Tomato varieties (We are always on the hunt for better tasting and more disease- and heat-resistant tomato varieties for the farm.  Many nationally-popular varieties do not perform well in Oklahoma, which is why you may see a long list of unfamiliar names here.)

• ​"Big Beef": large beefsteak tomato; meaty with full flavor

• "Jet Star": medium red slicer; popular for decades in the southern U.S.; reliable; classic slicing tomato taste

• "Early Girl": small slicing tomato that is a consistent producer in a wide range of weather conditions

• "Old Virginia": we tried Old Virginia for the first time in 2023 after discovering it in an heirloom seed catalog, where its old-time flavor and heat tolerance were praised; medium productivity for us in 2023, but its excellent flavor has us trying it again

• "Early Abe Lincoln": another new trial for us in our hunt for varieties with classic tomato flavor and heat resistance; unproven for us at Peace of Prairie, but has a good reputation in other areas of the South

• "Celebrity Plus": productive determinate; great flavor; a more disease resistant breed of old-time favorite "Celebrity"

• "Cherokee Purple": popular heirloom semi-determinate: produces well early but tends to shut down by late summer; gorgeous, super tasty large purple fruits

• "Arkansas Traveler": medium pink slicer with excellent flavor and good productivity for an heirloom under most conditions; like most pink tomatoes, Arkansas Traveler is sweeter (less acidic) and softer than a typical red slicing tomato

• "Striped German": very large yellow fruits with red stripes; beautiful fruit; not highly productive but worth the trouble

• "Valencia": meaty, super tasty yellow-orange fruit on a very disease-resistant plant

• "Supersweet 100": very tasty, reliable red cherry tomato plant

• "SunSugar": hybrid orange-yellow cherry tomato; our first year trialing SunSugar; chosen based on its reputation of excellent flavor and resistance to splitting

• "Juliet": plum-size tomato with very meaty texture; great for sauces, salsas, and fresh eating

High performance varieties: there are several crops (tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, squash, watermelon especially) for which breeders have, over time, developed varieties that are so consistently productive, tasty, and disease-resistant that they know they've got something special.  The seeds for these extra-special performing varieties are expensive (up to $2.00/seed for some pepper and tomato varieties!).  You won't see these varieties for sale as plants in most nurseries--certainly not in a big box store.  However, there's no reason they can't be available to the backyard gardener, so we make some of our favorites (the ones that have proven to be worth the extra seed cost) available here:

• "Caiman": improved hybrid indeterminate; our favorite variety on the farm for its productivity and beautiful tasty fruit

• "Rubee Dawn": we loved Rubee Dawn in our first try last year; it produces small red slicers with deep red color and excellent taste

• "Damsel": pink slicer with the rich, meaty flavor and texture of an heirloom, but the disease-resistance and productivity of a hybrid​

• "Sakura": the tomato seed I order in September to make sure I have it for the following year; we love Sakura for its productivity and excellent-tasting cherry tomatoes; fruits are an extra large cherry early in the season, then a more typical size later

​Pepper varieties​

• "Olympus": consistent producer of sweet green bell peppers that turn red if left on the vine​

• "Golden Calwonder": beautiful and reliable heirloom bell pepper; start green and turn yellow if left on the vine

• "Banana": a sweet, banana-colored pepper that turns red and sweeter if left on the plant; very easy to grow

• "HMS Picnic": baby bells that are extra sweet for snacking; very easy to grow

• "Early Jalapeno": loads of jalapenos that start green and turn red

• "Aji Chinchi Amarillo": beautiful 3" orange peppers that grow abundantly; medium spiciness

• "Super Chili": loads of small green-to-red peppers on compact, bush-type plants

• Cayenne: medium-hot, long skinny peppers; green to start, then red when fully mature (this is when they're spiciest)

• Habanero: a green-to-red habanero; very hot, especially when red!

Cucurbits (all species of cucumber, squash, and melon)

• Crookneck squash: plants will be of several varieties that grow well on the farm

• Zucchini: plants will be of several varieties that grow well on the farm

• "Marketmore": classic American slicing cucumber; grows well under a variety of conditions

• "Supremo": Supremo has become our favorite pickling cucumber variety to grow in the open field all summer long; loads of blocky pickling-type cucumbers that are great for pickling and for fresh eating

• "Blacktail Mountain": our favorite from when we used to grow watermelons; produces a very sweet, red-fleshed melon that is medium in size and dark green on the outside​

• Cantaloupe: plants will be of several varieties that grow well on the farm

• Multipik yellow squash: very productive and disease-resistant; one of our go-to varieties for yellow squash

• "Manny": burpless small slicer with thin skin; very productive

Basil ​

• Italian basil: the standard for making pesto and adding to sauces

• Siam Queen Thai basil: gorgeous plants with shiny leaves and strong stems; liquorice-like flavor commonly used in Asian cuisine

• Cardinal Thail basil: impressive large, burgundy flowers and a strong scent make this variety an excellent choice as an ornamental basil that can also be used in the kitchen; similar flavor to Siam Queen

• Greek basil: adorable dwarf plants that keep a compact, clean shape all summer; small leaves with great flavor; plant this if you want basil in a pot and only use a little now and then (or if you just want a cute little plant that smells great)

Summer flower mix: a jumbo 6-pack of bright summer flowers that are easy to grow (zinnias, brown-eyed Susan, compact branching sunflower ("Teddy Bear"), and others when available