{"title":"Fugitive Seed Project","description":"Grown by Chris Keeve in Central Kentucky. Seeds for the chaotic good.","products":[{"product_id":"golden-red-amaranth","title":"Golden Red Amaranth","description":"\u003cp\u003eGolden Amaranth was gathered in 1978 in a door-yard garden near Rinconada, New Mexico by \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/www.nativeseeds.org\/\"\u003eNative Seeds\/SEARCH\u003c\/a\u003e and I received seed from Miguel Santisteven when I was visiting him and his family in Taos a few years back. We wanted to see how it would adapt to Philly. It is gorgeous, and has spinach-like young greens as well as protein-packed golden seeds, which are great as porridge and incorporated into tortillas. It turns out his variety had some crossing with Hopi Red and\/or Elephant Head amaranths giving the flowers maroon tips. Miguel says: \"I like promiscuity in plants, I believe that gives Nature a chance to express herself as she wants.\" Rowen White of the \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/nativefoodalliance.org\/indigenous-seedkeepers-network\/\"\u003eIndigenous Seed Keepers Network\u003c\/a\u003e adds that \"Landraces that are full of different expressions is where our resilience is at\". Grow this variable beauty in your garden and allow it to adapt to your soil and climate. In addition to great culinary uses, amaranth is a great distraction for cucumber beetles - they prefer it. I plant it throughout my squash and cucumber patches, and in turn, it also makes a beautiful backdrop to the seed garden.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eDays to maturity:\u003c\/strong\u003e 100-110\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSeeds per pack:\u003c\/strong\u003e 400\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eGermination rate:\u003c\/strong\u003e 88% on 06\/25\/2026\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003ePlanting \/ harvesting notes\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAmaranth is an extremely self-sufficient crop. Expect germination between 10-20 days, and fast growth after that. At this point on our farm, amaranth has seeded itself enough that we harvest many young, tender plants whole at 12\" as a way of thinning, but the plants we allow to mature are given about 2' space in each direction. Mature plants have deep pink taproots that allow them to go long periods of time without watering, and shoot up thick, bushy branches.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003eSeed keeping notes\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAmaranth is wind pollinated. Isolate by a minimum of 500 feet or cover the flowers with corn tassel bags to prevent unwanted cross pollination with other amaranths. Seeds are ready when they start dropping from the seed head, which matures after the flower dies back. You can cut the whole seed head and hang it to dry and mature further in a dry, ventilated place, or you can shake it while still on the plant every day or two, as the seeds ripen at different times starting from the bottom to the tip. Either way, shake the plant in a bucket to release the seeds. Use a strainer to sift out the larger chaff. Use your breath, wind, or fans to winnow off lighter weight chaff.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Fugitive Seed Project","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":3441702928424,"sku":"AMAR-002","price":5.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/2406\/3467\/products\/goldenredamaranthfloweringSQUARE_1c5ddd78-edd3-48fa-95a2-d552909db498.jpg?v=1571609433"},{"product_id":"rouge-et-noir-field-pea","title":"Rouge et Noir Field Pea","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003c\/em\u003eA Southern pea aptly named \"Red and Black\" in French, this heirloom cowpea hails from Washington Parrish, Louisiana. Southern Exposure Seed Exchange writes that this variety has large seeds that are red when fresh and black when dried, and that it is similar to Peking Black, but produces earlier. William Woys Weaver notes that these peas are traditionally cooked with lima beans and green peanuts in Louisiana. Weaver himself describes them as long (about 10 ½ inches), shelly beans with up to 18 seeds per pod, a very productive, drought tolerant bush type that produces runners. In his book \"100 Vegetables and Where They Come From,\" Weaver also notes that the fresh, young pods are lovely snap beans or as an accompanying ingredient in okra soup, and that they have commonly been toasted and mixed with roasted chicory root as a coffee substitute. These seeds have been grown from those which originally made their way to William Woys Weaver from the Lang family of Washington Parrish, LA, who kept up this variety for many years.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eDays to maturity:\u003c\/strong\u003e 63\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSeeds per pack:\u003c\/strong\u003e 50\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eGermination rate:\u003c\/strong\u003e \u003cspan\u003e39% (total viability: 97%) on 11\/12\/2025 \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e(\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/trueloveseeds.sbs\/pages\/faq\/#seedviability\" title=\"What is the difference between germination rate and total viability?\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eread more about viability\u003c\/a\u003e)\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003ePlanting \/ harvesting notes\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDirect sow black-eyed peas safely after frost, any time between late May and mid-July. This is a climbing vine crop, so it needs to be planted next to a structure or trellis. Plant 1\" deep with 3-4\" spacing, either in 1 row on each side of the net trellis or in another arrangement if using a different kind of trellis, like a pole or garden sculpture. Being a legume, it does fairly well in poor soils and adds nitrogen to improve them.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003eSeed keeping notes\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBlack-eyed peas are self-pollinating, though it is best to isolate different varieties of V. unguiculata (including black-eyed peas, southern peas, cowpeas, and long beans) at least 20 feet, if not much farther to avoid unwanted cross-pollination. Allow beans to dry fully into a brown crispy state. This is when they are ready to harvest for seed. If necessary, lay them out to dry a little longer in their pods.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Fugitive Seed Project","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":39655761445022,"sku":"VIG-017","price":5.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/2406\/3467\/products\/RougeetNoirFieldPea2.jpg?v=1618522791"},{"product_id":"della-sorghum","title":"Della Sorghum","description":"\u003cp\u003eDella is an earlier maturing, mid-season sweet sorghum variety with good disease resistance, great syrup quality, and slightly variable height (10-12'). Della matures about one week earlier than Dale and about 6 days later than \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/trueloveseeds.sbs\/products\/sugar-drip-sweet-sorghum\"\u003eSugar Drip\u003c\/a\u003e. It is listed as a sweet sorghum best adapted for Kentucky, where our friend and grower Chris Keeve of Fugitive Seed Project saved these seeds for our catalog.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBob Harrison of Virginia Polytechnic Institute developed this strain as a backcross of Dale Sorghum with a sorghum called ‘ATX622’ to select for early maturity while maintaining some disease resistance, and introduced it in 1991. Compared to Dale, Della plants are more likely to fall over, more variable in plant height, and similar to Dale in syrup quality - but one week earlier!\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSorghum is an African species grown now throughout much of the Southern US for several purposes, including syrup and grain production.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eDays to maturity:\u003c\/strong\u003e 115\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSeeds per pack:\u003c\/strong\u003e 350\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eGermination rate:\u003c\/strong\u003e 91% on 01\/21\/2025\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003ePlanting \/ harvesting notes\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDirect seed 1\/4\" into well-drained soil once the danger of frost has passed. Thin to 8\"-12\" in row, rows 24-30\" apart. Needs full sun and thrives in warm climates. Best to harvest cane for molasses when seed head has turned from the milk stage to soft dough and the external color from green to a purplish-red.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003eSeed keeping notes\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhile sorghum is generally self pollinating, people concerned with unwanted cross pollination should isolate various varieties of \u003cem\u003eS. bicolor\u003c\/em\u003e (including Johnson grass) by 990 feet. Alternatively, you can plant your different sorghums closer together and bag the plants' tassels when they emerge with weather resistant corn tassel bags, or with paper bags in drier climates. Allowing the seed heads to reach the hard dough stage is best when harvesting for seed.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Fugitive Seed Project","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44062764728558,"sku":"SORG-004","price":5.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/2406\/3467\/products\/DellaSorghum_1.jpg?v=1677531317"}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/2406\/3467\/collections\/FugitiveSeedProject_ChrisKeeve.jpg?v=1674054234","url":"https:\/\/trueloveseeds.sbs\/collections\/fugitive-seed-project.oembed","provider":"Truelove Seeds","version":"1.0","type":"link"}