If you live anywhere in Ontario, you’ll be experiencing this strange warm weather as I am.

Very odd.  I keep waiting for the chill to drop.

Regardless.

Time to order your vegetable starter plants! All seeds are heirloom, organic and are grown right here, at Pemberley Farm, organically. Orders should be placed by the end of March, as all plants need time to grow from their tiny seeds. And I don’t want to disappoint you.

 

 

Broccoli:

Waltham – 1954 – standard heads, green, easy to grow

Rapini – Italian, non-heading, grown for flavourful shoots and leaves in salads or fried

Cabbage:

Glory of Enkhuizen – 1899 – medium/large round heads, awesome for sauerkraut

Brunswick – 1924 – large drumhead, stores well, rare (note: mine were gigantic and yummy!)

Red Express – open-pollinated red cabbage, extra early production, perfect for Canada, solid, split-resistant head  (mine grew extremely well as I ignored them)

Cauliflower:

Purple of Sicily – beautiful, brilliant purple heads, sweet flavour, cook to bright green

Pusa Meghna – apparently super-early, tight white curds, heat and cold resistant (new one for me to try out)

Cucumber: 

Boston Pickling – 1880 – vigorous vine, great yields, excellent for pickles

Chicago Pickle – 1888 – thin skins, can reach to 7″ without ruining quality, prolific

Early Fortune – 1906 – sweet, slicing-type, never bitter, 8″ long, 2″ thick

Japanese Long – long, slim fruit, mild and easy to digest, few seeds

Mexican Sour Gherkin – small, cucumber-like fruit shaped like mini-watermelons, unique and fun (limited)

Melons:

Early Silver Line – Korean-type, oval-shaped, yellow fruit, white flesh, crisp and sweet (new)

Golden Jenny – short vines produce succulent, sweet 2lb melons

Collective Farm Woman – Ukraine, melons ripen to yellow-gold, white flesh with high sugar content

Squash: 

Galeux D’Eysines – beautiful heirloom squash, 10-15lbs, peach-coloured skin with large warts, can be baked or used in soups

Waltham Butternut – good yields, amazing flavour, you know you love it

Early Prolific Straight Neck Zucchini – AAS winner from 1938, lemon-yellow, club-shaped fruit, firm flesh

Cocozella Di Napoli Zucchini – unique Italian  Heirloom, long, green ribs

Jack Be Little – tiny, cute 8oz pumpkins, bright orange, sweet

Peppers – Hot

Craig’s Grande – big, fat, green jalapeno. (I love them. Third year growing)

Leutschauer Paprika – 1800, medium hot, drying pepper for making paprika

Purple Jalapeno – deep, gorgeous purple jalapeno (third year seeds)

Thai Pepper – hot heirloom from Thailand, easy to dry, bright red, pungent heat, prolific

Pasilla Bajio – mild-sweet-hot, starts dark green, turn deep brown-purple, used in Mexican mole sauces

Tabasco – 1848 in Louisiana, main ingredient of Tabasco sauce, can be grown in a pot

Estaceno Chile – genuine Northern New Mexico pepper, used in chili verde or salsa, can be dried to make chili powder

Peppers – Sweet

Canary Bell – superior sweet pepper, productive 2′ plants (2nd year)

Corbaci – long, slender, twisted, sweet. Rare heirloom from Turkey. Rich flavour. (2nd year)

Lipstick – thick red flesh, 4″ tapered end, pimento-type, super sweet (2nd year)

Albino Bullnose – blocky 4″ sweet pepper, begins soft cream, ripens to a reddish-orange, dwarf plant

Etiuda – thick walls, orange, sweet, large

Corno Di Toro – Italy, bull-horn shape, 8″ tapered, golden-green, sweet

Red Mini Bell – tiny, red peppers, 1″ wide, great for stuffing and super cute!

Habanada – a heatless habanero, fruity floral notes of a habanero without the heat

Oda – strong, compact plants, produce lilac purple fruit that ages to a soft brown.

 

Tomatoes 

Martino’s Roma – perfect for your sauces, paste-type fruit, meaty with few seeds

Amish Paste – giant, blocky paste tomatoes, Amish community grown

Atomic Grape – elongated cherry-like clusters, lavender purple stripes, ripening to soft reds, cherry -size (limited)

Gypsy – medium-size, deep purple/maroon, great taste, good for soups

Black Cherry – large, dusky-brown grapes, rich flavour, sweet, perfect for popping (2nd year)

Gold Rush Currant – tiny tomatoes, golden-orange, 1/4″ diameter, snacking

Snow Fairy – dwarf tomato from Russia, produces early, small globes, perfect for pots, slightly tart

Accordion – large, pink, ruffled fruit, perfect for stuffing, sweet and mild

Minibel – determinate, bite-sized fruit, tiny and ornamental, sweet and pinky

Purple Bumblebee – slightly elongated little cherries, striped with purple and green, crack-resistant, complex and sweet flavour (2nd year)

Black Krim – Russia heirloom, deep dark red fruit, medium-size, very rich and sweet, a favourite

Yellow Pear – yellow, sweet 1 1/2″ fruit, pear-shaped, highly prolific, will crack if too wet, but so worth the planting.

Chocolate Pear – bronze-red pear-shaped fruit, slightly sweeter than yellow pear, highly prolific, rich flavour

Tomatillos – gorgeous, green, husk-covered fruit that tastes like a tomato and an apple. Used in salsa verde and the delicious tomatillo soup. You need to buy two for fruit. I highly recommend.

Herbs

Basil – lemon; lime; cinnamon; thai sweet; purple; blue spice

Cilantro

Parsley

 

I will update this again in a few days. Puppies need tending. If you would like any plants, you can reach me at:  loveandoregano@gmail.com

 

thank you!