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Edible Chrysanthemum - 90RG

Edible Chrysanthemum - 90RG

Details   All chrysanthemum flowers are edible, but the flavour varies widely from plant to plant, from sweet to tangy to bitter or peppery. It may take some experimentation to find flavours you like. The mild flavour lends itself well to stir-fries, added to salads also
Botanical name   Chrysanthemum coronarium
Contains at least   approx 30
Grower name   Rick Ginders
Price per packet   $4.50
Kohlrabi - Early Purple Vienna - 105SS

Kohlrabi - Early Purple Vienna - 105SS

Details   Purple Vienna Kohlrabi is an heirloom, open-pollinated variety that is an ideal staple crop for cool-weather gardening. It is one of the easiest and most productive continuous harvests throughout autumn and winter months. Plants grow to 30cm tall and produce edible greens (leaves) in addition to the beautiful purple bulbs. The leaves taste similar to kale greens. Bulbs grow above the soil and have a purple exterior with a white flesh. The texture is crunchy and is excellent prepared raw as a slaw or an addition to salads, these should be harvested at about 7.5cm in diameter. 
Propagation: Sow Purple Vienna Kohlrabi seeds directly onto a firm bed of seed raising mix and press in well.  Cover with a light layer of mix.  Seedlings usually appear in 7-14 days.

Botanical name   Brassica oleracea
Grower name   Sarah Smith
Date Of Seed Harvest   Dec 2022
Storage Info   Seed frozen stored
Contains at least   50 seeds
Price per packet   $4.50

Parsnip - Hollow Crown - 63RG

Details   The Hollow Crown dates back to the early 1820s. A long tapered white root that has been grown and selected by Rick for over twenty years. If you wish to grow this long rooted parsnip, you will need deep soil that is stone free. If parsnips hit a stone while growing they tend to fork. They grow best in a light, deep rich soil. A generous amount of compost or humus in some other form helps develop a long edible root. Parsnip is notoriously difficult to grow for many gardeners because of parsnip seeds short lifespan, so to help with good germination all our parsnip seed is grown each year meaning seed is no more than 12 months when sold.
Botanical name   Pastinaca sativa
Grower name   Rick Ginders
Storage Info   Seed stock refreshed yearly
Contains at least   approx 60
Price per packet   $4.50
Spinach - Bower - 25RW

Spinach - Bower - 25RW

Details   Bower spinach is a scrambling short shrub that forms dense leafy patches of up to 14 m. The stems are long and trailing, often succulent and colored red or pink when young, maturing to dark green to brown-black and becoming woody. The leaves are alternate, clustered, and fleshy. The yellow flowers are solitary. Fruits are pink to dark red, succulent berries up to 8 mm long.

 

It is grown for edible leaves and can be used as food or as an ornamental plant for ground cover. As some of its names signify, it has similar flavor and texture properties to spinach and is cooked like spinach. Like spinach, it contains oxalates. Its medium to low levels of oxalates needs to be removed by blanching the leaves in hot water for one minute, then rinsing in cold water before cooking. It can be found as an invasive plant in North and South America and cultivated along the East Asian rim. It thrives in hot weather and is considered an heirloom vegetable. Few insects consume it, and even slugs and snails do not seem to feed on it.

The thick, irregularly-shaped seeds should be planted just after the last spring frost. Before planting, the seeds should be soaked for 12 hours in cold water or 3 hours in warm water. Seeds should be planted 5 to 10 mm deep and spaced 15 to 30 cm apart. The seedlings will emerge in 10 to 20 days, and they will continue to produce greens through the summer.



Botanical name   Tetragonia implexicoma
Contains at least   30
Date Of Seed Harvest   Feb 2014
Grower name   Richard Paul Watson
Storage Info   picked fresh each year
Price per packet   $4.50
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Poppy - Papaver

Poppy - Papaver

Details   These seeds are a mixture of both common and opium poppies, oriental, potentially hybridised and peony poppies in red, pink, plum, mauve, black purple and lilac collected from various places in my garden. A herbaceous flowering plant which is normally grown as an annual, dying down after flowering. Very attractive to bees producing alot of pollen. The seeds are rich in oil, calcium and protein. The foliage is blue/grey and the plants are tall. These plants produce hundreds of seeds and will thrive in most soils.
Please be aware not all poppy seeds are edible.
Grower name   Sara Pepers-Hilltrop
Date Of Seed Harvest   March 2023
Contains at least   100
Price per packet   $4.50
Watch Out of stock
Sweet Cicely - 5SSPH

Sweet Cicely - 5SSPH

Details   Belongs to the celery family. Sweet cicely is a tall herbaceous perennial growing up to 2 m tall. The fern like leaves are finely divided, could be mistaken for hemlock, with the difference being the strong aniseed smell it omits. The flowers are umbel shaped with dainty creamy white with very large seeds. Grows well in fertile soils easily from seed. The leaves can be used sometimes as a herb, cooked or raw and have a strong aniseed flavour. The roots and seeds are edible.
Botanical name   Myrrhis odorata
Contains at least   50
Date Of Seed Harvest   Jan 2023
Grower name   Sara Pepers-Hilltrop
Price per packet   $4.50
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Fennel - Florence - 86RW

Fennel - Florence - 86RW

Details   Florence fennel is a cool-weather perennial grown as an annual for its swollen leaf bases or ‘bulbs’ and edible leaves. When using in salads, the flavour can be improved by slicing the bulb and putting it in a bowl of water and ice cubes in the fridge for an hour.
Botanical name   Foeniculum vulgare
Contains at least   40 seeds
Grower name   Richard Watson
Price per packet   $4.50
salsify - 60RS

salsify - 60RS

Details   Salsify is a common biennial wildflower, native to southeast Europe and north Africa, today in its a plant that's cultivated for its ornamental flower and edible root. The plant grows to around 1.2 m in height.
Salsify is grown similarly to that as other root vegetables such as parsnip and carrots, sow spring time and harvest roots during winter.
Botanical name   Tragopogon porrifolius
Grower name   Rachael Stott
Date Of Seed Harvest   Jan 2024
Storage Info   Seed frozen stored
Contains at least   50
Price per packet   $4.50
Skirret - 6RW

Skirret - 6RW

Details   Skirret is a perennial vegetable which dates back to Roman times. Related to carrots, it is the bunches of skinny white roots that is the edible portion. Doesn't like to be grown anywhere too dry and are slightly vulnerable to carrot fly. Roasted its a very tasty vegetable. Sow in spring time and treat the seedling like carrot seedlings by keeping them weed free and at a spacing of 20cm apart. Roots develop their full flavour during winter. Best grown as a annual.

Botanical name   Sium sisarum
Grower name   Richard Watson
Contains at least   50 seeds
Price per packet   $4.50
Alexander - 92RW

Alexander - 92RW

Details   Grows over one metre in height. Known for its edible young shoots, leaf stalks, stems, roots, flowers and seeds. This frost tolerate plant was cultivated for many centuries and was widely grown by the Romans who introduced it into western and central Europe including the British Isles.
Botanical name   Smyrnium olusatrum
Contains at least   30
Grower name   Richard Watson
Price per packet   $4.50
Corn Salad - 68RW

Corn Salad - 68RW

Details   Winter hardy, edible leaf vegetable with a characteristic nutty flavor, dark green color, and soft texture, popularly served as salad greens.
Botanical name   Valerianella locusta
Grower name   Richard Watson
Contains at least   50 seeds
Price per packet   $4.50
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Sarah Smith

Sarah Smith

Sarah lives with her husband and 2 boys on a 5 acre block in the sunny Bay of Plenty.  She has always had a love of the outdoors and in particular gardening with a passion for anything edible be it fruit, vegetables, herbs or flowers.

Sarah developed an interest in seed saving from a young age and also being a hobbyist bee keeper for 5+ years has made her more aware of the importance of flowers as a food source for our pollinators and retaining these pollinated seeds for future use.

Sarah also has a keen interest in NZ Native Plants and how they provide shelter and food for wildlife and support pollinators.  She is keen to promote the biodiversity and stewardship of our natural heritage.

Florence Fennel

Details  
Florence fennel is a cool-weather perennial grown as an annual. Grow fennel in full sun. a wonderfully ornamental vegetable, is grown for its swollen leaf bases or ‘bulbs’ and edible leaves. When using in salads, the flavour can be improved by slicing the bulb and putting it in a bowl of water and ice cubes in the fridge for an hour. Plant fennel in well-drained soil rich in organic matter. Prepare the bed in advance by working in aged compost. Fennel prefers a soil pH of 5.5 to 6.8.
Spilanthes - 71RW

Spilanthes - 71RW

Details   Spilanthes is also known as toothache plant, buzz buttons or electric daisy because of its antiseptic properties. Eating a fresh young flower head from this daisy is a truly amazing taste bud sensation. It makes your mouth tingle and has a sialagogic effect, which means it encourages salivary flow.
Given it is an annual native to the tropics care is needed against frost. Flowers from Dec through to winter.







Read more at Gardening Know How: Spilanthes Herb Care: How To Grow Spilanthes Toothache Plant https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/edible/herbs/spilanthes/growing-spilanthes-plants.htm
annual native to the tropics.

Read more at Gardening Know How: Spilanthes Herb Care: How To Grow Spilanthes Toothache Plant https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/edible/herbs/spilanthes/growing-spilanthes-plants.htm
annual native to the tropics.

Read more at Gardening Know How: Spilanthes Herb Care: How To Grow Spilanthes Toothache Plant https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/edible/herbs/spilanthes/growing-spilanthes-plants.htm
Botanical name   Acmella oleracea
Contains at least   30
Date Of Seed Harvest   March 2023
Grower name   Richard-Paul
Storage Info   Seed stock refreshed yearly
Price per packet   $4.50
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Morning Glory - Crimson - 28RS

Morning Glory - Crimson - 28RS

Details   Great as a bean companion plant, grows stunning bright pink flowers in the mornings alongside runner beans are an incredible sight in the vege garden. Grows as a climber and so will need staking.
Contains at least   20
Date Of Seed Harvest   March 2023
Grower name   Rachael Stott
Price per packet   $4.50
Globe Artichoke - 89RG

Globe Artichoke - 89RG

Details   The immature flower is eaten as a vegetable. The medicinal properties of Globe Artichoke have been known for many years. The leaves were very popular between the 16th and 19th centuries when they were used to stimulate bile flow and for a variety of digestive disorders.
Botanical name   Cynara scolymus
Contains at least   20
Date Of Seed Harvest   Feb 2020
Grower name   Rick Ginders
Storage Info   frozen stored
Price per packet   $4.50
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Purau Sweet Cherry - 99RG

Details   A productive tasty, very sweet, cherry, red tomato, early to produce fruit. Vigorous grower. Has been a favorite of Ricks for over 30 years.
Botanical name   Lycopersicon esculentum
Contains at least   20
Grower name   Rick Ginders
Price per packet   $4.50

Purau large red - 30RG

Details   A very tasty large beefsteak type, good cropper.
Botanical name   Solanum lycopersicum
Contains at least   20
Grower name   Rick Ginders
Price per packet   $4.50
Watch Out of stock

Purau Gardens

Rick Gender's Purau Gardens is located in Purau by the Lyttleton Harbour. Well known as an historic early market garden for Christchurch with a great climate and rich volcanic soil. No chemicals or fertilisers are required for the production of fantastic fruit and vegetables and its relative isolation makes this a great area for specialist seed production and development.

Leek - Purau - 91RG

Details   Bred at Purau Gardens for many years and had adapted well to the coastal climate, this strain of leek may well suit warmer areas of NZ. Its a cross between three well known NZ varieties including Musselburgh. Suggested growing method is to aim for a long length white stem of up to 40cm, sow seed late winter/ early spring close enough together aiming for a spacing of 2cm apart, by mid summer the plants should be up to 30cm tall, dig them up trying not to damage the roots too much and place in a bucket with enough water in it to cover the roots. The soil these plants go into needs to be deeply dug over then using a rake or shovel handle poke it down into the soil as deep as 40cm, wriggle it around to make a shaft to which a leek plant is dropped down, then pour a small amount of water down, its just then a matter of insuring that the growth tip can grow up and out of the shaft
Botanical name   Allium porrum
Contains at least   50
Date Of Seed Harvest   Feb 2021
Grower name   Rick Ginders
Price per packet   $4.50
Details   Purau Gardens is a 7 acre block of prime volcanic silt loam situated at the bottom of the Purau Valley in Lyttleton Harbour. The land was purchased by Ric and Aileen Ginders in 2005 and had been a campground for many years. Prior to that it was a market garden supplying early tomatoes, strawberries and other produce to Christchurch. Historic records show that this area has a long history of early vegetable production due to the area having a unique microclimate and very fertile soil. This also makes it a great area for specialist seed production  as it is relatively isolated. I am dedicated to producing good quality seed that thrives in our country and is a joy to grow and welcome any feedback.
Medbury Gardens

Medbury Gardens

Richard-Paul Watson started growing seed when he was given what was later to be renamed the Benhorn carrot.This was in the late 1980's and two years later he joined up with Kay Baxter who had only just set up Koanga Gardens, as a volunteer heirloom seed grower.

Through the 1990's he leased land in around Rangiora area which helped build his knowledge and understanding of the complexities of growing seed but it wasn't until he and his family bought 5.1 hectares in the Amuri basin that he was able to increase both the number and the volume of seed lines. In more resent years Richards interest has shifted more to developing landrace cultivars and working towards enabling clone grown cultivars to reproduce from true seed such as garlic and sweet potatoes.

Giant Alderman - 57RG

Details   A tall climber that can get as high as 3m, has large pods and peas, The Alderman pea variety is known to date back to 1893 and was a common site in Victorian kitchen gardens. Its long-cropping time made it ideal for using fresh and any excess crops were dried, stored and used later in the year for soups, stews and other dishes. The Americans have their own version of the Alderman variety which they call the Tall Telephone in honour of Alexander Graham Bell who invented the telephone.
Botanical name   Pisum sativum
Grower name   Rick Ginders
Date Of Seed Harvest   Jan 2022
Storage Info   Seed long term stored in freezer
Contains at least   40
Price per packet   $4.50
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Sara Pepers-Hiltrop

Sara Pepers-Hiltrop

Hi, Im Sara. I live in Mosgiel, Dunedin with my husband Kris and our 2 children. I have always loved plants, flowers and gardens from a very young age. My photographic memory helps with names and working in a garden center, I have access to lots of interesting plants to add to my collection. (I have a bit of a plant problem lol!)

Gardening and growing is my life. This is a picture of me in my 3 year old garden which was rank, clumpy cocksfoot grass and heavy clay in March 2020 when we moved here. I've worked really hard to build up the soil and am a firm believer in the no dig and chop and drop methods, to mimic nature. So far I’ve scoped out about an acre of food forest with fruit trees, berries, root crops, perennials, natives, shrubs, bulbs and flower gardens, vegetable beds and tunnel houses. I'm looking forward to sharing what I have grown here and spreading the love of seeds and gardening.
Carla McKnight

Carla McKnight

Details   Carla was born in Holland, moved to NZ with her family at age 9 and has always worked in gardens from a young age.
At age 15 she had at least 40 plants in her room, some rather large.
Still keen on house plants, just a few more than 40 now, she believes a house without plants is an empty shell.
 
Now married to husband Paul, together they have three grown children with seven young grand kids, on an eleven acres in the Waikato with three Clydesdales, two miniature horses and a Quarter horse x, two cats and a dog.
 
Carla has spent most of her life working in gardens, has always had a keen interest in growing indoor and outside plants especially interested in native plantings. Now has big vegetable gardens/fruit trees and a small mostly native nursery keeping her busy. Wanting to make that little bit of difference for our environment and wildlife, the more people plant trees and grow their own produce the better.
Epazote - 154RW

Epazote - 154RW

Details   Epazote, once cultivated on a large scale as a medicinal herb, is now grown in few herb gardens. A roadside weed in much of North America and central and southern Europe, its herbal uses are barely recognized today outside its native Mexico and South America.
Various native peoples in the American and Mexican West today drink epazote tea or eat the plant to facilitate childbirth and ease painful menstruation as well as to expel worms and relieve gastrointestinal disorders (some of which might be brought on by the worms). Epazote leaves can be poulticed on arthritic joints, athlete’s foot, and insect bites.
Botanical name   Dysphania ambrosioides
Contains at least   100
Grower name   Richard Watson
Storage Info   Seed stock refreshed yearly
Price per packet   $4.50
Why you should grow your own

Why you should grow your own

Details   If you already grow your own plants and vegetables you know how satisfying it is. Whether you enjoy the taste, smell, sight or knowledge of good healthy produce...

So maybe you're wondering if now is the time to start to grow a few for your self and see what all the fuss is about?