NEW FOR 2010!! 30-50 days. This beautiful amaranth grows to 6' (1.8 m), with "garnet" red stems and fuschia-red leaves. One of the most intensely-coloured amaranths. The sprouts can be harvested for micro-greens and the leaves can be picked young for salad mixes. If you let it grow to its full glory, older leaves can be cooked like spinach and the seeds can be harvested for the grain.
NEW FOR 2010!! (50-60 days) I used to be underwhelmed by scallop or patty pan squash - found htem too watery and stringy for my liking. Then I discovered how they're supposed to be eaten - picked small! Harvested at up to 4-5" diameter, these fruits are tender and dense fleshed with flavour. I love slicing them up for stir-fries. Benning's Green Tint is a very rare scallop squash developed in the 1930's by Charles N. Farr. Pale green fruits (both skin and flesh) are flattened rounds with scalloped edges and were considered "one of the most beautiful strains of the whole group of Patty Pans". Heavy-yielding.
NEW FOR 2010!! 75 days. Determinate. Potato-leaved. This Russian heirloom grows to just 3', perfect for containers and small plots. One of the few tomatoes that did well in this cool, wet summer for us. Good-sized 4-5" fruits are a deep mahogany and have a rich, full-bodied taste.
NEW FOR 2010!! 60 days snap; 90 days dry. This is a very rare heirloom bean that was originally preserved and re-introduced by Seeds of Diversity Canada and the Everdale Environmental Learning Centre in Ontario. This bean is very prolific, producing large yields of beans that can be harvested green for a sweet, tender taste or left dry on the bush for a rich-tasting dry bean. Actually it produces so many beans that you can do both! The bean itself is worth growing for its beauty alone - a navy blue mottled with tan markings. Short-season bean that grew extremely well for us in cool, wet conditions.
NEW FOR 2010!! 60 days. One of the oldest peppers still available, Bull Nose was introduced in 1850's and was a Victorian favourite. Jefferson grew it at Monticello in 1865. The blocky fruits are 3" long x 2" in diameter and are often characterized by a crinkled "nose" on the blossom end. Described in Burpee's 1888 seed catalogue as "very early, of sweet, mild flavour; glossy red; rind thick and fleshy."
NEW FOR 2010!! This beautiful Ontario wildflower has been listed as an endangered species in Canada. Its "trumpets" are its crowning glory-huge, crimson-orange trumpets glow to 15 m., this woody vine is very strong and needs stiff support or substantial pruning. Can also be grown as a ground cover. This is the favourite nectar source for Ruby-Throated Hummingbirds. Drought-tolerant.
NEW FOR 2010!! Cardoon has been grown as a vegetable in France and was brought to North America in the 1790's by French Quakers, though it never caught on widely here. Whether you eat it or not, it's worth growing for its sheer ornamental value. The plants grow to a statuesque 4-6' with huge, serrated leaves that are a silvery-grey and giant purple thistlehead flowers. The stalks are eaten in soups, stews and salads and are often tied up to blanche.
NEW FOR 2010!! 63-100 days. This small cabbage, introduced by H. Hartman & Co. in 1909, is ideal for small gardens. The plants take up less space than most cabbages and produce 3-4 lb heads that are up to 8" in diameter.
NEW FOR 2010!! 70 days. A purple carrot with an orange interior and a sweet taste. The 7" roots are smooth and straight. Purple colour diffuses when cooked.
NEW FOR 2010!! 85 days. Indeterminate. We grew this tomato in our early years here and loved it for its large crop of perfect, juicy, round red tomatoes. We're pleased to be able to offer it again. Developed by George Sparks, of New Jersey, the plants are shorter than most indeterminates and the tomatoes are richly flavoured.
NEW FOR 2010!! I am so thrilled to have found this beet! It is one of the oldest surviving varieties of beet and is extremely rare. Dating from at least the 18th C. (it was mentioned as early as 1774), it was very popular in early North America because it did so well in so many growing conditions. The round roots are best harvested at 4" diameter, and have purple-red skin and flesh that is red with paler red rings. Its leaves are so dark as to look almost black. Its name comes from the fact that when cooked, it exudes a thick juice, like blood. This attribute made it a favourite of the Pennsylvania Dutch.
NEW FOR 2010!! 70 days. Prized for its heat. Early Jalapeno is an easy pepper to grow. The plant's compact size (2') makes it an excellent candidate for urban gardening, and it matures very early, setting fruit under cooler conditions than most other hot peppers. The short, 2-3" fruits are thick-walled and juicy and are great eaten fresh, cooked, dried, and in salsa. Although we're used to using them green, they're actually hottest when they ripen to a deep red.
NEW FOR 2010!! Endive is originally from the eastern Meditteranean region, where it has been cultivated for at least 2000 years. The ancient Romans, Egyptians and Greeks used endive as a winter salad. It was a popular market vegetable in North America in the 1860's but has largely been forgotten now. Newly rediscovered for its mild, nutty flavour and its beauty and hardiness, endive grows to 6" diameter making it perfect for small gardens. Its frilly, finely-cut leaves are delicious in salads, sautees, soups, stews and ragouts. Blanche before harvest.
NEW FOR 2010!! (60 - 80 days from spring sowing; 120 days from fall sowing)Aka 'He-Shi-Ko'. Grown since the 1880's, this popular perennial bunching onion produces clusters of 4-9 non-bulbing, slender stalks with a sharp flavour. Extremely cold-hardy, it is also slow-bolting. It overwinters well, so can be planted in spring or fall.
NEW FOR 2010!! 85 days. Introduced in 1890 by W. Atlee Burpee Seed Co. in the U.S., they were named for the company research farm, Fordhook, in Pennsylvania. Growing to 2 lbs., the golden-coloured fruits are long and deeply-ribbed with firm, dry flesh. Very rare.
NEW FOR 2010!! 29 days. You can leave this German heirloom in the garden until it's the size of a baseball and it retains its crisp, sweet texture and taste. Mild and never pithy, it can be harvested at any size.
NEW FOR 2010!! 85 days. Indeterminate. This excellent paste tomato is a Connecticut heirloom. The long, narrow red fruits with an endearing crook at their ends have thick, meaty flesh and a full, rich flavour. Perfect for soups and sauces.
NEW FOR 2010!! 55 days. Another golden beet with golden-orange skin and deep yellow flesh. Very sweet, doesn't bleed.
