Colossal Garden Gardening Kit
A themed gardening kit containing 6 seed varieties in a keepsake box letterpress printed in Portland, Oregon by Egg Press.
- Trombonico Squash
- Sakurajima Mammoth Radish
- Red Noodle Bean
- Dill’s Atlantic Giant Pumpkin
- King of the Garden Lima Bean
- Suyo Long Cucumber
It’s not magic -- these are nature’s own giant vegetables!
Get your rulers out because you’ll want to measure these giants that appear to grow right before your eyes. Prepare to feel like a super gardener! You'll need plenty of space and support for climbers to grow these whoppers.
GROWING INSTRUCTIONS:
Tromboncino Squash--Tromboncino, also known as zucchetta rampicante and Tromba d’Abenga is, in a word, hilarious. You won’t believe these curvy trombone-shaped pale green fruits. You could be satisfied growing them just as curiosities but they’re also delicious! And you have three chances to eat them--as squash blossoms (stuffed with cream cheese, yummy!), as a sweet and nutty zucchini raw or cooked, OR left on the vine to harden off to eat as a Winter squash. I’ve even had them candied. A word of warning--these are BIG plants that can engulf a large area so be prepared to give them some room or grow them up a trellis. Plant 4-5 seeds at a depth of 1” in mounds amended with a few handfuls of compost. When plants are a few inches high remove all but the 1 or 2 very strongest looking ones.
Orient Wonder Yard Long Bean--Amazing green beans, sometimes called asparagus or yard-long beans, that can grow, as you might be suspecting, to be a yard long! They are tastiest when harvested at about 10” though. Sow 1 seed every 4”-6” at an inch deep and provide something for these guys to climb on. They like warmth and full sun.
Painted Serpent Cucumber--A long and curling striped green cucumber also known as Striped Armenian cucumber. Plant at ½” deep spaced 6-8” apart, or scatter the seeds in a row and thin once the plants emerge. This one is very tender and sweet and looks amazing in the salad bowl. Give it warm soil, sunshine, and ample water (a nice blanket of compost will be appreciated too) and reap the rewards!
Dill’s Atlantic Giant Pumpkin--Meet the Big Daddy of pumpkins! Are you ready to grow a pumpkin large enough for Cinderella to ride in? This is the variety that often takes the blue ribbon for “Largest Pumpkin” at the County Fair. Though they get big enough without special treatment the trick to growing really HUGE fruits is to provide lots of sun, water, and compost and to remove all but the strongest plant and the biggest pumpkin. That’s right, we’re going for quality, not quantity here. Plant 3-4 seeds in a mound of soil and once the plants emerge, select the tallest one and weed out the rest. As the vine grows pick off all flower buds until the pumpkin vine is about 10 feet long. Then allow the plant to flower and develop pumpkins. After a few weeks remove all but the largest single pumpkin. Turn your pumpkin frequently so it doesn’t grow lopsided and when it gets really large you can roll it onto a piece of cardboard to keep it off the dirt. Harvest it after the first frost has caused the vines to turn brown and wither. Dill’s isn’t just a spectacle, it’s also good eating. You can cook up enough pumpkin pie to feed a small village!
Superschmelz Kohlrabi--Super weird! Super fun! Super yummy! Superschmelz! Kohlrabi is sweet, mild, and crunchy, like a cross between cabbage and broccoli and just like those is good cooked or eaten raw. Sow seeds 1/4" deep at least 6” apart either in early Spring or late Summer for a Fall harvest. Keep well watered if you want to grow your kohlrabi as large as your head.
King of the Garden Lima Bean--An old heirloom from 1883. The King is going to want his own trellis or strong support as he’ll likely grow to 10’ tall and become heavy with vines. Plant as soon as the soil has warmed 1 inch deep and 4 inches apart. Delicious, easy to grow, and easy for small hands to harvest. PIck fresh when pale green and plump or allow to vines to dry and shell white beans for storing.
A themed gardening kit containing 6 seed varieties in a keepsake box letterpress printed in Portland, Oregon by Egg Press.
- Trombonico Squash
- Sakurajima Mammoth Radish
- Red Noodle Bean
- Dill’s Atlantic Giant Pumpkin
- King of the Garden Lima Bean
- Suyo Long Cucumber
It’s not magic -- these are nature’s own giant vegetables!
Get your rulers out because you’ll want to measure these giants that appear to grow right before your eyes. Prepare to feel like a super gardener! You'll need plenty of space and support for climbers to grow these whoppers.
GROWING INSTRUCTIONS:
Tromboncino Squash--Tromboncino, also known as zucchetta rampicante and Tromba d’Abenga is, in a word, hilarious. You won’t believe these curvy trombone-shaped pale green fruits. You could be satisfied growing them just as curiosities but they’re also delicious! And you have three chances to eat them--as squash blossoms (stuffed with cream cheese, yummy!), as a sweet and nutty zucchini raw or cooked, OR left on the vine to harden off to eat as a Winter squash. I’ve even had them candied. A word of warning--these are BIG plants that can engulf a large area so be prepared to give them some room or grow them up a trellis. Plant 4-5 seeds at a depth of 1” in mounds amended with a few handfuls of compost. When plants are a few inches high remove all but the 1 or 2 very strongest looking ones.
Orient Wonder Yard Long Bean--Amazing green beans, sometimes called asparagus or yard-long beans, that can grow, as you might be suspecting, to be a yard long! They are tastiest when harvested at about 10” though. Sow 1 seed every 4”-6” at an inch deep and provide something for these guys to climb on. They like warmth and full sun.
Painted Serpent Cucumber--A long and curling striped green cucumber also known as Striped Armenian cucumber. Plant at ½” deep spaced 6-8” apart, or scatter the seeds in a row and thin once the plants emerge. This one is very tender and sweet and looks amazing in the salad bowl. Give it warm soil, sunshine, and ample water (a nice blanket of compost will be appreciated too) and reap the rewards!
Dill’s Atlantic Giant Pumpkin--Meet the Big Daddy of pumpkins! Are you ready to grow a pumpkin large enough for Cinderella to ride in? This is the variety that often takes the blue ribbon for “Largest Pumpkin” at the County Fair. Though they get big enough without special treatment the trick to growing really HUGE fruits is to provide lots of sun, water, and compost and to remove all but the strongest plant and the biggest pumpkin. That’s right, we’re going for quality, not quantity here. Plant 3-4 seeds in a mound of soil and once the plants emerge, select the tallest one and weed out the rest. As the vine grows pick off all flower buds until the pumpkin vine is about 10 feet long. Then allow the plant to flower and develop pumpkins. After a few weeks remove all but the largest single pumpkin. Turn your pumpkin frequently so it doesn’t grow lopsided and when it gets really large you can roll it onto a piece of cardboard to keep it off the dirt. Harvest it after the first frost has caused the vines to turn brown and wither. Dill’s isn’t just a spectacle, it’s also good eating. You can cook up enough pumpkin pie to feed a small village!
Superschmelz Kohlrabi--Super weird! Super fun! Super yummy! Superschmelz! Kohlrabi is sweet, mild, and crunchy, like a cross between cabbage and broccoli and just like those is good cooked or eaten raw. Sow seeds 1/4" deep at least 6” apart either in early Spring or late Summer for a Fall harvest. Keep well watered if you want to grow your kohlrabi as large as your head.
King of the Garden Lima Bean--An old heirloom from 1883. The King is going to want his own trellis or strong support as he’ll likely grow to 10’ tall and become heavy with vines. Plant as soon as the soil has warmed 1 inch deep and 4 inches apart. Delicious, easy to grow, and easy for small hands to harvest. PIck fresh when pale green and plump or allow to vines to dry and shell white beans for storing.