Good King Henry

Nature & Nurture Seeds

Chenopodium bonus-henricus

$4.99

Pkt(≈55 seeds)
Good King Henry is a perennial vegetable, indispensable to an edible landscape, permaculture or edible forest garden. Good King Henry is low maintenance and easy to grow once established. Plants will grow in partial shade as well as full sun. Plant reaches a maximum height of 2½ feet. From seed, plants will need to grow for a year before being big enough to harvest. Leaves are harvested throughout the summer and cooked as an edible green. New spring shoots can be harvested and cooked like asparagus. Flowering stalks are eaten like broccoli. Good King Henry is part of the Chenopod family, so all plant parts are high in oxalic-acid. So, please enjoy this plant in moderation. Limited quantities available. Limit one packet per person.

Good King Henry is a perennial plant zone 3 - 9. Seeds germinate best when "cold stratified" (exposed to cold) for 10 weeks. To start plants inside, in early winter, place seeds into a ziplock bag, add moist (but not too wet) sand and place in fridge for 10 weeks. Then start seeds inside around April 1st (4 - 6 weeks before last frost) at 75°. Seeds are small and need light to germinate - plant seeds on top of moist seed starting mix, cover with a dome and expose to 8 hours of light per day. Keep seeds moist with a handheld sprayer (open dome 1x per day for 30 minutes to air out). Days to germination: 14 - 21. Once seeds germinate, remove dome and grow at 72° and transplant outside around 6/1 to full sun or part shade location. Alternatively, sow seeds outdoors on top weed free soil in early winter/spring and keep moist. Be sure to water plants at least 1x per week during the growing season.