I just ordered the following seeds from an on-line company in Kansas called Skyfire Garden Seeds. Cost me about $22 Canadian for them, but it means that next year I can have orange AND eerie pale green AND white pumpkins growing in my yard! And I can bake stuffed zucchini! And grow blood-red corn! Yee-haw, I’m a farmin’! They would only mail within the USA, though, so I regret to inform
Ronde de Nice/Eight Ball: Beautiful foliage as well as cute little round zucchini-like squash. Eat the lacy pale green and tan squash when 2″ in diameter or wait until it grows into a pale orange Halloween pumpkin and make a Jack o’ lantern. Dual purpose squash! 40 seed
Jarradale: 100 days. Blue-grey skin on a slightly flattened, deeply-ribbed pumpkin from 6-10 pounds. Australian variety has thick, sweet orange flesh with very good flavor and long storage qualities. It is becoming more popular in the US. 15 seeds
Lumina: 90 days. The white skin makes it great for painting, so your Jack O’ Lanterns last a long time. Shape varies from round to slightly flattened and size 12 to 20 pounds. Stores well. Very sweet for great pies. PVP. 20
Burpee’s Butterbush: 75 days. Back by popular demand! Bush plants are good for small gardens and 1-2 lb butternut squash are just right for small families. Will store until mid-winter. Good table quality and for pies. 25 seeds
Bloody Butcher: 100-120 days. Versatile heirloom can be eaten very young (like sweet corn) or used for cornmeal. This heirloom has been around since 1845 and is famous for its height (10-12 feet), beautiful red ears and fine flavor. 1.5 ounce
Strawberry Popcorn: The beautiful deep red kernels make it a favorite ornamental for wreaths and cornucopias or other fall decorations. Of course, you could also pop it and sit back and watch your favorite movie. 1.5 ounces
Nasturtiums, Jewel: Brilliant yellow, red, orange, pink, chamois, rose and some bicolor. Flowers are mild-flavored and beautiful in salads, while leaves are peppery like water cress. 35 seeds
Rouge D’Hiver: 55-65 days. Also called Red Winter or Cimmaron, this beautiful European heirloom lettuce will tolerate heat if kept watered. Color varies from greenish red to dark red. I grow it every year in my own garden. 2 grams
Colorful Sweet Bell Mix: It is rare to find so many open pollinated colors of sweet blocky bell peppers: green, red, yellow, orange, purple, lilac, violet and white. Colors will change as they mature. 35 seeds
Banana, Pink Jumbo: 105 days. Long, submarine-shaped squash wht pinkish orange skin to about 24 inches. This is used a lot for pumkin pies because of the excellent sweet, dry, fine-grained flesh. Wonderful storage qualities. From around 1900. 40 seeds
There’s also this rad website called Kitchen Garden Seeds, that has a beautiful graphic layout, and some really groovy theme-packages, like the ‘Edible Flower Garden’ mix, with six different types of edible flowers (nasturtiums, cottage pinks, batchelor’s buttons, etc). Anyone interested in gardening should check it out.
Does transporting seeds across the border constitute smuggling? I’m pretty sure that’s one of the questions on the Canada Customs form… Or maybe it’s just live vegetation?
That was going to be my question, too.
You can transport plant matter, as long as it’s not invasive. For example, if I was carrying purple loosestrife, they might not like me so much. But farm seeds, particularly annual plants like lettuce, squash, etc., is permissable. I think.
*starts frantically double-checking border regulations*
I checked out the Canadian Border Services Agency website, and here’s what they have to say:
“PROHIBITED goods include obscenity, child pornography, hate propaganda, narcotics, counterfeit money, automatic firearms, and weapons prohibited by an Order in Council.
You CAN bring RESTRICTED goods into Canada, but only if you have a permit, certificate, licence, or other specific document, and if the goods meet certain safety standards. For example, if you want to bring in live animals, plants, firewood and food products, you might need a Canadian Food Inspection Agency import permit, or an import declaration, or inspection certificate.”
And the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, handily enough, has a website called ‘The ABC’s of Seed Importation into Canada’, so it looks like I’ll have to fill out a small form and pay $15. No biggie.
That’s some good web-fu, ma’am.