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Hi friends I’m Sherry and this is gardening in the north and today we are going to be talking seeds now that is probably everyone’s favorite topic I know it’s one of mine it’s that time of year where you’re going to be pulling out your seed collection you’re going to
Be mapping out what your Garden’s going to look like and then you’re going to be browsing the many online seed companies that are out there to find unique things that you want to grow this year new things to you and replacement seeds as well so I wanted to share with you a
Couple orders that I’ve received I ordered from Baker Creek which is an American company as well as in the incredible seed company which is a Canadian company that is located in Nova Scotia so I’m not going to share the whole seed orders with you what I’m
Going to share with you are the new tomato seeds that I received that are new to me there are eight of them and then I want to share with you what I’m going to be planting in my tea garden one of the things that I wanted
To do this year in the garden was to build four new beds so I want to build them right here about 4T away from the current four beds that I have here if you followed along you know that the back two I planted asparagus in the front two I did uh strawberries
Initially however one of them didn’t take and I have since then planted a whole bunch of lettuce for last year onions from last year and some chamomile so in front of those beds I’m going to be doing four beds that are about 6 ft
By 2 and 1/2 ft and they are going to be strictly for tomatoes like I mentioned earlier I’m going to share with you the new tomato seeds that I’m growing this year I haven’t decided which other varieties that I want to grow this year I’m still
In the process of building out my map for my garden and for those of you that do that you know that you start off with a rough idea and it easily changes over the course of 2 months so I’m not going to share that with you quite yet but
What I am going to share with you are the new tomato seeds so the first one from Baker Creek is indigo blue chocolate and the look of it reminds me of a chocolate cherry which is one of my favorite um this one here says that it is um intermediate heirloom
Sweet and juicy um with a black skin so I’m really excited to try this one the next one is the apricot zebra and so it’s an orange Cherry it has um some lighter orange coloring on it and I think I ordered this one mainly because I thought it was a really pretty orange
Color um yeah so it’s a stunning richly Tangerine colored Cherry with a unique appearance as the lime green shoulders and extra fine green striping of a unripe fruit morphs to brilliant yellow at maturity so I just thought this one would look really pretty in the garden
The next one from Baker Creek still is Queen of the night and it is a cherry as well it has dark skin with some orange and yellow on it and so I’m just going to show you this one because it is exceptionally beautiful and so I’m going to add this
One to the Garden one because those of you that know me know that cherries are my favorite tomatoes to grow I like a slicer but really it’s the cherries that I love um I love having a tomato sandwich but I find that having cherry tomatoes are so
Much more versatile in my kitchen when I’m making dinner that I prefer them and so this one here says this is a salad type which I love putting fresh tomatoes in my salad and not slicers I really don’t like getting a mouthful of tomato
In my salad and I love tomato but I like having a sweet juicy Popa flavor throughout the salad as opposed to a big piece of tomato um so this one here goes this is a 3 to 3 and2 o um and it has the brush Strokes of indigo on its shoulders as I
Showed you so now for those of you that have never ordered from the incredible Seed Company this was my first time and I mean on appearance I would say that uh Baker Creek has nicer packaging because sometimes when I order from companies that don’t show you what the actual um
Fruit looks like I’m always constantly looking online to see what it looks like to see where I’m going to plant it and so the baker Creek packaging is a lot easier for me to decide where I’m going to plant stuff but what I will say about the incredible Seed Company
Is that they arrived very quickly and they had some really unique seeds not just tomato seeds but you know all across the whole board and I ordered a lot of seeds for my tea garden so I just found that they had more of a diverse selection so the first one that I’m
Going to share with you from the incredible seed company is yellow Gooseberry so so it is a new favorite of the incredible Seed Company uh they produce small to medium tomatoes and in abundance and so that was one of the things that um D drew me to this one as
Well as the fact that it’s yellow so I Tred to grow many colors of tomatoes in my garden because one of the things that I absolutely love is having a bowl of cherry tomatoes on my counter and I love it when people come over and they can
Pick and choose the different kinds they want just like a box of chocolates so the next one is Sasha alte I’m probably butchering that um but this one here is let me see here the the print isn’t great it’s amazing flavor texture um it produces
Early which is one of the things that I really like and it is a snack backing um salad tomato so that’s good uh the gold nugget I don’t know if any of you have ever grown this one it’s sweet and tangy and it is also a yellow um cherry
Tomato okay Amy sugar gem which is also a cherry tomato and it is uh it grows about 6 feet tall noticeably Frost resistant which is the other reason why I picked this one um let me see here full of flavor The Taste is sweet and well
Balanced and then we have the red Paar so for those of you again who have been following along with this gardening Journey over the past I don’t know four years you know that one of my favorite Tomatoes which was a staple in my garden for roughly six years was the yellow
Pair and I have mentioned it before that all of a sudden the seeds that I was purchasing and growing those Tomatoes were splitting and I tried my hardest to get out into the garden and collect them or harvest them as fast as I could when I thought that they could be Harvest and
They were still splitting on me and so I just found that to be a bit of a pain in my butt because I don’t always have the time to run out on demand of the garden right and so sometimes I want to go or sometimes I only have time to go out
There when I have time to go out there and so I switched over to Chocolate pear last year or not switched in addition to the yellow pear I did chocolate pear and I have to say that the chocolate pear was aund times better than the yellow pair for flavor
It was so sweet it was like having candy out in my garden so this one here is a red pair and so I’m really curious to see how this this one is going to do in my garden it is this one says grows into large healthy plants covered in hundreds
Of small bright red pearshaped fruit fruit uh the fruit is sweet and unique and popular in shape so I’m excited about this one the second thing that I want to do this year in my garden is to build a tea garden and so last year I
Used some of these beds that you see here for my tomato plants but with the additional four beds that I’m going to be grow or building I’ll be able to free up some space in those boxes to add in some of my tea herbs that I want to grow but in
Addition to that I want to build two additional beds that are going to go here and here and those beds are going to be strictly for herbs that I want to grow in order to create the Blends that I want to enjoy and so I am going to be
Heavy on the herbs this year so I’m going to start with Baker Creek again uh I have written down a bunch of notes because let’s be honest here A gardener can’t remember everything and I’m often looking up on the internet and looking up on the Internet the same thing so I’ve made
Some notes in my journal my gardening planner here so that when I’m planning out how I want the garden beds to look I know which herbs I’m going to grow together because some herbs need more space than others and I want to make sure that I’m getting the best out of
Those beds for my tea garden so the first first that I’m going to start with is uh Baker Creek like I said but I am doing a Callaway golden chamel tea or flower and it is a perennial in zones 3 to 7 so it’s really important for me because I’m in zone
5B and anything that can come back again the following year is really important when you want to grow a tea garden because this way I only have to plant the seeds once and those plants should come back up so I thought that the yellow uh chamomile would look really pretty in your tea
Blends with the white and yellow flowers as well so of course I’m going to be doing lavender um I don’t know if you can see behind me here this rock wall that I have so right behind the rock wall it’s a bit of an incline that leads up to my
Gard garden and I think you can see my tractor right around here and so all along that rock wall and it’s about 120 ft wide um I am going to be growing which and I don’t have these seeds right now they’re on the way but I’m going to
Be growing blue butterfly pea now that’s a vining plant and that’s going to grow over top of and come in front to grow over top of those stones and then right behind behind them is going to be my lavender and I thought that that would just add such a beautiful look to that
Rock Ball but it’s also going to be a Tea Garden area so I’m really excited about that now behind the lavender I am going to be planting Clover so I have uh the crimson clover here and I believe from last year I have red clover in my
Seed collection that I’m going to have to pull out um um but this is going to go behind the lavender because crimson clover is really good for you and I’m again just going to look here so it’s uh it’s caffeine free if you want to put it
In your tea um so it’s also a nitrogen fixer and because behind that rock wall is all new soil I want to make sure that um I’m putting stuff in there that has a lot of roots that’s kind of kind of that is going to kind of hold it
Together um the other thing that this is really good for is anyone that’s going through menopause these flowers in your tea will help with hot flashes so I just wanted to share that with you in case any of you are looking for a herbal remedy to
Alleviate a little bit of that heat that you get from the incredible Seed Company I got rosemary now I just think that Rosemary is a wonderful herb I love the smell of it as well as the taste of it I got the classic romantic uh butor buttons which the flowers are edible so
I thought that this would make a great addition to teas as well as salads add a little bit of color I got a niece hsip now the flowers are edible and I’m again just looking at my book here on my notes that I wrote
Down um it has a bit of a black licorice taste and they are perennial which is awesome so this reduces fevers and relieves congestion and eases coughing so this is going to make a great tea for someone who has a wintertime cold or I guess a cold at any time then I got
Common mint and so common mint is uh the leaves are edible it is a perennial and like any other mint it probably is going to be very invasive if I let it go but quite honestly um I’m going to be okay with that because a lot of different tea
Blends that you make has some type of mint in it and so let me just make sure here um so this one here may improve irritable bowel syndrome relieves indigestion and it also can mask bad breath so the next one is the crimson clover which I mentioned that I also got
From Baker Creek I just thought it would be good to have the same seeds from another company then I got Rina uh cingula and this is an annual and it is not for women who are pregnant so if you are pregnant or you know someone who’s
Pregnant you do not want to give this to them um this is a natural anti-inflammatory uh it’s mildly sweet um and it pairs really well with rose hips is what I have down so I got two of these I also got the Roman uh chamomile which is different from the Callaway uh
Golden um chamomile and so this one here is also a perennial it’s soothing calming stress relief it has a gentle and floral slightly sweet with a hint of Apple Apple taste and so this is definitely going to be going in a lot of my teas the next one is borage borage um
So this one here for me in 5B is an annual and you can eat the leaves and the flowers and so this one here suits cough sympto cough symptoms it’s lightly sweet with a crisp freshness and uh has a cucumber infused water taste so I’m really excited to try this one in my
Teas and then of course I got two more packs of the Old English lavender which again is going to go up on that rock wall um this is calming and reduces stress it has a spicy floral flavor with a hint of lemon to it so this is going
To be a lot of fun trying to mix all of these herbs with you know the herbs that I currently have from last year’s Garden to make wonderful Blends that I can share with family and friends so hopefully some of these seeds are of interest to you um if you are a tea
Gardener please leave me some comments down below let me know what your favorite herb is to grow if I haven’t mentioned it let me know uh what it is and where you got your seeds because I am interested in all the things to do with a tea garden thanks for spending your time
21 Comments
Cherry tomatoes are my favorite to grow.. and I love the darker varieties! I do find the ones Ive grown so far at least, split really easily. Brads atomic grape did ok.. I may go check a few of these varieties at Bakers creek. I just placed a BI order😊 and I love the mixed cherry tomato bowls too❤❤
Oh i stopped growing yellow pear because they split too!
Anise hyssop is an amazing pollinator attractor! I have 2 varieties.. that grow well im my 5b garden 😊 it’s always buzzing, hummingbirds love it.. and it blossoms right up to frost!
My borage self seeds everywhere! I seed started.. and failed last spring.. but I had over a dozen pop up thruout my garden!
Im sorry for all the comments.. I just relate to everything you just talked about! And Im in 5b.. starting a new herb and tea garden this spring! I havent had luck with overwintering my lavender or rosemary yet. I end up purchasing them from my local greenhouse so I have them for the season .. I have 4 lavender and one rosemary that Im hoping survive overwinter this year. So far it’s been rather mild… anyways the only thing I would advise is sectioning off your mint. It is aggressive and will choke out other perrenial herbs. I have mine in those half barrel pots or 10 gallon containers. I have 4 or 5 varieties 😊 Hyssop likes lots of space and will need a bit of support if it’s windy .. mine gets to near 6 feet and each branch produces multiple blossomed .. like a butterfly bush kinda.. do you know what I mean..how that flowers. Any how.. I am going to go check out BC for a few herbs for my tea garden.. I love that yellow chamomile .. Ive purchased a few that you have from BI already.. I’ll see what i come up with.. I want to check a few of those tomatoes too!! Great video ❤
Tea garden sounds awesome. So nice to pick fresh.
We are planning to plant alot of lavender this year. Such a nice smell.
Always a pleasure Sherry. Great video❤❤
Great video, as usual! You're always full of great info and you come up with the most brilliant ideas!!! Every year, I say I want to plant herbs (I have a few, but not many). I love the idea of a tea garden!! Do you have a favorite book or site that you gather info on which herbs to grow, to mix for teas? I'm hoping you'll share tea recipes!!
Great video! Tea garden sounds so lovely, maybe one day I will give it a try and make a small one. Hope you and your family enjoyed your holidays. TFS ❤
If you like little pops of tomatoes in your salad, try Baker Creek Spoon tomatoes. Very proliferative. Good flavor for such a small fruit.
Are you north or south of toronto? I’m about 4 hours north and we are zone 4B (I think lol)
I usually grow herbs but this year I am planning a tea garden as well. We live in Zone 6. I have had success growing Roselle (Hibiscus sabdariffa) and trying it again this year for my tea garden. I'm also trying a few different chamomiles, mints, calendulas, some of Baker Creek's Agastache and Calamintha flowers. They say on the website these are good for tea too. Looking forward to the next gardening season!
Very nice haul of seeds. Have a great weekend!
I had a tea garden for 2023 and while I struggled with many of my vegetables, the herbs did great. Given how expensive they are it’s good investment too. I grew a chamomile mix from Fruition Seeds (Western New York), the smell of the flowers once dried is absolutely wonderful. Also grew a few different varieties of basil for a mixed basil tea (really enjoyed cinnamon basil from MIgardener especially), and sacred/holy basil from Hudson Valley Seed Company. This year, I want to add lavender, echinacea and hyssop. I had no idea that crimson clover is edible! I purchased seeds from Hudson Valley Seed company to use as a cover crop but had no idea it could used for tea. How cool!
Great haul!
Something I heard and tried last year for tomato splitting. IDK if it’s the sole cause but for me I found almost no splitting in my tomato’s this year.
I would keep an eye on the forecast and any (heavy-ish) rain that was coming I would go into my garden and pick any that have started to blush. Same thing with a heavy watering – pick them before. There’s something with the amount of water uptake on ripening tomato’s that contributes to splitting.
Where do you get chocolate mint seeds?
I have found that the darker colored tomatoes are all fairly gimmicky or finicky and I’ve given up on growing them. The old heirlooms have good flavor, but bad resistance to disease, and not very good productivity. The new more intensely colored ones have little flavor, take forever to ripen, and are simply not worth growing.
I’ve also found that while generally quite a reliable seed company that I order from several times a year (love the free shipping for when I only want a few packets), Baker Creek’s marketing department Photoshops the heck out of the photos of their more brightly appearing fruits and vegetables, including some of those tomato ones that you purchased, and they will never be as colorful in real life as in their catalog.
The very best tasting grape-size tomatoes are Sungolds. I eat a lot of them straight off the plant as I’m wandering around my garden for a lunch break. They are incredibly sweet and flavorful, very early, and among the most productive of any small tomato. However, if you are not able to water very evenly and consistently, they are pretty susceptible to cracking.
A close relative of the Sungold is the Sunsugar tomato,
another hybrid orange grape tomato that I believe uses the Sunbold as a parent. It is not quite as sweet, but has significantly better resistance to cracking. In 2024 I am going to plant four Sunsugars and only one Sungold, because last year I got a little better results in terms of usable fruit production from the Sunsugars because they crack less.
I am in 5b also in SW NYS USA. BUT really ,keep that mint in a big pot. It will take over your WHOLE garden and it is impossible to pull out!!!! I have 3ft high apple mint all over my garden. It is beautiful ,but not where I want it now. Just a heads up
I got great germination rates on all seeds I ordered last year from Incredible Seed company , including tomatoes and tomatillos ! Very fast shipping too.
I am so glad that I found your channel! I am also gardening in Ontario, 5b, and I just ventured into starting my tea/medicinal garden last year. I have still have so much to learn about the plants that I am growing, but we are really enjoying lemon balm! It tastes great, perennial, and it is prolific (it will spread like mint though). I would definitely add it to your list!
I haven't ordered from Baker Creek before as I wasn't sure about shipping the seeds across the border, have you had difficulty with anything that you've ordered from them/the USA? Two Canadian seed companies I stumbled upon last year while looking for plants for my tea/medicinal garden were Annapolis Seeds (Nova Scotia) and The Canadian Organic Seed Company (Ontario). I didn't have any issue with either company, and I have ordered from Impossible Seeds for a few years and have always had good luck with their variety and gemination. I got my lemon balm seeds from Small Island Seed Co (in BC) on Etsy, I have had great luck with seeds from them. They have a great variety of seeds for medicinal plants that would be a great addition to a tea garden.
I look forward to seeing how your tea garden does this year!
Great video with super good info Sherrie. I haven't even order up seeds great i forgot. I have been super busy 3 of our grand kids other grandpa pass away right around Christmas time so it been hard for them and we been helping out alot. Stay warm and safe up there.