I love to grow unique and challenging varieties of culinary specialties!
A few plants I specialize in are:
Tropical rhizomes: yellow ginger, red turmeric, Indira yellow turmeric
Garlic (9 varieties): Chamiskuri, Italian Late, German Extra Hardy, Music, Oregon Blue, Purple Glazer, Romanian Red, Thermadrone, Transylvania
Alliums: Dutch Moon Yellow shallots, red and yellow onion
Fruit: ground cherries, rhubarb, apples
Heirloom tomatoes: 25 varieties in 2020, all heirlooms except Sakura, which is an excellent hybrid greenhouse cherry tomato
Unique peppers: Fish peppers, Jimmy Nardello, Habanada, Aji Dulce are all varieties I have grown succesfully
Herbs: Mexican mint marigold, shiso, rosemary, sage, a variety of basils, lemon thyme, blue fenugreek
I am always up for a new challenge. If you make a specialty food or are a chef and require flavor-packed ingredients, please see my wholesale page and inquire with me about growing your fresh produce.
My Specialties Include
Garlic
I grow nine varieties of garlic, each with different qualities.
Chamiskuri (softneck, Artichoke variety)— A good storage garlic from the Republic of Georgia. Large bulbs with 10-15 cloves per bulb. Rich flavored and pungent, and stores until mid-winter. In on farm trials in 2011 and 2015 this garlic kept well until February.
Italian Late (softneck, Artichoke variety) - A late maturing large white bulb that stores well until March. 8-12 cloves per bulb. Rich garlic flavor and good for spaghetti sauce!
German Extra Hardy (hardneck, Porcelain variety) - Easy to grow as it is very hardy in MN. Strong raw flavor, high sugar content, and not too hot. Very good roasted! White wrappers over 3-5 red cloves per bulb. One of our best keepers at Seven Songs Farm, lasting well into April.
Oregon Blue Garlic (softneck, Artichoke variety) - A good storage garlic that lasts well into March, or April. 10-12 cloves per bulb. Bulb wrappers show a light purple tint. Pleasant spicy flavor—good raw or baked.
Purple Glazer (hardneck, sub-variety of Purple Stripe)- From the Republic of Georgia this beautiful garlic with purple, gold, and silver-hued heads is very sweet when roasted or baked. 8-12 cloves per bulb. Use by Christmas as it will not keep into late winter.
Romanian Red (hardneck, Porcelain variety) - Reportedly high in Allicin, so excellent for medicinal purposes. Very strong flavor when raw and roasts well. Stores well for a hardneck, lasting until April. 4-5 cloves per bulb.
Thermadrone (softneck, Artichoke variety) — Large, long-keeping bulbs and with a mild taste prized by French chefs (it blends particularly well with butter!) There are 12-20 cloves per head so you don’t need many heads to get a lots of cloves for seed. In an on-farm test Thermadrone garlic stayed good and hard until April! This variety does not like wet feet.
Transylvania (hardneck, Artichoke variety) - From the Transylvanian mountains, this one is hot! Use by Christmas as it will not keep well after the new year. Said to ward off night-time visitors! 10-12 cloves per bulb
Herbs
From Shiso (used in Japanese cuisine and tea) to Mexican mint marigold, rosemary, sage, lemon thyme, sorrel, basil and really any herb that you want to buy in quantity—and that can be grown in Minnesota—I can grow. This includes edible flowers like viola, nasturtiums, Johnny-Jump-Ups, borage, or sunflowers.
Tomatoes
I grow uncommon heirloom tomatoes from seed. Some of the amazing varieties you’ve possibly never heard of (let alone tasted) include Eva Purple Ball, Copia, Pineapple Pig, Afternoon Delight, and Brad’s Atomic Grape. I sell tomato plants in May each year. Plants are available at the farm, at Forest to Fork (in Keg and Case Market, St. Paul), and by arrangement. My tomato plants are in bigger pots and thus have more soil and an excellent root structure and are grown in organic-approved Cowsmo potting soil. This gives you a head start growing those perfect garden or patio tomatoes!
Squash
Sibley squash (shown) is a favorite of mine for its absolutely amazing sweet taste and for the fact that it keeps all winter in storage.
“The first time I cooked with Seven Song's Sibley squash, I was in heaven. It has the sweetness of butternut, and the meatiness of kabocha. It is an extremely versatile and delicious vegetable!” - Paul Berglund, Chef
Salad Greens
Lettuce, baby chard, baby kale, baby beet greens, and even lambsquarters have all ended up in my salad mixes. Look for my lettuce mix at local rural grocery stores in 2020.
Ginger
This is baby yellow ginger! I order organic ginger seed from Hawaii and grow it in low tunnels or in my hoophouse all summer. When harvested I call it baby ginger because when grown in Minnesota, it doesn’t mature and doesn’t have the brown skin that mature ginger has. That means there’s nothing to peel before you use it! Freezes easily for use all winter!
Turmeric
I also order both Hawaiian Red and Indira Yellow turmeric seed from Hawaii to grow alongside our ginger in low tunnels all summer. These tropical rhizomes are a challenge to grow in Minnesota’s northern climate, but I’ve developed a system to offer you a locally grown product without heated greenhouses!
Ground Cherries
Ground cherries are my new favorite fruit! Easy to grow, and indicate ripeness by falling onto the ground (thus the name) these relatives of tomatillos and much sweeter and have a tropical (think pineapple) flavor. I grow these in the hoophouse and trellis them to make harvesting easy. You can buy plants from me each spring and enjoy these raw or made into amazing jams!