12th Annual Seed Catalogue Review

Wow! I find it hard to believe I've been reviewing the seed catalogues for 12 years now, but here we are. So, what seems to be new this year? 

Fenugreek grown for greens suddenly seem to be a bit of a thing, (and fenugreek as a seasoning is having a moment too, I notice). There continues to be high interest in colourful vegetables. For most of my life, the vegetables grown around here have been dominated by traditional British and German varieties; but that hold continues to weaken. Tomatonians and Beaniacs have long dominated in the seed world, but the Chileheads are picking up steam (!). 

The last obvious trend I see is prices going up. Not too surprising, since they've been pretty stable all the time I've been posting this, and as noted that's getting to be a while. Given inflation it's also no surprise. And finally, I'm concentrating on small seed producers who grow, clean, package, market, and mail their own. It's a lot of work, and prices need to reflect that, much as I'm sad to be paying more.

 

When I went to check the list of seed suppliers at Seeds of Diversity, I saw there are a lot of new-to-me companies. I'm concentrating on vegetable seeds, but there are are more garlic growers, more fruit and nut tree and shrub suppliers as both seeds and plants, more seed potato suppliers, and more suppliers of herbs and wild plants. (Still short on sweet potato slips, but they are easy to grow yourself.) The numbers amaze and delight me, even though it seems likely that most of these newer companies may not last for long. I hope, though, that this is a new wave of Canadian supplied garden material that will change and improve the gardening situation in Canada considerably. On which note; buckle up, people! This is going to be looooong, even though if you are looking for non-veg seed items, you should click through below because I don't get into them here.

The in-stock (or not) situation seems to have settled down some from the last 2 years; however, it looks like things are still moving pretty briskly - think about ordering as soon as you reasonably can. If you are looking for something specific and having a hard time finding it, as usual you should turn to Seeds of Diversity and check out their list of seeds available in Canada and which companies carry them. 

 

And finally, while the point of this post is to dream about the new, I was reminded as I found so many old, familiar seeds listed, that there is no deficiency in companies who do not change their lists from year to year. As a gardener and cook I have formed relationships with certain varieties; knowing their individual quirks for growing and eating allows me to get the best from them, and I'm sure the same applies to growers of seeds.

 

A'Bunadh Seeds: Seed grown in Zone 2a (a 90 to 110 day season), Alberta! This is the place for gardeners with a very short season. Listed as new; Macuzalito bush bean, Joan rutabaga, Red Core Chantenay carrot (back), True Gold corn, Perfect Arrow peas, Anaheim pepper, Philadelphia White Box radish, Giant Red mustard, Red Kuri Squash, and Ruby Red Swiss chard. They have some tree and fruit shrub seeds, including Nanking cherry. A good selection of (eating grade) potatoes, which will cost a bomb to ship but can be very hard to find. It's well-worth checking this list out, even if you have a longish season.

AgroHaitai: The only Canadian source I know of for mostly Asian vegetables; they have a good reputation but most of their offerings are F1 hybrids. Their website is available in 7 languages. Listed as new this year, there is Can Dou broad beans, several hybrid bitter melons, Croissant and Boyang-9 F1 sweet melons, and a number of squash, already pretty picked-over. Youdou pole beans are, alas sold out - they looked intriguing.

Annapolis Seeds: Goodness; Hayayuki and Zerawchanica rice, Allu Jola popping sorghum, Hell's Canyon millet, and Hot Biscuits amaranth; grains continue be intriguing for home gardeners. Saffron yellow zucchini looks worth a try. There are a lot of new lettuces, including Olga, Crisp Mint, Anuenue, May Queen (a personal fave), Red Iceberg, and Yudikule (a Turkish heirloom). Cracker Jack marigolds and Kew Blue salpiglossis are really pretty. Japanese Indigo makes me want to dabble in textiles. Nozaki early napa cabbage, and Blue Jade sweet corn also really appeal to me.

Atlantic Pepper Seeds: I'm not sure "new" is a relevant point with this catalogue - it's a perfectly enormous list of peppers, sweet and hot, and if you can't find it here, I don't know where you could. Fortunately it allows you to filter by a number of criteria, to make it manageable to peruse. They do have a "Must Grow" list of a mere 276 varieties, so maybe start there. They seem very keen on 7-Pot variations. Aji Ahuachapáu sounds delightful, and suitable for pots. Candy Cane is the first variegated Bell pepper I have seen. Cheiro Roxa is just ridiculously pretty; Hainan Yellow Lantern is too. They have Targu Mures, which is the best pepper we've grown for a tasty, moderately hot chile powder. I'm getting more interested in Indian cooking, which has me eyeing Kashmiri Mirch with interest. Lots of fascinating stuff here. 

 

B.C Eco Seed Co-op: Newness not noted, but all kinds of great stuff: Amsterdam Gold, Touchon Deluze, and Nash's Nantes carrots, Brunia and Camo Savoy Gem lettuces, Candy Mountain corn, Gramma Walter's dry bean, Michael Pollan tomato, Mossy kale, Slocan snow peas, and White Winter kale sprouts. Much, much more - I suspect they are the growers for a number of listing from other seed companies here.

Bear Root Garden: Nutterbutter and Gouda squashes, Sumter pickling cucumbers, Westlander and Scarlet kale, Orangeglo watermelon, Collective Farm Woman melon, Yakumo Giant snow peas, Feuer Kugel beet, Lavaflow, Bellestar, and Berkeley Tie Die tomato.

Bird & Bee: A small seed house from near Ottawa. Most listings are of good, basic varieties but there are some more unusual things as well - Ottawa Community cucumber, Abenaki Calais flint corn, Open Ophelia eggplant, ALE kale, Icicle snap pea, blue(flowered) salsify, and One Penny butternut squash. Many of those are from local amateur breeding projects. 

Casey's Heirloom Tomatoes: out of a small back yard in Airdrie, Alberta. From a tiny space, an amazing collection of tomatoes of all types. And you know they are growable in Alberta. New are Ciligia Nano, Grappo d'Inverno, Karma Miracle, Datterino, Peter's Pride, and Pasquini's Passion.See also Romeo (hard to find) paste, Aichi First, Goose Creek, Stump of the world, and more. 

Choked Up: in Salmon Arm, BC, have a small collection of Jerusalem artichokes.

Cochrane Family Farm: located in Nova Scotia. Newness is not indicated, but things that catch my eye include Painted Pony dual-purpose bush beans, Baie Verte dual-purpose pole beans, Ashworth and Painted Mountain corn, Little Leaf cucumbers, Bulgarian Giant and King Seig leeks, quite a few lettuces including Tom Thumb, Bennie's Red onion, Purple Mist peas, Candlelight peppers, Gilfeather turnip - very potato-like and worth trying for those who are low-carbing it. They have quite a few squash and loads of tomatoes.

La Croisées des Cultures: Not updated for 2022, but I note they are breeders which always interests me.

Eagle Creek Seed Potatoes: It finally looks like they had a decent growing year, with a good selection of potatoes available. Amarosa and Bellanita (oops, already gone) look like intriguing finger potatoes, and I know Pink Fir Apple definitely is. Alta Blush and Alta Rose look interesting as early potatoes, and so do Bridget, Roko, and Sangre mid-season potatoes. For late potatoes, All-Blue, Bintje, and German Butterball are all varieties we have grown and found to be excellent.

Eagleridge Seeds: Many interesting and unusual varieties from this small seed house located on Salt Spring Island. I don't see a lot of changes from last year, but I note they have rampion, aka rapunzel, which is also an attractive mauve-flowered plant. Look for cardoon, golden berries, Pink Plume celery, Rossa di Treviso Precoce radicchio and Ed's Red shallot.

Ellenberger Organic Farm: Ontario grown seed potatoes! It's been a while! They have Chaleur, French Fingerling, Maris Peer, Red Thumb, German Butterball, Linzer Delikatess, and others. YAY!

Ferme Tournesol: In addition to their own vegetable breeding work, they have a good selection of sound varieties. Look for Dancing with Smurfs, Golden Bison, and Striped German tomatoes, and Limelight millet. Tournesol Select field cucumbers, Mighty Mustard mix, Dragon Egg cucumbers, Listada de Gandia eggplant and Dolciva carrots catch my eye as well, as do Ho Chi Minh, Lemon Drop, and Alma Paprika peppers. Can't decide? They have a hot pepper mix.

Full Circle Seeds: New this year are Dolciva carrot and Black Futsu squash. Flashback calendula from Frank Morton and Laura's Dark Grape poppy round out the list. Perhaps not surprisingly from the rainy west coast, they have a very comprehensive list of greens. Brilliant Celeriac, Harris turnips, and scorzonera all interest me. Goliath broccoli is a good one. 

Gaia Organic Seeds: Organic, but a surprising number of F1s here. Still, they have Kalibos red cabbage which is the only red cabbage I have been kinda sorta able to grow in my very red cabbage unfriendly soil. Look also for Iroquois Corn Bread, Speckled Algonquin, and Jiminez beans. King of the Garden took a lot of acclimatization for us to grow here (got 3 beans the first year, total) so intrigued to see it growing in Ottawa. Early Thoroughgreen Lima, too. Diamant celeriac, Earthtone dent corn, Bear Paw popcorn, Sons & Daughters eggplant, Dazzling Blue kale, Kordial kohlrabi, Delft leek, Gladstone white onion, Rosalba radicchio,  Eight pages of peppers and 15 of tomatoes. 

Good Earth Farms: A short list, but some nice items: Banana Nano (Brazilian) snowpeas, Zia Maria tomato, Rouge Vif d'Etampes squash, Champion of England peas, Dutch Winter lettuce, Flat of Egypt beet, Altaglobe radishes, and Costata Romanesco zucchini.

Greta's Organic Gardens: Greta has retired, but her seeds are continuing in the hands of her children. One of the best collections around. New this year are several pickling cucumbers, Avalanche snow peas, Golden Jubilee, Peaches and Cream, and Sugar Buns corn, Wasabi radish, Saisai purple daikon, Red Beard welsh onions, 3 red lettuces - somebody's really liking some colour this year - and Red Ball Brussels sprouts (see?!) Perpetual Rhubarb for those who want a longer rhubarb season.

Hawthorn Farm: Some exciting new items for 2022! Tumaticot Italian sweet pepper immediately caught my eye, or for something a little hotter, Yellow Biquinho, or there's the locally-bred Renegade Red. There's Butterflay spinach and Halblang parsnips; Little Gem is an old but absolutely super lettuce. Alaric (Tarbais) French white beans and Garden of Eden beans look so good and Pipian of Tuxpan is a squash grown for the delicious seeds. Fenugreek! Grow it for greens or seeds.

Heritage Harvest Seed: I have found a number of our best varieties here, including Gnadenfeld melon, and a lot of our favourite peas and beans. Assiniboine flint corn, wow! We haven't tried lentils but Black Beluga look like a great one to try. Kaho watermelon looks fine, and I know Small Shining Light is much superior to the similar and more common (why!?) Sugarbaby . I'm still hot for turnips, and those White Eggs look good - I know the Golden Ball are. Fish peppers are delightful, and I like the looks of manageably-sized Silver Bell squash. Webb's Wonderful lettuce appears promising.

Hope Seeds: in Nova Scotia. New, I think, is Golden King of Siberia tomato. It sounds good and looks amazing; Gold Nugget and Dark Galaxy too. Purple Sprouting broccoli needs mild winters but I keep trying. Honeynut butternut squash is a mildew-resistant cutie. Zulu, Stocky Red Roaster (a workhorse) and Round of Hungary sweet peppers all look good.

Jardins de l'Écoumène: Site is in French but worth persevering. So; nouveautés: I don't usually mention ornamentals, but damn! Those Kiiri Japanese cosmos are sweet. Royal Snap II snap pea looks like a much more compact plant than Sugar Magnolia, which may be good for many gardeners. Yellow Wonder Alpine strawberry is, indeed, yellow and also non-running. In addition to National Pickling cucumber, there are a few new tomatoes and peppers, including Orange Jazz and Ananas (Pineapple) tomatoes, and Clari Baby Cheese and Count Dracula peppers. 

 
Le Jardin des vie-la-joie: In French. Not too much that's new, but some unusual listings. Géant de Sicile and Hailstone radishes; Blue Jade sweet corn - small enough to grow in pots - Muscade carrots, and Obélisque beans, for instance. Along with a good general selection, they carry a number of Quebec heirlooms. They have four different ground cherries. "Party de tomates à Jean Gagné" contains 9 intriguing tomato varieties, and there are some other good-looking combo packs. 

Jardins de la Gaillarde: In French. Listed as new this year, I see Purple Lady and Vivid bok choy, Tango lettuce, Peach Sugar Rush and Blot peppers, Grosfruchtiger fennel, and Rebekha Allen, Northern Ruby, Ozark Sunrise and Cuor de Blue Albenga tomatoes. See also Umqua broccoli and Goodman cauliflower, Rhumba carrot, Calima bean, Sugar Lace snap peas, Ostergruss radish (good, and hard to find). A good selection of tomatoes.

Kitchen Table Seed House: located in eastern Ontario, they are not just seed producers, but vegetable breeders - they worked on Renegade red pepper, and also have a breeding mix of yellow onions. Italy Hill popcorn looks delightful, as does Jesse Fisk dry bean. New items include Habanada sweet peppers, Crispino lettuce, Carouby de Maussane snow peas (a favourite here) and Greek Pepperoncini hot peppers. Midnight Roma tomatoes incorporate the very popular "blue" (really a very dark purple) trend in tomatoes but look like they should be more than a novelty.

 

Mapple Farm: The list here does not change much from year to year, but it is a carefully chosen one. Look for Gaucho dry beans, Turkish rocket, French scorzonara, Shosaku gobo (burdock), and Nutmeg, Oka, and Montreal melons. They concentrate on earliest tomatoes and their own Mystery Keeper, as well as a few paste tomatoes. They have Crosnes (Chinese Artichokes) and Egyptian walking onions. Nice selection of squash, including Banana, Golden Hubbard, Gill's Golden Pippin, Fisher's Acorn, Honey Boat, and Syrian Hulless pumpkin. After last year's dismal cucumber crop, I find myself more than usually interested in Parade, a cool-tolerant Russian variety.

 

Matchbox Garden Seed Co: Jaune de Poitou leeks, Charleston Grey watermelon, and Green Fingers cucumber are new this year. The latter looks like the delightful little greenhouse cukes available in the winter. Piennolo del Vesuvio is a cute little keeping tomato. They have quite a few carefully thought out and imaginative seed collections, and their list in general is full of really reliable varieties.  

 

Mumm's Sprouting Seeds have been around since forever, or at least 1974. They have an impressively large list of sproutable seeds and seed blends, a number of which I would be happy keep right on with into the garden. They carry supplies and books too, just about everything you need to get going with sprouting.

Norton Naturals: Not a seed company; they sell a selection of roots, mostly native but also crosnes, edible day lilies, and double Tiger lilies. Native plants include: Arrowhead, Camas (Quamash), Groundnuts, Hog Peanuts, 3 different Jerusalem artichokes, Spring Beauty, Meadow Garlic, and Ramps (Wild Leeks). In my experience, if you do not have the necessary fungus in the soil those last will not grow. Worth trying if you have a typical Ontario woodlot though. They sell Prairie Turnip as seeds - this is actually a tap-rooted legume, and it looks like it would also make an excellent ornamental. They ship twice a year - next up in April.

OSC (Ontario Seed Company): A good source for open-pollinated classics at reasonable prices. They have an impressive selection of native grasses and wildflowers. This year they have an expanded list of vegetables available as seed tapes, which are really very good for closely spaced vegetables, carrots in particular. Other than that I'm not seeing anything listed as new, so let's just note they have those little white pickling onions, White Icicle radishes, Tom Thumb lettuce, Solar Yellow carrots, and a great selection of cabbages - including Early Jersey Wakefield, Chieftain Savoy, Late Dutch Flat and Brunswich Sauerkraut. 

Peppermerchant: Only 19 items listed that I can see, but some unique peppers nevertheless. Hallows Eve, Tiger Jalapeño, Beast, Purple UFO, Scotch Brains, Count Dracula (early), Apocalypse Scorpion, Thunder Mountain Longhorn... d'Espelette and Vezenka are routine by comparison but perhaps more useable for me, at least.

Potager Ornemental de Catherine: Site is in French. Many good things here, both ornamental and edible. I see as new Valencia peanuts, Nutribud broccoli, New Mama supersweet corn, Keravel (Rose de Roscoff) onions, June's Delight snap peas, and Diana and Helios radishes. Not new but worth noting; Muncher cucumber, and Ananashyi yellow zucchini. Peas and soy beans are well-represented. A good selection of tomatoes with an emphasis on smaller types. On the ornamental side, I have to mention Chinese delphiniums; somewhat short-lived but easier to grow than the tall hybrids and just as intensely blue.

Prairie Garden Seeds: Thanks to pandemic problems, Prairie Garden is taking a year away from selling vegetable seeds. The grains and flowers are still up. Grains have always been one of their particular strengths; if you are looking for smaller quantities of a very diverse group of heirloom grains this is the place. 

 

Rebecca's Garden: Out of Victoria, BC. I like the looks of Norwegian dry bean, Dow Purple (Roma!) bean, Pardina and Puy lentils, Old Fashioned Sweet corn, Arctic King and Victoria lettuces, Delice de Table melon, Century (Creamette) and Spanish Skyskraper (ONLY listing of this rare Canadian variety seen this year - get it!), Cubanelle, Staddon's Select, and a great selection of hot peppers, Snowball (Six Weeks) turnip, Confection mixed radishes, Thelma Sanders acorn squash and Pennsylvania Neck Pumpkin, and a good selection of tomatoes.

Revival Seeds: the logical outcome of a family of seed-savers from way back, this Annapolis Valley farm has many family heirlooms such as Big Baba's Bull's Blood beet, Dmyto's Ukrainian dill, Crawford Estates lettuce, and Emil's Stringless green bean. Other amazing things include Papa Earl's Scarlet Nantes carrot, Caribe cilantro, Glass Gem corn, Rockford (Snow's Fancy) pickling cucumber, Bulgarian hot chile, Ruthie's Russian kale, Mosher's Corner Amish melon, Arthur Reid Canning pea, and lots of tomatoes including the getting-kind-of-hard-to-find (but excellent) Paul Robeson.

 

Richter's Herbs: A huge list of herbs, and a decent collection of vegetables, but not always the most reliable of companies. 

SeedZoo is back, with a small but intriguing selection - they tend to change rapidly so I suggest you go look. Nothing in the veggies is marked as new, but there are still some things I haven't seed before, such as Red Stalk celery, Garnet Stem chicory, Molokhia (Egyptian spinach), and Green Leaf and Golden Leaf French purslanes.

Salt Spring Seeds: Doesn't list things as new or not, so just a few things to catch my eye: Amish Snap are regarded as the best snap pea, by those who manage to get them, and Mrs. Van's is an excellent late season shell pea; I'd like to try Heilong Jian snow pea and Summer shelling peas too. For beans, how about Blooming Prairie, Pisterzo, Pinks, and Ruckle? Sweet Hardy kale makes me want to try kale again, as does Lacinato Rainbow. Purple Cape and Galleon cauliflower, Arctic King butterhead lettuce, Musgrave Munchie carrot, Zebrune shallot, Darcy's Purple leek, Gill's Golden Pippin acorn squash, Ashley cucumber, all look worth trying. We grew Hope melon last year; it didn't look like the photo but it did well considering what a rotten year it was for melons.

The Seed Company by E.W. Gaze: I don't believe they grow their own seeds, but they are a long established Newfoundland company, and I expect they have a good idea about what is suited to the local soil and climate; if I were gardening there I would definitely look to them as a place to get started. I see that they have some new mushroom growing kits this year. 

Seeds of Imbolc: Appear to be mostly dahlia roots and flower seeds, but a few good veggies: Hit and Marvel of Venice beans, Rossa d'Inverno Rubino and Yellow of Parma onions, Sumo snow pea, and a fair few tomatoes. 

Les Semences du Batteux: Site is in French. They have Early Half-Tall Brussels sprouts, the sprout that has done the best in our garden but is hard to find! See also Kyoto Red and St Valery carrots, Azur Star kohlrabi, Bedford Monarch parsnip, Joan rutabaga, André Comeau's seed pumpkin, Adis Pickle cucumber, Moldovanesti Buffalo white runner bean, Famille Jamroch beans, Apache and Buena Mulata chiles, Ashe County and Sweet Yellow Stuffing peppers, and Astrakom eggplant.

Semences du Portage: Site is in French. There are quite a few new tomatoes this year; for me Stupice and Jaune Flammée are tried and true, there is also Cerise Mille Fleurs, Saucy Lady, and Ida Gold. Gourmet and Banane peppers, Isabelle and Beurre de Roquencourt beans, Amarant cabbage, Canada Crookneck squash, and Montreal melon.

la Société des Plantes: Site is in French. I have Ste Anne shallots from them; doing well thus far, in fact it would not be rude to describe them as weeds, in the best way. I have gotten some other very interesting things from them, including Val aux Vents shallots, de Krosno rutabaga, Noir Long de Pardhailan turnip,  Yellow beets, Jewel Green zucchini (out of stock, alas, as is Pusa Rhudira carrot).  I'm intrigued by Ail vrillé (allium obliquum), camassia esculanta, Rapunzel (Raiponce), and Evening Primrose as edible ornamental plants. Petit Carré de Caen bean looks like ones I've seen in late Medieval herbals - i.e. pretty unchanged from what would have been brought over as soon as Europe became aware of the existance of the Americas. If you are interested in the unusual, look here!

 

Solana Seeds: Seed packets are small but not expensive at this little Quebec seed house. New this year are Tsakoniki Greek eggplant, Habanada and California Wonder peppers, as well as a Bell pepper colour mix. Lucky Tiger and Northern Lights tomatoes, and Dirwii Of tomatillo (unique!) In general, this site leans heavily to the rare and unusual and is worth checking out. Very large selection, amongst other things, of melons.

Sunshine Farm: Located in Kelowna, B.C. I don't know if these items are new, as such, but I'm going by the first few pages when sorted by "latest". Sunshine onion, Franchi Red Pear, Lucid Gem, Black Vernisage, Pink Vernissage, Black Icicle tomatoes - oh, let's just say they have a lot of unsual tomatoes - Juana'a Orange amaranth, Red Leaf spinach, Scarlet kale... I got a very nice selection of carrots from them last year, even if the critters mostly ate them. I'm inclined to try again. All kinds of good things here; I'm impressed.

Sweet Rock Farm: Also in B.C., they have their own Fiesta bean, Paddy's Pink lettuce, Leutschaur Hungarian paprika, Styrian seed pumpkin, and Fakel , Joan's Round Red and Mashenka tomatoes. An interesting little collection! 

Terra Edibles: was our first source for seeds when we started gardening many years ago. They carry the hard-to-find legume inoculant, available for a fairly short season in the spring (listed with the beans). Nothing is listed as new, but I like the looks of Flambeau beans (I know Blue Lake pole are excellent), Red Seeded citron, Double Standard and Stowell's Evergreen corn, and Yellow Carrot Shaped radish. Nice selection of lettuce including the least bitter red, Red Sails, as well as Sugar Cos (Little Gem), and Tennis Ball. In their substantial list of tomatoes, look for Berkeley Tie-Die, Canabec Super, Garden Peach, Pineapple, Charbonnier du Berry, and Green Zebra. 

Terre Promise: Very little listed as new; and the English version does not seem updated so use the French. They have Black Dakota (pop), Country Gentleman, Winnebago and Gaspé corn. Beans include Dutch Princess, pois-fève Laliberté, Apache, and Jade beans. Lots of Quebec heirlooms, and a good selection of lettuce and greens. Lots of peppers including Shishito, Korean, d'Epelette (Gloria), Penis, Piri-Pir, and Poblano. Hiemale Landrace peas are unusual and perhaps useful for breeders. 

In July Ste Anne shallots will be available, and a good selection of garlics in season.  

Three Forks Farm: Located on Manitoulin Island! A fairly standard list, but includes favourites such as Blondkopfchen and Violet Jasper cherry tomatoes, San Marzano paste tomato, Mortgage Lifter, and Brandywine tomatoes, Gnadenfeld melon, Sweet Dakota Rose watermelon, and Jerico romaine lettuce.

Urban Tomato: Seem to have a smaller collection of non-tomato seeds, although their peppers include the famous Chimayo. I grew these and liked them, but be warned you need several plants to get a useable quantity, even if they are loaded with peppers - they dry right down. Interesting tomatoes include White Mikado, Una Heartstock, Striped Cavern, and Moonglow. I know Black Cherry, Green Zebra, Isis Candy, Opalka, San Marzano, and Stupice are all tried and true for us.

West Coast Seeds: New this year I see Mongolian Giant sunflowers, Glass Gem corn, Moranga squash, Get Stuffed tomatoes, Biquino Yellow and Red chiles, Bellezia and Esmee arugulas, Celebration runner beans, Rio Grande blue and Double Red corn, and Callaloo amaranth. Large package of fenugreek for micro-greens.

Wild Rose Heritage Seed Company: A fairly standard list of particularly hardy varieties, but a few things that stand out: Carson and Oceanis bush beans, Golden Grex beets, Self-Blanching cauliflower, All-Seasons (Vandergaw) cabbage, Fast Break cantaloupe, Simonet corn, Strike peas, Raxe radish, Amish Pie squash, and Lucullus Swiss chard.

 

William Dam Seeds: I see a few more engaging things here than I have in the last few years. Dragon's Fire arugula, Antigua green bean, Benefine and Eliance endives, Delicata bush squash, and quite a lot of lettuces: Paeonia, Mezquite, Bauer, Hitchhiker, Apple 9424, Red Dragon, Wizard, Tang 9017, Lola 9208, and Saratoga, as well as a baby market blend. And a lot of F1 hybrids, of course. 

Yonder Hill Farm: another Nova Scotian company. New this year they have Stampede and Skorospelka sunchokes (Jerusalem artichokes), Sparrow Egg Cranberry bean, Sesame Afghan eggplant, and Czech bush tomato. They also have Tancook Island Sauerkraut cabbage (waaaaant), Paydon acorn squash, Long Pie (Algonquin) pumpkin, Wentzell tomato, and Butter King lettuce (bred in Ottawa, in the 1960s).