Description
Fifteen Heirloom Vegetables
One Living Garden
A complete starter kit of native, open-pollinated vegetable seeds — gathered from our Community Seed Bank in Karur. Plant once, harvest year-round, and save the seeds for generations to come.
A Vanishing Heritage
When was the last time
you tasted a real tomato?
The tomatoes, brinjals and gourds your grandmother cooked with had names, stories, and flavours that modern hybrids simply can’t match. Heirloom seeds carry forward generations of taste, nutrition and resilience — and unlike hybrids, you can save the seeds and grow them again next season. And the season after that. Forever.
Most “vegetable seeds” sold today are F1 hybrids — bred for shelf life and uniform appearance, not flavour or nutrition. Worse, their offspring don’t grow true. With heirloom seeds, every harvest gives you next season’s planting material. You buy once, you grow forever. — From the Manvasanai Community Seed Bank
Inside the Kit
Nine vegetable categories ·
Fifteen open-pollinated packets
A thoughtfully balanced kit of South Indian kitchen staples — climbers and ground crops, greens and gourds, daily sambar essentials and special-occasion harvests.
Brinjal
கத்திரிக்காய்
A trio of native eggplants — slender green, deep violet, and the spiny thorny brinjal beloved for its complex, smoky flavour in vatha kuzhambu and gothsu.
Okra (Vendai)
வெண்டை
A mixed selection of native okras — the tender white, the rare pink, and the everyday green naatu vendai. All thrive in Indian heat with minimal pampering.
Naati Tomato
நாட்டு தக்காளி
The local Tamil tomato — small, deeply red, gently tangy. Nothing like the watery hybrids in supermarkets. Perfect for rasam, thokku and the most flavourful sambar of your life.
Chilli Trio
மிளகாய்
Three legendary heat profiles — Byadagi (deep red, mild), Samba (Tamil staple), and Bird’s Eye (small, fierce). Cover every dish from chutney to fiery podi.
Native Greens
கீரை
Two varieties of traditional keerai — fast-growing, iron-rich, and harvestable in 30–40 days. The first thing to plant for impatient gardeners and the most nutrient-dense.
Bottle Gourd
சுரைக்காய்
Three shapes for three uses — the long classic for kootu, the small toy variety for stuffing, and the round bulb for festive sweets and cooling summer dishes.
Ridge Gourd
பீர்க்கங்காய்
Long, ridged, and prolific. A vigorous climber that produces all season — perfect for dosakai chutney, peerkangai kootu and crispy thuvayal. Trellises welcome.
Pumpkin
பூசணி
Two heirloom pumpkins — one for sweet erissery and halwa, another for daily curry and sambar. Vining habit, generous yield, and the rare cucurbit that stores for months after harvest.
Sword Bean
தம்பட்டை அவரை
A vigorous tropical legume with broad, sword-shaped pods. Eaten tender as a vegetable; the seeds also fix nitrogen, gently feeding the soil for everything you plant alongside it.
15 seed packets across 9 categories — sealed and ready
Each packet is hand-filled from our Community Seed Bank, labelled with variety name and sowing notes. Customisable for bulk orders.
Free Companion Guides
Two essential reads
before your first sowing
Most home-garden failures aren’t because of bad seeds — they’re because of wrong timing or skipped pre-soaking. Both are completely solvable. We’ve published two free guides that turn first-time gardeners into confident growers.
Seed Treatment Guide
The 24-hour pre-soak ritual that doubles your germination rate. Includes the traditional cowdung-slurry method our farm has used for generations — works especially well for hard-coated seeds like sword bean and pumpkin.
Read the guideSeed Sowing Calendar
A complete South Indian planting calendar across SW Monsoon, NE Monsoon, Summer, and year-round windows. Tells you exactly when to plant each vegetable in the kit for the highest yield in your region.
View the calendarFrom Packet to Plate
A simple five-step ritual
Heirloom seeds are forgiving. Follow these five steps and your first kitchen garden will look like a tenth.
Plant in compost-rich soil — grow bags, beds or pots all work.
Water gently, mulch generously, and harvest as fruits ripen.
Set aside the best fruits for seed. Plant again. Repeat forever.
Why This Kit
Three reasons home gardeners
keep coming back
We’ve sent these kits to thousands of home gardens across India. The same three things keep showing up in the reviews.
Native varieties were selected over centuries for flavour and nutrient density — not shelf life or shipping durability. The first naatu tomato you grow ruins supermarket tomatoes for life.
These are not F1 hybrids. They’re not chemically coated. They are the real, unmodified seeds your great-grandparents knew — saved, sun-dried and stored using traditional best practices on our farm.
Save the seeds from each harvest and you’ll never need to buy these again. Share them with neighbours. Build your own seed bank. This is how Indian agriculture worked for thousands of years.
Buy once. Build your own seed bank.
Our Community Seed Bank distributes seeds in modest quantities — not because we’re stingy, but because we want every gardener who buys from us to become a seed-keeper themselves. Save seeds. Share with friends. Plant again next year. This is how 230 native varieties stay alive.
More Details
Everything a home gardener
needs to know
Full kit contents
| Vegetable | Varieties | Packets |
|---|---|---|
| Brinjal | Green / Violet / Thorny | 2 |
| Okra | White / Pink / Green | 1 |
| Tomato | Naati Local | 1 |
| Chilli | Byadagi / Samba / Bird’s Eye | 1 |
| Greens (Keerai) | 2 native varieties | 2 |
| Bottle Gourd | Long / Toy / Bulb | 3 |
| Ridge Gourd | Long heirloom | 2 |
| Pumpkin | 2 native types | 2 |
| Sword Bean | Native climber | 1 |
| Total | 9 categories | 15 |
Note: Based on availability, specific varieties may rotate. The kit is also customisable for bulk orders — write to us before placing the order.
When to plant — quick seasonal reference
| Season | Plant These From the Kit |
|---|---|
| Southwest Monsoon (Jun–Aug) | Tomato, Brinjal, Okra, Chilli, all Gourds, Sword Bean |
| Northeast Monsoon (Oct–Dec) | Tomato, Brinjal, Okra, Chilli, Greens, Pumpkin |
| Summer (Feb–Apr) | Bottle Gourd, Ridge Gourd, Pumpkin, Okra, Greens |
| Year-Round | Native Greens (Keerai), Chilli (small varieties) |
For exact sowing weeks, growing periods and harvest timing, see our complete Seed Sowing Calendar →
Seed treatment — pre-soaking for better germination
- Water soak (24 hours): Submerge seeds in clean room-temperature water overnight. Rinse before sowing. Works for nearly every seed in this kit.
- Cowdung slurry (48 hours): Mix fresh cow dung with water to a thick paste; immerse seeds; rinse before sowing. The traditional Indian method — adds natural growth-promoting microbes.
A small caveat: some leafy greens (like keerai) don’t need soaking and may rot if soaked too long. Read our complete Seed Treatment Guide → for variety-specific instructions.
Where can I grow these — pots, beds or open ground?
- Tomato, brinjal, chilli, okra: Thrive in 12-inch deep pots, grow bags, or raised beds.
- Greens (keerai): Shallow trays, broad pots, or any small bed. Fastest to harvest.
- Bottle gourd, ridge gourd, pumpkin, sword bean: Need climbing support — a trellis, fence, or rooftop pergola. Each plant needs 1.5–2 ft of root space.
- Open ground: All varieties thrive in well-prepared, compost-rich soil with 4–6 hours of direct sun.
Care, watering & pest management
- Watering: Most vegetables here prefer moist, never waterlogged soil. Water mornings; check the top inch of soil before re-watering.
- Feeding: A handful of vermicompost or panchagavya every 3–4 weeks is plenty. Avoid synthetic fertilisers — they spoil heirloom flavour.
- Pests: Native varieties are naturally more pest-resistant than hybrids. Neem-water spray handles most issues. Companion planting (chilli + tomato + greens) reduces pest pressure further.
- Mulching: 2 inches of dry leaves or coconut husk retains moisture, suppresses weeds, and slowly feeds the soil.
How to save seeds for next season
- Tomato, brinjal, chilli: Let the fruit fully ripen on the plant. Scoop out seeds, ferment 2–3 days in water, rinse, dry on paper for 1 week, store in a glass jar.
- Gourds & pumpkin: Let one fruit reach full maturity (hard skin). Open, scoop seeds, wash, sun-dry 5–7 days, store dry.
- Okra & sword bean: Leave the last pods on the plant until they dry naturally. Crack open, store the seeds in cloth pouches.
- Greens: Let one or two plants flower and set seed. Collect dried seed heads, thresh, store.
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