VEGE GROWING WITH ican SEEDS

Our garden experts have carried out trials and sought advice from vegetable seed specialists in NZ and internationally, to find the very best of each vegetable variety. We have found 15 varieties to be outstanding, and these are brought to you under the ‘ican’ brand.

The breeding of these varieties is based on a large gene pool using modern breeding techniques. The result is stable, consistent, and reliable high performance.  Several the varieties are also smaller, more compact, and faster maturing, which provides the opportunity to grow a large range from less space, and more crops through the season. ican varieties are not available in other brands.

These varieties have been extensively trialled by our garden experts and we absolutely guarantee total satisfaction from our ican Chef’s Best VegetableSeeds.

Superior vegetable variety seeds may cost a little more, but they have a high germination vigour, and outstanding performance providing reliability—you don’t need to sow extras.  

Once the sealed foil sachet is opened, seed begins to deteriorate and frequently has lower germination the following season. Therefore we put a sensible number of seeds in a packet (according to species) to provide for one season, to avoid waste and keep these superior seeds affordable.

The ican Chef’s Best range

Dwarf bean Supreme
A superlative bean that lives up to its name. The straight glossy beans sit high on the plant for easy picking; they are very fleshy with excellent flavour. High yielding and disease resistance. Sow seeds directly in soil that has warmed to a minimum 15C.

Beetroot Red Lightning
Early maturing with deep red tender bulbs. The plants are large and upright and uniform in growth. An all round healthy vegetable that is full of nutrients, it is best to minimise the cooking time to retain the maximum benefit. Even the younger leaves can be eaten in salads, or cooked like silver beet.

Broad bean Mr Green Seed
These beans look and taste good and remain green after cooking. Broad beans are the only bean tough enough to grow through winter. Sow in autumn in warm regions and late summer and spring in cooler regions.

Buttercup Squash Dry Delight
The best buttercup pumpkin variety available. The plants are vigorous heavy croppers - one plant will produce many fruit, enough to keep through winter. Green skinned with bright orange flesh that is dry with a sweet nutty taste. Perfect for roasting and makes a sweet rich soup.

Carrot Europa
Absolutely the best carrot available. Fast, strong germination, and vigorous, it rates very highly for taste. Carrots are best sown directly into their growing place and then thinned as they grow. Ground preparation is key, growing best in loose crumbly soil.

Corn Tender Sweet
Nothing tastes better than a cob of corn picked and cooked straight off the plant, and this is the best sweet corn available. Quick maturing with long cobs with pearly white and yellow kernels. Extra tender and tasty. Strong germination, vigour, and disease resistance.  

Courgette Leader
A smooth, shiny dark green courgette (zucchini). Upright grower means easy picking. Good resistance to virus and powdery mildew. Sets fruit early without need for pollination and produces well right to the end of the growing season.

Cucumber Prolific Mini
Prolific producer of small 10cm long fruit, starting earlier, and goes on producing for longer. Crisp firm texture with no seeds and fresh taste. Sets fruit early without need for pollination.  Great in containers

Lettuce Trendsetter
A cos type lettuce, crisp and crunchy, and loved by chefs. It requires little space in the garden, matures early and holds well. Best sown first into trays or punnets then transplanted into the garden.

Leek Baby
A trendy small growing leek that is ready to eat in 8 weeks. Delicious when harvested at finger thickness and can be planted close to save space.

Parsnip Trafalgar
A strong, long straight parsnip that is the best home garden parsnip yet developed. Good germination and rapid growth, and that earthy parsnip taste.

Peas Magic
A vigorous high yielding variety. The pods are long, often with up to 10 peas per pod. ‘Magic’ has large tendrils which keep the plants upright on minimal support, making the pods easy to see and pick. Children will love to pick their own to eat fresh from the vine, and can search out the longest pods with the greatest number of peas.

Radish Olympus
The best radish available, Olympus is quick growing.  A medium to large bulb with a crisp pleasant taste. Radishes prefer cooler temperatures, so grow them early spring and late summer.

Spinach Nutriplus
A vigorous, fast growing and nutritious hybrid that out performs all other spinach varieties. Spinach prefers cooler temperatures, so grow it early in spring and late in summer.

Tomato Flavoursome
An absolute taste sensation, this unique tomato lives up to its name. Early maturing, medium size fruits that are the perfect balance of flesh and seeds. Produces well right to the end of the season. Excellent resistance to virus and soil fungus diseases. Keeps well.

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Making best use of Space

Many sections / backyards today are small with limited scope for the vegetable garden. However, with careful planning and choosing compact, space saving varieties, it is still possible to grow a range of vegetables maturing at different times to provide near continuous supply. Large pots offer another alternative for small spaces.

Another space saving technique is to introduce vegetables into the ornamental garden, potager style. Hedges of sweet corn, or climbing beans on a fence, blocks of lettuce, carrots, onions, cabbages, and leeks for contrasting foliage.  Try novelty vegetables such as multi-coloured silver beet, yellow tomatoes, yellow and red peppers.

Some vegetables such as potatoes, zucchini, buttercup / pumpkins, sweet corn, and broad beans take a lot of space and are best grown in a separate area where they are allowed room to spread without shading or smothering smaller plants.

Growing in plots rather than rows often works best for the smaller plants such as lettuces, carrots, onions, leeks.

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