Vegetables - Seeds

What I love most about Cranberry Beans is their versatility (and that the pods are pink!): harvest them fresh off the vine for immediate eating, freezing, dehydrating or canning. Leave them on the vine to dry, and the seeds store perfect in the pantry for adding to soups and stews.

These Cranberry Beans (also known as borlotti) are meaty and hearty, with a richer taste than their bush bean cousins. They are vigorous pole beans, growing over 8 ft. tall in my veggie garden last year! They literally went up my trellis, then hung over the top like Dr. Seuss hair.

Beans are an excellent source of protein, fibre, starch and vitamins A & C.

Type: Vegetable, Pole Bean

Height: 8 ft+

Light: full sun

Moisture: keep soil evenly moist, but not wet or seeds will rot

Planting: 1" deep, into warm soil. I plant dense, in a container 3-4" apart

Harvest: 75-90 days

I've grown Scarlet Runner Beans for many years for a very specific purpose: the flowers are a magnet for hummingbirds! I plant them along the fence of my food garden enclosure, where I train them to wind horizontally - each seed produces a vine 10-15 ft. Ruby Throated Hummingbirds (the only type I've seen in my Zone 5 gardens) visit the scarlet flowers, then zoom to the fruit and veggie plants, herbs and native plants. It's a joy to see.

While usually grown for their splendid flowers, every part of this versatile veggie is edible! The starchy roots, young leaves and even the flowers can be eaten. (Check out the bright pink-light purple fresh seeds! So fun.) Runner beans must be thoroughly cooked before eating, as they contain traces of lectin (phytohaemagglutinin), which is toxic in large quantities. The beans are dense, with a thick texture, and slightly smoky flavour.

Dried beans store excellent in the pantry, and can be added to soups and stews after soaking.

To get the most flowers, pinch off forming pods; this sends a message to the plant to push out more buds.

Type: Vegetable

Height: 10-15ft.

Light: full sun

Soil: well draining, warm

Planting: Direct sow late spring-early summer, 1-2" deep into warm soil (too cold, and the seeds will rot), 3-4" apart.

Harvest: 75 days

A delightful novelty veggie in my food garden, Cucamelon - aka mouse melon - look like miniature watermelons! Hailing from Mexico and Central America, these distant cucumber cousins have a bright, refreshing taste with a citrus tang. They're totally unique and kids, especially, love them.

Cucamelons rarely make it in the house, as I snack on them while tending my gardens. But when they do, they're sliced in a salad or bring a small to a veggie platter. I preserve them like pickles, too. And just had a customer tell me they put them in cocktails!

Cucamelon vines need a structure to climb as they grow. My favourite way is to guide them along a tomato cage when growing in a container, but any sturdy trellis will work. Once flowers appear, start checking for fruit after a week.

Type: annual fruit (although eaten as a veggie, like tomato)

Height: plant 1 ft tall, vines up to 10 ft.

Light: full sun

Moisture: well drained, rich warm soil - amend with compost before planting

Planting: start indoors 6 weeks before last frost, in 4" deep pots to minimize root trauma and transplant shock

Harvest: 75 days

Butterflies, bees and hummingbirds love this plant's nectar, making Dense Blazing Star an excellent addition to pollinator gardens. Birds then eat the seeds through the winter.

I love the whimsical, long-lasting, bright, feathery pop of purples as it grows and flowers from the top down - truly unique. I grow it among White (dwarf) Lavender, Lance-Leaf Coreopsis, Spotted Bee Balm and Blanket Flower.

Type: Native Perennial

Height: 5 ft.

Light: full sun-part shade

Moisture: well draining, drought tolerant

Planting: Cold, moist stratification required - see options in photos, courtesy of Northern Wildflowers. Lightly cover (1/8" depth) with moist soil, and do not let seedlings dry out. OR direct sow in late fall to overwinter in the garden for blooms the following spring

Bloom time: July-late fall

An excellent choice for small gardens and containers! Sugar Ann peas only grow 2 ft. tall, and do not require a trellis. Incredibly sweet, crisp, fresh pods about 2" long. I eat them right off the vine in the morning when they're cool.

If any sugar snap peas make it in the house, store them in a container of water in the fridge to keep them crisp. Delicious raw, stir fried or lightly steamed. Kids love 'em.

Type: Vegetable

Height: 2 ft.

Light: full sun

Soil: well drained with good organic matter; add compost before planting

Planting: Peas prefer cool temperatures. Plant as soon as the soil can be worked, from later winter-early spring (container/raised bed soil warms up quicker!). Sow 1" deep, 1-3" apart. Try for a fall crop by planting again late summer if it's not too hot

Harvest: 55-60 days

If I could only grow one variety of tomatoes each year, Candyland would be it. These teeny toms literally taste like pops of sugar, and are non-stop, prolific producers. Long after other tomatoes in my gardens are finished, Candyland produce until hard frost kills the plant.

Indeterminate + requires staking.