly tried and true varieties and a few for testing to see if they can measure up to my favorites!
All that said, after going through and doing a seed inventory, I decided I have way too many seeds that really need to be used. I’m going to try my best to be more disciplined and not jump to buy every variety that is praised in the seed catalogs.
This post contains affiliate links. Here is the full disclosure.
So you’ll see I don’t have as many new varieties this year. I will add to and edit this list though, if I end up buying more. Not all the seed catalogs have arrived yet, haha!
And in case you just want to know where I buy my seeds without going through each variety, here are the main places: High Mowing Organic Seeds, Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds, Johnny’s Selected Seeds, and Southern Exposure Seed Exchange.
Some varieties of seeds it doesn’t matter much your region, yet for others it does make a big difference. In our area, I choose disease resistant varieties for all the nightshades. And we also have a long season and don’t need to worry about days to harvest.
If you are in a cold area with a shorter season, all the days to harvest are listed to make sure it fits within your growing window. I have a blog post with seeds picked especially for those with a very short frost free season , 90 days or less, here.
This post includes affiliate links. Full disclosure can be found here.
Oh and one last thing, I grow mostly open pollination so I can have the option of saving seeds. Only three on this list are hybrids, a broccoli, onion, and turnip variety. They are marked, in case you would rather keep to open pollination types.
**IMPORTANT** My friends over at High Mowing Seeds sent me a special Christmas coupon code for you all! 10% off any order over $50. Use code 22TSH10, good until Monday 12/26/22 at midnight. Click HERE to head to their website.
All seed types are listed in alphabetical order for ease in searching.
Broccoli
My Favorite
- Green Magic F1 (57 days) A hybrid but it came recommended by two gardening friends in Arkansas! I finally got a really good broccoli harvest from this variety.
Still Testing
- Calabrese Green Sprouting (90 days) This one came recommended to me by Cam’s Mom. I intended to try it last year but didn’t get it going in time.
New this year
- Solstice (70 days) This one is suppose to measure up to hybrid types. We will see!
Brussel Sprouts
*Not growing this year*
In an effort to simplify the garden we aren’t growing brussel sprouts. It’s a tough one to grow and subject to many pests and diseases where we live. After last year, I decided it just wasn’t worth the effort. I’ll try again another year. And I can’t recommend a variety since I’ve never really had good results with any.
Dried Beans and Cowpeas
My Favorites
- Ozark Razorback Cowpea (90 days)
- Cherokee Trail of Tears Bean (65 days) pole bean – black beans
- Jacob’s Cattle Dry Bean (90 days) This is a bush type
Cabbage
My Favorites
New this Year
- Golden Acre (62 days)
- Red Express (62 days)
- Chinese Cabbage Hilton (70 days)
- Brunswick Cabbage (90 days)
- Violaceo Di Verona
Carrots
I have several different varieties of carrots and intend to use them up this year. I have Danvers 126, Purple Dragon, and Black Nebula in addition to the ones listed below. None of those are my favorites anymore, but I will be growing them in addition to the favorites in an effort to use up the seeds before they go bad.
My Favorite
- St. Valery (70 days) This one is incredibly sweet and maintains its crunchiness when grown as a fall crop.
- New Kuroda A new favorite of mine from last year! Delicious and easy to grow!
New this Year
- Bollin (75 days)
Celery
My Favorite
- Tango Celery (80 days) No question on this one, it’s hard to beat. No need to grow anything else- for now at least!
Corn
My Favorites
- Who Gets Kissed Sweet Corn (78-84 days)
- Nothstine Dent (100 days)
- Pennsylvania Butter Popcorn (102 days)
Cucumbers
My Favorite
- Homemade Pickles (55-60 days)
- Tendergreen Burpless (55 days)
- Natsu Fushinari Really productive and disease resistant in my garden last year.
- Beit Alpha
- Cool Customer (55 days)
Flowers
You can’t really go wrong with any flowers! The only ones I stay away from are morning glory, they spread like a weed and can become invasive.
My Favorites
- Pink Senorita Zinnia
- Meteor Zinnia
- Purple Prince Zinnia
- Cosmos Bright Lights
- Sweet Alyssum Tall White
- Echinacea Purpurea
- Marigold Brocade Mix
- Sunflower Lemon Queen
- Nasturtium Globe of Fire
- Calendula Playtime Mix
- Red Scarlet Zinnia
- Polar Bear Zinnia
- Envy Zinnia
- Peredovik Sunflower (great for bird feed)
- Double Dutch Rose Cosmos
- Copper Red Strawflower
- Mexican Sunflower Red Torch
- Afternoon White Cosmos
Green Beans
My Favorites
- Provider Bush Bean (50 days)
- Jade Bush Bean (53 days)
- Goldilocks Bush Bean (52 days)
Greens
My Favorites
- Arugula (20-50 days)
- Bok Choy Purple Lady (45 days)
- Tatsoi (40- 50 days)
- Vates Collards (75 days)
- Champion Collards (70 days)
- Yellow Heart Winter Choy (45 days)
Herbs
My Favorites
- Genovese Basil
- Thyme
- Green De Belleville Sorrel
- Rosemary
- Dill Bouquet
- Slo Bolt Cilantro
- Holy Basil
- Blue Borage
- Parsley Giant of Italy
- Rosie Basil
Kale
My Favorites
- Blue Curled Scotch (50-60 days)
- Nero Di Toscana (55 days)
- Scarlet (55 days)
New this Year
- Meadowlark Kale (50 days) They sold me on extra cold tolerance and ornamental too.
Lettuce
My Favorites
- Little Gem (50 days)
- Winter Density (55 days full size)
- Mesclun Mix (28 days baby)
- Tropicana (52 days) Great for growing in heat
- Coastal Star (57 days) Great for growing in heat
Melon
Bugs got all the melons before we did last year. We will test these varieties again this year.
Still Testing
- Petit Gris de Rennes (85 days)
- Trifecta (83 days)
- Madhu Ras Honey Melon (95 days)
New This Year
Onions
(These are definitely grown based on region. For more information on what kind of onions to grow in your area click HERE)
My Favorites
- Rossa Di Milano (110 days) Consistently large and disease resistant!
- Zebrune Shallot
- Gladstone Onion (110 days)
- Australian Brown (100 days)
- Bulgarian Giant Leek (110 days)
- Patterson F1 (104 days) I don’t often grow hybrids because the goal is self-sufficiency but this one came highly recommended.
Peanuts
*Not growing this year*
Last year I tested these types. All did well but were eaten by rodents. Until I have a better system down I won’t be growing these again. Listing what I tried last year because they were all great types in case anyone is looking!
- Tennessee Red Valencia (110 days)
- Carwile’s Virginia (120 days)
- Georganic (130 days)
Peas
My Favorite
- Sugar Snap (58 days) favorite snap type
- PLS595 (64 days) the best shelling type, I had fantastic yields with this variety.
Pepper
My Favorites
- Poblano (80 days)
- Emerald Giant (72-80 days)
- Tam Jalapeno (85 days)
- Lemon Spice Jalapeno (65 days)
- Korean Pepper (75 days)
New this year
- HMS Red Picnic Pepper (60 green, 78 red)
Potatoes
My Favorites
Radish
My Favorites
Spinach
My Favorite
- Bloomsdale Long Standing (48 days)
- Equinox (29 days) Great winter type
- Giant Winter (50 days) Huge leaves!
Summer Squash
My Favorite
- Lemon Squash (50 days) Best and most bug resistant summer squash around.
Sweet Potatoes
My Favorite
- Beauregard (I got mine from a Walmart seven years ago and have been growing from the prior years slips.)
Winter Squash/Pumpkin
My Favorite
- Waltham Butternut Squash (100 days)
- Long Island Cheese Pumpkin (105 days)
- Lady Godiva (105 days) This one is for saving seeds to eat, the flesh doesn’t taste great
New this Year
- Honeypatch (110 days)
Tomatoes
My Favorites
- Black Cherry (64 days)
- Cherokee Purple (80 days)
- Roma (70-80 days)
- Kelloggs Breakfast (80 days)
- Amish Paste (85 days)
- San Marzano II (78 days) May or may not grow this one this year, still on the fence about it. Flavor is delicious but it’s prone to blossom end rot.
- Sunrise Bumblebee (70 days) Cam loves these
- Eva Purple Ball (78 days) – This was new as of last year but easily made it to the favorites list. Produces beautiful and delicious tomatoes even in our hot and humid weather.
New This Year
- Gilbertie
- Peacevine Cherry (78 days) Resists cracking and is very sweet
Turnip
My Favorite
- Purple Top White Globe (40- 50 days)
- Hakurei (38 days) F1
New this year
- Tokyo Market Turnip (35 days) Testing this as an alternative to Hakurei. Hakurei is a hybrid (can’t save seeds) hard to beat that one in flavor but these look very similar and are open pollination. Looking forward to trying it!
Watermelons
In all honesty, the kids grew the watermelons last year and they were not well marked. We had a good harvest, so we will just be growing all the same varieties again
My Favorite
Ledmon Watermelon (no longer available from where I purchased it)
Still Testing
- AliBaba Watermelon (100 days)
- Nancy (90 days)
- Chou Cheh Red (75 days)
New This Year
