Seeds

Lathyrus odoratus. Its rich colour range is dominated by blues and purples, but accented by the occasional highlight of scarlet or pure white. The stems are long, sturdy and uncommonly straight for excellent cut flowers. The vines are not huge at five feet tall, but larger than described them in our catalogue. We have them on a trellis growing quite upright, and they are still very much in bloom in early August. We rate the fragrance at medium-strong (6/10), but as cut flowers, they are among the best. Keep cutting flowers or removing any seed pods that form in order to prolong the flowering period. Try Bijou sweet peas in large containers to bring colour and fragrance to your patio garden.

Annual

The easiest way to produce fresh, high quality sprouts in your kitchen! In just 2-4 days you can enjoy healthful sprouts in soups, salads, and sandwiches. This sprouter has three separate sprouting trays that drain automatically for a continual harvest or for three different sprouting mixes at once. The Biosta Kitchen Crop Sprouter is really simple and convenient for sprout lovers. Constructed from BPA-free polystyrene (recycle #6) plastic. This sprouter comes packaged in a box that measures 24cm wide x 20cm tall x 24cm long.

Centaurea cyanus. The tall silvery stems of this cornflower provides a stunning contrast to the deep plum coloured blooms. Cornflowers are wonderfully adaptable to a variety of soils, and are heat and drought tolerant. Suitable for beds, borders, as well as meadows. They attract a host of pollinators but are ignored by deer. They make excellent cut and dried flowers. The petals are also edible—try them in salads or sprinkled on desserts.

Annual.

The standard summer squash, introduced in the 1920s. Large bush plants grow semi-upright and open, and are loaded with glossy dark green fruits with firm creamy white flesh and fine flavour. Plants are productive very early, and over a long period. Best eaten when under 20cm (8" long). Black Beauty zucchini seeds are the best variety for freezing. Black Beauty zucchini is a 20th Century heirloom that won the All American Selections prize back in 1957. It was first introduced to American market growers in the 1920s, and was commercially available as seed from the 1930s on.

Matures in 60 days. (Open pollinated seeds)

Rudbeckia hirta. At 30–100 cm (12–39") tall, this North American native annual wildflower is immediately familiar, and conjures a sense of the heat of mid-summer. Dark brown cone centres are surrounded by pure yellow petals in flowers 5-8cm (2-3") across. Black Eyed Susan is a common name shared by many plants, but this is the annual that is native to the northeastern United States. Considered a short lived perennial, or biennial as seed will easily germinate by direct seeding. 

CERTIFIED ORGANIC! Black Krim Organic tomato seeds are extremely popular on the West Coast and beyond. A favourite of gourmet chefs, this unique heirloom tomato consistently wins top place and receives rave reviews at taste trials. The fruits are extremely juicy with incredibly complex sweet, smoky flavours and a hint of saltiness. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle of sea salt for a zesty snack. Also great sliced with fresh mozzarella, basil, and drizzled with olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

The fruits mature late and are prolific producers of large fruits in the range of 227-454g (8-16 oz). Typically, they range from dark purple to mahogany skin with green shoulders and green tinted flesh.

Originally from the town of Krymysk near the Black Sea, Black Krim Organic tomato seeds grow plants that are exceptionally hardy. Naturally disease resistant, the plants adapt well to adverse conditions in a wide range of climates. Healthy, attractive vines reach 1.8 metres (6') or more and require heavy staking or caging to support excellent yields of large, heavy fruit.

Indeterminate (vine)

Matures in 80 days (Open-pollinated seeds)

CERTIFIED ORGANIC. A unique deep, dark green, almost black, jalapeño that has mild spicy flavour with a floral note. Highly productive, the medium sized hybrid plants will produce an impressive number of 7-9cm (3-3.5"), thick walled fruits that feature some corking when ready to pick in the green stage. If left unharvested, fruits will eventually mature to red. Black Magic has intermediate resistance to Bacterial Leaf Spot.

Matures in 65 days.

Papaver somniferum. Black Peony poppies feature the deepest purple flowers available, with fully double, tightly packed petals for a very striking look. The dramatic, peony-shaped flowers only open for one day, but appear from July through September. They can grow to 10cm (4") across. The dried seed heads are very useful in dried flower arrangements, and the edible seeds can be used in baking. Black Peony is highly attractive to bees and resistant to grazing deer. Expected plant height approximately 90cm (36")

This winter-hardy heirloom is a distinctive black colour on the outside with a milky white and tender interior that packs a bit of bite. Large turnip-shaped 8-10cm (3-4") diameter globes with deep black skins over solid, crisp, pungent, pure-white flesh. Black Spanish Round radish seeds have very tall tops, and are primarily grown for winter storage. They will stay fresh all winter if stored wet sand. This variety was introduced before 1824, and is listed in some old seed catalogues as Noir Gros Rond d'Hiver. Plant Black Spanish Round radish seeds in mid to late summer and eat when it is the size of a quarter. Space radishes 8-10cm (3-4") apart.

Matures in 60 days. (Open-pollinated seeds)

The flowers of Black Swan poppy, with finely cut, deeply frilled, dark red petals, and fully double form. The strong, upright stems grow as tall as 120cm (48"), but the flowers themselves are just incredible.

Tropaeolum minus. The flat-faced flowers of Black Velvet Nasturtium face upwards, and are held above the pale green foliage. The flowers themselves are such a rich, dark shade of mahogany, they appear almost black from any distance. This compact Nasturtium is perfect for container growing, and it blooms continuously throughout the summer. The edible flowers look sensational as garnishes, and bring a peppery kick to salad mixes.

Annual

Tropaeolum minus. This sumptuous mixture includes flowers from solid blood red to cream with red flecks and edges. Bloody Mary Nasturtium seeds produce low growing, clump-forming plants with darker than average leaves. The edible flowers are typically spicy, but also have a certain sweetness. This annual works well in containers, and blooms continuously from June to August. It was a very popular hit in our summer trials, and drew a lot of attention.

Annual

This great tasting heirloom spinach has thick, succulent, dark-green savoyed or crumpled leaves that are very sweet in salads or cooked. Bloomsdale Savoy is best planted in early spring and fall. If Bloomsdale Savoy spinach seeds are fall-planted, it will overwinter and produce much earlier than if it is spring-planted. Very fast growing plants with upright growth that can be mechanically harvested when necessary. This spinach has high resistance to blight and blue mold (BM). We recommend sowing spinach seeds in the third week in August on the coast. Enjoy a fall harvest, but only cut the leaves from the ground level. The following spring, you will get a huge harvest of incredibly early, tasty spinach before there are any pests around to compete with.

Matures in 50 days. (Open-pollinated seeds)

This early maturing popcorn has tall plants with two ears each, that average 13-15cm (5-6") long. Pink Popcorn corn seeds produce excellent popping corn that yields lots of fluffy white kernels with a great rich flavour. The beautiful pink to mauve kernels are attractive for decoration. This is not a variety for eating corn on the cob, but rather for drying and popping. The stately tall plants are attractive in the summer garden.

To harvest popcorn, allow the plants to turn brown and the ears to dry for as long as possible in the field. When harvested, the husks should be completely brown and the kernels hard. Harvest the ears and remove the husks. Hang the ears in mesh bags in a warm, dry, airy room, and let dry for several weeks. The ideal moisture content for popcorn is 13 to 14%. Once a week, extract a few kernels and try popping them. If the popcorn is jagged or chewy, it still has too much moisture. If the flavour and texture are good, remove all the remaining kernels and store them in airtight containers. They should remain in good popping form for several years.

Matures in 85 days. (Open-pollinated seeds)

Bolero carrot seeds are a great variety for home or market. Very sweet and crunchy, it is a good keeper in storage or in the ground. Roots are bright orange, up to 20cm (8") long, and slightly tapered, with the typical blunt Nantes tip. High level of resistance to Alternaria blights and powdery mildew. Very tasty! Our Bolero carrot seeds are also available as pelleted seeds for easier handling. This variety is something of an industry standard. Because of their hybrid uniformity, they are very attractive to market growers. We think the flavour is so superb that these carrots are a nice choice for the home gardener as well. Winner of the RHS Award of Garden Merit.

Matures in 75 days. (Hybrid seeds)

Large, fuzzy, cucumber-scented leaves and vivid blue flowers attract bees all summer long. Usually grown for the bees and flowers, young leaves can be cooked like spinach or used in salads. Also known as the star flower because of the arrangement of its petals, the flowers have a light cucumber flavour and will stun with their vivid blue petals. A dramatic use is to make ice cubes with the petals frozen into them and drop into cold drinks. Borage seeds contain oils with the highest concentration (20% to 30%) of the fatty acid GLA, even higher than Evening Primrose. Altogether a versatile, attractive and useful herb, add starry blue flowers to salads, drinks, berry desserts for visual appeal. Borage may self sow. It is attractive to bumblebees that must buzz at a certain resonance to release a jet of pollen.

The standard for rainbow chard, Bright Lights is a mix of many colours including red, pink, orange, yellow, and white. Leaf colour ranges from glossy bright green to dark green and bronze. You can choose the colours you’d like to grow out when thinning or start indoors to transplant the combination of your choosing. Suitable for growing all season long with good tolerance to bolting. Less frost hardy than other chard varieties.

Matures 55 Days

CERTIFIED ORGANIC! Grow broccoli sprouts for health and vitality! Conveniently, broccoli organic sprouting seeds are the easiest sprout to start with. Broccoli sprouts have a very pleasing, mild flavour, and are fast and easy to grow. Widely held to be one of the premier super-foods, broccoli sprouts are a very good source of vitamins A, B, C, E and K, as well as Calcium, Iron, Magnesium, Potassium, Zinc. They also supply carotene, chlorophyll, amino acids, trace elements, and a high protein profile. Most significantly, they are a good source of the antioxidant sulforaphane.

Bull's Blood beet seeds produce baby greens in 35 days, or wait 50-60 days for beetroot. This is the classic choice for salad and micro-green growers. The beautiful dark red, smooth leaves have a particularly pleasant flavour. Harvested as baby greens, they look spectacular in salad mixes. If the leaves are not harvested, the plants produce uniform, round, tasty, red beetroots. The deep red colour of both the leaves and root are thought to contain high levels of nutrients and antioxidants, which qualifies Bull's Blood organic beet seeds as a super-food.

Matures in 50-60 days. (Open-pollinated seeds)

C. maxima. Burgess Buttercup squash seeds were first introduced by the Burgess Seed Company in Illinois in 1932. Since then, this reliable heirloom has been producing small, 1.5kg (3 lb) turban shaped fruits with dark green skins and the unmistakable navel or dome at the blossom end. The golden orange flesh inside each fruit is sweet and finely textured, never watery. The thin skins are extremely hard, but that is key for long term storage. These popular squashes won't last right through winter the way a hubbard or delicata might, but you should bring one to Christmas dinner, and impress your friends and family.

Matures in 115 days. (Open-pollinated seeds)

Same delicious flavour as the standard delicata, Bush Delicata grows on compact, space-saving plants. The .5-1kg (1-2lb) oblong fruit start off a pale cream colour that turns yellow as fruit matures. Green stripes darken before turning orange. Flesh is smooth and sweet and very fast to cook. Edible skin makes delicatas easier to manage than other winter squash. Try cutting into rounds, scooping out the seeds, and baking on each side until brown.

Matures in 80 days

Adorable mini butternuts that are the perfect single serving size! Butterbaby is an excellent choice for home gardeners with its early maturity and high yields per plant. Uniform .5-.9kg (1.25-2lb) tan fruits have sweet, dark orange flesh and good storability. Semi-vining plants.

Matures in 80 days

We love the flavour and delicate texture of the leaves for lettuce wraps! Buttercrunch butterhead lettuce seeds are a Bibb type lettuce that forms a tight little rosette of soft, dark-green, upward-facing leaves surrounding a tender, pale centre. The small hearts don't become bitter in hot weather. Later plantings stand well into fall and make good growth in spring cold frames. Buttercrunch lettuce is a good candidate for growing all winter if you can provide cloche or greenhouse protection, or even a simple cold frame. Sow some extra early indoors in February for transplanting to the cold frame in March.

Matures in 67 days. (Open-pollinated seeds)

CERTIFIED ORGANIC! Dark green plants grow 45-75cm (18-30") tall with a variable bluish green central head between 8-20cm (3-8") across. This is followed by abundant side shoots that keep coming until frost. Sow Calabrese organic broccoli seeds in early March indoors, or in May and June for a fall harvest. This heirloom broccoli variety arrived in North America with Italian immigrants in the late 1880s. It is probably centuries old. What Calabrese lacks in terms of uniformity, it more than makes up for in rich flavour.

Matures in 60 days. (Open-pollinated seeds)