Bare Root Strawberry Plants

For sale now – $1.00 each. Bundles of 25 only.

Seascape everbearing.

You must pick them up. I cannot ship.

Email us abunadhseeds@gmail.com or call 780-785-26 two two

Also you may come dig runners from old plants Monday May 5. Call ahead first come first serve. Absolutely no entry to the field without prior notice. Thank you for understanding.

See you then.

Spring is sprung

After a brief return to winter, the buds are finally opening on the poplars. The bees are flying, collecting that fresh pollen as an important first meal after a long winter. Shoots of green grass are already starting to show and the leftover weeds that overwintered in the garden are greening up also! It is all good to see.

There is some ancient lore about poplar buds and garden timing.

Homesteaders survived the winter on stores of root vegetables, cured meats, fresh baking and milk as most had a dairy cow to milk in the winter. When spring came they were hungry for the first shoots of spring and dandelion was one they sought. Fresh leaves were harvested sometimes off plants that were deprived of sunlight so they were more yellow than green and less bitter. But bitter is great for our digestive system and gall bladder. I would say in our modern world I don’t see many people adding butter in to their diets. Except maybe Eastern European descent folks. Did you know that dandelion roots are one of the best things to stop cancer? They are best harvested spring and late fall when all the nutrients are store in the roots. Dig, wash, cut in slivered rounds and dry or consume roasted. The dried and roasted roots have been used as a coffee substitute for many cultures. I put about 10 slivers of dried roots in with any tea I am making and steep.

The leftover weeds in the garden will provide good green manure for the upcoming plant starts. Turning the soil once with a shovel will help with that. Don’t work clay soil when wet as it creates a monster of compacted clumps that you will curse later plus creates that hardpan layer that eventually will stop water flow. If you want to plant early in the spring and the dirt is still wet, lay a board down beside the row and walk along that and lightly sow the seeds either on top and top dress with compost or if dry enough, lightly cover the seeds. Things that can be early planted this way are beets, carrots, radishes, onions, celery, parsley, cilantro, dill, parsnip, lettuces, spinach, Swiss chard, turnips and rutabagas. You can plants any of the greens also for early eating. When a little warmer you can even do peas. The seeds will come when conditions are right and sooner than you would think. The seeds that do sprout will be able to withstand a few cold nights when temperatures dip without harm. You may also do any of the cole crops or brassicas.

It is April 12, and I have finished planting all these early crops. Let’s see what happens. Pics to follow

Seedy Event 2025

We will be attending the following in person seed sales this spring.

St. Albert

Calgary Seedy Saturday 2025.  The event will be held on Saturday, March 22 from 10am to 3pm at the Bowness Community Association.  This is the same venue as 2024 with a large gym, and is located at 7904 43 Ave NW, Calgary

Edmonton Seedy Sunday – Sunday March 23, 2025 from 11 to 4 – at Alberta Avenue Community Hall, 9210  118 Avenue, Edmonton. Parking is limited so please carpool or plan on walking if space is not available.

Lots to see and learn

We do not think we will attend Cochrane’s event on the 27th of April this year so if you can, catch us at the Calgary seedy Saturday event for all your potatoes and other things you will want to plant in spring.

There is also this event April 5 in Stony Plain. Hope to see you all there, and as always, place your spud orders with us now for pickup at any of the above events.

Offerings to simplify things

We’re have many more seed varieties than are listed in our extensive catalogue. And sometimes it is a bit much to list them all let alone get through the catalogue. We have put together packages for those that find our catalogue too overwhelming. We have the following packages available:

Beginner gardener sample pack: comes with 10 packages of seeds of easy to grow and eat fresh vegetables. Includes shelling peas, green bush beans, lettuce mix, carrots, cilantro, dill, calendula, beets and arugula. $35.00 plus shipping. Comes with planting and growing instructions for these vegetables and suggested uses. This is suitable for a 10’x10’ garden space or 2 raised beds 4’x 8’.

An experienced gardener pack contains large slicing tomatoes, sweet peppers, one medium hot variety of pepper, celery, basil, lavender, thyme, oregano, summer squash and one winter soup squash. $35.00 plus shipping.

Our herb sampler pack for balcony gardens includes basil, cilantro, dill, parsley and garlic chives. $17.50 plus shipping. Comes with instructions.

Our patio garden pack includes easy to grow tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, eggplant, and watermelon. $17.50 plus shipping.

The family garden pack includes the instructions for starting plants inside plus 20 packages of seeds for the whole family to enjoy: radishes, carrots, beets, shelling and snap peas, leaf lettuce salad mix, kale, spinach, cilantro, dill, calendula, cherry tomatoes and salsa tomatoes, sweet peppers, green bush beans and purple pole beans, zucchini, pumpkins, sunflowers and poppies. This is suitable for a 20’x20’ garden space with fencing on one side. $70.00 plus shipping.

Do you have raised beds? Things that grow well in there early season- prior to May 15 planting are spinach, lettuce, radishes, kale, peas, beets for greens, arugula and chard. Grow to small size, harvest and eat fresh or freeze the greens for later use in smoothies or soups.

After May 15, rework the bed and plant the heat loving crops such as peas, beans, squash, herbs, tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, melons, eggplants or flowers. Consider putting up a hooped cage between two beds and planting beans or pease or even cucumbers, squash and melons that can climb and be supported between the beds for utilizing space more efficiently. Sunflowers are too large to plant in a raised bed so find a sunny spot for them. If you have a space along a fence you can trellis plants that climb there as well. Growing in pots can free up space for larger plants like tomatoes and squash. Just make sure it is at least 5 gallons in size and water well.

We will also assist in picking seeds out for your special interests. Just email us for help with that. Abunadhseeds@gmail.com

Happy Growing!

Sale catalogue until Dec 31, 2024

Here are all the sale items for this year until the end of December. You will see how many packets of each I have on this list. It is the number following the item. They will go fast. All packets are $2.50. That is at least $1 off!! So send an email to abunadhseeds at gmail.com with your list and we will gather what is there for you and let you know a total.

Happy shopping! And don’t forget – we do Christmas gift orders and certificates. Merry Christmas!