DEER ANTLER TRAIL, 1.5 years

A high-quality, unusual, and exceptionally productive variety of herb and salad culture that delights gardeners and gourmets worldwide with its crisp texture, delicate nutty flavor, and decorative appearance. Buck's-horn Plantain (known in Italian as Erba Stella or Minutina, and in Latin – Plantago coronopus) is an ancient and highly esteemed heritage variety from the Mediterranean region, an indispensable element in premium spring and summer green beds. The plant forms a compact, dense, and low rosette with narrow, distinctly jagged and lobed leaves that visually precisely resemble deer antlers. Franchi Sementi's generous 1.5-gram package guarantees excellent, traditional Italian seed quality, high germination energy, and a successful, exotic start to the gardening season.

• Premium spring salads and "Misticanza" mixes: Fresh, young leaves are a classic of Italian cuisine. They serve as a stunning and crispy addition to exclusive salad mixes alongside arugula, chicory, and young spinach.
• Gourmet food decoration and serving: An exquisite choice for restaurant-level serving at home – the unique, deer-antler-like leaf shape and vibrant green hue look strikingly aesthetic on any plate.
• Healthy nutrition and diets: The leaves contain a lot of valuable minerals, vitamins, and fiber, which have a mild, body-cleansing and digestion-promoting effect.
• Compact gardens and balcony boxes: Since the plant forms a small, compact, and smooth rosette, it is extremely convenient and easy to grow in flower pots, balcony boxes, or raised beds.

• Unique flavor bouquet and crunchiness: The leaves of buck's-horn plantain have a very pleasant, naturally mild and sweet taste with a refined nutty and pine nut aroma, as well as an unsurpassed firm and crispy texture.
• Excellent speed and prolonged yield: The plant develops relatively quickly, allowing for the first succulent greens to be harvested just a few weeks after sowing. By regularly picking the outer leaves, the rosette continues to produce new shoots continuously throughout the summer.
• Phenomenal resistance to cold and heat: Unlike common lettuce, this crop is extremely hardy – it doesn't bolt in hot summer days and perfectly tolerates early spring and late autumn frosts, providing greens until the beginning of winter.
• Complete modesty and low demands: The plant can successfully grow even in poorer, sandy soils, has good drought resistance, and does not require complex or time-consuming gardener care.
• Excellent seed germination and vigor: Franchi's professionally prepared seeds stand out with high germination energy, ensuring strong, healthy seedlings and dynamic young plant development in the bed.

• Product type: Salad and herb variety seeds for open fields and pots.
• Brand: Franchi Sementi.
• Culture: Buck's-horn Plantain / Erba Stella (Plantago coronopus).
• Maturity time: Fast-growing crop; first leaf harvest available approximately 35–45 days after sowing.
• Plant appearance: Dense, compact rosette with narrow, distinctly jagged and lobed bright green leaves.
• Height: On average 15 – 25 cm.
• Weight in package: 1.5 grams (generous and economical packaging)

• Soil selection and preparation: This crop prefers an open, sunny or partially shaded, warm and well-lit spot in the garden or on the terrace. It is very undemanding in terms of soil and can grow in various soil types, but will yield the most succulent and tender leaves in loose, light, well-drained and moderately moist sandy loam or sandy soil. Before sowing, dig up the bed and level it with a rake.
• Sowing times and depth: Sow seeds directly outdoors or in garden beds and pots from early spring (April) until mid-summer (July). To ensure a continuous harvest of young and tender leaves throughout the season, repeated sowings in small batches every 3–4 weeks are recommended. Sow seeds relatively shallowly, about 0.5 cm deep, maintaining a distance of 20–25 cm between rows. Seeds germinate within 1–2 weeks. Once the seedlings grow, thin them carefully, leaving about 10–15 cm between plants for growth.
• Care and watering: In the initial stages, ensure regular and consistent soil moistening for successful rooting of young seedlings. Mature plants tolerate short periods of drought well, but on hot summer days, regular watering is recommended – constant moisture will ensure that the leaves retain their unparalleled crispness and do not become too tough. It is advisable to weed the bed in the initial stages.

• Harvesting: The valuable leaves are harvested gradually, by cutting or carefully plucking the outer leaves of the rosette when they reach the desired length for culinary use (approximately 10–15 cm). When harvesting, always protect the central new shoots of the rosette so that the plant continues to successfully form new leaf mass and provide fresh greens until late autumn.