The Heritage Farm Collection: 'Halbert Honey' Watermelon

The Heritage Farm Collection: 'Halbert Honey' Watermelon

This historic variety of watermelon was developed by Mr. H.A. Halbert of Texas and introduced in 1902 by the W. Atlee Burpee seed house. That year, the Burpee catalog described it as “new to the general public” and as a selection by Mr. H. A. Halbert of Texas “who plants for his home trade thirty acres of this original pet of his, each season...”

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The Heritage Farm Collection: 'Grandma Hadley's' Lettuce

The Heritage Farm Collection: 'Grandma Hadley's' Lettuce

As an adult, Pam tried growing many different types of lettuce, but never found anything that worked as well for the wilted salad as her family’s variety.  Pam eventually called Flossie to ask what kind of lettuce they used to grow.  Flossie said she still had seed in the garage (she grew and saved seed from it each year) and put some in the mail for Pam.  When the seed arrived, Pam eagerly planted it and waited for it to germinate.  At that time Pam was living in Arizona, and when it finally sprouted, the “lettuce” looked like grass.  Pam called Flossie, who just about died laughing – she had mistakenly sent Pam grass seed which was on the same shelf as her lettuce seed.

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The Heritage Farm Collection: 'Pink Plume' celery

The Heritage Farm Collection: 'Pink Plume' celery

In 1894, the Peter Henderson & Co. seed house of New York introduced Pink Plume celery. Its beautiful appearance and intense flavor inspired gardeners and seed companies to add it to their collections. By 1903, over 100 seed houses across North America were offering this variety.

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The Heritage Farm Collection: 'Enrico Rao' arugula

The Heritage Farm Collection: 'Enrico Rao' arugula

SSE listed member Hans Hansen, of Peaceable Kingdom School in Texas, sent SSE this arugula in the mid-1990s. Peaceable Kingdom School received seeds for this variety from Ric (Enrico) Rao in 1992. Ric had been growing and saving seed from his family’s heirloom arugula since finding some seeds in his grandfather’s garden shed in 1983.

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