What is an Open Pollinated seed?

An open pollinated seed is produced by crossing 2 parents from the same variety, which in turn produces offspring identical to the parents. This means that seeds harvested from open pollinated varieties, such as Brandywine tomatoes, can be saved and will produce the same plant as its parent. An important factor in seed preservation.

Plants which are not open pollinated, but are hybridized are referred to as F1. They are the offspring between 2 genetically different varieties, usually of the same species. Their seeds will not come completely true. Plants are hybridized to encourage and blend the best traits of each parent plant, for example the newer hybrid tomatoes have been bred to fight disease.

If you are planting varieties this spring in hopes to save seeds, or are curious to grow open pollinated seeds West Coast Seeds has a fabulous selection.

Some favorites of the West Coast Seeds open pollinated line include:

Bush Bean - Golden Rod
Attractive yellow multi-purpose variety for mid-season maturity. Round, 15cm (6") pods hold well on the plant. Good for fresh use and freezing. Ready in 52 days

Pole Bean - Blue Jade
Straight, stringless and unusually smooth, with a stronger flavour than the bush variety. Large numbers of dark green pods are round, tender and meaty, 15 - 18cm (6 - 7") long. Long bearing. Ready in 70 days.

Brocooli - Green Goliath
Big broccoli heads and lots of side-shoots on a big plant. Plant a longer row because not all the plants will mature at the same time. This is a variety developed for home gardeners. Ready in 50 days.

Beets - Winter Keeper
Also known as Lutz Green Leaf. Unusually large round root remains sweet and tender up to 15cm (6") in diameter. Vigorous green tops for bunching in the summer. For winter storage, sow mid-July in rich ground. In fall, cover the bed to prevent freezing. Ready in 60 days.

Cauliflower - Purple Cape
The first and most colourful cauliflower to greet you after the Jan/Feb freezes thaw out. Heads mature early to mid-March. Brightens salads, platters, and winter gardens. Fold leaves over the developing heads to protect them from hard frost. English seed. Ready 6.5 months

Carrot - Minicor
The number one variety for high quality baby carrots. This slender Nantes type can be sown and thinned at a higher density of 0.5cm - 1cm (1/4 - 1/2") apart for baby roots, or 2 - 2.5cm (3/4 - 1") apart for 15cm (6") roots. Rich orange colour, crunchy texture and an unbeatable flavour - tops in many taste tests. Ready 55 days.

Kale - Red Russian
Flat, toothed, grey-green leaves with purple stems and veins that really brighten after frosts. Tender for salads, and good for bunching. The red and purple hues turn a rich dark green when cooked. Perhaps richer in vitamins and minerals than other greens and very disease resistant. Ready 50 days

Lettuce - Valamine
Light-green, upright leaves form a tall, cylindrical head. Very good flavour, crisp and sweet-tasting. Disease-resistant and heat tolerant. Overfeeding may result in tipburn. Ready in 80 days.

Tomatoe - Stupice
Vine. A great small tomato that is sweet and ripe at the beginning of summer. The leaves on this plant look more like a potato than a tomato. This extra early, cold tolerant tomato is high yielding with a wonderful, low acid flavour. Bred in Czechoslovakia. Ready in 65 days.

Pepper - Staddons Select
A large, open pollinated green, blocky bell pepper that will turn red on the bush in a warm summer. A medium walled, 3 - 4 lobed pepper that is well adapted to our Coastal climate. Keep it picked and it will keep producing. Ready in 71 days.

Spinach - Bloomsdale Savoy
This great tasting spinach has thick, succulent, dark-green savoyed (crumpled) leaves. Very sweet in salads or cooked. Best early spring and fall-planted. If fall-planted, it will overwinter and produce much earlier than if it is spring-planted.Ready in 50 days