Yes, I ordered more seeds. 😄

There is a method to my madness, though!

First up, this is my first order from West Coast Seeds, a Canadian seed source that comes highly recommended. I used the Gardening in Canada affiliate link, so Ashley gets a cut. I gain so much from her videos, it’s my little bit to support her.

The other reason I wanted to order from here is because of my current seed starts. When I turned the light on over the trays in the basement, I decided to check on my luffa. Of the four pre-germinated seed, only one has emerged and it still just as seed leaved.

Yes, I dug around to check the others.

With the first one, I started off gently moving the seed starting mix aside, but there was nothing. In the end, I was digging around aggressively, and there was no sign of a seed. Which means it rotted away. The remaining two seeds, I did find when I initially, very gently, most the seed starting mix aside, stopping as soon as I touched a seed. There is no side of growth, though.

It may be that, even on the heat mat, the basement – and, therefore, the seed starting mix – it just too cold.

These seeds were ones I got from MI Gardener and have a days to maturity of 120. Thanks to Gardening in Canada, I learned that West Coast Seeds has a variety of luffa that needs only 55 days to maturity! I could actually direct sow those and get luffa!

Of course, I can’t just order a single pack of seeds, so I went looking.

This is what I ended up getting.

From the top (all links will open in a new tab):

Giganthemum: This is something that Ashley from Gardening in Canada had in her recent seed haul video. Yes, I already have bread seed poppies. This variety, however, is supposed to get seed heads as large as a baseball! It has edible seeds, which is the main reason for ordering them. I have a space selected to grow bread seed poppies as a perennial, where I will allow them to re-seed themselves. What I will probably do is find another such location, in another part of the yard, and grow both varieties.

Showy Milkweed: this is the main variety of milkweed for Monarch butterfly conservation efforts. I’ve got an orange variety of milkweed that I have not been successful with. Hopefully, we’ll be able to get this variety established as part of our efforts to attract more pollinators.

Silky Sweet turnip: I already have some white turnips winter sown. I chose this variety because it just sounded like it would be really tasty. It matures in only 35 days and is a cool weather crop, so this can be succession sown throughout the spring, and again in the late summer/fall, if we want.

Emerald F1: This is the luffa gourd that matures in only 55 days! It’s listed as a dual purpose gourd, as the immature gourds can be eaten, but I think that’s true of all luffa varieties. We might try eating some, but that I want are those sponges!

Patterson F1 onion: Okay, yes, I have my own saved onion seed, plus red bunching onions and red bulb onions started. My saved seed is a mix of red and yellow bulb onions. I chose these because I wanted to be sure of yellow onions, and they are described as being exceptional storage onions. Unless I start them as soon as they arrive, though, these will be for next year.

Red Noodle bean: I couldn’t help it. I just really, really want to successfully grow the red noodle bean at least once! When I tried to grow them last year, I had an amazing germination rate, the seedlings exploded into growth, got to about 6-8 inches tall, and then stopped. They never got any bigger, and I don’t know why. I can make guesses, considering the horrible growing conditions we had last year, but they are still just guesses. I have quite a variety of bean seeds, both bush beans and pole beans, as well as varieties for drying, so we will have lots of choices, once the soil warms up enough for direct sowing.

There we have it. My first West Coast Seeds order.

Oh, my goodness! I just checked my Amazon tracking. My chicken coop and my lights and seed mats have arrived!

If I leave right now, I can get there before the post office closes for 2 1/2 hours over lunch.

The Re-Farmer