Homesteader’s Kaleidoscopic Perennial Kale Grex was developed by plant breeder and brassica-ologist Chris Homanics from crossing the perennial kale bush varieties ‘Purple Tree Collard’ and ‘Daubenton’ to a variety of other colored kales, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, and more. Out of this grex (mix) came all sorts of leaf shapes and colors. Long and thin to ruffled, smooth, flat, or wide. Colors like yellow green, red, dark purple, variegated white and pink, and solid green.

Selected from the beginning for flavor and texture with the kitchen in mind. Loved by chefs and the eaters alike. Careful selection of thousands and thousands of plants over years has honed in on the hardiest and longest living plants which vigorously grow to become large sprawling bushes. These are huge perennials bigger than typical kale and need at least 3 feet apart!

Trialed successfully in most regions of the country. Growers will find it performs well both in drought and winter cold down to zone 6. Once winter sets in, you will be surprised as some of the plants will begin to show beautiful splashes of color.

Most plants will flower in the second year and then continue growing later in the season. You can create new plants by taking woody stem cuttings of your best plants. Finally, in the early Fall, prune these plants to stimulate fresh new growth as you would other perennials.

Post your pictures – show what you grow!

From the Head, Hands, Heart

Thanks goes to our friend Graham Jenkins-Belohorska for his forethought and luck in achieving the initial cross between bush kales, finally showing that it was possible to get seed again from these plants.

Released under the Open Source Seed Initiative (OSSI) license which reads:

“You have the freedom to use these OSSI seeds in any way you choose. In return, you pledge not to restrict other’s use of these seeds or their derivatives by patents or other means, and to include this pledge with any transfer of these seeds or their derivatives.”

As required by the Oregon Department of Agriculture and the Washington Crucifer Seed Quarantine this seed was tested by OSU and found to be free from Blackleg fungus (Leptosphaeria maculans).

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Crimson Clover – a fast growing leguminous cover crop. Sow in the fall or spring for a quick growing and robust nitrogen fixer or sow in the summer as a slow growing annual. Seed it beneath fruit trees or shrubs or anywhere you have bare soil that needs covered! Till it in for maximum nitrogen release just before its flowers open or let them open to reveal their stunning crimson color and feed the bees.

Trifolium incarnatum, known as crimson clover or Italian clover, is a species of clover in the family Fabaceae, native to most of Europe. The species name incarnatum means “blood red”.

This upright annual herb grows to 20-50 cm tall, unbranched or branched only at the base. The leaves are trifoliate with a long petiole, each leaflet hairy, 8-16 mm across, with a truncated or bilobed apex. The flowers are produced throughout the spring and summer, rich red or crimson, congested on an elongated spike inflorescence 3-5 cm tall and 1.5 cm broad; the individual flowers are up to 10-13 mm long and have five petals. The banner of each flower does not sit upright, but folds forward.

Application Rate: 15 lbs. per acre

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Native Swale Mix is used in natural bioswales, broad, shallow channels, densely planted with a variety of trees, shrubs, and grasses, designed to attenuate and in some cases infiltrate runoff from adjacent impervious surfaces, allowing pollutants to settle out in the process.

The Native Swale mix has been designed specifically for this use. It is comprised of native species that establish quickly and provide phytoremediation of storm water.

A rain garden is a planted depression or a hole that allows rainwater runoff from impervious urban areas, like roofs, driveways, walkways, parking lots, and compacted lawn areas, the opportunity to be absorbed. This reduces rain runoff by allowing stormwater to soak into the ground (as opposed to flowing into storm drains and surface waters which causes erosion, water pollution, flooding, and diminished groundwater). They should be designed for specific soils and climates. The purpose of a rain garden is to improve water quality in nearby bodies of water and to ensure that rainwater becomes available for plants as groundwater rather than being sent through stormwater drains straight out to sea. Rain gardens can cut down on the amount of pollution reaching creeks and streams by up to 30%.

Contents:

50% Blue Wildrye, 15% Native Red Fescue, 10% Meadow Barley, 10% Western Mannagrass, 10% American Sloughgrass, 5% Tufted Hairgrass

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EcoLawn Seed mix:

59% Perennial Ryegrass
15% Azure Sheep Fescue
8% Dutch White Clover
4% Strawberry Clover
3% Sweet Alyssum Carpet

Use nitrogen-fixing plants to fertilize your lawn without polluting our watersheds and enjoy a lush green lawn all summer long that doesn’t require nearly as much water.

See our other seeds here

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Western Pollinator Wildflower Mix

This mix contains a balanced blend of native annuals and perennials that provide nectar and pollen to our native pollinators throughout the growing season.

A wildflower is a flower that grows in the wild, meaning it was not intentionally seeded or planted. Yet “wildflower” meadows of a few mixed species are sold in seed packets. The term implies that the plant probably is neither a hybrid nor a selected cultivar that is in any way different from the way it appears in the wild as a native plant, even if it is growing where it would not naturally. The term can refer to the flowering plant as a whole, even when not in bloom, and not just the flower.

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Honey Bee Wildflower Mix – This mix is a blend of annual and perennial flowers that provide nectar and pollen to honey bees.  These flowers are proven favorites of honeybees in our gardens and will provide bee forage all season long.

This mix is ideal for honey beekeepers and others interested in honeybee health.  This mix can be used in garden beds, borders, and other maintained areas. Help the bees by providing them with a diverse source of nectar all season long! The list of crops that are pollinated by honey bees is endless – including fruits, berries, nuts, clovers, alfalfa, canola, and many vegetables.

See our other seeds here

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This selection of white clover has tiny leaves and is not nearly as aggressive as the Dutch White Clover. This is the perfect plant to green up your lawn the way nature intended. Provides nitrogen to your grass and is not clump forming like larger clovers tend to be. It also stays green throughout the summer and longer into the winter because of its deep root system.

Before broadleaf herbicides were sprayed on nearly every lawn throughout the country, the quality of a lawn seed mix was based on how much clover was in it! Let’s return to using ecologically appropriate tools to maintain a green place to play instead of using expensive chemicals. The seeds from microclover are very tiny so a little bit goes a long ways.  1 pound covers 1000 square feet but seeding rates vary based on what percentage clover you want in your lawn.

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Common Vetch is another great nitrogen fixer from the Pea family! Vetch is an economical cover crop that has beautiful purple pea flowers all summer long.

Vicia sativa, known as the common vetch, garden vetch, tare or simply vetch is a nitrogen fixing leguminous plant in the family Fabaceae. Although considered a weed when found growing in a cultivated grain field, this hardy plant is often grown as green manure or livestock fodder.

Vicia sativa is a sprawling annual herb, with hollow, four-sided, hairless to sparsely hairy stems which can reach two meters in maximum length.

The leaves are stipulate, alternate and compound, each made up of 3 to 8 opposite pairs of linear, lance-shaped, oblong, or wedge-shaped, needle-tipped leaflets up to 3.5 centimeters long. Each compound leaf ends in a branched tendril.

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Trifolium repens, the white clover (also known as Dutch clover, Ladino clover, or Ladino), is a herbaceous perennial plant in the bean family Fabaceae. It is native to Europe and central Asia. One of the most widely cultivated types of clover, it has been widely introduced worldwide as a forage crop, and is now also common in most grassy areas (lawns and gardens) of North America and New Zealand. The species includes varieties often classed as small, intermediate and large, according to height, which reflects petiole length. The term “white clover” is applied to the species in general, “Dutch clover” is often applied to intermediate varieties (but sometimes to smaller varieties), and “ladino clover” is applied to large varieties.

Application Rate: 4 lbs. per acre

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