Frequently Asked Questions

Ordering and policies

Plants and plant care

How do you grow your plants?

All of our preorder plants are started from seed, either under lights or in our heated greenhouse. A few of the plants at the plant sale may be started from cuttings.

When should I put the plants I bought from you in my garden?

Many of the plants we sell are tender annuals in the Nova Scotia climate, and putting them outside to fend for themselves too early in the season can slow them down, delaying harvest. While the exact timing depends on the weather any given year, we can offer some general guidelines

Tomatoes should be planted out only when nighttime temperatures consistently stay above 7° celsius. In HRM this generally means no earlier than the end of the first week of June. Ground cherries do well with similar timing.

Peppers are a bit more tender than tomatoes, preferring nighttime temperatures above 10° celsius. The middle of June is the earliest we would advise, though a little bit earlier is possible in a sheltered spot or with protection. Eggplants and tomatillos are similar.

All plants benefit from hardening off (see the next question).

What is hardening off? How do I do it?

Hardening off is the process of gradually introducing plants grown under lights or in a greenhouse to the harsh elements of the outside world. Done properly, it offers significant benefits, including reducing transplant shock and lessening the chances of negative effects of sudden exposure to cooler temperatures or bright sun.

In practice, this means exposing the plants to gradually increasing levels of "outside time" and all that entails: sunlight, wind, and cold. We generally do this over the course of about a week. See the Spruce's guide How to Harden Off Plants for more detailed instructions.

Tomato seedlings

Tomato seedlings ready for transplant, 2022

Can you guarantee that your plants will "come true"?

We do our absolute best to make sure that you receive the varieties you purchased, and have a strong track record for delivering everything as ordered. However, with dozens of different tomatoes and peppers which all look pretty dang similar as seedlings, we cannot guarantee 100% accuracy or offer refunds if a rare mix-up occurs, as we're just too small scale. Often times when we are sold out of a variety for preorder, we may only have one or two spare plants which are, ideally, needed in our garden for seed saving purposes. However, if you don't get what you thought you'd purchased, please let us know, so we can trace the error to avoid future mistakes.

Where do your seeds come from?

We source new seed from a variety of seed companies both large and small, including local companies like Halifax Seeds and Incredible Seeds all the way to importing seed from Croatia and France. If you're purchasing a variety we've been growing for years, though, there's a good chance your plants come from seeds that we saved ourselves!

Mick the dog in our garden

Garden supervisor Mick, keeping an eye on our front-yard veggie beds, 2022

What are indeterminate, determinate, and dwarf tomatoes?

Tomato plants can have different growth styles, which alter the size of the plant and how long it produces fruit for.

Indeterminate tomatoes grow continuously and fruit continuously upon reaching maturity. Most indeterminate tomatoes can grow in excess of 2m (6.5') given ideal conditions, in many cases side-branching and vining vigorously. Quite simply, these plants get big, too big for a tomato cage! They are not suitable to grow in all but the largest containers (think soil volumes of 45 litres / 10 gallons at a minimum). Indeterminate varieties will also fruit, in most cases, until frost. If you want fresh tomatoes for as many months as possible and have space to accomodate a big, tall plant, indeterminate plants are the best choice. Generally the most productive type over the course of a year, compared to determinates. They also comprise the majority of the varieties we sell.

Determinate tomatoes will grow to a set height and stop, then fruit for a set, concentrated period before stopping. "Bush" tomatoes are determinates, with Scotia tomatoes likely the most familiar determinate type to Nova Scotian gardeners. Determinates are more compact than indeterminates, with many growing to around 1 m (3-4') tall, however they also do not offer the extended harvest season of indeterminates, with most determinates producing all of their fruit over a period of 4-5 weeks. Good if you want a more contained plant, or if you are looking to make big batches of preserves.

On our site, "dwarf" tomatoes strictly refer to plants which set fruit over an extended period like indeterminates, but stay much more compact in growth, most around the same height as determinates. The best of both worlds, though they tend to be a bit less productive than full-sized indeterminates.

Micro-dwarf tomatoes, despite sounding like they may be just shorter dwarf tomatoes, are actually extremely compact determinate varieties. Most micro-dwarf tomatoes only barely exceed 30 cm (12") in height at their peak. Micro-dwarf varieties are specialists for hanging baskets and patio tables. Not as productive as other types by sheer volume, but they often punch above their weight considering their diminutive stature.

What do "open pollinated" and "F1 hybrid" mean?

These terms refer to the plant's ability to breed true; that is, if you save seed from the plant (assuming it hasn't gotten crossed with another type in the garden), will those seeds reliably produce the same type of plant over and over?

For example, let's compare two types: Brandywine and Sungold. Brandywine tomatoes are open pollinated. If you grow a Brandywine tomato plant in your garden, ensure that bees or the wind haven't brought pollen to it from other types of tomatoes, and save seed from the fruits, the plants that grow from those saved seeds will always produce Brandywine tomatoes. Anyone can do this, including you with the plants you buy from us! There might be minor genetic variations, but generally speaking, the children will be functionally indistinguishable from their parents, producing tomatoes that are the same shape, taste, colour, and so forth. Their traits are stable from generation to generation.

On the other hand, Sungold tomatoes are an F1 hybrid. This means that the parents of every Sungold seed were not two Sungold tomatoes. Instead, the parents of every Sungold seed were of two different varieties which the seed producer intentionally cross-bred, knowing that crossing these two particular types reliably produces child seeds of the Sungold type. However, because of this recent genetic mixing, if you try to save seed from a Sungold tomato, even if you're extremely careful not to let any cross-contamination occur from other varieties, the child seeds will not all resemble a Sungold tomato. In fact, none will be exactly like a Sungold; they may be bigger or smaller, more tart or bland, more pink or more yellow. Their traits are not stable.

F1 hybrid varieties are, in practice, an invention of the industrial agriculture complex. The exact lineage of every F1 hybrid is usually a closely-guarded trade secret, and while sometimes F1 hybrids can be "reverse engineered" into genetic stability over many generations of careful breeding, this is a project of such scope and technical difficulty to be functionally impossible for almost all growers. In this way, the seed company extends their profits by forcing growers to buy new seeds every year, so farmers are cut off from the ancient tradition since the birth of agriculture: saving their own seeds. However, F1 hybrids are not GMOs.

Do you ship or offer local delivery?

At this time we are too small of an operation to ship or deliver plants. If you live in downtown Dartmouth and mobility is a challenge, we may be able to make an exception. Please email us to inquire.

How big will the plants be when I get them?

We aim for our plants sold individually to be somewhere between 4-6″ tall by the third week of May. In practice, this looks like the tomato plant pictured here, with that plant being on the large side. That said, plants are individuals, and some may be a bit bigger or smaller. We always ensure that you're getting value for your money, and will not offer undersized plants for preorders.

Certain varieties may also be differently sized to one another, e.g. two different tomato plants of the same age may look different if one is Sgt. Pepper's and one is Sweet Million. In particular, oxheart-shaped tomatoes have a tendency towards very spindly looking seedlings. Conversely, potato-leaf tomatoes like the one pictured here often appear "bigger" because they have more leaf volume.

In past years the sizing of our plants was inconsistent due to errors in when we started the seeds, meaning some people got plants the correct size and some people got absolute monsters! If you got a huge plant from us last year, the "normal" size may seem a bit of a let-down, but plants that are correctly sized will be easier to care for until it's time to plant them out in the garden. In other words, it's for the best, long-term.

If you would prefer to by younger plants at a lower price, we will be offering multi-packs of tomato seedlings exclusively in person at the plant sale.

A tomato plant approximately 6 inches tall

The approximate size of our tomato transplants

Are any of your plants GMOs?

No.

Do you offer a refund if my plants die?

Our top priority is to produce healthy plants to get your gardening year started. We do not sell any plants which are unhealthy. If we are not satisfied with the quality of the plants we have, we will cancel your pre-order in advance and offer a refund. However, any plants that you receive from us are healthy when they leave us. If they become unhealthy during your care, unfortunately we cannot offer refunds as the circumstances are not within our control anymore.

Do you use chemical pesticides?

No. We focus on preventing pests and disease with good phytosanitary practices, rather than dousing our plants in chemicals after they've already gotten sick. In the extremely unlikely event of a pest outbreak, as a last resort to save plants we may use pyrethrin, a natural compound found in chrysanthemum flowers. However, we have only had to do this once in many years, it is not our standard practice.

Can I request a plant that you don't already grow?

Sure! Send us an email. We always love to hear what people want to grow. Whether we can approve the request will depend on a number of factors, such as if there's enough interest from other people, the costs of growing that particular plant, and access to seeds. If it's too late in the growing season we might not be able to start the plants until the next year.

Will the plants be the same price at the in-person sale?

Yes. We have adjusted our pre-order prices to match, for fairness and ease of accounting.

Can I visit you to look at the plants before pre-ordering?

This is not generally possible. We are not set up to offer a retail environment for people to browse, and due to phytosanitary issues we cannot accommodate visitors in our growing spaces. A big reason that we are able to remain pesticide-free is careful hygiene practices and limiting the number of people in contact with the plants. If you wish to view the plants before purchase, your best option is to come to the in-person plant sale in May.

Can I cancel my pre-order after payment for a refund?

Once you have paid, you are committed to taking the plants. Our plants for pre-order are largely custom grown to order, and like any bespoke product, our ability to resell custom orders may be limited. Because we are just a few people with a small operation, taking a loss on plants from a cancelled pre-order is not sustainable for us. If your circumstances change such that you are truly unable to take the plants rather than just changing your mind, such as due to a loss of housing, please send us an email and we can discuss options.