How to Grow and Eat Italian
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I found these seeds online for my aunt's birthday. She is a good gardener and I was looking for something my aunt would not have. Seeds from Italy, in the U.S., is the only distributor for Franchi Seeds. The product line includes vegetables, organic seeds, flowers, fruits, garlic, herbs, mushrooms, plants for pets, and bulk seeds for farming. Living in the Mediterranean climates of California and Italy is best for growing your own food. These seeds may also be grown in other zones, although a little extra preparation and care may be needed. If you enjoy Italian food, then growing your own Italian crop will give you those excellent meal ingredients. Dan, the owner, signed my order form "Thanks for your order. I hope these seeds do well for you. Ciao! Dan Nagengast".
"Seeds from Italy was started in 2001 by Bill McKay, a dedicated gardener and cook, because he couldn't find the Italian vegetable varieties he wanted to grow.
By luck, he happened upon Franchi Sementi, Italy's oldest family-owned seed company, which offers an extensive selection of traditional Italian varieties. Franchi didn't have an agent in the U.S., so Bill started importing the seeds and reselling them. For the next decade, Seeds from Italy grew rapidly under Bill's enthusiastic ownership. You can watch Bill on the Martha Stewart Show talking about his favorite Italian vegetables.In 2011, Bill decided he was ready to retire. He sold the business to Dan Nagengast, a long-time market gardener in Lawrence, Kansas. In addition to growing vegetables and flowers for local markets, Dan was director of the Kansas Rural Center, a nonprofit that advocates for
sustainable agriculture and family farms. The Lawrence Journal World wrote about Dan taking over the business and posted a video interview that you can watch here.
Dan is married to Lynn Byczynski, the founder and publisher of Growing for Market, a national periodical for market farmers, and the author of several farming and gardening books, including The Flower Farmer: An Organic Grower's Guide to Raising and Selling Cut Flowers. The couple's young adult children also work in the business; Will, who finished college in 2011, is handling the company's social media program, and Laurel, who started college in 2011, helps with graphics and the website.
Will, Laurel, Lynn and Dan, under the Tuscan sun.
Dan and Lynn are growing Franchi Seeds on their small farm, Wild Onion Farm, with help from Dan Phelps and Cole Cottin, a young couple who are growing vegetables for farmers markets, restaurants, and a CSA. We will keep you posted on the results of these trials with the Review feature on this website. We hope you'll use Reviews to contribute your experiences with Franchi vegetables, too."
The planning of a garden must be done with careful thought and understanding of the hardiness zone. Zone maps are tools that show where various permanent landscape plants can adapt. Click here to discover more about your planting zone.
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