I’m letting myself be transported away from the winter scene outside my window, burying my nose not in the snow but instead in the spring-into-summer possibilities depicted in seed-catalog pages. I have familiar, favorite varieties I grow every year – but I’m also looking for some new-to-me possibilities, and today’s guest, Lane Selman of the Culinary Breeding Network at Oregon State University, always has some delicious suggestions.

Lane Selman, a professor of practice at Oregon State University, founded the Culinary Breeding Network in 2012, a collaborative community of plant breeders, seed growers, farmers, produce buyers and chefs collaborating to improve vegetables and grains by creating, identifying and promoting outstanding cultivars—especially organic ones. Among Lane’s personal plant passions are edibles from Italian culinary traditions, including a diversity of radicchio, and I asked her back to the program to get her suggestions for our 2026 gardens. (Above, ‘Unicorn’ kale from Johnny’s Selected Seeds.)

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