Recipes, skills & wisdom from American History
And they have been for years. I bought myself some seed catalogs from the years of WWII to see what kinds of things they were growing in their Victory Gardens. Some things looked familiar like Danvers carrots. Others were a mystery! Like the below picture for “Chicken Lettuce”. This was a poultry crop meant to be grazed by chickens. I have yet to locate any actual seeds. Sadly, this original packet didn’t come with any either.
It appears in earlier catalogs, but in my 1942 Woods Tested Seeds catalog it describes Chicken Lettuce as:
“Unlike any you have ever grown, one that will yield more chicken feed than any plant grown for greens. Three to four feet high; loaded with leaves that may be pulled like kale. After cutting it keeps on growing.”
Doesn’t that sound amazing? I wish I could find the seeds!
An article/podcast episode for The Atlantic talked about this very thing. It’s called “The Most Delicious Foods That No Longer Exist.” You can check it out HERE.
It got me wondering what varieties from wartime are still around? If I wanted to grow an authentic 1940s garden, what seeds would I buy? This is fun history-wise, but it’s also useful to know for museums or historical homes centered around this time period.
Back during the pandemic, if you were interested in gardening you might remember the seed shortage. Seeds, plants, and fruit trees were all being bought up by people stuck at home worried about food security and rising prices. In wartime, they had a similar seed supply problem. More people were being encouraged to create Victory gardens so farmers could focus on larger crops. Bad seed harvests also led to scarcities. The most notorious shortage was for onions due to a failed seed crop.
Here is a list of vegetable seeds you can grow that I compiled. This is not a comprehensive list. I just chose a small variety of each type of vegetable. If there’s one you’re curious about that’s not listed here, please let me know!
The name of the plant is linked to a site where the seeds can be purchased, but feel free to shop around! I tried to choose a wide variety of seed companies. You might discover some new favorites.
Next to the plant variety is the original 1942 description from my wartime seed catalogs.
Washington (Mary Washington)- The leading variety grown by market gardeners.
Green Globe – Grown for the underdeveloped flowerheads which are cooked like asparagus. Hardy in Virginia and further south; lasts for years.
Tendergreen Stringless – So tender and snappy it fairly melts in your mouth! Excellent for home garden or market. Pod: 6 inches long, round fleshy, dark green, stringless and of fine quality. A very heavy yielder. Seed: brown, blotched with light fawn.
Burpee’s Stringless Green Pod – Gardeners and canners like this stringless and fiberless bean for its excellent quality. It sells readily on the market, and for cut beans for canning, it can’t be beat. Pod: 6 inches long, medium green, round. Seed: coffee brown.
Bountiful – A bountiful yielder of delicious, extra early, green, stringless bean. For home garden and for early market, Bountiful is unsurpassed. Pod: 6 3/4 inches long, flat, stringless and of fine quality. Seed: yellow straw colored.
Kentucky Wonder (Old Homestead) – The most popular pole bean grown. A splendid canner. Wil bear heavily all summer if kept picked. Pods are 8 inches long, silvery green, practically round, of good quality and very brittle. Seeds are buff brown.
Fat Horse or White Creaseback – One of the earliest and most productive pole beans, bearing round, fleshy pods in large clusters. The seeds are pure white.
Wren’s Egg or Speckled Cranberry (October or Horticultural)- The pods are 5 1/2 to 6 inches long and when young are stringless; one of the most generally grown pole beans, for shelling when green, and for drying for winter. Splendid for baking. (Originated in the UK.)
Scarlet Runners – Useful as a vegetable and for ornamental purposes, producing sprays of bright scarlet flowers.
Red Kidney or Chili Bean – Everyone likes the delicious, tangy flavor of hot Mexican Chili Con Carne! Anyone can grow these delicious red Chili Beans. They are of excellent quality for dry bean use. Pods: 6 inches long, flat, waxy green. Seeds: reddish brown.
Great Northern – Better for baking and cooking than any navy bean, as it cooks in two-thirds of the time, and is of much better flavor. Beans are larger than common navy beans.
Robust Navy – Plants are of decidedly robust growth. Beans are clear white.
Early Wonder – First on the early market. A splendid shipping variety. Similar in quality to Winesap (Sadly, I couldn’t find the Winesap Beet!). Roots are blood red with small taproot. Flesh is blood red with lighter zones, tender and of good quality. Tops are medium small.
Early Blood Turnip – One of the best for home use or for market gardeners. Tops medium small, but fairly coarse. Roots turnip-shaped, dark red. Flesh bright red with zones of lighter shade.
Detroit Dark Red – The outstanding late variety for truckers, produce shippers, canners and home gardeners. A most popular, real quality beet. Roots are globular, smooth, uniform, attractive, with small taproot. Flesh is deep oxblood red, with indistinct zones. Splendid quality, sweet and tender, without any trace of woodiness.
Crosby’s Egyptian – Crosby’s is a combination of earliness, good shape, good color, red flesh, very sweet and tender. We have a splendidly bred pedigreed stock that is early, has fine shape and color, and we believe, cannot be surpassed for quality.
Calabrese Green Sprouting – Clusters of sprouts are produced which should be cut when fully developed. Continues to produce sprouts throughout a long season. These should be cut regularly. Easy to grow.
Copenhagen Market – About as early as Charleston Wakefield and only about a week later than Golden Acre, yet it has good size for so early a cabbage; about 6 to 8 pounds; nearly round, tightly folded and short stemmed. The quality is equal to that of any early cabbage; fine grained and tender; the hearts are pure white.
Wong Bok – We regard Wong Box as the most desirable of all the petsais. The rich creamy white heads are tightly folded.
Mammoth Rock Red – The largest and surest heading red cabbage and the best for picking. The heads are large, round, very solid and attractive.
Perfection Drumhead Savoy – Should be grown in every garden. No other winter cabbage can compare with it in flavor, particularly after it has been touched by frost when it is equal to cauliflower. If you grow them once you will never want to be without them. To have the finest solid hard heads do not plant till May, June or early in July, as it will not head up hard during very hot weather.
Danver’s Half Long – A most popular and reliable carrot for home and market gardening. Easily harvested, a good keeper and an excellent shipper. Roots: 7 inches long, tapered to a blunt end. Flesh: bright orange, tender and of a good quality.
Red Core Chantenay – A desirable carrot of good color, valuable for canning and also for market growers. Roots deep reddish-orange, 5 1/2 to 6 inches long, 2 1/4-inches thick at shoulder, tapered. Core reddish-orange, very inconspicuous. Flesh: fine-grained and tender with a sweet delicate flavor.
Oxheart or Guerande – Desirable for home use, prolific and a good keeper. When fully mature used for stock feeding. Excellent table quality when young. Roots: 4 to 5 inches long, 2 1/2-inch shoulder; bright orange, thick, blunt-ended, heart shaped.
Imperator – A little longer than Danvers, but holds its thickness to the tap-root better than most long carrots, being almost cylindrical for the first six inches, then tapering to a semi-blunt end. The roots are 7 to 8 inches long; the rich orange flesh extends to the center of the root and through the small, indistinct core. It is fine grained, tender and of fine quality.
Autumn Giant – Admirably adapted for growing for fall heading. The heads are large and white and remain long fit for use. Plant in May or June and grow like late cabbage.
Early Snowball – Most widely used early variety. Plants are dwarf with short, p ale green leaves. A dependable header. Although extra early, it can be planted for late fall and winter use. There is none to equal it in value for forcing under glass for a winter crop. Head: 6 to 7 inches thick, of medium size, firm, compact, solid, pure white, and of finest quality.
Golden Self Blanching – Best for early table use, and most popular for market. Bleaches as well as any yellow variety, compact. The heart is rich golden yellow, with light yellowish green outer stalks and leaves. Stalks are broad and heavy, but remarkably crisp and tender, entirely free form stringiness and of fine flavor.
Giant Pascal – The large, thick stalks are crisp, of rich, nutty flavor and blanch easily and quickly. The heart is creamy yellow. It is an ideal celery for late fall and winter and keeps splendidly. It is a selection from Golden Self-Blanching and inherits many of its fine qualities and keeps better. It blanches easily, makes large extra heavy stalks with very large hearts.
Early Sunshine – Another noteworthy development of the North Dakota Experiment Station. An early yellow, variety, with a larger ear, and about 5 days ahead of Golden Bantam. Highly priced by market growers and excellent for home garden. Flavor, tenderness and quality are superb. Ear: 7 inches long; kernels golden yellow, sweet, tender and of good flavor. (This one disappeared from the market in the 1990s, but Victory Seed Company has re-released it!)
Black Mexican – An exceptionally sweet, tender corn. Ears medium sized, kernels white turning black at maturity.
Country Gentleman – Medium ears densely packed with irregular rows of slender, white kernels.
Golden Bantam – Rather small ears but the plump, rich, creamy-yellow kernels are tender and delicious.
South American or Dynamite – A real pop corn sensation—pops the largest kernels of any variety —has a rich golden butter color—very fine flavor—crisp and tender. The ears are much larger than other varieties—7 to 9 inches long and the kernels are golden yellow color. It is the most profitable variety to grow as it produces more bushels per acre on account of its large ears. This pop corn is of South American origin.
Rice – Pops pre white; the quality is excellent; very tender.
Tom Thumb (Baby Rice) – Ears 2 1/2 to 4 3/4 in. long, well filled with deep, narrow kernels which pop snowy white.
White Spine – Attractive, long, straight fruits of a moderately dark green color. 7 to 8 inches long and 2 1/2 in. thick, with square, blocky ends. Flesh is white, crisp, and solid. Splendid for slicing or dill pickles. Extremely productive.
A & C – The white-spined fruits grow about 10 in. in length and 2 1/4 in. thick, well rounded at the ends and dark green throughout. The rich, dark green color is retained for an unusually long time after picking—an especially desirable feature for those sending their cucumbers to market. This characteristic, together with ideal shape, size and quality, make A and C valuable for the home garden as well as for market. White, crisp flesh of delicious flavor.
The Longfellow – Ideal for home garden, forcing or shipping. One of the best long, late varieties. Excellent quality. Perfectly uniform, long, slender shape. Fruit: 12 to 15 inches long, 2 3/4 inches thick; weight 2 3/4 lbs., dark green, symmetrical and attractive. Holds color and crispness well after picking.
Davis Perfect – (the link is for a variety “Early Fortune” selected from Davis Perfect which is now believed to be extinct) An excellent mid-season variety for shipping or home table use. Splendid quality and appearance. Fruit: 9 to 10 inches long, 2 1/2 inches thick, weight 2 lbs.; dark green, tapered at both ends; flesh crisp and of good quality.
Oak Leaf – Shaped like a oak leaf, deep green in color and therefore exceptionally rich in vitamins, tender and of superior flavor. Oak Leaf stands up well in hot weather and does not turn bitter.
Black Seeded Simpson – Early and dependable in all parts of America. Popular in many home and market gardens. Plant is large, attractive, compact, non-heading. Leaves are light green, broad and frilled; of fine, crisp texture and quality.
Prizehead – A very early, quick growing, non-heading sort which is rapidly becoming the most popular loose-leaf variety for home gardens. Leaves are broad, crumpled and frilled; outside leaves tinged red, inner leaves wholly green; very crisp, sweet and tender.
White Paris – Considered the finest of all lettuces in flavor. Famous chefs prefer it for salad because of its tenderness and delicious flavor. Self-folding, with dark green leaves forming oval shaped heads with greenish-white interior. The entire plant is tender and palatable.
Dixie Queen Watermelon – A new early melon of excellent quality. It is semi-round, with a thin tough rind and stands shipping. The color is light green alternately striped with dark green. Weight about 32 pounds. The flesh is deep pink and the few seeds are small and white. One of the sweetest melons.
Citron Melon – For making preserves. Flesh: clear white and solid. Fruit: round and smooth, quite small. (See this page from Seeds of Diversity for some background on this interesting melon!)
Hearts of Gold – Grown extensively by market gardeners. A good shipping type. Follows the earlier varieties. Quality is splendid. Fruit: 6 inches thick, practically round, covered with fine netting. Flesh: very thick, deep pink, tender, juicy, sweet and aromatic.
Golden Gopher Musk Melon – Just released by Minnesota Experiment Station is this early Golden Muskmelon, of the Pride of Wisconsin type. Its thick, fine flavored, yellow flesh is luscious to the very rind. Golden Gopher has light to medium heavy netting, is semi oval-shaped and fusarium wilt resistant. Sugar test is above average and seed cavity small. A winner for early market. Seed supply limited—order early. (1942)
Southport Red Globe – The finest red onion. We offer our special strain of Red Globe produced by years of careful breeding. The perfect globe type is thoroughly established in this variety resulting in bulbs of the most uniform shape and attractive appearance. They are highly productive and fine keepers. Bulbs: perfectly round, of good size, with small neck and thick, deep purplish red skin. Flesh: white, tinged with pink, of strong flavor.
Yellow Globe Danvers – A popular hardy strain of Yellow Globe. It is fairly early and a good cropper. Used extensively for storage. Bulbs: medium large, round, yellow, firm and solid. Flesh: fine grained, creamy white, crisp, mild and of excellent flavor.
Ebenezer or Japanese – No onion will keep better, and none send up as few seed stalks. It makes a fine, hard onion of good size and matures early. In yield it excels all onions grown from sets. The flesh is white, firm and sweet.
Yellow Potato – Makes large onions of mild flavor. The smallest sets produce one to two large onions; medium sized sets produce a number of medium to small sets, the large onions produce a great many small sets. They are produced in clusters, increasing by division of the parent onion.
Large Podded Alaska – Only a few days later than Extra Early Alaska, but the pods are very much larger, the peas are larger, and it is more productive. The dark green pods are frequently borne in pairs; its hardiness allows earlier planting than the wrinkled varieties; it bears abundantly and the quality is good.
Dwarf Telephone or Daisy – A late, large-podded, highly-producing sort for home garden and truckers. A good shipper and resistant to Fusarium wilt. Our strain is unsurpassed in size and appearance of pods. Vines: 22 inches high. Pods: 4 1/2 inches long, broad, pointed and attractive; contain 8 to 10 peas of excellent quality. (This particular variety is probably extinct, but the link is for a strain in the same “Telephone” family. They have a nice history on this pea as well.)
Laxton’s Progress – The largest podded and most attractive of the Laxtonian family. A good sort for shipping to distant markets, also for home and market garden planting. Of fine quality and abundant yield. Vines: 17 inches high, medium dark green. Pods: 4 3/4 inches long, dark green, handsome; contain 7 to 9 large peas of good quality.
American Wonder – Our stock of this old popular pea is the true extra-dwarf, early strain. Well suited to home gardening and highly productive. Vines: 12 to 14 inches high, dark green. Pods: 2 3/4 inches long and filled with 6 peas.
King of the North – An early large pepper especially valuable in northern states. Fruits are enormous in size and color up a brilliant red much earlier than any other large sort. They average 6 inches long, 4 inches across. The flesh is thick, firm, very sweet and mild. Plants are literally covered with large peppers. Often one plant will have 8 to 10 mature fruits.
Hungarian Hot – Also called Banana and Bulgarian Yellow. An extremely hot, long, slender pepper of a bright waxy yellow color. Turns crimson when mature. The fruits are pointed and from 5 1/2 to 7 inches long. The plants produce abundantly. A special favorite with many people because of its pungency. A profitable market sort.
Ruby King – Excellent for home and market gardening, also for shipping. Plants: medium dwarf, erect, vigorous, and very productive. Fruits: 5 inches long, 3 inches thick; tapering, dark green changing to ruby red at maturity. Flesh: thick, mild and sweet.
Pimento – Can be eaten raw like an apple, stuffed with meats, rice, etc., and baked; can be served as a salad and for canning is especially fine; smooth and uniform in shape and size; bears abundantly till frost.
New Pontiac – Potato breeders at Michigan Experiment Farm produced this “wonder potato” from seedlings of Bliss Triumph and Katahdin. New “Pontiac” has established a record for high yields, god quality and vigorous growth. It’s a midseason, red potato—round to oblong shape, with medium deep eyes and crisp white flesh. It is freer from hollow heart, misshapen tubers, and more drought resistant than other varieties. A vigorous, upright grower producing heavy yields on much as well as upland soils.
Warba – Resembles Bliss Triumph, though larger in size—a bigger yielder, has white crisp flesh and is exceptionally quick maturing. Seven to ten days earlier than Bliss Triumph or Early Ohio. The vines are upright, sturdy and resistant to mild mosaic. Tubers are short, round, blocky with pink eyes and of uniform size.
Early Irish Cobbler – Another extra fine early potato, and one that is not easily affected by blight and insects. The tubers are nearly round, and slightly flattened, rather blocky shape. The skin is white, well netted, with eyes of medium depth.
New Sebago – Latest blight resistant cross of Chippewa and Katahdin. A vigorous grower producing high yields of sound white potatoes of excellent cooking quality. Considered a medium late variety—bound to become immensely popular as a home or market potato.
Tennessee Sweet Potato – (Yes, it’s a pumpkin!) The creamy white flesh is very thick, and like the sweet potato in flavor. A first-class keeper and a good yielder.
Sugar or Pie – Not large, but one of the sweetest and best for pies; rich deep orange-yellow.
Cashaw or Crookneck – Green striped. A fine table pumpkin and productive; meat is rich, yellow, tender, of the best flavor, very sweet and a good keeper. (Also spelled “Cushaw”)
French Breakfast – Shaped like an olive; the upper part is bright scarlet, shading to clear white at the tip. The roots are about an inch and a half long, crisp, sweet and tender; grows quickly.
Early Scarlet Globe – So quick in growth that it can be depended on to produce crisp, juicy radishes with that snappy quality a radish should have. Almost globe-shaped; color a rich bright scarlet; flesh white. Thoroughly satisfactory.
Long White Icicle – The finest early, pure white, long radish. On good soil they are ready in 25 to 30 days, and will remain crisp and tender longer than any first early variety.
White Strasburg – A fine summer radish; stands severe heat and grows quickly. Skin and flesh pure white; firm, crisp and tender. Ready five weeks from planting, but retains its crispness even when old.
Victoria – A very popular and particularly appetizing garden plant. Makes “yummy” pies and tempting sauces. A few plants should be in every home garden. Continuous and generous feedings are all that is needed to provide delectable, high quality stalks for years to come. Rhubarb, once established becomes permanent. Large, strong roots.
Blue Hubbard – Superior in edible quality, larger in size and a better yielder and keeper than other Hubbard strains. Fruits large, round, pointed at both ends; slightly ridged, with very hard blue-gray rind. Weight 12-14 lbs. Flesh orange-yellow, thick, of fine flavor.
Noodle Squash – (Spaghetti Squash) Smooth, creamy-white fruits, 8 inches long and 5 inches thick. Pick when well matured. Store like squash for winter. Before cooking, puncture one end, place in kettle of hot water and cook 30 minutes. Cut in half, remove center seed core, and flesh will fall out in shreds suggestive of spaghetti. Serve hot with salt and butter, or with a cream sauce.
Golden Table Queen – Somewhat larger than the regular Table Queen, and of a beautiful deep golden color. Fruits are deeply ribbed, pointed at blossom end. The orange flesh is thick, dry and of fine texture. Edible from early fall throughout the winter.
Black Zucchini – Long cylindrical dark green fruits slicing with skin on and cook like egg plant.
Cocozelle or Italian Marrow – A bush variety that produces squashes a foot long that are prepared like eggplant. Use when about 8 inches long; very productive, tender and delicious. Ours is the long green type.
Long Standing Bloomsdale – Spring plantings stand about ten days longer before going to seed than the re-selected Bloomsdale strain.
New Zealand – Thrives during the hottest weather in any soil, rich or poor. The tender tips may be cut every few days, and continues till frost. When the ground is thoroughly warm, soak for 24 hours and plant 4 seeds in hills 2 feet apart each eay.
King of Denmark – Highly desirable for canning and for market gardens. Large, spreading plants carry broad, rounded, very dark green leaves which are somewhat crumpled. Excellent for spring planting as it is slow to go to sed. Very hardy and of good quality.
Tendergreen Mustard – An Oriental type of mustard and not a true spinach. Grown for greens. It is a very desirable, quick growing, tender variety with long, broad, smooth leaves and white mid-ribs. The leaves are usually ready for cutting in 3 to 4 weeks. Dry weather will not injure the crop. The flavor of this new vegetables resembles spinach with a very mild mustard taste.
Pritchard or Scarlet Topper – A scarlet, self-topping, disease-resistant variety. It is highly productive, of excellent quality, and very valuable for market garden use and for long distance shipping. Fruit: large, smooth, solid, with thick walls and cross sections; color light scarlet. A tasty tomato either sliced or canned.
New Mingold – 1940 All-America Silver Medal Winner. An early yellow-fruited sort, introduced by the Minnesota Experiment Station. Of fine flavor, it fills the growing demand for Yellow Tomato Juice and sliced with the reds, makes a colorful salad. The fruits are medium large, nearly globular, solid, with thick walls and cross sections.
Extra Early Bison – Developed by Prof. Yeager, North Dakota Agricultural College. In repeated trials it has produced an early and very heavy crop under conditions that would mean failure to most sorts. Fruit a little larger than Earliana. Deep scarlet, meaty, few seeds and of finest quality. Bison has produced over 40 pounds of ripe fruit on one plant. Matures a few days ahead of Earliana but far superior in yield and quality of fruit.
Greater Baltimore – Even in unfavorable seasons a big yielder of good-sized fruits; deep from stem to blossom ends, firm and solid and free from ridges and cracks. It ripens evenly to the stem.
June Pink Tomato – Sometimes called Pink Earliana. The earliest pink tomato. Except in color, it is very much like Spark’s Earliana, almost as early, rather smoother, but has the further advantage of having a longer fruiting season, the vines continuing to bear and ripen its fruit until frost. The fruit is medium in size, uniform, smooth and attractive, without cracks and green core. A first-class tomato for the earliest crop in the home garden, and a fine shipper, as it does not readily bruise and crack.
Snowball – A beautiful ivory-white tomato, everyone can enjoy as it contains less acid than any other variety. The flesh is alabaster-white, firm and meaty with a mild, rich flavor. The fruits are similar to Golden Ponderosa in size and shape.
White Egg – An early variety adapted for either spring or fall sowing. Roots: 2 1/2 inches diameter, 3 1/2 inches long; egg-shaped, white throughout; smooth, fine grained and of excellent quality.
Extra Early Purple Top Milan – An extra early sort for home garden and truckers. Of excellent quality. Roots: 4 inch diameter, very flat, white with purple top. Flesh: clear white, fine grained, sweet and tender.
Large Amber or Yellow Globe – Fine grained, solid, sweet and tender.
Golden Ball – One of the best and sweetest yellow turnips.
I wish I could’ve included more seed varieties, but this should give you a good start! You can be confident in planting your Victory Garden, and I hope you have fun with some of these wartime-era seed varieties!
Keep checking back. I’m hoping to do another post focused on wartime varieties of fruits like berries and fruit trees!