There is nothing I love more than stepping into my kitchen garden and harvesting vibrant, flavorful produce to create meals that nourish both body and soul. Growing organic heirloom varieties allows me to connect to nature, honor ancestral gardening traditions, and savor the exceptional flavors that modern hybrids (and grocery store produce) simply cannot match. I’m sharing the best heirloom vegetables, herbs, and flowers for USDA hardiness zones 5b-8b, focusing on varieties that are easy to grow, packed with flavor, and versatile in the kitchen.

What Is an Heirloom Variety?

Heirloom varieties are time-honored plant cultivars passed down through generations, often treasured for their rich history, unique characteristics, and incredible taste. Unlike hybrid plants, heirlooms are open-pollinated, meaning they produce seeds that grow true to type year after year. You can harvest the seeds, plant them the following year and trust that the same genetic qualities of the plant will grow. When grown organically, these plants are cultivated without synthetic pesticides, herbicides, or fertilizers, aligning with USDA organic standards. This ensures the health of the soil, the environment, and, ultimately, your family.

Top Organic Heirloom Varieties for Your Kitchen Garden

Tomatoes

Heirloom tomatoes are the crown jewels of the kitchen garden, bursting with flavor and vibrant colors. Come August and September, my kitchen counter becomes an altar to the tomato gods. My canning supplies come out and I spend my weekends making salsa, tomato sauce, bruschetta, caprese salad, or simply eating fresh slices of meaty heirlooms on garlic toast, the Spanish way.

• Brandywine

  • Why Grow It: This classic heirloom tomato boasts large, meaty fruits with a perfect balance of sweetness and acidity.

  • How to Use: Slice for sandwiches, chop into a Caprese salad, or simmer into a rich tomato sauce. Layer a meaty slice over cottage cheese or burrata on toast grated with garlic and olive oil drizzle for the perfect late summer snack.

• Black Krim

  • Why Grow It: Known for its smoky, slightly salty flavor, this deep purple tomato thrives in zones 5-7 with proper support and regular watering.

  • How to Use: Roast for soups, dice into salsa, or enjoy fresh with a drizzle of olive oil.

• San Marzano Roma

  • Why Grow It: San Marzano tomatoes are a prized heirloom variety from Italy, renowned for their sweet, low-acidity flesh and thick skin, making them ideal for sauces.

  • How to Use: Simmer into a rich marinara, slow roast for a deep, caramelized flavor, or can for winter use. These are a staple for making pizza and pasta sauces.

• Golden Jubilee Tomato

  • Why Grow It: This golden-yellow heirloom is sweet and low in acidity, making it ideal for those who prefer milder tomatoes. It’s also a prolific producer.

  • How to Use: Slice for fresh salads, pair with basil for a colorful Caprese, or can for a vibrant yellow sauce.
    
    

As we begin another year around the sun, one thing is certain for folks in the Gather & Grow community: we want to cultivate a less stressed and more nourished life in 2025. Ultimately, we want to live well - to live simple lives connected to the land, our food and medicine, as well as our community. We want to cultivate a life full of beautiful moments that feel slow and present through the seasons. The “wellness” industry in the United States does not want you to actually be well in 2025. Rather, those big businesses’s rely heavily on you staying unwell, stressed and disconnected from the sources that truly help you thrive. We all know this, and yet it’s still hard to resist the magic bullets we are sold every year in January. Our feeds and emails are clogged with product advertisements, gym memberships, bio-hacks, and magic injectables that promise a year of skinny, happy, agelessness, and healthy.

We cannot bio-hack our way into wellness, longevity, connection, or presence. There is no magic bullet to replace nourishment from the source, nor the knowledge, skillset and discipline required to cultivate a lifestyle that is truly well.

We are over complicating our health and lifestyles here in the United States and it’s burning a hole in our pockets to no effect while also depleting us. The solution to cultivating heirloom wellness is so simple it’s almost too good to be true. Living well is not about buying a magic pill, but rather about cultivating simple heirloom skills and a lifestyle full of habits that nourish us in more ways than one.

If we look outside the United States’ scope of wellbeing, to the healthiest, least-stressed and longest-living communities in the world we have our 2025 roadmap to living well. So, as we head into 2025, why not simplify life and save some money by taking a page from the Blue Zones playbook? Join me this year in adopting some of the core habits practiced by these long-lived communities so together we can cultivate a nourishing lifestyle that roots us into wellbeing, community, and the earth.

*deep breath* I’m postpartum (again) with nothing to hold in my arms but myself and my grief. After two miscarriages in 9 months, one of them gentle and early, the other late and traumatic, my knees are brought to the earth. As much as it’s been a heartbreaking and physically challenging experience to navigate, there’s wisdom I’ve gleaned. It has pulled me into the depths of a spiritual and physical voyage - the likes of which have enlightened me of the sacred understanding of what it means to be a woman and the gift it is to bear life - and the burden of losing it.

Pregnancy loss and miscarriage (through choice or not) is demanding on the body, mind, and soul. It is no easy task to grow life and then to lose it. Our bodies and souls are never the same after, which brings me to my offering to you today.

I’m sharing the ways I’m holistically nourishing myself during postpartum loss - from nutrition and herbs, to mental and spiritual health rituals, as well as physical recovery exercises. My protocol is guided by my natural midwife and my Traditional Chinese Medicine doctor as well as my own knowledge & experience in holistic wellness. Here’s what I’m doing to care for myself during postpartum loss.

In fall and winter in the Northern Hemisphere, we experience less hours of sunlight. In these seasons, our body requires certain routines for a healthy circadian rhythm. I’m exploring (and sharing with you) a nourishing daily routine that supports our circadian rhythm and general well being during Fall and Winter. This routine syncs our daily cycle with nature so we can optimize our energy levels, respect our physical needs, live more nourished and connected lives, and... as always build resilience against burnout.

As our climate changes, it’s imperative that home and commercial landscapes in the West become drought tolerant while also supporting wildlife such as pollinators, birds, and animals. In this blog post, I’m sharing a list of trees, shrubs, flowering perennials, grasses and ground covers that are drought tolerant.

After learning that common hydration powder packets contain many ingredients (such as pure cane sugar as the primary ingredient) that negatively impact our health and hormones, I began scheming ways to make my own herbal electrolyte drink. I crafted this refreshing and nourishing cold-water botanical infusion that is loaded with minerals and electrolytes for hydration.

All-in-all I spend about 1 hour per week weeding, watering and fertilizing, plus another 1 hour per week harvesting, deadheading, and mowing around the perimeter. The rest of my garden-time consists of strolling the land in the morn’ and evenin’ with either a coffee or glass of wine in hand - depending on the time of day. Two hours of work per week is an amazing pay-off for such a large garden. How in the world is that possible? Allow me to dish the dirt on how I keep my 4,000 square foot garden, meadow, and orchard low maintenance.

Between two seasons is a great place to be. That’s where I am on this chilly Spring day, returning to myself in the greenhouse and letting the words bloom. To celebrate this verdant return, I’m up-potting an arrangement of narcissus, hyacinth, and tulips for the Easter table. Join me in the greenhouse, between two seasons, to celebrate this return. 

My personal ritual of communing with the land, foraging with gratitude, then crafting a my own symbol of hope and everlasting life to hang on my front door is my way of welcoming winter. It is, after all, on the winter solstice when our solar year ends and a new seasonal year begins.

Whether we’re roaming the wild or walking through a garden, Fall is the season to harvest seeds. It’s a simple process, and like most tasks in the garden, quite meditative as well. It’s a favorite seasonal ritual of mine. Saving seeds is straight forward, but there is important background knowledge an experienced gardener should wield. Here’s a lesson answering all of your seed saving questions and providing you with my master gardener seed-saving tips.

Set on the wild beaches of the Pacific Northwest Coast, Kalaloch Beach, we gathered at the invitation of Leger Experiences for a wild dining overnight retreat we wont soon forget.

During the week of the Fall Equinox each year you can find me in my kitchen chopping up spicy garden-grown vegetables and adding them to a large glass jar. I’m making fire cider in preparation for the oncoming cold and flu season. Fire Cider is a spicy cold and flu tonic that boosts immunity, improves digestion, and warms the body. Discover the benefits of fire cider, how to make fire cider, and how to use fire cider in this simple recipe.

My car rumbles along a dirt road as I head inland from the bay and through a densely grown woodland on the island. The smell of the sea mingles with road dust and the resinous musk of old cedar trees. At the end of the road, a sharp turn down a gravel driveway reveals a clearing in the wood ahead. I can just make out the sight of a dome-top roof peeking from the canopy to enjoy a kiss from the mid-afternoon sun.

Inspiration for summer seasonal living as shared by a woman rewilding herself and land through gardening, foraging, and wildcrafting.

This is no ordinary backyard filled with uniform shrubs, nor religiously mowed each Saturday afternoon before the broadcasted game. This is a place where the soil remains true and the plants shape-shift with the seasons. It is dry yet lush; windswept yet calming. It’s made to be lived in, to be wildcrafted with and to be engaged with in reciprocity . It’s also made to be an example to others of the miracles possible when we return to our roots. This is a landscape, rewild.

Welcome to my pit of despair. I say that with a cheeky grin and a bit of sarcasm, but not much. Full transparency: this patch is just one of many dreadfully hideous spots on this land. In an effort to dispel any myths about a perfect garden (or hence a perfect life) that I may have inadvertently construed through my blogging, I’m here to unearth the reality.

Yarrow salve is a natural remedy for bee stings, rashes, minor cuts, burns, and abrasions. Learn how to identify, forage and wildcraft with yarrow as well as make your own yarrow salve at home for your natural first aid kit.

As this season of rising and restless energy matures into the bright season of vitality, I’m here with an update. Despite the hardships, there is still an abundance of beauty and good things that grow.

It’s seemed like a long time coming, but we’ve finally planted trees along our northern border. After considering and imagining countless trees and tall shrubs of all varieties, I elected to plant a dozen Green Giant Arborvitae trees. This hedge of trees is already transforming the feeling in our backyard and I can’t wait to watch them grow together in the coming years. After so many long days of toiling, moments like this make rewilding this land all worth it.

For many novice gardeners, knowing what to do in the garden throughout the year can be challenging As your faithful master gardener, I’m here to dispel the myth that gardening is only done in spring. To simplify your gardening to do list here’s a comprehensive list of what to do in the garden during each season.