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We’ve mixed equal amounts of seed for these great tasting, high-yielding hybrid varieties with early, mid and late season maturities for the longest possible harvests. Plant and grow them together and you’ll be enjoying their sweet blue-green spears for weeks as they ripen in succession. We’ve chosen cultivars for flavorful, extra fancy, tightly beaded main heads and abundant side shoots. All three have excellent disease resistance and weather tolerance.

60 Days.

Approx: 117 Seeds.

BEST TO START INDOORS

Start seeds 4 or 5 weeks before last expected spring frost and again in midsummer for a fall crop. Sow seeds 1 inch apart in a container of seed starting mix, cover ½ inch deep and keep evenly moist. Provide a strong light source until seedlings are ready to plant out. When seedlings are 3 to 4 inches tall, transplant 12 to 18 inches apart into rich, well-drained soil in full sun, after gradually acclimating to outdoor conditions.

 

TO START OUTDOORS

Sow seeds in well-worked, fertile soil in full sun. Plant groups of 2-3 seeds 1/2 inch deep and 12 inches apart. Space rows 18 inches apart. Thin to 1 strong seedling per group so plants have room to mature and yield.

 

GROWING NOTES

Broccoli needs rich soil and cool growing weather to produce big heads. Prepare soil well and do not let seedlings get too crowded before transplanting or you will stunt heads. Keep well watered and weeded and feed monthly with all purpose fertilizer. Use nontoxic B.T. (Bacillus thuringiensis) products to repel caterpillar pests as necessary.

 

HARVEST AND USE

Harvest the main head before florets open by cutting about halfway down the stalk. This will encourage smaller side shoots to form for extended picking from each plant.

Mild, nutty-flavored mâche (a.k.a. lamb’s lettuce or corn salad) is a delicious traditional salad with oval leaves that form pretty, fist-sized green rosettes with a tender, melt-in-your-mouth texture. Cold-hardy mâche is sown in summer for fall harvest or early spring for the first salads of the season. Gala is vigorous, cold-tolerant and mildew-resistant with a delicate texture and buttery flavor. This succulent gourmet salad treat needs only the simplest of dressings.

90 Days.

Approx: 217 Seeds.

ANNUAL

Spring harvest
Frost hardy

 

EASIEST TO START OUTDOORS

Mâche grows best sown in cooler weather to provide late fall and/or early spring salads. It tolerates light frosts well. In Cold Winter Areas, plant in mid-August for a fall crop or as early in spring as ground can be worked. In Mild Winter Areas, late summer/early fall planted mache will overwinter to fill the first spring salad bowls.

Sow seed 1/4 inch deep and 1 inch apart in rows 6 to 8 inches apart or broadcast thinly for bed planting. Seeds germinate slowly and unevenly over 14 to 28 days. Keep seed bed evenly moist during germination. Thin seedlings 3 inches apart when plants are large enough to handle. Keep well weeded and protect from slugs and snails.

 

GROWING NOTES

Mâche grows more slowly than lettuce, taking up to 3 months to fully mature. It needs a good supply of moisture, regular weeding, and does best in cool weather. When ready for harvest, each mature plant forms a rosette of leaves that measures three to five inches across. Harvest by cutting entire leafy rosettes. Leave some plants to go to seed as they will self-sow readily. Enjoy its delicate texture and nutty flavor with a simple vinaigrette dressing made with walnut oil or good olive oil.

Cornichons are tiny, European style “mini” pickles. Traditionally they are made into the tiny, tangy pickles often served with cocktails and pâtés. Our imported French Cornichons are both early and vigorous with vines that produce high yields of refined, firm-fleshed little pickles to harvest when well-filled and just a few inches long. They are super easy to make into delicious baby pickles or tiny, sweet, crunchy gherkins. Our disease-resistant, imported variety produces extra early. Parthenocarpic.

Approx: 21 Seeds.

Non GMO

START SEEDS OUTDOORS

Plant heat loving cucumbers only when weather is warm and settled and night temperatures stay above 50°F (10°C). Amend soil well with aged manure or compost. Sow groups of 2 to 3 seeds 1 1/2 feet apart and 1 inch deep with 3 feet between rows.

Thin to 1 seedling per group. Or make slightly mounded hills 5 feet apart, sowing 5 or 6 seeds in each hill. Thin to the 3 strongest plants.

 

GROWING NOTES

Protect seedlings from marauding birds with plastic berry baskets, removing before plants get crowded. Shallow rooted cucumbers need ample and consistent moisture. Avoid overly wet or dry periods for good quality fruit. Growing cucumber vines up vertical supports saves garden space and makes it easy to find and harvest the cucumbers.

 

HARVEST AND USE

IMPORTANT: Harvest by cutting when just 1 1/2 to 2 inches long. Harvest every few days to keep vines producing and the cornichons from getting too big! Put up pickles within a few days of harvest.

Pickle tiny cornichons in a simple vinegar solution with garlic, peppercorns and fresh tarragon or dill. Traditional with pâté and delicious as snacks or with cocktails.

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.