Seed Packets Offer New Options

Saturday, January 09, 2010 03:45 AM

Every year the seed companies come up with new and exciting things and this year is no exception. The seed rack displays are already in the garden centers and people are beginning to browse through them and purchase seeds.

As I was looking through them I noticed something new from McKenzie seeds. They have a section in the seed rack called ‘Culinary Collections’.

These collections are a combination pack consisting of 3 different seed varieties within the one package that will create a food dish. For example there is a ‘Spaghetti Sauce’ collection; and the packet contains 1 package of Onion Annual Bunching (green onion) seeds, 1 package of Oregano seeds, 1 package of Tomato Bush Beefsteak seeds, and a recipe card using these 3 varieties of seeds to produce the spaghetti sauce.

Another collection (shown in photo) will create a Salsa and it contains Roma tomato seeds, flat Italian parsley seeds, red bell pepper seeds and the recipe card to make the Salsa.

In total there are 12 different Culinary Collections including a Tatziki sauce, Relish, Focaccia bread, Butternut squash bisque, Bruschetta, Salad, and the herb seeds for Flat bread, Vinaigrette, Poultry rub, and Pesto Sauce.

Before you sow the seeds read the seed package first and check the maturity days of each variety. Some varieties require a longer growing period than others so you will not need to start them all at the same time. On some varieties such as tomatoes, peppers, and some herbs, the seeds should be started indoors and later transplanted outside or to a greenhouse so that they will mature on time.

McKenzie also has another collection series and these contain 5 different seed sachets of different varieties of seeds. These seed discs are similar to seed tape and make planting very easy, as the seeds are already pre-spaced on the disc. All you need to do is lay the seed disc on top of moist soil and then lightly cover the seed disc with 3 mm of soil. Keep soil moist and place in a well lit area and the seeds will germinate.

The seed discs are 3 inches in diameter and can easily be placed into a 4 inch pot. So for the herb collections you can place 1 seed disc per pot and have them grow in your window. It’s a great way to have fresh herbs growing in your kitchen. The nice thing about these collections is that there is small number of seeds for each variety, so you are not paying for seeds you do not need and you are able to try out different varieties. In this series there are 4 different collections which are Tomato, Pepper, Basil and Herb.

Tomatoes and Peppers require a long growing time and can be started within the next few weeks. The herb and basil collections can also be started now if you want to grow them indoors and enjoy them!

-Jos

Jos Van Hage owns and operates two Art Knapp Home and Garden Centres in Prince George