My Vegetable Grow List & Seed Orders- 2024

It's that time again. Seed time! Garden Planning time! One of the best things about January is planning for summer while it snows and blows outside.

I have just been going through my seed cabinet, organising this year's seeds into this two sided wooden tray that holds the seed packages just right.

Flowers and herbs on one side, veggies in the other, in alphabetical order so that it is easy to see, at a glance, what I need to order this year.

Once the seeds have been ordered, I then switch the seeds into 'when to plant' order from January through till mid-summer. So, in front will be things like celery, peppers, eggplants, onions, leeks, which can all be started this month. At the back will be cucumbers and squash as they are directly sown outside, into warm soil.

I just happen to have this little green two sided little wooden tray/box, but you can use anything at all. Photo storage boxes are great for filing them in, add cardboard slips between the packages with the sowing date on them. Even a shoe box will work for this.

I love this compartmented Seed Box above! Look how much room there is to keep everything tidy and organised. I would put tomatoes in one, flowers in one, veggies in the other. Alternately, this Seed Box is a bit smaller with just the two sides, but equally pretty... maybe herbs and flowers on one side, veggies on the other?

For a less expensive option, I have seen these clear flat boxes used for seeds, too. They labeled the bins with dates for what to start 10 to 12 weeks before last frost, 6 to 8 weeks, etc.. I think it is ingenious!

*Disclaimer. As an Amazon affiliate, if you were to purchase an item(s) from any of the links in this post, I get a wee small amount of money to support my blog. It does not cost you any extra to purchase through my link than if you went to that item on your own. Thank you so much!

I am still very surprised at how much further seeds go now that we have downsized to a city lot garden, from an acreage. I still have many left from last year as I did not have room to sow the entire package. I also ordered some seeds when they went on sale at the end of the season, so had quite a bit less to buy now, at full price.

Do you get overwhelmed with seed purchasing? Maybe you just buy anything you like and end up with a bunch of extra seeds that you do not have room for in your garden? Do you wonder what to buy as seeds and what to buy as plants in spring?

1. Do you have a room/space suitable for starting seeds?

2. Do you like fussing with seeds, potting soil, containers?

3. Do you have access to heirloom vegetable starts at a local greenhouse?

Some people really enjoy pre-starting all sorts of things, but let me tell you a secret.... I heartily dislike fussing with potting soil, water, lighting, all the things that you need to grow starter plants. Especially doing it in the house. I want none of that mess inside the house, truth be told. So, I prestart as few things as I possibly can.

I am big on direct sowing. I direct sow anything and everything that I can. This means all the lettuces, peas, beans, all the cucumbers and squash, many of the brassicas. Root crops like carrots, parsnips, and beets are direct sown, of course.

That means all I have to start earlier are the tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, and onions from seed. I have a passion for heirlooms, especially tomatoes, and want to grow only heirlooms and open pollinated types. They are very hard to source from other suppliers as starter plants.

That is actually why I started my wee greenhouse business on the island. While I sold many, many other things, all things that I really love (DA roses, fruiting shrubs and trees, dwarf blueberries, annual flowers), the main event for me has always been the hot weather crops that were nigh on impossible to buy at other greenhouses or shops. I'd already been growing them for years, and even though I worked at a greenhouse, they did not sell these things. So, I knew when I started my business that I wanted to create a homey, friendly place where they could buy all the great varieties, learn how to grow them, and chat one on one with me as much as they liked. Or as little, hahaha, as I sure do love to talk with folks about growing!

Anywho, I digress. If I have a good source for purchasing organic cool weather crops, I will buy my brussels, broccoli, cauliflower starts from them. Here, I do not yet have that. There is no place close by that sells these things. Therefor, anything I do not direct sow, I need to prestart at home.

I use a heating mat so that the seeds germinate quickly. I grow them in a bright south-facing window, no grow lights or big set ups. I do not start things weeks earlier than needed as I want to put them outside into the coldframe as soon as possible. Even if that is only for daytime, bringing them in for the night.

This is my coldframe (aka mini greenhouse) that I bought last year. I love it! I use it either on the deck, or inside the greenhouse to hold my seedlings after they get to the right size, to keep them from stretching out in the heat inside the house. This green poly one would do the same, is less costly.

Inside the unheated greenhouse, my wee wooden coldframe keeps the seedlings 3 to 4 degrees warmer than the greenhouse itself. Just enough to keep your cool season crops, like broccoli and lettuce, thriving.

You really do not need all the fancy lights, stands, and such to prestart your seeds. The key is not to start them too early. You do not even need the pretty coldframe, you can just use clear tote bins to harden off your seedlings. We folks tend to get itchy fingers, and maybe a bit of boredom sets in after the holidays, so we want to get started with starting seeds. Check the back of the package for when to start the seeds for the best results. Here is a quick idea of what to start in February.

This is my Vegetable Grow List for 2024, and where I bought the seeds from.

Beans	Kentucky Wonder	Renee's Garden Seeds	60 days, long, tasty. Pole Bean.
Beans	Taiwan Yard Long	Baker Creek	Growing for fun, said to be tasty. Can be used instead of noodles.
Beets	Deep Cylinder	T&T Seeds	55 days, the best beets for pickling but also fresh eating. Huge!
Beets	Detroit Dark Red	Revival Seeds	50 days, heirloom.
Broccoli
Brussel Sprouts	Long Island Improved.	Revival Seeds	90 to 115 days. A must have.
Cabbage	Storage #4	T&T Seeds	90 days, good keeper.
Carrot	Berlicum 2	Baker Creek	75 days. Coreless, European favourite, good keeper.
Carrot	Triton	OSC	65 days. Fantastic imperator type carrot. Very long, super tasty.
Carrot	Rotild	Renee's Garden Seeds	70 days, Nantes type, blunt ends.
Cauliflower	Purple of Sicily	Baker Creek	60 to 85 days, easier to grow than white. Heirloom.
Celery	Tall Utah	OSC	Best celery for sizing up nicely. Easy to grow.
Cucumber	Chelsea Prize	Renee's Garden Seeds	60 days, long English type.
Cucumber	Garden Oasis	Renee's Garden Seeds	60 days, thin skinned slicer type.
Cucumber	French Cornichon	Renee's Garden Seeds	53 days, baby cukes for pickling.
Eggplant	Listada de Gandia	Revival Seeds	90 days. Spanish heirloom. Sweet, tender flesh.
Eggplant	Morden Midget	Revival Seeds	60 days. Canadian, small, hardy.
Eggplant	Rosa Bianca	Revival Seeds	85 days. Italian heirloom. Creamy. Beautiful looking eggplant.
Lettuce	Little Gem	Baker Creek	Baby romaine lettuce.
Lettuce	Tennis Ball	Baker Creek	Butterhead type lettuce,
Lettuce	Tom Thumb	Baker Creek	Tiny heads, crunchy, iceberg like.
Lettuce	Sweet Greens & Reds	Renee's Garden Seeds	35 days, nice sweet blend of leaf lettuces.
Melon	Montreal Market	Yonder Hill Farm	Canadian Heirloom Muskmelon.
Onions	Red Globe Onion	OSC	Good storage onion
Onions	Yellow Glove Onion	OSC	Good storage onion.
Peas	Alderman/Tall Telephone	OSC	64 days. My favourite peas. Grow on super tall vines.
Pepper	Hungarian Yellow Wax	OSC	Great pepper for pickling.
Pepper	Jalapeno	OSC	Heirloom. Good for everything, including pickling.
Pepper	King Crimson	Revival Seeds	70 days, big, red, sweet bell pepper.
Pepper	Purple Marconi	Revivial Seeds	85 days, Italian heirloom, tapered, long red/purple sweet pepper.
Pumpkin	Howden	OSC	115 days. Best for Hallowe-en. carving
Pumpkin	Kid's Mini	T&T	95 days. Trying again, were a bust last year.
Pumpkin	Musquee de Provence	Aimers	75 days. Heavy lobes, prettiest flat wheel of cheese pumpkin.
Radishes	French Breakfast	OSC	Love these delicate, long radishes.
Radishes	Purple Plum	OSC	Supposed to do well even in summer. Worth trialing!
Rutabaga	Navone Yellow	Baker Creek	80 days. Golden yellow Swedish turnip.
Scallions	White Globe Bunching Type	OSC	Bunching green onions.
Spinach	Countryside	OSC	45 days. Bolt resistant, baby leaf.
Squash	Incredible Escalator	Renee's Garden Seeds	58 days. Climbing type.
Squash	Mutabile Zucchini	Adaptive Seeds	50 days. High yield.
Squash, winter	Black Futsu	Adaptive Seeds	100 days. Squat, heavy lobes.
Squash, winter	Flat White Boer	Baker Creek	95 days. Great for pies or baking.
Watermelon	Mini Love	Renee's Garden Seeds	70 days. Small, round, red flesh.
Watermelon	Sugar Baby	Yonder Hill Farm	75 days. Ice box type, small.
Watermelon	Wilson's Sweet	Baker Creek	80 days. Heirloom. Round, large.
Watermelon	Winter King & Queen	Adaptive Seeds	Recommended by Alan Chomica, great melon for the island. Let's see how it fares on the prairies.

I had many of these seeds already on hand, as mentioned above. While most seeds are good for 3 to 5 years, without much decline in germination rates, some do not keep well and should be purchased fresh each year, or every 2nd, at minimum.

• Onions - all kinds, including leeks, scallions/green onions, and chives

• Dill

• Okra

• Parsley

• Parsnip

• Lettuce

• Pepper

• Sweet corn

You may have noticed that I have no broccoli as of yet. I have just not found what I am looking for so will pick some up at the shops, instead. I would like either Calabrese, DiCicco, or Waltham 29. I will consider Green Magic, a hybrid, if I find that one first. Don't get me wrong, there are many on-line shops selling these varieties, just not any of the ones I have ordered from this year.

How & Why I Chose These Varieties?

Beans - I have them already, no need to buy new. I like the Kentucky Wonders a lot. Tender, sweet, like to eat them while I putter in the garden. The long ones are an experiment : )

Beets - They both did so well last year, tasted so good, I am doing them again.

Brussels - Well, these ones are just good ones! I have grown them many times before so I know they perform well in all sorts of conditions.

Carrots - I had many of the seeds already. Hubby said he prefers these long imperator types so for the first time ever, I am not growing any of the heirlooms stubby ones, like Danvers or Chantenay. The dogs seem to prefer the flavour of the orange to the reds, so I am sticking with just orange this year, too. A very unusual carrot year for me.

Cauliflower - the purple ones are so much easier to grow than the whites.

Celery - I only ever grow Tango or Tall Utah as I know they are easy to grow and the stalks size up well with no particular care required. The heirloom types, from the early 1900's, do not size up. The stalks stay thin. Back in the day, celery was used more adding flavour than for fresh eating. The pink ones is awfully pretty though, just not fat stalks.

Cucumbers - the cornichons because I want to make pickled baby cukes. The others because I have the seeds, they are great cucumbers, thin skins, tried and true.

Eggplants - I have grown all these varieties before, and like them all. The midget I am growing because it has a short season, the other two because they are pretty and tasty! Listada de Gandia is so nice and sweet, grills up well for a lovely sandwich topping.

Lettuces - I am not big on lettuce, truth be told. I am the one who picks out all the goodies from the salad and leaves all the lettuce. However, I do like a good Caesar salad, and also adding dark green, crisp leaves to tacos, burgers, everything. The leaf lettuce was chosen because it is fast and easy to grow.

Onions - chosen simply because they are good storage onions. I want something that I can harvest throughout the summer, as needed, but store the rest in the cold room for many months. Last year's onions were terrific, would have bought them both again, but the suppliers I ordered from did not have them, so I chose these instead.

Peas - well, I have been growing these ever since I tried them on a friend's recommendation. The only other one I would consider is the dwarf Little Crunch, from Renee's. They are sugar snap peas, so eat them off the vine!

Peppers - My pepper choices vary from year to year, depending on what we want to do with them. I bought the hot ones for pickling, my hubs and the kids love pickled peppers. The sweets are for me. I love sweet peppers and munch on them like candy!

Pumpkins - I have loads of seeds, but not loads of room, and I love to grow pumpkins. Am thinking of growing some in the front yard, too, letting them sprawl all over the yard.

Radishes - I love the tender, delicate flavour of French Breakfast and the Plum ones intrigue me. I knew that there were radishes that you sow in mid summer for fall and early winter (depending on location), like watermelon radishes and daikon, but had not heard of radishes that are heat tolerant. Will see!

Rutabaga - trying again as I did not follow through with them last year, sadly. Time got away from me.

Scallions/Green Onions - are a must grow for me. I love them. Especially the multipliers. I toss some in the greenhouse in early spring to harvest quickly, and then outside just as soon as the snow melts. They are cool weather crops so love the colder temps.

Spinach - another cool weather crop that I grow both in the greenhouse and outdoors, sowing as early as I possibly can. I have no favourite variety. Anything goes ; )

Melons - I have tons of melon seeds, both muskmelon and watermelon, so am going to grow some of each to see which ones fare best in this shorter growing season area. Will grow some in the greenhouse and some on the southside of the house, warm and sheltered from winds.

Zucchini and other squash - like the pumpkins, I just love to grow them. We bake a lot with the zucchinis, and the others are good in storage and fun to grow. Dogs love them, I love them. They are so pretty, too. Space is the only issue now. Will see how that plays out. I direct sow so the seeds will not go to waste if I change my mind when planting.

Potatoes - I will pick up some up from the local shops in spring. I am pretty easy about which ones I grow, love them all. Norland are my favourites but honestly, almost anything goes.

That is my vegetable grow list for this year. The tomato list and flower list will be posted separately, as there are many of them.