Seeds

Named for Ping Tung, Taiwan, the town of its origin. The fruits are light purple, from 30-45cm (12-18”) long, and only 3cm (1¼”) in diameter. Hardy, disease resistant plants bear heavy yields of sweet and tender fruits — as many as twenty per plant. Be sure to stake the bushy plants for the straightest fruits. Eggplants thrive in containers, but the trick is to keep the soil evenly moist, particularly during the hot weather of mid-summer, when the plants are most productive. The plants work equally well in the open field, but benefit from full sun and some protection from harsh wind.

How To Grow, Timing:  Sow indoors in the four weeks following the last frost date. Use bottom heat, and keep seedlings warm. Optimal soil temperature: 24-32°C. Seeds should sprout in 7-12 days.

How To Grow, Starting:  Sow seeds 5mm-1cm deep. Use individual peat or coir pots to reduce root disturbance when transplanting. Transplant after night time temperatures are steadily 10°C or warmer. Space with 45-60cm between plants. Medium size (3-5 gallon) containers for individual plants also work well.

How To Grow, Growing:   Ideal pH: 5.5-6.0.  Soil should have abundant phosphorus and calcium, so add lime and compost to the soil three weeks prior to transplanting. Mix ¼-½ cup of complete organic fertilizer into the soil beneath each transplant. Using a clear plastic cloche or floating row cover helps growth by increasing heat. Cool temperatures increase leafy growth, but delay fruit set. Once most eggplants get going in the summer, they are highly productive right up until the first frosts.

How To Grow, Harvest:  Pinch off blossoms 2 to 4 weeks before first expected frost so that plants focus on ripening any existing fruit, not producing new ones. Harvest the fruit anytime after the fruit reaches half of their size. Harvesting early prevents fruit from becoming too seedy, and will encourage more production from the plants.

Matures in 65-90 days.

Approx: 70 seeds

Marketmore 76 cucumber seeds yield a smooth, refined, dark-green slicer with a crisp crunch and sweet flavour (makes great pickles). This is an early maturing cucumber that grows to 20-23cm long with slightly shorter vines than other varieties so you can space them more densely and get a higher yield in a small garden. We found Marketmore 76 very productive in greenhouse trials as well as in raised beds. The small seed cavity can be quickly removed by running a spoon down the length of each side. Learn when to plant cucumber seeds in our How to Grow Cucumbers instructions in the tab below.

How To Grow, Timing:  Cucumbers need very warm soil to germinate. If direct sowing, wait until mid-June. If weather turns cool and wet after that, just re-sow. Or start transplants indoors in individual peat or coir pots 3-4 weeks before transplanting out into warm soil. If starting indoors, use bottom heat. Transplant when the plants develop their third true leaf. If the plants are too big, they may experience transplant shock. Optimal soil temperature for germination (and transplanting): 15-30°C.

How To Grow, Starting:  Sow 3-4 seeds 2cm deep in each spot you want a plant to grow. Thin to the strongest seedling. Space plants 23cm apart in rows 90cm apart.

How To Grow, Growing:  Ideal pH: 6.0-6.8.  Choose a warm, well-drained soil. Raised beds work well. Add diolomite lime and compost or well-rotted manure to the bed and ½-1 cup of complete organic fertilizer mixed into the soil beneath each transplant. Cucumbers are vigorous and need lots of nutrition and water. Use plastic mulch, plant under floating row cover or cloches – anything to warm things up. Once the weather warms up, keep soil evenly moist. When plants begin to flower, remove covers so bees can access the flowers to pollinate. Fruit that is not fully pollinated will be very small and shriveled, and should be removed from the plant. Most varieties should produce fruits until the weather begins to cool down. Keep plants well picked for better production. Try to water the soil only, keeping the leaves as dry as possible.

Almost all cucumbers benefit from being trained onto a trellis of some kind. Some vines can reach 7 or 8 feet in length, so growing them upward onto a trellis makes good use of garden space. Fruits that grow hanging into space tend to be straighter than those that form on the ground.

How To Grow, Harvest:  For a continuous harvest, make successive plantings every 2 to 3 weeks until about 3 months before first fall frost date. Keep picking the cucumbers regularly, because if they get too big, the plant will stop producing. About one month before first frost, start pinching off new flowers so plants channel energy into ripening existing fruit.

Matures in 68 days.

Approx: 35 Seeds

High quality European pickling cucumber bearing loads of dark green fruit with fine spines. Anya can be harvested at a range of sizes, from gherkin to large pickle, maintaining its uniform shape and quality throughout. Parthenocarpic plants perform well in a high tunnel or greenhouse, and in the open field or garden. Improved productivity and uniformity compared to open pollinated varieties. Excellent disease package.

How To Grow, Timing:  Cucumbers need very warm soil to germinate. If direct sowing, wait until mid-June. If weather turns cool and wet after that, just re-sow. Or start transplants indoors in individual peat or coir pots 3-4 weeks before transplanting out into warm soil. If starting indoors, use bottom heat. Transplant when the plants develop their third true leaf. If the plants are too big, they may experience transplant shock. Optimal soil temperature for germination (and transplanting): 15-30°C.

How To Grow, Starting:  Sow 3-4 seeds 2cm deep in each spot you want a plant to grow. Thin to the strongest seedling. Space plants 23cm apart in rows 90cm apart.

How To Grow, Growing:  Ideal pH: 6.0-6.8.  Choose a warm, well-drained soil. Raised beds work well. Add diolomite lime and compost or well-rotted manure to the bed and ½-1 cup of complete organic fertilizer mixed into the soil beneath each transplant. Cucumbers are vigorous and need lots of nutrition and water. Use plastic mulch, plant under floating row cover or cloches – anything to warm things up. Once the weather warms up, keep soil evenly moist. When plants begin to flower, remove covers so bees can access the flowers to pollinate. Fruit that is not fully pollinated will be very small and shriveled, and should be removed from the plant. Most varieties should produce fruits until the weather begins to cool down. Keep plants well picked for better production. Try to water the soil only, keeping the leaves as dry as possible.

Almost all cucumbers benefit from being trained onto a trellis of some kind. Some vines can reach 7 or 8 feet in length, so growing them upward onto a trellis makes good use of garden space. Fruits that grow hanging into space tend to be straighter than those that form on the ground.

How To Grow, Harvest:  For a continuous harvest, make successive plantings every 2 to 3 weeks until about 3 months before first fall frost date. Keep picking the cucumbers regularly, because if they get too big, the plant will stop producing. About one month before first frost, start pinching off new flowers so plants channel energy into ripening existing fruit.

Matures in 55 days.

Approx: 10 Seeds

Patio Snacker cucumber seeds produce compact little plants that grow to only 90-150cm, but producing numerous full-sized slicing cucumbers from mid-summer on. Trellis the little plants, or try them in a hanging basket and allow the short vines to spill over the sides. Patio Snacker is a parthenocarpic variety, bred with the small-space gardener in mind, so it’s ideal for balcony growing. Be sure to keep the plants picked so that new flowers and fruits continue to come.

How To Grow, Timing:  Cucumbers need very warm soil to germinate. If direct sowing, wait until mid-June. If weather turns cool and wet after that, just re-sow. Or start transplants indoors in individual peat or coir pots 3-4 weeks before transplanting out into warm soil. If starting indoors, use bottom heat. Transplant when the plants develop their third true leaf. If the plants are too big, they may experience transplant shock. Optimal soil temperature for germination (and transplanting): 15-30°C.

How To Grow, Starting:  Sow 3-4 seeds 2cm deep in each spot you want a plant to grow. Thin to the strongest seedling. Space plants 23cm apart in rows 90cm apart.

How To Grow, Growing:   Ideal pH: 6.0-6.8.  Choose a warm, well-drained soil. Raised beds work well. Add diolomite lime and compost or well-rotted manure to the bed and ½-1 cup of complete organic fertilizer mixed into the soil beneath each transplant. Cucumbers are vigorous and need lots of nutrition and water. Use plastic mulch, plant under floating row cover or cloches – anything to warm things up. Once the weather warms up, keep soil evenly moist. When plants begin to flower, remove covers so bees can access the flowers to pollinate. Fruit that is not fully pollinated will be very small and shriveled, and should be removed from the plant. Most varieties should produce fruits until the weather begins to cool down. Keep plants well picked for better production. Try to water the soil only, keeping the leaves as dry as possible.

Almost all cucumbers benefit from being trained onto a trellis of some kind. Some vines can reach 7 or 8 feet in length, so growing them upward onto a trellis makes good use of garden space. Fruits that grow hanging into space tend to be straighter than those that form on the ground.

How To Grow, Harvest:  For a continuous harvest, make successive plantings every 2 to 3 weeks until about 3 months before first fall frost date. Keep picking the cucumbers regularly, because if they get too big, the plant will stop producing. About one month before first frost, start pinching off new flowers so plants channel energy into ripening existing fruit.

Matures in 50-55 days.

Approx: 10 Seeds

Yellow Nantes type with similar sweet flavour to our best orange varieties. Gold Nugget’s 15cm bright yellow roots pair well with our other mid-season varieties like Redsun, Narvik, and Purple Haze for a tasty, colourful harvest. Hill to avoid green shoulders.

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: 250 Seeds

Our replacement for Summer Kintsai, Chinese Yellow Stem has delicate, hollow stems with very little fibre. Chinese celery has a stronger flavour and is harvested earlier than standard celery, making it easier to grow. Use the leaves and stalks in stir-fries, soups, salads, and dumplings.

How To Grow, Timing:  Start indoors in late winter to mid-spring. Optimal soil temperature: 15-24°C. Seeds take up to 20-30 days for germination.

How To Grow, Starting:  Sow seeds no more than 5mm deep, 3 seeds per pot, and thin to the strongest plant.

How To Grow, Growing: Ideal pH: 6.0-6.5. Celery is a heavy feeder and needs rich, moist soil. Add compost to soil and apply ¼-½ cup of complete organic fertilizer per 1.5m of row. Transplant when seedlings are 10-12cm tall. Avoid transplanting until night time temperatures are reliably at 10°C or warmer. Space transplants 30cm (12″) apart in rows at least 45cm apart. Water frequently. Premature bolting may result from young plants being exposed to temperatures below 13°C for several days.

How To Grow, Harvest:  For best flavour and longer storage, water plants the day before harvest. Stalks on the outside of the plant can be harvested at any time. The entire plant may be harvested once the desired size is reached, but the home gardener should leave the plant in the garden and take only what is needed, leaving the root intact. If winter is not too cold, celery will stand in the garden until spring, allowing for light pickings for soups and salads.

50 Days

Approx: 1000 Seeds

The brightest orange cauliflower you’ll find! Grown for summer and fall harvest, Clementine’s heads will look amazing in your garden and on your plate. Plants are vigorous and offer some cover to protect these jewels. A bit smaller and earlier than our previous offering, Sunset, with more vibrant colour.

How To Grow, Timing:  Start indoors four weeks before the last frost to late spring. Transplant in 5-6 weeks. Direct seed when temperatures are reliably above 10°C. Overwintering types are started in July where winters are mild, and transplanted by mid-August. Optimal soil temperature: 10-30°C. Seeds should germinate in 7-10 days.

How To Grow, Starting:    Sow 3-4 seeds 5mm deep in each spot you want a plant to grow. Thin to the strongest plant. Space transplants 45-60cm apart in rows 60-90cm apart.

How To Grow, Growing:   Ideal pH: 6.0-6.8.  Humus-rich soil amended with composted manure is best. Mix ½ cup of complete organic fertilizer into the soil beneath each transplant. From seedling to harvest, cauliflower must grow steadily to make a large plant and curd. If growth slows, scratch additional fertilizer into the surface of the soil around each plant. Maintain even soil moisture with regular watering. Shade the developing curds from sun by tying up leaves or using newspaper. This is known as “blanching,” and will keep them white. Add 20-25 days to the maturity dates if direct sowing.

How To Grow, Harvest:  Once curd forms, check every day and cut when the florets are just beginning to separate. At this point the flavour is at peak quality and the size is maximum.

Matures in 70 days.

Approx: 10 Seeds

SUI CHOI. Wa Wa Sai cabbage seeds produce classic miniature napa cabbages or sui choi. The heads weigh approximately 500g each from spring or autumn sowing. And they are ready to harvest just 60 days from transplanting. Space plants around 20-30 cm apart in the row. They have a lovely sweet flavour and crisp texture that works so well with noodle dishes. Sui choi is dramatically reduced in volume when cooked. Remove the loose outer wrapper leaves to reveal a tightly packed urn-like oblong napa cabbage within. This is an excellent choice for making kimchi at home. Wa Wa Sai has high resistance to clubroot.

How To Grow, Timing:  Sow indoors beginning in late winter and transplant outdoors from 2 weeks after the last frost date to early summer. Overwintering cabbage is sown outdoors during July where winters are mild. Optimal soil temperature: 10-30°C. Seeds should germinate in 7-10 days.

How To Grow, Starting:  Sow 3 or 4 seeds per pot, 5mm deep, under very bright light. Thin to the strongest plant. Space transplants 45-60cm apart in rows 60-90cm apart.

How To Grow, Growing:  Ideal pH: 6.5-7.0.  Cabbage does best in humus-rich soil amended with composted manure. Mix ½ cup complete organic fertilizer into the soil beneath each transplant. If growth slows, side dress with a little more balanced organic fertilizer. Heads of early varieties can split from over-maturity, rapid growth after heavy rain, or irrigation after dry spells. Splits can be delayed by twisting the plant or cultivating deeply next to plants in order to break roots and slow growth. Fall and winter varieties stand in the garden longer without splitting. If direct sown, add 20-25 days to the maturity date.

If cabbages won’t form heads, it may be from an imbalance of too much nitrogen in the soil in relation to phosphorus. Cabbages require cool temperatures to form heads well. Hot weather can interfere with the development of heads.

How To Grow, Harvest:  Cabbage heads are ready when they’re firm to the touch, and when the interior is fairly dense. Heads will split when they’re allowed to overly mature. Rapid growth due to excess watering and fertility will also cause splitting of the head. Plant early, mid-season and late varieties to spread out your harvest. Late varieties tend to be better for storage or for making sauerkraut. Early (summer harvest) varieties tend not to store as well.

Approx: 25 Seeds

Broccoli raab is sometimes called rapini. Like broccoli, it is grown for its unopened flower buds. The flavour is very similar to broccoli, with a touch of bitterness that is surprisingly appealing. Broccoli raab is actually more closely related to turnips than broccoli, but is not grown as a root crop. Sorrento broccoli raab seeds produce uniform dark green florets approximately 5cm in diameter. Sorrento is the fastest rapini to mature. Gather the tender stems with a few leaves and the unopened flower buds for a reliable and nutritious addition to the kitchen or market garden. Plant in mid to late summer for a cool weather harvest well into winter. Expect plants to grow to 78cm tall.

How To Grow, Timing:  Start indoors right around the last frost date or later in spring for summer harvest in 2 to 3 months. Seeds will germinate in 7-10 days. Optimal temperature for germination: 10-30°C.

For fall harvest: Start indoors late spring and transplant in July, harvesting just before the first frost date.

For overwintering sprouting broccoli (in mild winter areas): Start indoors late March to mid-April, and harvest the following February to May.

How To Grow, Starting:  Sow indoors, 3 or 4 seeds per pot, 5mm deep, under very bright light. Thin to the strongest plant. Space transplants 45-60cm apart in rows 75-90cm apart.

How To Grow, Growing:  Ideal pH: 6.0-6.8  Broccoli is a moderate to heavy feeder that does best in humus-rich soil amended with composted manure. Set transplants out by the time they have 6-8 true leaves. Mix ¼-½ cup complete organic fertilizer into the soil under each transplant. When plants are 20-25cm tall, push soil around the stems up to the first big leaf to encourage side shoots. Broccoli does best in cool weather.

How To Grow, Harvest:  Cut the crown portion of the broccoli with 5 to 6 inches of stem, after it’s fully developed, but before it begins to loosen and separate and the individual flowers start to develop into bright yellow blooms. Removing the central head stimulates regrowth to develop for later pickings. Cutting the head lower on the stem will encourage fewer, but larger side-shoots. The regrowth portion grows from the base of the lower leaves. You can usually continue to harvest broccoli for several weeks.

Matures in 40-45 days.

Approx: 270 Seeds