OK, right now is dumping snow outside. I just helped my friend Bill switch out generators up at the camp ( where the Labs swim ).We had about 5 inches of snow yesterday, and I realize I forgot to cover my raised beds with black plastic before the snow dumped on them.
Can I still put the plastic on top of the snow? or maybe shovel the now off the beds...
Fedco Seeds
All the while, I am thinking of spring. What I will do different, better, what I wont do.
To help this planning, I have the Fedco Seeds catalog. Fedco Seeds is a seed cooperative, a pretty rare entity in this world of corporate consolidation. I was introduced to them when I joined a community garden in Brooklyn, and have stuck with them.
Fedco has a great catalog chock full of great descriptions of neat vegetables and flowers, its not written in catalog-speak, its written by the people who grow the seeds out. Their seeds are untreated, and many are organic and/or heirloom. Many of their seeds have great stories about how a particular seed came to be, what family brought it from Russia, or how it sprouted out of a compost pile.
What is equally cool is what Fedco also offers. They have several departments, Seeds, Moose Tubers, Organic Growers Supply, Fedco Bulbs, and Fedco Trees. Each one has a downloadable catalog.
Moose Tubers has all kinds of potatoes and garlic.
Organic Growers Supply is just that. Stuff I've never heard of, plus old standbys. I use their red ball spheres with Tanglefoot and a pheremone trap to keep bugs off my apple trees. And my apples look pretty good. No sprays, nothing more than a few easy solutions from these guys.
Fedco Trees is cool, their big mantra is not big trees, but good root systems, and I can attest to the healthy robust plants they send you. All wrapped in plastic and paper mulch. I've bought many raspberries from Fedco Trees. They have a ton of antique or heirloom apple trees, all with great descriptions.
Their website is simple, not full of a ton of pictures, but that's not their thing. Their catalogs are downloadable, saving trees you know, so check them out.
What are your favorite seed catalogs? tell us below:
Marsha
Do you really start your plants from seed? I tried last year and they looked really good. 'Til I got them outside. I hardened them off and stuff and tried to get them used to being outside by covering them during the hottest part of the day. No good. All the tomatoes, cucumbers, and bells that I had hand raised for months died. I spent twenty bucks at a local greenhouse on veggie starts and still had a terrific garden, but I'm wondering what I did wrong? I would love to grow all the wonderful heirloom seeds that I have but based on my results, I suck at it. Any tips would be great, or maybe a video series like your beekeeping one. I think lots of people want to garden but are intimidated by it. Love, love, love your show, keep up the good work!
Marsha
Emergency Lantern
Love the blog, found it in yahoo, how do I subscribe?
Linda
I learned something new today watching the tomato video. I didn't realize that the mold breaks down the gelatin substance around the seed & then the seed sinks to the bottom. Thanks for sharing that. Keep up the good work, I enjoy your videos. Linda
Eric Gunnar Rochow
yes Linda, that is key to getting the seeds to separate from the watery liquid juice stuff! thanks for watching, eric.