The Winner of the Hometown Seeds IS…
14.2 years ago giveaway, seeds
Melody D was the winner of the Hometown Seeds survival pack, though for the rest of you Hometown Seeds has provided me a code to allow 10% of any order with them by using the code “thanks”
Tags: cheap, garden seeds, vegetables
Hometown seed giveaway #2 (Survival Seeds)
14.2 years ago free, giveaway, seed storing, seeds
Hometown Seeds has again graciously offered up a selection of their non-GMO non hybrid survival seeds. These are advertised to keep in storage for 5-10 years but also are open pollinated so you can grow them this year, collect the seeds and create your own stockpile in preparation of any future catastrophic food shortage.
They include a selection of the following varieties:
- Lincoln Peas
- Detroit Dark Red Beets
- Kentucky Wonder Brown Pole Bean
- Yolo Wonder Pepper
- Champion Radish
- Lucullus Swiss Chard
- Black Beauty Zucchini
- Waltham Butternut Winter Squash
- Bloomsdale Longstanding Spinach
- Scarlet Nantes Carrots
- Long Green Improved Cucumber
- Rutgers Tomato
- Golden Acre Cabbage
- Romaine Paris Island Cos Lettuce
- Golden Bantem Sweet Corn
- Yellow Sweet Spanish Onion
They will be sending me the seeds to no restrictions on where these can be mailed to, so simply add a comment by 2/16/2010 2/19/2010 and I will randomly select a winner in one week.
Update — 2/16/2010
I got the seeds in the mail from Hometown Seeds and I was very surprised in the weight of these seeds. Well over a lb of seeds in this package. They come in a sealed lightproof wrapper as you can see below:
Though the seeds would last longer if I kept them in this packaging, though I just had to rip it open to see what was inside (winner’s package will not be opened):
As you can see there are quite a few seeds in this package so you may want to think about who you may want to share these with if you win.
Tags: cheap, garden seeds, led, pepper plants, tomato plants, vegetables
LED grow box gets an upgrade
14.2 years ago cheap, indoor growbox, indoor seed starting, LEDs, seeds
In our family we are not just cheap in the garden we also keep our house pretty cool to save on heating costs. Unfortunately since the LEDs in my grow box do not put out very much heat the inside is only about 68 F degrees even placing it on top of my refrigerator. For most seeds 77 F degrees is a great ball bark number to shoot for to get the best germination percentage as well as quicker germination times. This was the number I was shooting for, so I decided to add a string of mini incandescent bulbs to help bring up the temperature.
To do this I did exactly what I did for the LEDs just drill a hundred or so holes into the side of the box just slightly smaller than the bulb. Then had the fun job of pushing them all through.
I first tried having all the lights on but that brought the temperature up to 85 degrees, next I tried only half the lights on…70 F degrees. Then I got the idea of adding the blinker bulbs and tada 77 F degrees on the nose (ok technically 77.1 F).
So far everything is looking good have some onions, peppers, basil, and Swiss chard already sprouted and expecting more shortly.
Tags: cheap, garden seeds, grow lights, growbox, led, pepper plants, vegetables
Seeds from WinterSown
14.2 years ago cheap, seed exchange, seed saving, seeds
I know many of your probably already know about WinterSown but for those of you that have not you must check them out. This is the first year I have requested seeds from them and I they completely blew away my expectations. By simply sending them an self-addressed stamped envelope (SASE) and an optional donation they will send back some seeds of your choosing. I have gotten tired of my boring tomatoes I have been growing from the limited selections at local nursery and garden center so I chose the following: Husky Red Cherry, Persey Tomato, Red Brandywine, New Yorker, Mini Gold, Green Zebra, Tommy Toes, and they also sent me some Parsley which was not on my list though I was planning on growing this year.
They also included a pamphlet (mirrored) providing a long but not very labor intensive method of how to save your own tomato seeds which was yet another added bonus. I will be sure to save some seeds and send many of my extras back their way at the end of the season.
Tags: cheap, garden seeds, tomato plants, vegetables
How to save coriander/cilantro seeds from your garden
14.4 years ago cilantro, coriander, harvest, seed saving, seeds
Cilantro (at least that is what we call the plant in the United States) and the seed coriander as it is know to the rest of the world is the first plant I ever collected seeds from.
What I like about cilantro/coriander is that its flowers actually grow great and the bees seem to like them. As an added bonus the collection of seeds really couldn’t be easier. Like other plants I collect seeds on I let them mature as much as possible outdoors on their own and bring them indoors when the heavy rains come.
I give them a little extra time to dry by hanging the bunches upside down in my garage until I get around to the harvest.
To harvest simply find these flower shaped clusters of seeds and pull down to release the seeds and add to your awaiting container. If you don’t care as much how clean your seed collection is you can also run run hands down the whole plant from bottom to top. While this will drop many leaves in your collection, this is definitely the way to quickly harvest a large number of seeds.
Tags: cilantro, garden seeds, outdoor plants
How to save radish seeds
14.4 years ago harvest, radish, seed saving, seeds
Harvesting radish seeds is a little more labor intensive than some other seeds but still pretty easy to accumulate a decent number of seeds in a short period of time.
If you let your radishes be they will grow little flowers and pods like you see below. I like to let mother nature take care of this process as long as possible pulling them only after temperatures start to dip and heavy rains start coming. At that time I will pick the plants and hang them in the garage to dry a little longer.
Once the pods are dry, they should resemble those of the ones below.
All that is left to do is use your finger nail to split the pod open and with a quick swipe of your finger pop the seeds out into an awaiting container. One other option is to simply leave them in the pod and open them up during planting. Now they will take a significantly more space though if you only need a few seeds, definitely a viable option.
Tags: garden seeds, outdoor plants
