Dear paul,
Lidia
Bastianich, perhaps
the most famous
Italian chef in
America, writes in the
April issue of Fine
Gardening magazine
about how important
gardening is to good
cooking.
"I learned how
to garden—and
subsequently cook—from
my grandmother," she
writes. "Nonna Rosa,
who lived in Italy,
grew much of the food
that was brought into
our kitchen. It was
during this time in my
childhood that I came
to a realization: To
get the best
ingredients, sometimes
you had to plant
them."
Isn't that the
truth? The produce in
the supermarket may
look good, all shiny
and perfectly shaped,
but it never tastes as
good as the vegetables
and herbs we pick from
our own gardens.
But even more
important, many of the
best Italian
vegetables are never
found in supermarkets.
Lidia lists nine
lesser-known veggies
that she considers
essential to a true
Italian garden. We
have them all at Seeds
from Italy. You can
read her
recommendations
here.
Happy
gardening!
Dan, Laurel, and Will
Nagengast
Do your own research with samplers
 Not
sure which varieties are
best for your garden or
tastebuds? Conduct your
own trials with our
samplers. We have many
kinds of samplers that
give you a price break
compared to buying the
packets individually. At
this time of year, you
might want to look at
the Pole Bean,
Bush Bean, Borlotto
Bean, or Summer
Flowers Samplers.
We also have gift boxes
of seeds: Italian
Bestsellers or Bees &
Butterflies. Click here
to see all the options.
Free catalogs for your club
Do you belong to a
garden or Italian club?
We would be happy to
send you free catalogs
to distribute to club
members. Just email us
with the number of
catalogs you can use,
when you would like to
receive them, and the US
Postal Service address
where we should ship
them. (U.S. residents
only, please.)
And if you are
organizing an Italian
festival, let us know
and we will gladly
donate a gift
certificate or other
item for auction or door
prize. Email us
with the details or
give us a call at
785-748-0959.
Beat the bugs this year
Every spring it happens:
Just when the broccoli
and cabbage are forming
heads, small white or
yellow butterflies come
flitting around the
garden. Within a few
days, our beautiful cole
crops have little green
caterpillars. Yuck.
Micromesh Easy Tunnels
are the solution to pest
insects like cabbage
worms. The ultra fine
mesh material keeps out
almost all insects,
giving you blemish-free
produce. We now have
Micromesh Tunnels in two
sizes, Regular for most
crops and Giant for tall
crops. They are easy to
use — just remove from
the package and extend
the integrated hoops
over your row of
vegetables. Push the
hoops into the soil,
then snug down the ends.
The tunnels can be
removed and put back
into the package when
you're done with them;
with proper care, they
should last for multiple
seasons.
Only one caution about
using any kind of row
covers on your
vegetables: For crops
that require insect
pollination, such as
cucumbers and squash,
remove the cover when
the plants begin to
flower.
We also have Easy
Tunnels made of shade
cloth, which will keep
your cool-loving plants
such as lettuce and
arugula going longer
into the summer.
Mother's Day is May 8
Dan's mom always used to
say, "If you smell good,
you look good."
We can't promise we look
good, but we do smell
good, thanks to the
Italian soaps we use
daily. We have an
extensive selection of
fruit, vegetable, and
herbal soaps from Nesti
Dante and Green
Paradise. We have
added several new
varieties just in time
for Mother's Day gifts.
Pictured above is the Romantica
Gift Set of six
fragranced soaps
packaged in a clear box.
We also have two of the
soaps in this collection
as single bars: Noble
Cherry Blossom &
Basil and Tuscan
Lavender &
Verbena.
 In
addition, there are
three new Le Deliziose
soaps, which are smaller
bars and more
economical: Fig,
Lavender,
and Peach.
Love those striped
packages, too!
For those who don't like
fragrance, we now offer
Nesti Dante's ultra-pure
natural soap, Il
Purissimo. All
vegetable, nothing
artificial, very
moisturizing and gentle
on the skin.
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