Our Seed Library is OPEN 7 days a week

Get your seeds and start growing now for the 2022 Garden Season!

Last year we compiled 30 days of Gratitude – Giving Back Thank you to our great Mother Earth. Here is our List of 30 seeds/plants, recipes and favourite garden links for you to get inspired for Seed Starting.
Did you know that our FREE seed library is open 7 days a week?


Even through the rainiest day, the coldest snow storm, the hottest days of the year.
We are fortunate to have a local ECO HUB as our base at the Healing Muse Apothecary
AND accessible via Big Guys Coffeeshop
Coffeeshop & Seed Library Hours:
9-5pm Monday to Saturday
9-3pm on Sundays

Yes – Big Guys Coffeeshop is open all year long
(except for New Year’s Day, but that’s a great day to stay home!)

Use our Seed Library
– FREE –
In our Local Eco Hub:

The Healing Muse
2859 Lakeshore Blvd West
Toronto ON
M8V 1H1

get your seeds started now into seedlings

You can receive FREE seeds by mail, from our SEED LIBRARY, just send us a SASE (Self Addressed Stamped Envelope)
—- please note what seeds you are looking for, or we will send a random assortment of garden veggies and flowers!

Explore with these Daily Inspirations from our Garden Stewards. Pick up a new book to read, some seeds from our local seed library at The Healing Muse and maybe even try a new recipe from the garden. Here are 30 ways to begin!

[you can receive seeds by mail, just send us a SASE – self stamped and self addressed envelope]


15 SEEDS TO ENJOY AND DISCOVER IN OUR SEED LIBRARY!

seedling 1 – Purple Cornflower

Seeds Available to Plant and Discover: Purple Cornflower – Echinacea purpurea, Tall, Purple North American Native, Pollinator

https://www.nlm.nih.gov/nativevoices/exhibition/healing-ways/medicine-ways/healing-plants/images/ob1679.html

Feel Good Book to Read: 
Everything Elderberry: How to Forage, Cultivate, and Cook With This Amazing Natural Remedy by: Susannah Shmurak 

https://www.torontopubliclibrary.ca/detail.jsp?Entt=RDM4048468&R=4048468

Garden Recipe to Try: Elderflower Syrup 

Quote to Enjoy: “Weeds are flowers too, once you get to know them. ” A. A. Milne


seedling 2 – Common Milkweed

Seeds Available to Plant and Discover: Common Milkweed – Asclepias syriaca , Tall, Soft Pink North American Native, Pollinator

https://garden.org/plants/view/75378/Common-Milkweed-Asclepias-syriaca/

Feel Good Book to Read: 
Grow your own spices: harvest homegrown ginger, turmeric, saffron, wasabi, vanilla, cardamom, and other incredible spices – no matter where you live By: Tasha Greer

https://www.torontopubliclibrary.ca/detail.jsp?Entt=RDM3975658&R=3975658

Garden Recipe to Try: Zucchini Lemon Cake

Quote to enjoy: “Garden as though you will live forever. ” Thomas Moore


seedling 3 – African Marigold

Seeds Available to Plant and Discover: African Marigold – Tagetes Erecta, Large, Yellow Flower

https://garden.org/plants/view/678590/Marigold-Tagetes-erecta-Orange-Hawaii/

Feel Good Book to Read: 
Medicinal Herbs of Eastern Canada: a pictorial manual  By: Brenda Jones

https://www.torontopubliclibrary.ca/detail.jsp?Entt=RDM3913642&R=3913642

Garden Recipe to Try: Cherry Tomato sauce 

Quote to Enjoy: “Flowers always make people better, happier, and more helpful; they are sunshine, food and medicine for the soul.”  Luther Burbank


seedling 4 – Basil

Seeds Available to Plant and Discover: Basil – Bacilicum Genovese, Herb

https://garden.org/plants/view/588446/Basil-Ocimum-bacilicum-Genovese/

Feel Good Book to Read: 
The Suburban Micro Farm: modern solutions for busy people. By: Amy Stross

https://www.torontopubliclibrary.ca/detail.jsp?Entt=RDM3720926&R=3720926

Garden Recipe to Try: Recipe: Pear Chutney

Quote to Enjoy: “A flower falls, even though we love it; and a weed grows, even though we do not love it. ” Dogen


seedling 5 – Butterfly Milkweed

Seeds Available to Plant and Discover: Butterfly Milkweed – Asclepia Tuberosa 

https://garden.org/plants/view/75379/Butterfly-Milkweed-Asclepias-tuberosa/

Feel Good Book to Read: 
The Living Soil Handbook: the no-till grower’s guide to ecological market gardening

https://www.torontopubliclibrary.ca/detail.jsp?Entt=RDM4112615&R=4112615

Garden Recipe to Try: Green Tomato Tarts

Quote to Enjoy: “Little things seem nothing, but they give peace, like those meadow flowers which individually seem odorless but all together perfume the air.” Georges Bernanos


seedling 6 – Calendula

Seeds Available to Plant and Discover: Calendula – Calendula Officinalis 

https://garden.org/plants/view/75654/Pot-Marigold-Calendula-officinalis/

Feel Good Book to Read: 
The Book of the Earthworm. By: Sally Coulthard

https://www.torontopubliclibrary.ca/detail.jsp?Entt=RDM4101177&R=4101177

Garden Recipe to Try: Zucchini Lasagna

Quote to Enjoy: “I know that if odour were visible, as colour is, I’d see the summer garden in rainbow clouds. ” Robert Bridges


seedling 7 – Blanket Flower

Seeds Available to Plant and Discover: Blanket Flower (Native) – Gaillarda

https://garden.org/plants/view/76606/Blanket-Flower-Gaillardia/

Feel Good Book to Read: 
Herbal Houseplants: grow beautiful herbs – indoors!  By: Susan Betz

https://www.torontopubliclibrary.ca/detail.jsp?Entt=RDM4103219&R=4103219

Garden Recipe to Try: Garden Fresh Tomato Soup

Quote to Enjoy: “Love is the flower of life, and blossoms unexpectedly and without law, and must be plucked where it is found, and enjoyed for the brief hour of its duration. ” D. H. Lawrence


seedling 8 – Brown Eyed Susan

Seeds Available to Plant and Discover: Brown-Eyed Susan, Rudebeckia Triloba 

https://garden.org/plants/view/78799/Browneyed-Susan-Rudbeckia-triloba/

Feel Good Book to Read: 
The Ecological Gardener: how to create beauty and diversity from the soil up. By: Matt Rees-Warren

https://www.torontopubliclibrary.ca/detail.jsp?Entt=RDM4112606&R=4112606

Garden Recipe to Try: Dark Cherry Mulberry Jam Recipe

Quote to Enjoy: “Show me your garden and I shall tell you what you are. ” Alfred Austin


seedling 9 – Chamomile

Seeds Available to Plant and Discover: Chamomile – Matricaria chamomilla 

https://www.thespruce.com/how-to-grow-chamomile-1402627

Feel Good Book to Read: 
The Beginner’s Guide to Growing Great Vegetables. By: Lorene Forkner

https://www.torontopubliclibrary.ca/detail.jsp?Entt=RDM4072463&R=4072463

Garden Recipe to Try: Pickled Garlic Scapes Recipe 

Quote to Enjoy: “The flower which is single need not envy the thorns that are numerous.”Rabindranath Tagore


seedling 10 – Columbine

Seeds Available to Plant and Discover: Columbine (Vulgaris), Dark Purple Flower – Aquilegia Vulgaris – https://garden.org/plants/view/136675/European-Columbine-Aquilegia-vulgaris-Clementine-Dark-Purple/

Feel Good Book to Read: 
Energetic Herbalism : A Guide to Sacred Plant Traditions Integrating Elements of Vitalism, Ayurveda, and Chinese Medicine.

Maier, Kat
.https://www.torontopubliclibrary.ca/detail.jsp?Entt=RDM4174851&R=4174851

Garden Recipe to Try: Baked Apple

Quote to Enjoy: “A lawn is nature under totalitarian rule.”  Michael Pollan


seedling 11 – Coneflower

Seeds Available to Plant and Discover: Coneflower (Prairie) – Ratibida Columnifera 

https://www.minnesotawildflowers.info/flower/prairie-coneflower

Feel Good Book to Read: 
Winterland: Create a Beautiful Garden for Every Season. By: Cathy Rees

https://www.torontopubliclibrary.ca/detail.jsp?Entt=RDM4136472&R=4136472

Garden Recipe to Try: Saskatoon Rhubarb Jam

Quote to Enjoy: “And forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet and the winds long to play with your hair. ” Khalil Gibran


seedling 12 – Coreopsis

Seeds Available to Plant and Discover: Coreopsis, Yellow Tickseed – Coreopsis

https://garden.org/plants/view/738999/Coreopsis-Corey-Yellow/

Feel Good Book to Read:  
Outstanding American gardens : a celebration : 25 years of the Garden Conservancy By: Brenner, Marion

Garden Recipe to Try: Spicy Peach Chutney

Quote to Enjoy: “Everything that slows us down and forces patience, everything that sets us back into the slow circles of nature, is a help. Gardening is an instrument of grace. ” May Sarton


seedling 13 – Dill

Seeds Available to Plant and Discover: Dill – Anethum Graveolens

herbal oil with bread

https://garden.org/plants/view/75274/Dills-Anethum-graveolens/

Feel Good Book to Read: 
Seasons of an Amish garden : four stories  By: Amy Clipston

Garden Recipe to Try: Low Sugar Red Currant Jelly

Quote to Enjoy: “Who loves a garden loves a greenhouse too. ” William Cowper


seedling 14 – Columbine Red

Seeds Available to Plant and Discover: Columbine (Eastern Red) – Aquilegia Canadensis

https://garden.org/plants/view/75292/Eastern-Red-Columbine-Aquilegia-canadensis/

Feel Good Book to Read: 
Saladish: a crunchier, grainier, herbier, heartier, tastier way with vegetables By Ilene Rosen 

https://www.torontopubliclibrary.ca/detail.jsp?Entt=RDM3681883&R=3681883

Garden Recipe to Try: Green Tomato Mincemeat Tarts

Quote to Enjoy: “Help us to be ever faithful gardeners of the spirit, who know that without darkness nothing comes to birth, and without light nothing flowers. ” May Sarton


seedling 15 – Evening Primrose

Seeds Available to Plant and Discover: Evening primrose – Oenothera Biennis 

https://garden.org/plants/view/83563/Common-Evening-Primrose-Oenothera-biennis/

Feel Good Book to Read: 
Sisterhood of the Enchanted Forest: Sustenance, Wisdom, and Awakening in Finland’s Karelia  By: Naomi Moriyama 

https://www.torontopubliclibrary.ca/detail.jsp?Entt=RDM4133597&R=4133597

Garden Recipe to Try: Green Tomato Chutney

Quote to Enjoy: “From plants that wake when others sleep, from timid jasmine buds that keep their odour to themselves all day, but when the sunlight dies away let the delicious secret out to every breeze that roams about. ” Thomas Moore


15 MORE SEEDS FROM OUR SEED LIBRARY
AND BOOKS WITH RECIPES TO ENJOY!


seedling 16 – Field Poppy

Seeds Available to Plant and Discover: Field Poppy (annual) – Papaver Rhoeas

https://garden.org/plants/view/86774/Field-Poppy-Papaver-rhoeas/

Feel Good Book to Read: 
Immune: A Journey into the Mysterious System That Keeps You Alive  By: Philipp Dettmer

https://www.torontopubliclibrary.ca/detail.jsp?Entt=RDM4111492&R=4111492

Garden Recipe to Try: Chocolate Zucchini Bread or Muffins

Quote to Enjoy: “Garden as though you will live forever. ” Thomas Moore


seedling 17 – Hollyhock

Seeds Available to Plant and Discover: Hollyhocks – Alcea rosea

https://www.bhg.com/gardening/plant-dictionary/perennial/hollyhock/

Feel Good Book to Read: 
The Embodied Mind: Understanding the Mysteries of Cellular Memory, Consciousness, and Our Bodies  By: Thomas S. Verny

https://www.torontopubliclibrary.ca/detail.jsp?Entt=RDM4133586&R=4133586

Garden Recipe to Try: Herb Butter Cookies

Quote to Enjoy: “If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need. ” Marcus Tullius Cicero


seedling 18 – Coriander

Seeds Available to Plant and Discover: Coriander / Cilantro – Coriandrum Sativum

https://garden.org/plants/view/86729/Cilantros-Coriandrum-sativum/

Feel Good Book to Read: 
Everyday Vitality: Turning Stress into Strength  By: Samantha Boardman

https://www.torontopubliclibrary.ca/detail.jsp?Entt=RDM4070321&R=4070321

Garden Recipe to Try: Sour Cherry Jelly

Quote to Enjoy: “To see a world in a grain of sand and heaven in a wild flower Hold infinity in the palms of your hand and eternity in an hour.” William Blake


seedling 19 – Joe Pye Weed

Seeds Available to Plant and Discover: Joe Pye Weed – Eutrochium

https://garden.org/plants/view/528424/Joe-Pye-Weed-Eutrochium/

Feel Good Book to Read: 
The One-Straw Revolution: an introduction to natural farming  By: Masanobu Fukuoka

https://www.torontopubliclibrary.ca/detail.jsp?Entt=RDM2525662&R=2525662

Garden Recipe to Try:  Spiced Pumpkin Bread

Quote to Enjoy: “It will never rain roses: when we want to have more roses we must plant more trees. ” George Eliot


seedling 20 – Lettuce Green

Seeds Available to Plant and Discover: Lettuce (Green) – Lactuca Sativa

https://garden.org/plants/view/550280/Lettuce-Lactuca-sativa-Mazur/

Feel Good Book to Read: 
The Modern Herbal Dispensatory: a medicine-making guide  By: Thomas Easley

https://www.torontopubliclibrary.ca/detail.jsp?Entt=RDM3470817&R=3470817

Garden Recipe to Try: Spicy Pumpkin Soup

Quote to Enjoy: “A man has made at least a start on discovering the meaning of human life when he plants shade trees under which he knows full well he will never sit. ” D. Elton Trueblood


seedling 21 – Morning Glory

Seeds Available to Plant and Discover: Morning Glory – Ipomoea Tricolor

https://www.almanac.com/plant/morning-glories

Feel Good Book to Read: 
The Invention of Nature: Alexander von Humboldt’s new world  By: Andrea Wulf

https://www.torontopubliclibrary.ca/detail.jsp?Entt=RDM3335338&R=3335338

Garden Recipe to Try: Mulberry Preserves

Quote to Enjoy: “A garden requires patient labor and attention. Plants do not grow merely to satisfy ambitions or to fulfill good intentions. They thrive because someone expended effort on them. ” Liberty Hyde Bailey


seedling 22 – Oregano

Seeds Available to Plant and Discover: Oregano – Origanum vulgare
https://www.thespruce.com/herb-profile-oregano-1761786

Feel Good Book to Read: 
Edible flowers : how, why, and when we eat flowers

Nelson, Monica, author.
Contributors: Glaviano, Adrianna, photographer. 2021

https://www.torontopubliclibrary.ca/detail.jsp?Entt=RDM4169621&R=4169621

Quote to Enjoy: “Colours are the smiles of nature”- Leigh Hunt


seedling 23 – Foxglove Beardtongue

Seeds Available to Plant and Discover: Foxglove Beardtongue – Penstemon Digitalis
https://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/PlantFinder/PlantFinderDetails.aspx?kempercode=g590

Feel Good Book to Read: 
Unearthing The secret garden : the plants and places that inspired Frances Hodgson Burnett

McDowell, Marta, author. 2021
https://www.torontopubliclibrary.ca/detail.jsp?Entt=RDM4141732&R=4141732

Quote to Enjoy: “A garden of friends is always in bloom”- author unknown


seedling 24 – Peas speckled

Seeds Available to Plant and Discover: Speckled Peas – Pisum sativum var. saccharatum
https://www.epicgardening.com/pea-microgreens/

Feel Good Book to Read: 
Garden variety

Wilhelmi, Christy, author.2022
https://www.torontopubliclibrary.ca/detail.jsp?Entt=RDM4167707&R=4167707

Quote to Enjoy: “When one tugs at a single thing in nature, he finds it attached to the rest of the world”- John Muir


seedling 25 – Mullein

Seeds Available to Plant and Discover: Mullein Common – Verbascum thapsus L.
https://www.friendsofthewildflowergarden.org/pages/plants/mullein.html

Feel Good Book to Read:
People : A Relationship Guide for Plants and Their Parents

Resta, Alessia2022
https://www.torontopubliclibrary.ca/detail.jsp?Entt=RDM4183453&R=4183453

Quote to Enjoy: “Friends are flowers in the garden of life”- author unknown


seedling 26 – Tomato Green Tiger

Seeds Available to Plant and Discover: Tomato – Verbascum thapsus L.
https://ekzotomat.in.ua/en/tomato-seeds/tomato-green-tiger.html

Feel Good Book to Read:
Nature is never silent : how animals and plants communicate with each other

Ziege, Madlen, author.2021
https://www.torontopubliclibrary.ca/detail.jsp?Entt=RDM4174900&R=4174900

Quote to Enjoy: “Those who dwell among the beauties and mysteries of the earth are never alone or weary of life”- Rachel Carson


GET FULL RECIPES LISTED HERE IN PDF

Rebugging the planet : the remarkable things that insects (and other invertebrates) do – and why we need to love them more

Hird, Vicki, author.2021, Book , xi, 211 pages https://www.torontopubliclibrary.ca/detail.jsp?Entt=RDM4174852&R=4174852

The green witch’s garden : your complete guide to creating and cultivating a magical garden space

Murphy-Hiscock, Arin, author.2021, Book , 224 pages https://www.torontopubliclibrary.ca/detail.jsp?Entt=RDM4131117&R=4131117

Urban lichens : a field guide for northeastern North America : including New York City, Chicago, Toronto, Boston, New Haven, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington, D.C.

Allen, Jessica L., author.Contributors: Hoffman, Jordan R., illustrator. ;Lendemer, James C., author.2021, Book , 158 pages :https://www.torontopubliclibrary.ca/detail.jsp?Entt=RDM4172781&R=4172781