Seeds and Seed Starting

I mean, Johnny's loves me. I happened to be looking at tomatoes online tonight (which is early for me!), and lo, I discovered Valley Girl! Despite anything anyone says to the contrary, I am going to believe this tomato was developed just for me. (I am a girl, and I am living in a Valley.) [...]

Not much. As is my habit every spring, I test my seeds to see whether they're still any good, or if I need to buy new ones. This is a very easy thing to do--you stick half a damp paper towel in a little plastic bag, drop in ten seeds (5 if you're starting to [...]

Hi gals, isn't it fun to dream of gardening when it's raining too much to set foot in the garden? And, yes, Betsy, this is not the end of winter. In Boundary County we can have snow & freezes every month of the year so it's not over yet. It's a very rare Farmers' Market [...]

I got my Thompson & Morgan seed catalog today. Talk about rushing the season! It's usually the first catalog to arrive, but I don't remember it ever coming this early. I must say, the 'Fruit Punch' Oriental poppies on the cover tempt me to break my vow of no more seed starting until the beds [...]

People who have been reading a while might remember this post of mine from a while back. Well, today we have a very similar story. Once again, it begins with me coming back from shopping--which is odd, because I actually very rarely go out shopping, only about once a month when I go out to [...]

Yes, folks, this is going to be a sad post. Better get out your Kleenex. *Sigh.* Particularly sad after last year's broccoli, which was the most wonderful broccoli I'd ever had in my life, no kidding. That was amazing broccoli. First we must set the stage. . . After our terrible flooding (for most of [...]

I read the bookish gardeners article about seed starting with chagrin. My own seed starting practices have deteriorated over the years. Every seed gets sown in the same conditions, at the same time, somewhere around 6-8 weeks (if I'm running late, I change my last frost date so I am not behind). Apparently, conditions were [...]

March blew through with the mood swings of a diva… freeze! thaw! snow! thunderstorms!... “tempera-mental,” indeed. But the weather always turns the corner in April. The garden shows only the earliest signs of green, but spring finally seems plausible, and I’m even emboldened to regard the coming of tulips with the same certainty as taxes. [...]

All of my seeds are here, so now Spring can come. In fact, I'm beginning to get impatient now. . . Fedco had to substitute my Amish pepper for a similar variety. . .I guess a lot of people liked their discription! The things they had to substitute were cheaper, so they also sent two [...]