West Coast Seeds

A vigorous Japanese scallion with attractive blue-green colour. Fukagawa has fantastic uniformity and boasts excellent performance in hot weather. It can be direct sown spring through mid-summer for a continuous supply of fresh, green onions.

65 Days.

Approx: 450 Seeds.

Non GMO

How To Grow, Timing:  Start shallots and storage onions indoors in late winter and early spring, and transplant 2-4 weeks after the last frost date. Overwintering onions need to be started in early summer, and transplanted by the middle of August. Scallions can be direct sown every 3 weeks from two weeks after the last frost date to late summer. Optimal soil temperature for germination: 21-25°C. Seeds will emerge in 6-12 days, depending on conditions.

How To Grow, Starting:  Transplants are preferred for home gardeners. Sow 3 seeds 5mm-1cm deep in each cell of a 72-cell tray. Transplant as a clump, spacing each 15cm apart in rows 45-75cm apart. Scallions can be spaced at 2-5cm apart in rows 15cm apart.

How To Grow, Growing:  Ideal pH: 5.5-6.5 (6.0-6.8 for scallions). Fertile and well-drained soil in full sun is essential. Add well-rotted compost and dig ½-1 cup balanced organic fertilizer into the soil beneath each 3m of row. Keep moisture high in the top 20-30cm of soil. Most of the bulb should form on the surface of the soil, so don’t transplant too deeply. Bulb size is dependent on the size of the tops: the bigger the tops, the bigger the bulb. Provide August-planted scallions with the frost protection of a cloche or heavy row cover as the first frost date approaches.

How To Grow, Harvest:  Stop watering in the beginning of August to mature the bulbs in dry soil. After half the tops have fallen, push over the remainder, wait a week and lift the bulbs. Curing is essential for long storage: Spread bulbs out in a single layer in an airy spot out of direct sunlight. Once no more green is visible on any of the leaves, and they are dry and crisp, the onion is cured. If weather is poor, cure indoors. Storage: Keep onions in mesh sacks or hang in braids so they get good ventilation, and hang sacks where air is dry and very cool, but not freezing. Check them regularly and remove any sprouting or rotting onions. Well-cured storage onions should keep until late spring.

How To Grow, Pests and Diseases:  Botrytis blast and downy mildew are common leaf diseases. One starts with white spots and streaks, the other with purple-grey areas on leaves. Leaves wither from the top down and plants die prematurely. Separate the overwintered and spring crops because disease starts in older plants and moves to younger. Avoid overhead watering and plant in open sunny locations. Use lots of compost and practice strict sanitation and crop rotation.

How To Grow, Companion Planting:  The pungent odour of onions repels many pests and also protects nearby garden vegetables. Plant chamomile and summer savory near onions to improve their flavour. Onions also work well alongside beets, Brassicas, carrots, dill, kohlrabi, leeks, lettuce, strawberries and tomatoes. Don’t plant onions near asparagus, or peas of any kind.

C. pepo. When Jackpot zucchini starts producing, you’ll think you hit the jackpot! Bushy plants have few spines, very high yield, and continuous production. Very similar to Ambassador in terms of its upright growth along one single stem, but even earlier to mature. Jackpot zucchini squash seeds fruits are cylindrical, and perfect to pick at 17cm long, not long after the flowers are pollinated. Jackpot zucchini squash seeds make an excellent replacement for Ambassador zucchini seeds. Its upright growth makes Jackpot a good candidate for raised garden beds, or any place where space is limited.

How To Grow, Timing:  Direct sow or transplant in late May or early June when soil is warm. For transplants, start seeds indoors in late April or early May. Optimal soil temperature for germination: 25-35°C. Seeds should sprout in 7-14 days.

How To Grow, Starting:  Sow seeds 2cm deep. Sow 3 seeds in each spot you want a plant to grow and thin to the strongest one. Aim to space zucchinis no less than 45-60cm apart in rows 90-120cm apart.

How To Grow, Growing:  Ideal pH: 6.0-6.8.  These big, fast-growing plants need plenty of moisture and lots of food. Grow them in rich, well-drained soil in full sun. Dig finished compost or well-rotted manure into the beds, and dig in 1 cup of complete organic fertilizer beneath each transplant. Water the soil around them when you irrigate, and always avoid overhead watering, as wet leaves will attract diseases like mildew. Keep weeded. Misshapen or withered fruits can result from incomplete pollination. Make sure to remove these from the plants as you see them, before they begin to rot, and put them in the compost. In the home garden it can be tempting to over-plant zucchinis. One well-grown plant will provide enough fruits for the average family. Instead of planting several zucchinis, use that space for other vegetables.

How To Grow, Harvest:  Pick regularly to encourage the plant to keep on fruiting. Zucchini leaves are often very prickly, so pull delicate skinned fruit out carefully. Fully mature zucchini have a hard skin.

50 days.

Approx: 13 Seeds.

Bolero is the first choice for storage carrots. This RHS Award of Merit winner is very sweet and crunchy and is a good keeper in storage or in the ground. Roots are bright orange, up to 20cm long, and slightly tapered, with the typical blunt Nantes tip.

Bolero is a great variety for home or market. Hybrid uniformity accompanies superb flavour and excellent storage ability. This variety is something of an industry standard. High level of resistance to Alternaria blights and powdery mildew.

This seed is pelleted with clay for easier handling. Conventional seed with COR-compliant pellet, suitable for use by certified organic growers. Note: This seed is pelleted to improve handling and planting accuracy.

How To Grow, Timing:  Direct sow from just after the last frost date to late summer for harvests from summer through early winter. Sow at 3 week intervals for a continuous harvest. Direct sow winter-harvest carrots (where winters are mild) in the first two weeks of August. Optimal soil temperature: 7-30°C. Seeds may take as long as 14-21 days to germinate.

How To Grow, Starting:  Because carrot seeds are tiny, they need to be sown shallowly. The trick is to keep the top-most layer of soil damp during the relatively long germination period. Water deeply prior to planting. Direct sow the tiny seeds 5mm deep, 4 seeds per 2cm, and firm soil lightly after seeding. Make sure the seeds are only just buried. Water the area with the gentlest stream possible, and keep it constantly moist until the seeds sprout.

How To Grow, Growing:   Ideal pH: 6.0-6.8.  The softer and more humus-based the soil, the better. When soil is dry enough in spring, work it to a fine texture. Broadcast and dig in ½ cup complete organic fertilizer for every 3m of row. Avoid fresh manure. Carrots will become misshapen, but still edible if they hit anything hard as they grow down into the soil. Keep weeded and watered.

How To Grow, Thinning:  This is the process of removing some seedlings, if necessary, so each has enough space to grow in the row. It is very important to thin carrots so they don’t compete for available nutrients, moisture, and light. Thin to 4-10cm apart when the young plants are 2cm tall. Use wider spacing to get larger roots. As they grow, carrots may push up, out of the soil, so hill soil up to prevent getting a green shoulder.

How To Grow, Harvest:  Carrots can be harvested at any size, but flavour is best when the carrot has turned bright orange (or its other mature colour). After harvest, store at cold temperatures just above 0ºC. Store in sand or sawdust, or simply leave carrots under heaped soil in the garden during the winter, and pull as needed.

75 Days

Approx: 70 Seeds

Seaside spinach seeds produce very uniform, dark green baby leaf spinach for fast harvests and high volume production. The leaves are thick and succulent, with well developed flavour. The upright plants grow at a moderate rate, and work well in winter high tunnels. It is the best choice we have seen for baby leaf growers, and has good resistance to downy mildew. With the correct timing, a small farming operation can produce a constant supply of baby leaf spinach nearly all year, which can be a lucrative option for your restaurant and CSA clients.

How To Grow, Timing:   Spinach does best in cool weather. Direct sow in the period four weeks before, and three weeks after the last frost date. Spinach will bolt once days get long and hot. Some varieties grow enough to harvest before they bolt. For continuous supply, plant every 3 weeks.

Sow again in the middle two weeks of August for a fall crop that, if cut at the soil level, will come back early the following spring where winters are mild. Shade summer-sown seed beds, keep very well watered, and sow more seeds than you need, as warm soil will reduce germination rates marginally. Thin seedlings, and use cloche protection as cold weather approaches. Late sowings like this can be harvested into December – in mild winters if cloche protection is provided.

Optimal soil temperature: 5-20°C. Seeds should sprout in 7-14 days.

How To Grow, Starting:  Sow seeds 1cm deep, 10 seeds per 30cm, in rows 30-45cm apart. Thin to at least 5-8cm between plants, or further if you want larger leaves.

How To Grow, Growing:   Ideal pH: 6.0-6.5.  This heavy feeder requires rich soil. Dig in ¼-½ cup balanced organic fertilizer beneath every 1m of row. Overwintering spinach requires well drained soil.

How To Grow, Harvest:  For baby greens, pick when the leaves are 7-10cm long. Individual leaves can be picked at anytime, until the plant has started to bolt. Cut the whole spinach plant just above soil level.

Baby greens in 25 days.

Approx: 400 Seeds.

C. pepo. There’s no question that Jack of All Trades pumpkin seeds are the top choice for farmers producing for the Halloween Jack-o-Lantern market. With only 95 days to maturity, it is the earliest maturing Halloween pumpkin, with as much as 95% grower pack-out rate. The pumpkins are notably uniform at 7-8kg each, globe shaped, and 27cm in diameter. This is the ideal size and shape for carving, but also taste great. Fruit exteriors have a light suture and the traditional golden red-orange color. Jack of All Trades will perform well for the home gardener, but you will not need more than one or two of these productive plants.

95 Days.

Approx: 15 Seeds.

Non GMO

How To Grow, Timing:  Direct sow or transplant in late spring when soil warms up. For transplants, start seeds indoors 4-6 weeks after the last frost date. Try to get the plants into the ground no later than the summer solstice. Optimal soil temperature for germination: 25-35°C. Seeds should sprout in 7-14 days.

How To Grow, Starting:  Sow seeds 2cm deep. Sow 3 seeds in each spot you want a plant to grow and thin to the strongest plant. Space plants at a minimum of 90-120cm apart in rows 120-180cm apart. If starting transplants indoors, consider using the 12-cell plug inserts.

How To Grow, Growing:  Ideal pH: 6.0-6.8.  These big plants need lots of food. Choose a sunny spot with fertile, well-draining soil. Dig in a generous quantity of finished compost and/or composted manure. Dig in 1 cup of a general well-balanced organic fertilizer under each plant. All pumpkins grow male flowers first, then the female flowers are produced. The female flowers have tiny fruits at the base of the petals and require pollination by bees, mostly. Incomplete pollination is common at the beginning of the season, and results in small fruits that are misshapen at the flower end. Discard these damaged fruits before they rot.

For the largest pumpkins, feed weekly throughout the growing season with fish or kelp based fertilizer. Keep the huge plants well watered, particularly in hot weather. Always water the soil, and avoid any form of overhead watering other than rain. Fruit will grow larger if you keep only one fruit per vine. As the fruit develops, try to gently encourage it to grow at a 90° angle to the vine itself. The largest pumpkin varieties will grow on their sides.

How To Grow, Harvest:  Like other winter squash, pumpkins are mature when they have coloured up well and their stems are crisp. For the best sugar content, cut the stem about 4cm or so from the body of the fruit. If the weather is dry, allow the pumpkins to cure in the field for 10 days, or in a warm room for 4-5 days. Bring pumpkins in under cover before rain.

How To Grow, Tips:  Powdery Mildew: An airborne fungal disease that causes white spots on the leaves at the end of the season. Several home-sprays are said to be somewhat effective. Spray any of the following at 7-10 day intervals. 1tsp baking soda and 1 quart of water with a squirt of dish soap, or 1 part milk to 9 parts of water. You can add a little kelp based fertilizer to the mix. Resistant varieties get the mildew just a few days later than the other varieties.

Also known as Orca and Yin Yang drying bean. This unusual bi-coloured Caribbean heirloom has a creamy texture when cooked and looks great on the plate. The plants are relatively compact bushes, growing to only 45cm tall. The beans are easy to grow and fun to harvest. Plant some Calypso beans and enjoy the dried beans in soups and stews all winter long. Thes beans are open-pollinated, so are easy to harvest and save for planting the following yea

How To Grow, Timing:  Sow as early as possible for dry beans, in late spring, once the soil warms up a bit so plants can mature before wet weather sets in. Optimal soil temperature: 21-32°C.

How To Grow, Starting:  Sow seeds 2-5cm deep, 5-8cm apart, in rows 45-60cm apart. Thin to at least 15cm apart in each row. If the weather is too wet, beans can also be started in pots indoors and set out carefully a few weeks later. Seeds will sprout in 8-16 days, depending on conditions.

How To Grow, Growing:   Ideal pH: 6.0-6.5   Well drained, warm soil in full sun is best. Use 1 cup of balanced organic fertilizer for every 3m of row. Raised beds help with both drainage and warmth. Too much nitrogen in fertilizer or manure may cause poor pod set and delayed maturity. If beans flower but do not set pods, the cause can be zinc deficiency. Try spraying the plants with kelp based fertilizer.

How To Grow, Harvest:  Stop all watering when the first pods start drying out. Harvest when the seedpods are straw coloured. Pull the plants up by the roots and hang to dry. To shell the beans, bash them back and forth inside a bag or pillowcase, or shell them individually by hand. Do not pick until pods are dry. The beans themselves can then be set somewhere out of direct sunlight, where air movement is good, for a further week to ensure even dryness.

80 days.

Approx: 30 Seeds.

These fast growing, uniform watermelon radishes have a lovely cream exterior over a bright fuchsia centre. The core starts as a simple dot of colour, but expands toward the outside as the root develops. The resulting visual appeal makes them extremely eye catching for the market table – or the dinner table. Rido Red radish can be grown at nearly any time of year, but the faster they grow the better the flavour. We were impressed in our summer seed trials by the overall flavour and character of this radish. It mingles sweet and savoury with a touch of mustard-like heat.

How To Grow, Timing:  Radishes can be grown all season but they’re easiest when sown just after the last frost date and again at the end of summer and into the fall. Optimal soil temperature: 18-24°C. Seeds should sprout in 5-7 days.

How To Grow, Starting:  Sow seeds 5mm deep, 25 seeds per 30cm in rows spaced 30-45cm apart, and thin to 6-12 plants per 30cm.

How To Grow, Growing:  Ideal pH: 6.0-6.8.  Radishes are moderate to heavy feeders. Best in rich, loamy soil amended with composted manure. Add 1 cup of complete organic fertilizer for every 3m of row for background fertility. Lime beds the previous fall. The real secret to growing this little vegetable is speed. Sow a short row frequently, thin them quickly, keep them watered, eat them quickly, and sow some more.

How To Grow, Harvest:  Harvest promptly when radishes are the size of large marbles. The leaves and developing seedpods are also tasty.

60 days.

Approx: 100 Seeds

C. pepo. Sow Sweet Dumpling squash seeds for fruits with delicious, light-golden flesh and fine, sweet texture when baked. The 8-10cm, squat fruits weigh about half a pound – just right for an individual serving… And that makes them positively ideal for stuffing and baking. Sweet Dumpling squash are very productive and good keepers. Shaped like small, flat topped acorn squash, but with the distinct markings of a delicata, Sweet Dumpling produces eight to ten little fruits per plant. This is one of our favourites, and has been performing well for years with great customer feedback.

How To Grow, Timing:  Direct sow or transplant in late spring once the soil is warm. For transplants, start seeds indoors during the first two weeks of May. Optimal soil temperature: 25-35°C. Seeds should germinate in 7-14 days.

How To Grow, Starting:  Sow seeds 2cm deep. Sow 3 seeds in each spot where you want a plant to grow, and thin to the strongest plant. Space summer squash 45-60cm apart in rows 90-120cm apart. Give winter squash and pumpkins even more room with a minimum of 90-120cm apart in rows 120-180cm apart.

How To Grow, Growing:  Ideal pH: 6.0-6.8.  These big plants need lots of food. Use 1 cup of complete organic fertilizer worked into the soil beneath each plant. All squash grow male flowers first, at later female flowers. The female flowers have tiny fruits at the base of their petals and require pollination by bees mostly. Incomplete pollination often happens at the beginning of the season, and results in misshapen fruits that are withered at the blossom end. Just discard these damaged fruits before they begin to rot. Encourage bees to visit the garden by growing Phacelia, sunflowers, or buckwheat for improved pollination.

How To Grow, Harvest:  Summer Squash: Pick when small, if fruit gets big the plant stops producing. Check the plants regularly.

Winter Squash: Fruit is ripe if your thumbnail doesn’t mark the skin and the stem is dry and brown. Cut the stem about 4cm from the fruit. Squash survive a light frost, but store better if harvested before frost.

Storage: Field-cure for 10 days in the sun, or cure indoors in a warm room for 4 or 5 days. To prevent mould sponge the skins with a solution of 10 parts water to 1 part chlorine bleach. Store at 10-15ºC  with low humidity with good air circulation. Try on a shelf in the garage.

110 Days.

Approx: 15 Seeds.