Upper Canada Seeds

44 Macklingate Court
Toronto, Ontario
M1V 1A1
416-447-5321
email: uppercanadaseeds@rogers.com
Order on-line at uppercanadaseeds.ca

2012 Seed Listing

Another decent year for growing tomatoes. Once again I grew about 12 varieties of tomatoes here in Toronto and the results were about the same as last year so I’m trying to improve the soil a bit every year. The tomatoes at the farm gave a reasonable production. The small greenhouse we built here last year was extremely useful and I’m considering putting up another so I can offer more seedlings for sale. They’re quite popular…..last year I sold out in an hour! I’ll send an email to everyone on our mailing list that lives in the Toronto area, as they will have to be picked up when they’re ready around the end of May.

The interest in heirloom tomatoes continues to grow although feel prices in the stores have begun to level off. We don’t sell hybrid, chemically treated or genetically modified seed. All of our seeds are organically grown, and most are heirlooms. Our tomatoes are grown for their taste instead of appearance, uniformity, concurrent ripening or long shelf life.

We tried quite a few new varieties this year and most did very well, although it’s hard to compare varieties from year to year when the weather is such a big factor. All of the new varieties we tried were suggestions from cusomers.Golf Ball, Livingston Globe, Rocky Red, Wins All, Julia Child, Manyel, Orange Banana, Regina’s Yellow and Russian 117 and all turned out well. We also tried Magnum which was a bust but will try it again next year. We also dropped several varieties, mostly because they just didn’t sell.

As always, we have no shipping and handling charge, and all applicable taxes are included. This year our prices are the same as last year. I have a limited supply of most varieties so please give me a call if you want to purchase bulk quantities of any variety. Each packet contains 20 to 25 seeds. This year we’re still offering a ‘Mystery’ packet of tomato seeds. We took leftover seeds from a number of varieties and mixed them together so you don’t know what you’ll end up with. We’re also still offering Relen’s Sweet Pepper seeds. This is a very early variety with good flavour.

We’re trying a new thing this year. We have a lot of seed that we no longer offer. It’s not because it’s bad seed….it’s just that we’ve grown it out again, or it’s from varieties the we decided to not list in the catalogue. We’ll offer these seeds at a special price if you purchase them in bulk, at least 100 seeds. If you’re interested in what we have drop me an email and I’ll send you the list. I haven’t come up with any pricing yet.

Our mailing list is never shared. Happy gardening in 2012! Below are some tips for starting your seed and growing tomatoes.

Start your seeds about the middle of April. I’ve found that 6 to 7 week old transplants do best. I move them to a 4 inch pot after about 3 weeks, and plant them a little deeper than they were before. Roots will grow out of the stem that’s now buried and you’ll end up with a stronger root system.

When planting in the garden, I soak the roots before planting and you should plant deeper than they were in the 4 inch pots. The space to leave between the plants depends on the variety. A very small plant like Tiny Tim needs only about 18 inches from plant to plant; larger plants like Amish Paste or Red Brandywine should have 5 feet in each direction. Indeterminate plants should be staked or caged to keep the fruit off the ground and reduce the risk of disease. They should be pruned but I don’t always do this. To prune tomato plants, pinch off any growth coming from where the branch meets the main stem. Pruning can increase yields, but very acceptable yields can be obtained without pruning. Keep the weeds down and look forward to a great harvest!