Seeds

Available for shipping: this is where I will be offering seeds of a variety of fruit trees & other food producing plants.

Right now I just have a couple items available, but this listing should expand over the course of 2023.

Kadushi, Cereus repandus (peruvianus)

I’m getting increasingly excited about kadushi cactus (aka Peruvian apple cactus) as a good quality fruiting plant for North Florida and other warm climate areas. Fruits are very similar to dragon fruit in appearance and somewhat in flavor. Texture of the flesh is like watermelon, almost fluffy with pleasant little bits of crunch, taste is like kiwifruit mixed with floral notes of roses and violets.

Grows into a multi-branched cactus “shrub”. In my area usually not more than about nine feet (3m) tall. Unlike dragon fruit, this is a self-supporting plant which does not require a trellis. Also unlike dragon fruit, this species can handle freezing temps, down to roughly 20F (this probably varies from seedling to seedling).

Flavor varies from clone to clone. I have a small collection of clones, which I have been evaluating. Some consistently have better tasting fruits than others. I am saving seed from the best tasting plants, and planting out the seed, for another generation of selection. I am making available some of that seed from plants with the best flavored fruits.

Kadushi, Cereus repandus, seed from select good tasting cvrs, $10 postpaid, about 30 seeds/packet. Shipped to US addresses only. DM to order.

Tropical Lettuce aka Indian lettuce, Lactuca indica

This is a true lettuce, in genus Lactuca, which unlike common lettuces can handle the steamy tropical conditions of Florida’s summers. One of the few summer greens which is good eaten raw in a salad (at least to my taste). Can also handle at least some frost. Can sometimes be slightly bitter, especially if the plant is stressed. I find the bitterness kind of pleasant – it’s less bitter than common vegetables like radicchio and Italian dandelion.

Despite the name, Lactuca india is native to China and Southeast Asia. Some sources describe this species as perennial, but the form I have is strictly annual. See my articles on Lactuca indica here and here.

Extremely rare. I might be the only source in the USA for this species at the moment.

Tropical lettuce, Lactua indica, $10 postpaid, about 30 seeds/packet. Shipped to US addresses only. DM to order.