Seed Order: West Coast Seeds

This is going to be a short post as I've only ordered a few items from West Coast Seeds (mainly as I wanted to try some new seed companies and I usually order from companies on the "East Coast").

But I went to West Coast Seeds for one particular crop that I wanted to grow this year ... the Tromboncino Zucchini.  I actually could not find this seed anywhere else in Canada (or at least google couldn't find it for me anywhere else).  The main reason I wanted this particular variety is it is supposed to grow rather vigorously and hopefully will "outrun" the squash bug attacks that my garden has been prone to the last year or two.  Will they really get that big?!

However, I still have the same comment as the  last time I wrote about them that they have some pretty high prices.  In fact, I'm totally embarrassed about what I'm about to tell you as I admit I wasn't paying much attention to the prices when I ordered.  I know they tend to be a buck or two above the usual seed companies I deal with so was prepared for that.  BUT ... what the heck was I thinking when I ordered these pepper seeds - I didn't notice the price until I was taking some quick photos to show what I ordered.

In case it isn't obvious, let me make it really clear:

The Gypsy peppers at $5.99 for 20 seeds is bad enough.  But $10.49 for 10 seeds??  With an 83% germination rate (so $2 potentially gone right off the top)?  They're just a yellow sweet pepper!

This is totally my own fault as I never would have ordered these had I paid attention to the price. Because, seriously, I'm not good enough at this to be throwing away that kind of money.  I am going to have to baby the heck out of these through the entire process!

I suspect my best bet is to grow them in the greenhouse to ensure I get at least one successful plant out of these seeds. 

And please, everyone give me your absolute best tips to successfully grow peppers so I'm not kicking myself more than I already am!!    :)

Seed Order: Heritage Harvest Seed

I'm quite excited about the seed order I received a week or two ago from Heritage Harvest Seed.  It is my first year ordering from this company, based in Carman Manitoba, that describes itself as "specializing in rare and endangered heirloom varieties of vegetables, flowers and herbs".  They have no GMOs, no hybrids and all seeds are untreated.

I found this seed company as a result of a specific search I was making ... "seeds cheese pumpkin canada".  And it was the first listing!  The search reference to Canada was, as mentioned in a previous post, because buying from the U.S. is pricey with the low Canadian dollar plus I also like to buy from climates that are more likely to be like mine.

I was looking for "cheese pumpkin" because I had read that C. moschata types were better at resisting the damage from bugs.  I also read that they are more tolerant of the type of weather I get here in the summer (hot and usually quite humid).  So that is exactly what I ordered, a cheese pumpkin.

The Long Island Cheese Pumpkin gets its shape because it's shaped like a wheel of cheese (round but flattened).  I also bought seeds for the Japanese Pie pumpkin.  This is a cushaw style (also C. moschata).  The Japanese Pie dates back to 1884 (according to their pamphlet) and, not surprisingly, originated in Japan then introduced in this part of the world in Pennsylvania.

And while flipping through the catalogue, I saw these!

What a great selection of beans!  I had quite a time picking just four types, although I was able to reduce my selection by focusing on bush types as my preferred plant type to grow.  The photo is a bit dark so here are the ones that I ordered with more details from the pamphlet:

Canadian Wild Goose: Small seed, white with grayish green speckles.  Great for baking or soup.

Jacob's Cattle: Another bean good for baking, white with purple splashes and dots.

Thibodeau De Comte Beauce: I've never been to Beauce County but I thought it would be fun to grow a bean from my neighbouring province of Quebec.  This is a snap pea with straight green pods splashed with purple.

Vermont Cranberry: These date to pre-1800's from New Englad area.  These can be grown as either a dry bean or shell bean, with seeds that are small and pink, with darker red stripes. 

And then there were these ...

I bought the King of the North pepper seeds after growing them for the first time last year.  I did not have spectacular results but they were worth another try.  Those plants had been purchased at a plant sale so this year I'll start my own from seed.

And the Feher Ozon Pepper ... described as "one of the best paprika peppers available, originally from Hungary".  Dave at Our Happy Acres makes his own homemade paprika and both Michelle and SFG Dave also grow paprika type peppers.  I thought it would be fun to make some paprika spice myself if they grow well enough.

And I always love a freebie ... they threw in some seeds for Summer Savoury which I don't happen to have on the go.

I don't plan to go through all of my seed order in this much detail as most of it is "the usual".  But I'll likely outline at least one more of my seed orders as I have a few new things I'm trying out this year.

Despite the okay winter we've been having, I am still very much looking forward to spring weather!

Ordering Seeds: Step 2 - What Do I Really Want?

As soon as I receive a seed catalogue in the mail, I immediately flip through it and circle all of the veggies I want to buy.  And it is usually a lot as there are always so many new varieties!  So I need to restrain myself by considering previous results in the garden and what do I really want to grow.  The obvious criteria for my “wants” include:

-          What do I like?

-          What will I be successful with?

-          What crops have a better yield?

      Unfortunately, what I choose may not meet all criteria with yield being the most challenging.  I LOVE dried beans, pretty much any kind, but they take up a lot of space – especially because I prefer bush style as I find them less fussy than pole style beans to grow.  But I like them, so I’ll grow them.

I’m totally with Dave (Our HappyAcres) and his mission “to grow and eat as many different varieties of beans as possible”.  In fact, I was going to follow his lead and order from Rancho Gordo but then I found a Canadian source (Heritage Harvest) that has some very interesting varieties.  I prefer to stick with Canadian sources because (1) they are more likely to be suited to my climate and (2) the Canadian dollar pretty much sucks right now so I’m avoiding any U.S. purchases.

As for “what do I like”, I tried some new varieties in 2015 that I wasn’t thrilled about.  Like Bloomsdale spinach.  I just didn’t like the texture or taste.  So I went back in my posts to find the spinach I grew in 2013 and will go back to that one.  And I really loved Jimmy Nardello sweet peppers so I’ll look for those.

And then there is the success aspect and whether I can even grow what I want.  A good example is cucurbits (squash, pumpkin, zucchini, etc.).   I want to grow every kind I can find.  I want to grow watermelons and cantaloupe and all sorts of summer squash.  But … I have failed to grow melons every year that I’ve tried and I’ve decided to give up.  I do actually have some seeds left from last year so I might as well use them up but I’m not buying any more (I might have more success in the greenhouse but I have limited space).

And more so, I had a terrible time last year with squash bugs and cucumber beetles.  So even though I “want” to grow all sorts of zucchini, there is no point if I can’t successfully grow them.  For summer squash I will be buying only tromboncino – I’ve read that this type is a vigorous grower and, although no plants are actually immune, these may be strong enough at an early stage that they won’t as easily die off.  As for winter squash, I have read repeatedly that c. moschata types (including butternut) are more likely to stave off a bug attack so I’ll focus on those (note: tromboncino is also a c. moschata).

After my initial flurry of circling everything I want in every catalogue I can find, I simply go through the catalogues again bearing in mind the criteria (I also try to consider overall space but, really, I can just add more gardens or put things in containers if needed).

And so I’m off to the final review of the seed catalogues. 

Do you have any fun, new varieties you WANT to try this year?

Ordering Seeds: Step 1 - What Do I Already Have?!

I thought I'd already written a post on this subject but couldn't find anything.  I was likely thinking about this post which is the process I follow when I've already ordered seeds and I'm figuring out when to plant what.  But that comes later.

First things first ... pull out the boxes, containers or cans of those leftover seed packets from last year (I keep my seeds in the basement between seasons).  And whew, do I ever have a lot!  I've been trying a lot of different varieties trying to figure out what I like to grow or not.  The 2016 season is probably the first in which I'm planning to grow less varieties than the year before as I start to focus on what I like to grow best (but hopefully as much or more in quantity!).

I store my seeds in boxes based on type of crop (or other strange combinations that make sense to me - not really sure why I have beans with root veggies).  Most of the boxes are from Loose Button Luxe Box orders (I spoil myself with these personalized beauty boxes each year from a Canadian company and the boxes are perfect for storage).

But as you'll notice in the main photo, I also have some seeds in old nut cannisters or gift boxes - and, oops, that basket of seed packets got left in the basement as is.

And then I go through every box and make notes of what I have.  And that becomes the first two columns of my seed order prep sheets as you can see in an example below.

Sometimes the next two columns come easy ... like the list below of brassicas.  I've decided to not buy any more as I'm struggling too much with even mild success.  But I'll likely use some of the seeds that I already have.

Or here where I probably have most of what I need.

But then this is also a good example of the benefits of going through the seed catalogues - I don't have any parsley seeds so completely forgot to add it on the list (parsley is definitely a "Need").  Oh, and I don't want to grow many brassicas, but I forgot about kohlrabi - again, no seeds left so out of sight, out of mind.

So the next step is flipping through seed catalogues thinking fantasizing about the amazing vegetables I am going to grow this year ("What I Want").  I'll catch you up when I'm done with that step.

Any good tips you'd like to share in the comments section for how you organize your seeds or prepare for your annual order?  Happy Gardening!