Did you know you can still plant in your garden in June? Odds are good you’ve already transplanted your tomatoes and peppers and harvested lettuce or other greens to serve up fresh for dinner. Yes, your garden has sprung to life, but if you’re interested in more than just weeding and watering, plenty of crops are still ripe for planting in many regions of the United States.
Seed Savers Exchange marks 50 years in 2025, and there’s a lot to celebrate—including 16 new seed varieties in our special-edition catalog (seven exclusively from the SSE collection).
For some folks, harvest season brings hours and hours of canning, freezing, and drying to preserve crops for the colder months ahead. But if you’re looking for a crop that stores well all on its own, look no further than winter squash! Winter squash are versatile, nutritious, and can store for months.
Hand-pollination of squash ensures that the plants produce true-to-type seed and that the flowers are not contaminated by the pollen from another variety when the required isolation distance is impractical. Because the large male and female blossoms are easily distinguished, hand-pollinating squash can be easy for gardeners of all skill levels.
The latest Seed Savers Exchange catalog includes 20 new seed varieties and two new seed collections for 2024, and they promise to be popular picks of gardeners everywhere!
Lovers of unique heirloom pumpkins can thank the late Wayne Fortna of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, for the delicious, productive, and truly beautiful ‘Fortna White’ pumpkin. Seed Savers Exchange is thrilled to introduce the ‘Fortna White’ as a featured From the Collection variety in 2024.
Rustic Zucchini Crust Pizza, submitted by Amy Goldman, special advisor to the SSE board and author; recipe from The Compleat Squash: A Passionate Grower’s Guide to Pumpkins, Squashes, and Gourds. This rustic repast is something like a frittata but not quite as eggy. It is cooked in the oven like a pizza rather than on top of the stove. My daughter won’t eat zucchini in any other form.
Baked Zucchini Stuffed with Chouriço and Cream Cheese by Jen Miller of Jen Reviews. This particular zucchini dish uses young, tender zucchinis. Just a little trim on each end and a quick scrape with a spoon to remove the seeds, and they’re ready to be filled and popped into the oven.
One of our most popular vegetables, heirloom squash is a versatile crop for growing in gardens year in and year out. Learn how to grow and save squash seeds.
Colache (Summer Squash, Mexican Style) submitted by Joan Weed “This recipe is a stovetop sauté of corn, tomatoes, summer squash, and onion in butter,” says Joan. “It seems ordinary, but it is fresh, delicious, and colorful too.”