Heirloom seeds

Home of the Seed Enthusiast

Products

Explore

Month by Month

January

In the vegetable garden, its a good time to sow bush beans for a late summer crop.

Stagger plant a few rows of carrots. All Season has a good heat tolerance and will resist running to seed.

For leaves try waxy silverbeet. Plant in semi shade for the best results. Rainbow Chard will give you lots of colour for the garden and your plate.

There is still time to plant Honeydew Melon and Bush tomatoes for Easter.

Try adding a spicy basil such as Cinnamon Basil. It can be used in savoury and sweet dishes.

February

Beetroots and radishes are always good to go so why not sow a quick crop amongst the more established plants.

Bulls Blood  is a heat tolerant summer variety which holds its magnificent red colour. Sparkler is high yielding radish with sweet, juicy flesh and a crisp peppery flavour.

In the herb garden, plant Chives to add to salads and soft cheeses.

Sow the versatile Flat Leaf Parsley for salads or pesto. 

For the more adventurous try Florence Fennel with its delicious aniseed flavour or Kohlrabi somewhere between a turnip and a water chestnut

Romanesco

March

St Patrick’s Day is the traditional day to sow your sweet peas. They come in many varieties including climbing, bush and scented.

It’s the perfect time to sow Poppies for a show stopping autumn garden.

Love it or hate it, Broccoli is set to go and, if you are feeling adventurous, try the Romanesco variety.

Kale is a winter staple, along with Oregano.

For a change, try Chervil. Sometimes known as French parsley, it is a delicate annual herb with a mild parsley flavour and a hint of liquorice dancing through it.

April

Broad Beans are the exception to the bean rule and are to be to be planted in the cooler months along side the peas. Aquadulce is one of the most delicious in terms of flavour and texture.

The onion, Pukekohe Long Keeper, has golden brown spheres, with white flesh, and are a staple for every pantry. Helping with pest control, they make a perfect autumn planting vegetable.

If you like leeks, this might be the year to give them a try. They are normally quite expensive to buy and this year could be a record price! They are not difficult to grow and like onions they help to deter pests.

If you’re a fan of fresh herbs, you’ll be happy to know that coriander is another cool-season annual that grows well during the winter months. Dill is also a cool season herb and if you like eggs and fish, you have the perfect partner.

Nasturtiums prefer the cooler months too and once established, will readily self-seed, meaning that you won’t have to worry about replanting them every year.

Turnips can be sown in late summer to early autumn, and they mature in around 10-12 weeks, making them a great choice for a fast-growing winter vegetable. I adore turnips in stews or mashed with potato.

May

Monstrueux De Viroflay is a French classic that is very vigorous and hardy. Whilst the leaves can grow monstrously big you can pick the leaves when they are small for bay leaf.

Red Giant is a mustard spinach has a strong flavour ideal for adding to salads or cooking as a vegetable. Mustard spinach is to spinach as rocket is to lettuce. A bit punchier.

Its time to pea, so get going with some crisp snow peas. There are climbing and bush varieties to choose from. Snow peas are as expensive as meat in the supermarkets so you will save some pennies. Plus the supermarket varieties are never as crisp and crunchy.

For something a bit different try Mache or Lamb’s Lettuce. It is soft, velvety, and crisp with a mild, herbal, and nutty flavour. It loves the cooler weather. It is used raw in salads as well as steamed and served as a vegetable. The unusual name reputedly comes from the lettuce’s resemblance to the size and shape of a lamb’s tongue.

In the herb garden, try curly parsley and dill. Triple Curl is the prettiest of the parsleys and if ever the term “best if home-grown” were to apply to a herb, dill would be it!. Dill is like coriander in that it prefers Autumn as a growing season.

June

Rouge d’ Hiver is a beautiful red cos with crisp, crunchy leaves suited to the cooler months. A hardy, productive plant that is slow to bolt with elegant, deep- brown-red leaves that fade to green near the heart

Onions will do well if you give them a layer of mulch to keep them warm on the cold nights. For pea lovers,  Gladalan Brown is an Australian heirloom onion variety  from the 1920’s, bred by Glad and Alan Brown at their garden nursery Gladalan in Armadale, WA.

Massey Gem has a rapid crop and reliable harvest. A very popular variety for professional farmers and home gardeners. 

Ivory Garden is a short compact kale with a snow white center and contrasting green frilly outer leaves. It has a strong flavour and is reminiscent of cabbage with a robust earthy finish.

With its inky black skin and pure white flesh, the Radish, Black Spanish Round, is a unique heirloom variety that has been popular since the 1500s. It is a winter radish that produces globe-shaped roots around 9 cm in diameter. 

Cabbage is a staple winter vegetable and copes well with the cooler temperatures. Cabbage Verona Purple is a large savoy cabbage that grows to an impressively large 3-4 kilograms with a tight heads.

July

Broad Beans are the exception to the bean rule and are to be to be planted in the cooler months along side the peas. Aquadulce is one of the most delicious in terms of flavour and texture.

Beetroot is pretty much always ready to go in most climate zones. The Golden Beetroot is a warm colored option without the usual bleed of the red beetroots. They are tender and sweet and do not become fibrous when old.

Mustard spinach is quick growing choice and cooked, it tastes like a spicy spinach. Gai Choi has a medium mustard flavour and can be used as a leaf vegetable or salad green.

Lettuce is also a good winter choice. They don’t bolt to seed or become bitter when they are not stressed by the high summer temperatures. Choose a sunny spot and watch them bloom.

It is also a good time to start seeds indoors or in a green house for Spring. Check out the eggplant Ping Tung Long or the beefsteak tomato, Santorini.

.

Bush Jubilee

August

Gypsophilia Snowflake or Baby’s Breath makes a beautiful back drop in the garden and Snapdragons will bring a burst of colour into the garden or in a pot on the patio.

From Jarrahdale in WA , a medium sized grey pumpkin might just be the go. A new kid on the block this Spring is the Rosa Bianca eggplant an abundant producer of delicious, versatile fruits.

Bunching onions are an an easy to grow vegetable that are similar to spring onions in shape and uses. However, the bunching onion, as it name suggests, is a perennial that produces lots of shoots over its life span. More onions, less work.

On the sweeter side of things, watermelons hit the spot. Bush Jubilee is ideal for small gardens.

Asparagus Pea

September

We are back into bean territory and the bush bean, Pioneer, will provide bumper harvests.

Try Celeriac, they are fantastic mashed and can be grated into salads or cooked in stews.

The exception to the “pea’s are a cool season crop” rule is the Asparagus Pea, with its dark red blooms and edible winged pods.

Its time to get the tomato’s seeded and Black Cherry is a perfect selection for tomato lovers.

For the zucchini lovers , Ronde de Nice, is a sumptuous, round zucchini.

What herb garden does not need a sage bush.

Beit Alpha
Malabar Spinach
Mrs Burns Lime

October

Waltham Butternut is a versatile pumpkin variety that is great roasted or mashed.  First bred in the 1960’s they are reliable, productive and a long-keeper.

In the tomato world the cherry tomato Tommy Toe Yellow stands out colour wise and has a sweet, complex flavour.  First bred in the 1960’s they are reliable, productive and a long-keeper.

Red Malabar Spinach is a good selection to grow in the summer months as it is heat tolerant. This fast growing vining type plant produces best when trellised. It can even be grown up the same trellis as peas, truly utilising the garden space.

Black Beauty is an heirloom zucchini that produces fruits with a very dark green skin, giving it its ‘black’ name. It has long been one of the most popular varieties on the market, producing plants with a compact, open bush habit which are much easier to harvest.

Beit Alpha is a classic Lebanese cucumber for summer salads. These cute, fat cucumbers are famed for their sweet flavour and thin skins that do not require peeling. 

Basil Mrs Burns Lime is a legendary heirloom, nothing short of an idol among fine chefs and gardeners alike. This heirloom was discovered in New Mexico, and it is absolutely the best lime basil available anywhere, with a much more intense, citrusy, mouth-puckering flavour.

Anaheim
Mini Bell
Warragul Greens
Black Russian
Magenta
Salsify

November

Anaheim is a milder all purpose chilli that can be used fresh, dried, raw or cooked. Check out this recipe for Stuffed Chillies for which the Anaheim is perfect.

For the warmer months Warragal Greens are a good alternative to spinach.  They can be enjoyed in soups, stews, and as a steamed vegetable.

Magenta silverbeet is a compact festive variety that is ideal for container gardens and looks great in either a herb garden or mixed with flowering annuals.

Mini Bell produces high yields of mini sweet capsicum in a range of colours from red, yellow, and orange. Ideal for small gardens.

If you fan of the super expensive Kumata tomatoes in the supermarkets then check out the the Black Russian Tomato. They have the most delicious flavour with a distinctive blend of sugar and acid that make them irresistible

For a more unusual flavour try Salsify also know as ‘Vegetable Oyster”. A chic newcomer with the foodie crowd but it happens to be an old-fashioned heritage root crop.

December

In the herb garden, consider Garlic Chives. They are a very useful culinary herb that also holds its weight in the flower garden.

A delicious option for a summer harvest is Rosella, an attractive hibiscus with fleshy red fruit.

Luffa is a zucchini alternative that can be used to make sponges.

Tomatillo’s produces round golden green fruit encased in a papery husk.

The bee keepers favourite, Borage with its electric blue flowers will attract pollinators for months.

California Wonder is a reliable producer of capsicums.


Reading List

Visit us at a festival, market, or agricultural show.

Calendar

Check the events calendar to see what events you can find us at.

Albany Agricultural Show

Reading Time: 1 minute
There’s a lot to enjoy at this traditional agricultural show which boasts a full range of animal and horticultural displays, as well as stalls and live performances.

Jacaranda Festival

Reading Time: 1 minute
Applecross Rotary will once again take over a much-loved section of Ardross Street, in the heart of Applecross Village, to deliver a fantastic, family-friendly day of fun and entertainment.

Garden & Gourmet

Reading Time: 1 minute
Embark on a journey where nature’s beauty meets culinary delight! MarketLife, the creative force behind Perth Upmarket, Perth Makers Market, and other bespoke events, is excited to introduce Garden &…
Postage Details

Order Times

Seed orders are normally despatched within three business days. You will receive an email when seeds are mailed out.

Packaging

No plastics are used in our seed envelopes or postage materials. Everything is compostable and fully bio degradable.

Postage Days

Seeds are mailed out Monday to Friday at 1pm. Except for the Friday of long weekends.

Postage Times

WA 2-3 Days: SA,NT 3-5 Days: NSW, ACT, QLD, VIC: 5-7 Days

We use an independent service to collect our reviews. Click on the logo to go to their website.
Powered byCusRev
Deborah
Deborahau
Reviewer
5/5

Really good selection of seeds..I’ve bought Seed Station seeds before at the markets and I was happy to find them online, because they are fantastic.

6 days ago
Amanda
Amandaau
Reviewer
5/5
1 week ago
Sandrajane Vincent-Corry
Sandrajane Vincent-Corryau
Reviewer
4/5

A little confusing going from one product to another, but overall easy to use

2 weeks ago