Shiso – Red Perilla – West Coast Seeds

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  Catnip – West Coast Seeds

  $3.49

  Nepeta cataria. Not just for cats! Tall pink and white flower spikes are great in fresh and dried arrangements. Use the leaves in salads, sauces, teas, and soups – and of course fresh or dried for the cats! Catnip seeds are a good choice for a bee attractor that works well in containers on cat-free balconies. Protect seedlings from cats.

  Catnip (and a few of its close relatives) contain the compound nepetalactone, which is extremely attractive to domestic and wild cats. It has the same effect on leopards, lynxes, and tigers as it does on house cats. Roughly 33% of all cats do not respond to catnip, and the response is believed to be hereditary.

  How To Grow, Timing:  Sow seeds indoors in late winter, and transplant or direct sow in 2-6 weeks after the last frost date. Catnip can also be direct sown in the fall where it is to grow. Bottom heat will speed germination. Ideal temperature for germination: 21-27°C (70-80°F). Seeds should sprout in 10-20 days.

  How To Grow, Starting:  Sow on the soil surface or barely covered with perlite. Thin plants or transplant to 30cm (12″) apart. Keep seedlings well protected from cats.

  How To Grow, Growing:  Catnip does very well in containers, raised beds, or borders in full sun to partial shade. The main challenge to growing it is protecting it from cats. After the main bloom, plants should be cut back hard to encourage a second bloom and tidy shape.

  How To Grow, Harvest:  To save the summer catmint bounty, harvest when fully grown, and keep the plant picked regularly.

  
  

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  Dill – Dukat Dill – West Coast Seeds.

  $3.29

  Dukat dill seeds produce dill with a particularly fine bouquet and flavour. The darker-than-usual leaves are excellent fresh or dried. Dukat has exceptionally large seed heads. Dukat is the variety to grow for homemade dill pickles, and can be grown in a large container in full sun. This dill stays relatively short at 45-60cm.

  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. West Coast Seeds encourages organic gardeners to grow dill precisely to attract these beneficial insects, for they will control pest insects like aphids, thrips, whitefly, and the caterpillar of the Small White Butterfly (cabbage moth).

  How To Grow, Timing:  Direct sow late spring through summer, or sow when cucumbers are transplanted, to coincide maturity for pickling. Dill tends to bolt if transplanted, so it is best direct sown. Stagger the harvest by sowing every 2-3 weeks for a constant supply of fresh leaves. Optimal soil temperature for germination: 15-21°C. Seeds should germinate in 10-21 days.

  How To Grow, Starting:  Dill seeds need some light to germinate. Sow seeds no more than 5mm deep in rows 45cm apart. Thin the plants to stand at least 15cm apart.

  How To Grow, Growing:  Ideal pH: 5.0-7.0.  Grow in moderately rich soil in full sun. Water and feed regularly, and stop any overhead watering once plants are 60cm tall to prevent issues with mildew forming on the leaves.

  How To Grow, Harvest:  Begin harvesting the tasty leaves once plants reach 15cm tall. About 12 weeks after sprouting the seed heads begin to form. When the first seeds have turned brown, cut the whole head and hang it upside down for the drying seeds to fall out into trays or paper bags. Dill leaf loses most of its flavour when dried, so freeze it in ice cube trays filled with water for use all winter.

  Approx: 510 Seeds.

  
  

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  Sage – Ceres – West Coast Seeds

  $4.49

  Salvia officinalis. CERTIFIED ORGANIC! The wonderfully aromatic, silvery-green leaves of sage bring a potent savoury accent to stews, soups, salads, and traditional stuffing. Beneficial insects love this plant and hummingbirds will feed from sage flowers. Direct seed organic sage seeds in early spring and thin to 30cm apart. Harvest half of the plant before the purple flowers open in June, and dry the leaves in an airy spot away from direct sunlight. After flowering, cut back by a third to get a burst of fresh new leaves.

  How To Grow, Timing:  Start indoors mid-winter to mid-spring. Transplant out or direct sow starting late spring. Starting indoors may be more reliable, particularly if using bottom heat and maintaining optimal soil temperature at 15-21°C. Seeds should sprout in 2 to 3 weeks.

  How To Grow, Starting:  Sow seeds 3mm deep, and keep soil just moist, not wet. Thin or transplant to 45-60cm apart.

  How To Grow, Growing:  In spring, trim established plants back by a third to encourage new growth. Once the flowers have finished in June/early July, trim the plants back again. A second bloom sometimes follows, and this pruning will keep plants bushy and compact. After a few years, sage bushes can become quite large. Keep in check by pruning.

  Approx: 100 Seeds.

  
  

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  Strawberry – Yellow Wonder – West Coast Seeds

  $5.49

  Fragaria vesca. Yellow Wonder Alpine strawberry seeds are a bit easier to start than some others. Start the seeds indoors as early as December, and transplant outdoors one week after your last average frost date. That’s around the first or second week in April. With this kind of head start, the plants will produce fruit in the first year. Yellow Wonder has the lovely oblong shape of alpine types, but with yellow skin and flesh and incredible sweetness. The plants are low growing, but very productive, even in containers. The seeds can also be sown later in the year, but plan on harvesting berries from the second year of growth forward.

  How To Grow, Timing:  Sow indoors in the winter. An earlier start may result in berries the first year. Start any time between December and the beginning of February. After that time, they will still produce plants, but berries may not be produced during the first season. Transplant out at least 3 weeks after last frost. Strawberry seeds will germinate at any time of the year if some simple steps are taken.

  How To Grow, Starting:  Germination is the trickiest aspect to growing strawberries. Be patient, and try the tricks below.

  Tuck strawberry seed packet inside a sealed plastic bag or airtight container and place in the refrigerator freezer (not deep freeze) for 3-4 weeks. After removing the bag or container, do not break the seal until it (and its living contents) have reached room temperature. This may take several hours. Err on the side of caution. Opening the package too quickly may result in water condensing on the cold seeds, and this will reduce your chances of success.

  Once the sealed package has “thawed” to room temperature, the seeds are ready to plant. Sow the seeds on the surface of pre-moistened, sterilized seed starting mix in trays or small containers. Place these on a piece of felt or other thick cloth that has its end sitting in water. The idea is to wick up water from below so that the seedling medium stays constantly and evenly damp until germination.

  An alternative method is to sow strawberry seeds on the surface of moistened soil in a germination tray (or in small pots). Tuck the tray or pots inside a sealed plastic bag, and store in the refrigerator for 3-4 weeks.

  Move the seeded trays under bright fluorescent lights at a constant temperature of 18-24°C. Seedling heat mats work very well. Germination may take anywhere from 7 days to 6 weeks: Be patient. Once germination occurs, increase ventilation around the plants to prevent damping off.

  Once the seedlings develop their third true leaf, they can be gently transplanted into their own pots. Be sure to harden strawberry seedlings off carefully and gradually before transplanting outside.

  How To Grow, Growing:  Space transplants 60cm apart in rows 90-120cm apart. Ever-bearing varieties (such as ours) tend to produce fewer runners, and may produce more fruit if the runners are removed. In the first year of growth, it may be preferable to encourage runners, and let them fill in the spaces between transplants with new offspring plants.

  Grow strawberries in a well-drained, sandy loam that has been generously dug with organic matter such as finished compost or well-rotted manure. Dig ¼ cup complete organic fertilizer into the soil beneath each transplant. Keep soil moist, but not soggy. A mulch of straw around plants may help prevent the soil from drying out.

  Matures in 150 days. (Open-pollinated seeds)

  
  

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