From the category archives:

Seeds and Seed Starting

Seeds for Cold Climates

January 14, 2010

Seeds of vegetables grown in cold climates need to have a short length to maturity and an ability to tolerate cooler than typical temperatures–day and night. You can look in any general seed catalog for terms like “short growing season,” “early-bearing,” “tolerates cool evenings,” or even the magic words, “especially bred for northern growers.”
It’s even [...]

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Botanical Interests Seed Collection Giveaway

January 12, 2010

Botanical Interests was a new seed company for me when I hosted a giveaway of their seeds last year. Since then I’ve had a chance to grow their seeds. My favorite has got to be the Lauren’s Grape poppy. It is gorgeous paired up with ‘Dark Towers’ penstemon.
Over 300 Kinds of Seeds
But Botanical Interests sells [...]

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Seedling light stand cleanup

April 18, 2009

Finished reorganizing the seed stand. Culled all the broken flats. Organized the cell packs. All this for the master seed starter, not me. My eldest daughter does most of the seed starting. I taught her everything I knew, and she improved upon it. So I just get everything back in order after a winter of [...]

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Renee’s Garden Seed Giveaway Winner

March 8, 2009

I used the random number generator, which picked number 26. Angie submitted comment number 26, so she is our winner. I have sent her an email with details on how to receive her seeds.
Coupon code is good for another week
But don’t forget, for another week, everyone is eligible for the following online order discount: [...]

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Renee’s Garden Seed Giveaway

March 1, 2009

As a result of my membership in GWA, for the past three years I have received a media packet from Renee’s Garden. A free packet of seeds is always included in the mailing, as well as an order form listing every seed they’re selling that year, with an invitation to mark off which seeds you [...]

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When do I start tomatoes from seed in upstate NY?

February 21, 2009

A reader contacted Cold Climate Gardening recently to ask:
I live in area between Syracuse and Ithaca… near Cortland. I have tomato seeds–many different varieties. When should I start the seedlings to grow in peat pots inside the house? Is it too early? While I am at it…what else should I be starting? Thanks [...]

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The winner of the Botanical Interests seed giveaway is

February 6, 2009

Matriarchy of Ramping Up the Garden! She has already received instructions on how to claim her free seeds. Happy seed starting, Matriarchy!
Those of you who didn’t win will have another chance next week at Garden Rant.

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Botanical Interests Seed Giveaway

January 30, 2009

Congratulations to Robbie, who won some free seeds from Botanical Interests at Carol’s giveaway! Those of you who didn’t win have another chance. The giveaway here is just a bit different. First go over to Botanical Interests and look over their offerings. Then list the six seed packets (excluding the large packets) you’d like to [...]

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Three gardening books for children

November 18, 2008

Many gardening books for children take what I think of as the art project approach: here’s what you need, this is what you do, isn’t that cute?, now show it to Grandma. Very few books out there take children–or a child’s interest in gardening–seriously.
I prefer to regard children as apprentice gardeners, gradually acquiring more skills [...]

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Winter sowing, aka cold stratification

February 5, 2008

Winter sowing, as far as I can tell, is identical to what, in my self-education as a gardener, I learned as cold stratification. The more traditional description of the procedure is to put the seeds in the fridge for the requisite period of time, and then sow them in pots or flats or whatever your [...]

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Poppy Seed Queens

January 20, 2008

Just about half a year ago, I was lamenting the loss of my favorite pink peony poppy. Thanks to one of my readers, I learned that these beauties are being sold on eBay. EBay! I had known that seeds and plants were sold on eBay, but had never thought to look myself.
Julie Calhoun and the [...]

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Value Seeds, or Pinch Me, I Must Be Dreaming

February 16, 2007

Thanks to an eclectic garden, I learned about Value Seeds. This reminds me of Edward Hamilton Books, my favorite place to shop for gardening books. Someone else’s castoffs, but still good quality, one price for shipping no matter how much you buy, get-it-before-it’s-gone selection, and very low prices. I haven’t ordered from them myself, but [...]

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Using spreadsheets in garden planning: Part 4

January 21, 2007

In part 3 I showed how to put the finishing touches on a spreadsheet that calculated the potential cost of a plant order in progress. But because of its tabular format, a spreadsheet is often used in situations where a lot of information needs to be organized, even if no calculations are made. Below are [...]

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