Seeds

Like Ramrod scallions, Eiffel produces a nice, strong, upright growing, white Lisbon type scallion with little or no bulbing at the root end, even in the heat of summer. This variety grows straight, with mild, crisp, appealing flavour and good uniformity. Its stiff upright leaves shed the rain, so it is less susceptible to the diseases that can occur in damp weather. Sow short rows of Eiffel scallion seeds every two weeks from April to the end of September, and you'll have scallions all year long. Provide a cloche row cover over winter for the best results.

Matures in 65 days. (Open-pollinated seeds)

C. pepo. Eight Ball is a novel, round zucchini with dark green skin and some yellow speckling, borne on an easy-to-pick, bushy plant that only grows to about 1m (3') wide. Eight Ball zucchini seeds are an All America Selections Winner with great productivity, uniformity, and flavour. Harvest only a day or so after pollination for tender, exotic looking, spherical zucchinis with just the right tender texture and mild taste. Eight Ball is a good candidate for large containers or raised beds, and will produce lots of fruits over several weeks if plants are regularly picked. Provide fertile soil, and use a balanced organic fertilizer at transplant time.

Matures in 40 days. (Hybrid seeds)

A dwarf variety of dill, growing to only 30-45cm (12-18"), Fernleaf dill bears tidy, bright yellow umbels that quickly ripen into masses of seed. The foliage from Fernleaf dill seeds maintains its distinct aroma, and compliments fish or can be used in dill pickles. This is a good dill variety for container growing.

The structure of dill's flowers is known as an umbel. Thus, dill is considered an umbelliferous plant. Other umbellifers include carrots, cilantro, fennel, parsnips, and Ammi. All of these plants are attractive to predatory insects such as lady beetles, Syrphid flies (hover-flies), lacewings, and tiny parasitoid wasps. Many organic gardeners like to grow dill precisely to attract these beneficial insects, as they will help control pest insects like aphids, thrips, whitefly, and the caterpillar of the Small White Butterfly (cabbage moth).

Calendula officinalis. Fiesta Gitana calendula seeds are a dwarf selection of double flowers in a rich, warm range of colours from deep orange to pastel cream. Plants are compact, growing to only 30-35cm (12-14") tall, so they are perfectly suited for containers or edging the garden bed. The flower petals are edible, and look superb sprinkled over salads and smart drinks for your summer parties. Keep Fiesta Gitana calendula deadheaded for the tidiest look and the longest flowering period. Simply pull or snip off any flowers the day after they fade. Once established, Calendula need little care, so they make good candidates for xeriscaping.

Annual

Viola cornuta. This spreading hybrid pansy has exceptional overwintering ability. Ruffled petals in a wide range of colours bring a dramatic splash of vibrancy to the winter garden. Sow Fizzy Fruit Salad Mix Viola seeds in July and August for blooms from October right through to the following May. They look incredible in containers and hanging baskets, and particularly spectacular in mass bedding plantings. The wide pansy faces, fancy frilled petals, and dazzling colours bring a really special look to any garden. Much needed colour for an otherwise subdued winter palette. Be sure to plant your winter flowering pansies the previous summer.

Perennial (Grow as a hardy annual)

Fordhook Giant Swiss chard seeds produce dark green, very savoyed leaves are borne on thick, greenish-white stalks. This cold-hardy variety is versatile, reliable, decorative and flavourful. It can also stand up well in summer heat. The Fordhook in its name refers to Fordhook Farm, which was a research farm run for the Burpee seed company from the 1750s until 1981. It's called Giant because the leaves rise a full 60 to 70cm (24-28") above the ground, with stalks that are 7cm (2.5") wide. Fordhook Giant Swiss chard seeds perform well, and provide abundant crops all season, even after light frost. It is noted to be particularly good for poultry feed as well. Winner of the RHS Award of Garden Merit.

Matures in 60 days. (Open-pollinated seeds)

Plant Forest Green parsley seeds in your organic herb garden. The plants have short, strong stems that support big clusters of highly curled, dark-green leaves. The flavour is distinctly savoury without being bitter. Parsley adds a subtle, but key flavour to a host of Mediterranean dishes. It is widely used in companion planting because its strong scent repels insects like the Asparagus Beetle. Parsley likes asparagus, carrots, chives, corn, onions, and tomatoes. The leaves can be sprinkled on asparagus to repel asparagus beetles, and around roses, to improve their scent. Let some of your parsley go to bloom to attract hover-flies and predatory wasps.

Parsley is a biennial plant that forms a long (edible) tap root. Choose deep pots for container growing.

Matures in 80 days. (Open-pollinated seeds)

This lovely wildflower blend is a sight for sore eyes and a scent for sore noses! The multi-colour blooms in this blend provide a range of perfumes all season. Scents range from sweetly floral to citrus to anise.
Recommended rate of application: 142g per 1,000 square feet.

Blend Ingredients.
[Calendula (Calendula officinalis), Chinese Pinks (Dianthus chinensis), Dahlberg Daisy (Thymophylla tenuiloba), Dianthus 'Rainbow Loveliness' (Dianthus hybridus), Elegant Lupine (Lupinus elegans), Evening Scented Stock (Matthiola bicornis), Four O'Clocks (Mirabilis jalapa), French Marigold (Tagetes patula), Iceland Poppy (Papaver nudicaule), Johnny Jump-Up (Viola cornuta), Lemon Mint (Monarda citriodora), Purple Giant Hyssop (Agastache rugosa), Siberian Wallflower (Cheiranthus allionii), Sweet Alyssum (Lobularia maritima), Sweet Mignonette (Reseda odorata), Sweet William Pinks (Dianthus barbatus), Virginia Stock (Malcolmia maritima)]

This red-spotted, open romaine lettuce is sure to turn some heads. The mid-sized plant is open with glossy, green leaves flecked with maroon; making it a delightful and colourful addition to salad mixes. As the leaves get larger, the markings become even more prominent. The leaves of Freckles lettuce are speckled, not blotchy, so they have quite an elegant look. And the flavour is excellent. Freckles lettuce seeds, also known as Forellenschluss are an heirloom variety of Austrian lineage. Be sure to plant some Freckles lettuce seeds in your organic vegetable garden this spring.

Matures in 55-70 days. (Open-pollinated seeds)

Lavandula stoechas. Sow French lavender seeds indoors, 6-8 weeks before last frost, or direct sow the seeds in early spring when a chance of frost is still possible. Uniform and distinctive, 'Sancho Panza' blooms from June to September on shrubby bushes that grow 35cm (14") tall. This variety of French lavender has a fantastic fragrance and dries particularly well. Great in containers, but in mass plantings the scent and colour are amazing. French lavender is also a very hardy perennial and drought tolerant, so good for use in xeriscaping. Cut back the whole plant by a third after flowering is finished to produce new growth.

C. moschata. This is an old Japanese heirloom, cultivated for hundreds of years. Futtsu Black Early squash forms decorative and tasteful pumpkin-like fruits of medium size. A typical fruit from this unusual and highly prized squash weighs around 1.5kg (3 lbs). The fruits start out round and dark green — almost black — with deep ribs and some wrinkles. As they mature the fruits turn dusky grey-brown, and the nutty flavour and sweetness really improves. Cutting into this remarkable fruit releases a strong scent of cantaloupe. The squash will keep for months in storage. Plants grow 80-140cm (32-55") wide, so provide lots of space as well as fertile soil. The fruits are eminently decorative for fall displays.

Matures in 100-120 days. (Open-pollinated seeds)

C. maxima. Galeux d'Eysines pumpkin seeds produce a lovely French HEIRLOOM pumpkin with salmon pink coloured skin covered in peanut-like warts caused by sugar swelling in the skins. The somewhat flattened fruits resemble wheels of cheese, and average 7-10kg (10-15 lbs) each and can store for up to 6 months. Simply the best smooth texture of all the pumpkins for pies. It has a delicious flavour and very high sugar content at maturity. The flesh is bright, almost neon-orange, and very easy to extract for rendering down for your favourite pumpkin recipes. See below for our Pumpkin Pie from Scratch recipe.

Matures in 105 days. (Open-pollinated seeds)

Gardener's Delight cherry tomato has a wonderful, old-fashioned flavour and produces long trusses laden with clusters of 6-12 2.5cm (1"), crack-resistant, bright-red morsels. A mid-maturity variety that can be grown in many regions without protection.

Vine (indeterminate), Matures in 65 days. (open pollinated seeds)

A. tuberosum. This flat-leaf variety of Garlic Chives seeds has a strong garlic flavour and aroma. The white flowers and stalks are used (only a small amount is needed), to add the pungent taste of garlic to salads, vegetables, dumplings, and stir-fries. Popular in Asian cuisine, garlic chives are also known as ku chai in Chinese. While the leaves and flower stems are delicious and useful in the kitchen garlic chives are also very attractive flowering plants. Use this herb as companion plants to repel aphids from flowers or vegetables prone to attack.

Genovese organic basil seeds are the very best Italian pesto variety of basil. This is the traditional Italian heirloom variety of basil. It has shiny, large, almond-shaped leaves have a more pronounced flavour, and stores well if chopped and frozen in ice cube trays. Pinch growing tips for bushier plants that grow to 60cm (24") tall. Basil is a heat loving tender annual plant that requires good drainage and ample moisture during hot weather. If flowers develop, either save save the resulting seeds or separate them from the plants and sprinkle over pasta or salads. Basil flowers are highly attractive to honeybees and other wild pollinators.

Basil can be planted as a companion to tomato plants. It is said that basil improves the flavour of tomatoes.

CERTIFIED ORGANIC! Large, substantial fruits grow in clusters of three to four on sturdy, relatively short vines. Get Stuffed Organic features blocky, striped fruits that are almost the shape of a bell pepper. They can be hollowed and stuffed for cooking, or used raw as a delicious, edible serving vessel. They were a big hit in our tomato trials and are worth growing for their beautiful appearance alone.

Indeterminate (vine)

Matures in 75days (Open-pollinated seeds)

Ghost Chili seeds are also known as the Bhut Jalokia. At over one million Scoville Heat Units, the Ghost Chili is one of the world's hottest peppers. This pepper is so hot, in fact, that it should be treated with caution. We encourage very careful handling of the seeds and fruits. Use gloves when handling the fruits and be extremely careful not to bring the peppers or their residue in contact with eyes or mucous membranes. The pepper is said to be 400 times hotter than Tabasco Sauce, and easily three times hotter than our sweat inducing Red Habanero. This is a slow growing plant that produces fruits at the end of the growing season. If it can be kept going over winter, it can be grown as a perennial, producing much larger yields in the second year of growth. 1,000,000+ SHUs

Super-hot peppers are tricky to grow. The seeds are difficult to germinate under home growing conditions and they need a long, hot season to produce fruit. To mature in most regions, protection is needed to increase heat and lengthen the growing season.

Matures in 100 days. (Open-pollinated seeds).

A special blend for the cut flower grower and owners of big vases! Giant Blue Point Zinnias produce dahlia-flowered zinnias with tall stems in large double blooms. Crimson red, lilac, rose, canary yellow, deep red, white and orange. This is the earliest flowering variety. Giant Blue Point Formula zinnia seeds zinnias are long blooming with excellent disease resistance. Picking off the dead flowers (deadheading) will prolong the bloom time, but so will cutting them for bouquets. The colours are brilliant and the stems are strong and upright, perfect for cutting.

Annual.

CERTIFIED ORGANIC! Giant Winter Organic spinach was bred specifically for autumn, winter, and early spring harvests. It is the most cold hardy spinach, and will thrive in a winter greenhouse or polytunnel, our outdoors under a layer of mulch. Or direct sow in October and November for a very early crop from February through April. This old heirloom grows to the size of Swiss chard leaves. Its leaves are dark green and slightly savoyed, and vaguely triangular in shape.

Matures in 45 days. (Open-pollinated seeds)

Helianthus annuus. Inconspicuous Giganteus sunflower seeds produce absolutely huge plants in one short season. This is the giant among sunflowers, with towering stems up to 3.6m (12') tall, as thick as a man's leg. At the top grows a monumental flower, with the seed head growing 25-35cm (10-14") across, heavy with edible seeds. The seed heads tend to nod forward at maturity, facing down. Be sure to get the seeds planted early so the seed heads can mature before the wet weather arrives in September. It's a good idea to direct sow (as opposed to transplanting) these enormous plants so their root growth is not interrupted. They need a solid anchor in order to keep them standing upright.

Annual

CERTIFIED ORGANIC. Glacier Organic are among the earliest maturing of early season tomatoes. The productive little plants are compact and well suited to containers and balcony growing. Glacier's 'saladette' fruits are small at just 5cm (2") in diameter, but they are very sweet, with a superior flavour to some other early maturing varieties. The stout plants grow to only 60-75cm (24-30") tall, and bear most of their fruit in a concentrated set. The plants are relatively cold tolerant and perform well in short season northern gardens.

Determinate (bush) Matures in 55 days. (Open-pollinated seeds)

We like this parsnip for its quick germination and early growth; it is bigger and more vigorous right from the beginning. This variety is wide at the top with a short body. It is tender and delicious even to the largest sizes, with no core. Gladiator parsnip seeds are canker resistant. Our customer Louella is shown holding a truly enormous specimen of Gladiator. She attributes its massive size to her husband's rich compost blend. In rich, fluffy soil, these parsnips can really get huge. Parsnips store well for winter use. Winner of the RHS Award of Garden Merit.

Take caution during sunny weather: touching the plant may cause skin burns.

Matures in 110 days. Hybrid seeds

Excellent for boiling, baking and french frying.

Variety: Russet

Harvest: Late Summer

Potato Size: Large

Photos courtesy of Van Noort Bulb Co. & Florissa. 

Glorious flavour and crisp texture make Gold Rush bush bean seeds a great choice for pickling and freezing. The beans are bright yellow with green tips. They are borne in clusters around the stem which makes them easy to pick. The stringless pods are perfect at 10-12cm (4-5”) long. The medium sized bush plants are resistant to BCMV and tolerant of root rot.  Wax beans have a pleasant, mild flavour and make a lovely change from regular green beans.

Matures in 58 days. (Open-pollinated seeds)

CERTIFIED ORGANIC! Uniformly cylindrical along its whole length, and intensely yellow in colour. Goldy’s fruits average 20-25cm (8-10″) long. Plant Goldy Organic zucchini seeds for relatively small plants that are open and vigorous with hardly any spines. The fruits are tender and delicious. Avoid aborted fruits by planting long blooming flowers around your squash bed. Fruits sometimes abort due to poor or incomplete pollination, resulting in fruits that turn black and shrivel from the blossom end. In a field setting, sunflowers work really well, attracting pollinators to the area like beacons. In the home garden or raised bed, try planting Alyssum, Phacelia, and other long-blooming flowers around the edge of the bed. Fruit set will be vastly improved.

Matures in 55 days. (Hybrid seeds)

A seed tape version of this flavourful tipburn resistant (TBR) variety. Grand Rapids TBR Looseleaf lettuce seeds produce a large, upright rosette of thick, juicy, light-green, frilly leaves and a blanched centre. The variety features very rapid growth in spring and fall, and grows better than any other variety under cool, damp, low-light conditions. Try Grand Rapids TBR in cold frames or beneath a cloche greenhouse for salad production all winter. In the spring and summer, sow short rows often so the crop can be harvested over a long period, and so that you are not overwhelmed by a garden full of mature lettuce all at once.

1 pack includes 2 x 2.5m (6.5') of tape and contains approximately 350 seeds in total.

Start by making shallow rows in prepared soil. Unfold tape and separate the two strips. Place tape in the rows and water. Cover with 5mm (0.25 inch) of soil. Water well. Keep consistent moisture until seeds sprout in 7-15 days.

Matures in 65 days. (Open-pollinated seeds)

A seed tape version of this flavourful tipburn resistant (TBR) variety. Grand Rapids TBR Looseleaf lettuce seeds produce a large, upright rosette of thick, juicy, light-green, frilly leaves and a blanched centre. The variety features very rapid growth in spring and fall, and grows better than any other variety under cool, damp, low-light conditions. Try Grand Rapids TBR in cold frames or beneath a cloche greenhouse for salad production all winter. In the spring and summer, sow short rows often so the crop can be harvested over a long period, and so that you are not overwhelmed by a garden full of mature lettuce all at once.

1 pack includes 2 x 2.5m (6.5') of tape and contains approximately 350 seeds in total.

Start by making shallow rows in prepared soil. Unfold tape and separate the two strips. Place tape in the rows and water. Cover with 5mm (0.25 inch) of soil. Water well. Keep consistent moisture until seeds sprout in 7-15 days.

Matures in 65 days. (Open-pollinated seeds)

Greek oregano organic seeds are CERTIFIED ORGANIC! Greek oregano offers the best, most pungently flavoured oregano leaves for cooking. Plants are very hardy when established and impart a wonderful wild mountain aroma in the garden with their tiny white or pink flowers. Bees adore oregano when it is in bloom. Germination may be slow, so be patient. Oregano is one of the best herbs for drying because it maintains a strong flavour for months after harvest. Pick and dry whole stalks or whole plants - hang them upside down in an airy place out of direct sunlight. Once the plants are completely dry, they can be stored in open plastic bags. Otherwise, pull off the leaves and store them in sealed jars.

Greek oregano pairs brilliantly with meats, eggs, and roasted vegetables like zucchini and eggplant.

Green Arrow shelling peas are excellent for fresh eating, freezing, canning, or cooking. Heavy yields of dark green pods up to 11cm (4.5") long contain 9 -11 peas each, born in pairs at the top of the compact bush plants. A reliable, adaptable variety for gardeners and market growers.

Green Arrow shelling pea seeds were first bred in England as a main season pea crop and are listed in some UK sources as Green Shaft.

Matures in 70 days.  (Open-pollinated seeds)