Introducing our seed collection for new gardeners!
The Easy Garden Collection was inspired by our friend Allison — who is a new gardener — and asked us to put together a collection of seeds that a new gardener could master. We think this collection does the trick. It includes some tried and true favourites, that taste great and based on our experience of growing a lot of different varieties, are easy to grow and the chance of success for a new gardener is high. In other words, if you plant it, it will grow!
The collection includes:
- Provider Bush Beans. A productive and tasty green bean.
- Scarlet Nantes Carrots. A sweet and crunchy heirloom carrot.
- Detroit Dark Red Beets. The classic deep red beet. Use the baby leaves for salad.
- Heirloom Lettuce Mix. Our lettuce mix of red and green romaine and loose-leaf lettuce.
- Cherry Belle Radish. A lovely bright-red, early, crisp radish.
- Nasturtiums. Beautiful red, orange, yellow blossoms. An edible and ornamental flower.
The packs are standard size. This collection is a 20% savings over buying the packs individually.
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The thinking behind this collection:
- Everything can be direct sown at the same time at the end of May/early June
- These varieties are hardy and grow well with minimal inputs
- All of these varieties taste great! Which of course is very important
- No trellis, staking or indoor starting is necessary
- Growing instructions provided
Our alternate names were the ‘Long Weekend Garden’ and the ‘No Fuss, No Muss’ Collection.
We love it when new gardeners take the plunge and dig in. Of course, we think it just makes sense to grow a few of your own veggies (the thinking behind our name) –- and hope this collection helps you get started on your gardening way.
A big Thank You to Annelies Ellerman @dutchiegrows for designing the Easy Garden Collection graphic.
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Growing Instructions (which will be included with the seed collection)
Provider Bush Beans: Sowing: Plant bean seeds in spring. Keep soil moist until seedlings emerge (1 week or so). Spacing: Space seeds 3” or so apart and sow 1” deep. Thinning: Thin to 6” apart once seedlings are 3”- 4” tall.
Scarlet Nantes Carrots: Sowing: Direct sow in spring. The small seeds need to be lightly covered with soil and then kept moist until they come up. It helps to put a light fleece covering over the seeds which helps keep the moisture in or even a piece of wood. Peek under the cover every couple of days to see if any carrot tops are popping up and then remove covering. The seeds are very small, so it can be hard not to overseed. Thinning: If you do have a lot of carrot tops coming up, no worries, just wait until carrots are about 2”- 4” tall and then thin the carrots to about 2” between seedlings.
Detroit Dark Red Beets: Sowing: Direct seed in spring. Sow seeds ½” deep. Spacing: Space 2”- 4″ apart and keep soil moist until seedlings are up. Thinning: Thin seedlings to about 5″ apart when seedlings are about 2″ tall.
Heirloom Lettuce Mix: Scatter seeds densely (1″ to 2″ apart) in the garden or in a container. Cover lightly with soil and keep moist until germination. You can pick the greens as baby leaves or mature leaves.
Cherry Belle Radishes: Sowing: Sow seeds outside every 2 weeks into summer for a continuous harvest. Spacing: Plant seeds ¼” deep, spacing seeds every 2”. Keep soil moist until seedlings emerge. Seeds usually germinate in 4-7 days.
Nasturtiums: Direct sow outside in a sunny place. Sow the large seed about 1” below the soil, cover and keep moist until germination. A fun & easy flower. Plus you can eat it!
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