January isn't usually associated with frenzied shopping. For seed companies, though, the biggest challenge is keeping up with demand from consumers who are eager to snap up new or old favourites and hard-to-find heritage varieties for starting seeds indoors.
If seeds aren't being sown until late March or early April, why the rush and excitement to order seeds? Like restaurant menus, glossy seed catalogues are fun to read even if you already know what you are planning to order. Part of the attraction, says Tanya Stefanec, owner of Heritage Harvest Seed in Carman, is that once the seed packet is in your hand, dreams of summer begin and the long winter seems shorter.
Stefanec fields requests from all over Canada for her heirloom seeds, many of them rare collectibles. Stefanec says varieties suitable for growing in patio pots are more popular this year than ever. She's excited to have acquired a tiny cukemelon that is no more than 10 centimetres across that has every appearance of a miniature watermelon. Also known as Mexican Sour Gherkin, it can be grown on a trellis in a patio pot and has a refreshing cucumber-like taste with a hint of citrus. Perfect, Stefanec says, for snacking, salads or pickling.
If your taste buds are yearning for the hot flavour of fresh-grown peppers, Stefanec recommends Hungarian Hot Wax peppers. Well suited to our short growing season, she says these are great for pickling and making your own hot banana peppers.
Also suited to our short growing season is Mandan Banquet squash, a cross between Buttercup and Gilmore squash. Stefanec says this extremely rare variety matures quickly and stores easily.
Stefanec is really excited about Banana Melon, a new addition to her collection she has wanted to grow in her garden for some time. Very sweet and aromatic, it can grow up to 60 centimetres long. Start the seed indoors at least a month before planting outside.
According to Manitoba Pulse & Soybean Growers, pulses (the dry edible seeds of pea, bean, or lentil plants) are high in nutrition. Since 2016 is the International Year of Pulses, and fibre is good for you, why not try growing an heirloom variety such as Swedish Brown bean? Brought to America in the 1890s by Swedish immigrants, Stefanec says Swedish Brown is an excellent baking bean and very easy to grow. Days to maturity are approximately 105.
Little Snow Pea Purple is only 52 days to maturity. Kevin Twomey, president of T&T Seeds, a mail-order seed catalogue business that has been a fixture in Winnipeg for more than six decades, trialled this new early maturing snow pea in his garden last year. Its neat dwarf size makes it ideal for containers without staking. Pretty purple flowers are in bloom at the same time peas are ripening.
Twomey suggests asking the kids in your household what they would like to grow this year. Dilly of a Jack pumpkin might be the perfect choice if you have the space for this very unique, tall, narrow shaped pumpkin. The seeds come directly from giants produced at the Dill Family Farm in Windsor, N.S. Brimming with personality, Dilly of a Jack grows 60 to 90 cm tall. The ones Twomey grew were about 27 kilograms.
Squash continues to grow in popularity, and fortunately, last year was a very good year for growing squash, unlike 2014 when late spring frosts damaged many crops. Winter Sunshine, an All America Selection winner, reigns as T&T's bestselling squash and in Twomey's humble opinion, makes the best soup.
This past Christmas, Twomey served his guests pickled zucchini. He prepares the same brine as he would for dill pickles, packs a jar with zucchini slices that are about two cm thick then pours the boiling brine over the slices. No need to process or cook the zucchini first, says Twomey, who plans to try Midnight Noche zucchini, a high-yielding, and nearly spineless cylindrical variety.
Growing your own salad mix has never been easier. A recent innovation, a single multi-seeded pellet contains up to five to seven seeds that quickly grow to fill one 35-cm patio pot. Wonder Wok is a multi-species, multi-pellet seed available at T&T that contains mustards, kale and bok choy.
Do you have to wait until summer? Grow-light systems make it possible to grow salads and herbs year-round or for early season seed starting. One example, Jump Start, is equipped with a high-output T5 fluorescent bulb and an adjustable light height. Gina Zaccardi, co-owner of Kleen Gro Hydroponics in Osborne Village, says seed-starting units such as these are compact enough for use on a kitchen countertop.
The Grow Light Garden by SunBlaster includes two 6,400 Kelvin T5HO fluorescent tubes and a curved reflective hood that provides the growing area with full spectrum light. Zaccardi says it uses significantly less electricity than traditional lighting systems.
Lighting is crucial to healthy growth and optimum yields. Even a south-facing windowsill does not provide adequate conditions for starting seeds. Zaccardi says high-output T5 Tubes fluourescent grow lights are only one cm in diameter so can be placed just about anywhere. Each package includes the tube, ballast, and 1.8-metre electric cord as well as a link cable and mounting clips.
Last year, SunBlaster Lighting re-engineered its T5s with the addition of a NanoTech T5 Reflector, which incorporates optical-grade reflection film for diffused lighting, the type you see in a greenhouse. It has the ability to penetrate plants deep and maximize yield. More expensive than fluorescent T12 shop lights, these provide high-energy light output.
Zaccardi says these are available in a variety of lengths and can easily be attached to a storage unit such as a four-tier heavy-duty plastic shelving unit for an indoor space-saving vertical garden.
Linkable LED lights represent another option that, while more expensive, take up only minimum space and use 70 per cent less power than conventional greenhouse lighting. "You could be producing a large quantity of food in a cubby hole," says Zaccardi. Similar in appearance to T5s, LEDs look like high-output fluorescents but have a penetrating ability that would be suitable even for growing flowering plants. "Any bookshelf or shelving unit can become an electrified plant stand," says Zaccardi.
Whether your plans call for a full-scale operation or a small indulgence, start with a sterile growing medium that is specifically designed for starting seeds. Zaccardi uses Botanicare Cocogro, a coir fibre blend she says promotes strong root development.
Maintaining consistent bottom heat for the roots of seedlings in seed trays improves germination and helps to reduce the risk of damping off, a fungal disease that results in the death of seedlings.
Evolve Seedling Starter, produced locally by Evolve Organics, is said to promote quick germination, root development and healthy emergence. Produced locally by Evolve Organics and available at most garden centres, it gets its powerful smell from bat guano. Fusion is a new organic fertilizer, says Twomey, that is made with natural enzymes and microorganisms and also does well in reducing the risk of damping off.
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NOTICE:
The Manitoba Horticultural Association hosts its 118th annual convention Jan. 28 to 30 in Neepawa at the Neepawa United Church, 475 Mountain Ave. For more details and to register, visit www.icangarden.com/clubs/mha or phone 204-256-2745.
