It feels like winter has really set in! We have had record lows this winter with temperatures plummeting to -6°C! If this sounds familiar you might be less inclined to get out in the garden.  Fortunately, it is the quiet time in the garden as the garlic is in and safely mulched away, and now is more of a time for reflection over the last season and what you will do this coming season in your vegetable patch.  A perfect time for browsing our new 2019/20 catalogue! We have updated our website and our full range of freshly germination tested seeds are all listed on both our Website, PDF Catalogue, and we can also send you a physical copy of our catalogue if you get in touch to request one. We prefer orders through the website, but please choose the method of ordering that works best for you.


As we gear up for spring in the garden we are also looking to invite an individual or couple to intern with us. We have had so much fun with our internship program and we hope this year is no different. Internships are a minimum of 2 months and can extend for longer periods. We also accept wwoofers for shorter periods. We can tailor programs to suit your needs, so any questions please get in touch. Please let anyone know who you think might be interested.  All enquiries are welcome and considered and more information is available on our website.

In other news, we have a new shop stocking our seeds!!! Thames Organics, on the Coromandel requested our seeds last year. They have a selection of our seeds available at their shop. If you are local to them, go check it out!
 
Please stay warm and happy these winter months and enjoy the bounty you have put by, preserved or harvested fresh from the garden.  We have fresh vegetables on the menu daily such as, Speckled, Tree, Odell’s, Lollo Rossa  and Winter lettuce, mixed with wild plantain, chicory and dandelion greens to make a fresh salad sprinkled with chopped Welsh Bunching Onions and Calendula petals, to accompany the warm winter roasts.  Chucks Winter, Queensland Blue and our new favourite, Delicata Pumpkin’s make great additions and allow us to harvest our fresh seed one meal at a time. Oxheart and White Belgium carrots are roasted regularly or grated to make a fresh salad with a simple dressing and some toasted seeds. Broccoli De Cicco and Kale Pohara are both new to our range and offer great winter greens too!  We are so lucky in this country to be able to harvest fresh vegetables pretty much year round with a bit of prior planning.
 
We are also about to start planning all of our spring plantings, as now is the time to decide: what do you want to grow this year! Such an exciting time where the possibilities seem endless; or at least as endless as space allows.  So remember how big your garden is when sowing seeds. Also take a moment to check out our NEW Garden Packs! Something we are excited to introduce this year, giving you a selection of seeds at a great price. Another new thing to check out is our Pre-Order Seedlings! If you struggle to get your tomatoes and peppers in early enough, try ordering a few from us! All seedling orders must be received before August 1^st 2019.


Things to Sow in the Garden Now:

As we have passed the Winter Solstice and the days are growing longer we can start sowing some of our earliest spring vegetables. We will be sowing shortly, Kale Red Russian and Phora, Silverbeet Fordhook Giant, Broccoli De Cicco, Arugula Wild, Cress, Rocket, Mizuna, Tat Soi and Lettuces Tree, Speckled and Red Salad Bowl, Lollo Rossa. Don’t forget the companion flowers! You can get underway Aquilegia Grandmother’s Garden, Diathus Clove Pink, Stock White, Sweet Peas Mary’s or America, Calendula, Echinacea, Lupins, Sweet Williams and Poppies. So many options, some perennial and some annual so make sure you choose the ones that suit your garden best. 

We often follow Rachel Pomeroy's biodynamic calendar in Organic NZ magazine for inspiration on sowing times.

Our Website is the best place to find the most up to date information on what we have available at all times during the year.

We encourage orders through this medium, but of course we will still accept orders via email from our Catalogue or via the post using our printed order form.
 
And here is our   Order Form PDF  or Order Form Excel
 
Email orders from the catalogue to: sethasseeds@outlook.com 

Or post order forms to: Setha's Seeds PO Box 60, Tutira 4181

And a reminder that selections of our seeds are also available from Cornucopia Organics in Hastings and Edible Garden in Ashhurst and the Thames Organic Shop in Thames.

We wish you an amazing year ahead in the garden, with bountiful harvests and cool evenings outside to bask in the fruits of your labours. As the temperatures plummet now, know that the shortest day has passed, and believe it or not, summer is around the corner.
 

Happy gardening,

Roddy, Setha and River Rose

Check out our NEW Garden Packs!

We now have a large selection of mixes in the Salad and Cooking Greens section.

Delicata is a new pumpkin in our range, but an old favourite of ours!

Pre-Order Seedlings available now. See website for more details.

Abenaki Pean is a new bean to try!

Chamomile, a new herb we are excited to have in our range!

Cucumber Tendergreen is a great new addition this year!

Carrot White Belgium is back again!

Yams are now available!

Chinese Cabbage Chi Hi Li is back again!

Bean Mangere Pole is NEW and a great green bean!

Gourd Ruka, is beautiful and we are so pleased to be able to offer it.

Seed Potatoes Now Available. 1 Kg packs $10.00 plus shipping. Limited Stock.

We have our seed potatoes for sale! Available are small amounts of Chatam Island, Henry's Large White (NEW VARIETY!!!), Hua Karoro, Kowiniwini, Matariki, Peru Peru, Paraketia, Uwhi, and Urenika, available for sale. If you are interested please order soon, as stock is limited.  

In other news, our garlic is in and looking gorgeous! So sorry to inform we have SOLD OUT of our seed garlic for the season. We would like to say a huge thank you to everyone who ordered and apologies for anyone who missed out. We are hoping to continue to succeed to grow garlic with rust present, and in time be able to expand production.

And here is a new idea to circulate with you all. We have often advertised a workshop and asked folks to come along. This time around, we have had someone contact us from Northland interested in our building workshops; Tiny House Construction and DYI Handyman Skills for the Self Sufficient Lifestyler. We thought we could offer, a full day workshop, combining these two workshops to give an overview of both. I have suggested dates in May (Sat or Sun of May 18^th or 25^th weekends). If any of you are also interested in attending please email me to express interest, and let me know which date you can make. If neither of these dates work, all good, suggest a new one! We are at the drawing board, so anything is possible.

Things to Sow in the Garden Now:

April is a good time to be transplanting your winter garden veges; some things can still be sown from seed like Tat Soi, Mizuna, Rocket, Arugala, Lettuces, Kale, and Coriander.  And don’t forget the companion flowers like Caledula, Poppies and Lupins. Make sure you have prepared a fertile growing patch with plenty of compost or aged manure.

As your summer gardens are finishing up, make sure to make compost from the crops as they come out as well as sow cover crops.  On our scale, we use cover crops to build soil fertility as well as compost. We have been using Buckwheat, vetch and Lupins mix this season. It is great to see some of the cover crops we let go to seed germinate in beds at this time of year, another sign that nature can be an equal partner and know just when it is right to get the seed under way! 

We often follow Rachel Pomeroy's biodynamic calendar in Organic NZ magazine for inspiration on sowing times.

Our Website is the best place to find the most up to date information on what we have available at all times during the year.

We encourage orders through this medium, but of course we will still accept orders via email from our Catalogue or via the post using our printed order form.
 
And here is our   Order Form PDF  or Order Form Excel
 
Email orders from the catalogue to: sethasseeds@outlook.com 

Or post order forms to: Setha's Seeds PO Box 60, Tutira 4181

And a reminder that selections of our seeds are also available from Cornucopia Organics in Hastings and Edible Garden in Ashhurst and the Thames Organic Shop in Thames.

Garlic planting season is happening right now. If you haven't gotten yours in yet, you might want to try planting on April 12th, Moon opposition Saturn, this is a good day to strengthen all seed and form strong structure for plants. This helped us last year to combat rust.

Interested in building skills? Email us to get on the list for our upcoming building workshop, see below for details.

Potato Henry's Large White is NEW to our collection this year!

Lupin Blue is beautiful and fixes nitrogen into your soil! Plant now.

Still time to plant Spinach Bloomsdale for winter eating.

Calendula Orange, a great winter companion flower.

Winter lettuce can still be sown now.

Poppies like Hungarian Blue Breadseed and Tyneside Mix can still be sown.