Ideas, Info, Tools & Technology to Create Your Dream Garden
Posts tagged seeds
Keeping Up With “Frankenseeds”
Mar 29th
On several occasions I’ve talked about GMO or GE crops. Monsanto and Seminis are the two main companies developing these seeds. While developing their “frankenseeds” they’re also keeping their foot in the legitimate seed door. I recently found a listing of many of the varieties that Monsanto and Seminis sell.
What does this mean for the home grower or the conscientious gardener? Anyone who’s concerned about the effects of Monsanto’s work can vote with their pocketbook, by staying away from seeds that are offered by either Monsanto or Seminis.
Safe seeds will ensure the planets food supply.
The best way to do this More >
Glorious Oriental Seeds
Mar 27th
One thing that the US has is a poverty of varieties of vegetables. When you enter a supermarket you find just one kind of broccoli, one variety of carrot, one maybe two varieties of cucumber (eating and a pickling). What most Americans don’t know is that there are literally dozens, if not hundreds, of varieties of almost every vegetable on the planet.
I recently found a great site for buying typical oriental vegetable seeds. Unfortunately I found the site after I had ordered all my seeds for this year, but I wanted to share this resource with you, so that you can More >
2012 Premiere
Mar 15th
First spinach seedlings of 2012 emerge.
Ta-da! The 2012 garden show has begun. The very first spring seeds have sprouted. Planted on 3/2/12 the very first spinach seeds have broken ground. I was waiting with bated breath, as it seemed like forever for the first seeds to emerge.
I planted both spinach and sugar snap peas that day. So far just a few spinach seedlings are showing.
We’re having a very hot spring already and I’m concerned that the rest of the spring seeds, which I plan to get in the ground in the next few days, will sprout and immediately bolt. In More >
Cold Weather Blues
Feb 9th
Soon I'll have my first little sprouts of 2012!
I was all set to finish getting the foundation for the greenhouse finished this weekend. Now they’re forecasting highs to be in the low 40s. That means that until around three in the afternoon it is probably going to be less than 40 degrees outside. I’m pretty hardy, but that sounds like not a lot of fun, so I’ve decided to move my gardening work inside this weekend.
This week I received my seeds for this season. I still have a pretty good stash from last year, so only needed to buy a More >
What Gardening Means To Me
Jan 23rd
What little girl could resist growing a Beauty Bush.
Today is my birthday. So, I thought I’d take time to write about what gardening means to me, why I’m such an avid gardener.
In all honesty I think I’m an avid gardener because my mother was, also. She loved to be outside planting things and started me off at a very early age. I remember helping plant pansies at around the age of five.
Not too long after that, maybe a year or two, I had my first garden. It was a flower garden and had all my favorites: pansies, marigolds, dahlias, snapdragons, More >
Time To Think Seeds – No GMO
Dec 12th
Yep, it’s that time of year. Time to start drooling over this years seed catalogs. I’ve already received several and have to reign myself in, as I’ve got quite a few packets of seeds left from last year.
One thing you should consider when looking at seeds is their safety and purity. There are studies starting to come in showing that GMO seeds are affecting, not only the natural world around us, but our very bodies. The GMO tags are being found in pregnant women and their newborn babies, some illnesses are being exacerbated by GMO products, etc. This is just More >
Purchasing Seeds
Jan 15th
In the last couple blogs there’s a huge list of seed companies that were gleaned from internet searches. What to do with 65 seed companies?
It’s a good idea to try to grow seeds that have been produced in your climate or a climate similar to yours. One of the reasons I use Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds is they cultivate seeds from around the world. Some of them come from hot humid climates, which is the climate I grow in. So, when looking at the locations, see if the company is near you. This doesn’t guarantee that the seeds were produced More >
The First Seed Catalog
Dec 24th
Better than any Christmas present is the first seed catalog. Filled with a treasure of different varieties of all plant seeds. You can wile away the entire winter looking at the beautiful pictures, your mouth watering for the flavors of freshly picked summer crops.
How to pick seeds? First, what do you want to have in your garden, that can be easily grown from seed. Most veggie and annual flower seeds are very easy to grow. Some fruits, herbs, and perennials are also easy to grow, but there are more of them that require special care to make them sprout. Read More >