Farm Plant and Flower Seeds for 2015 to 2016 Garden Season

[packyderms_wife]

With the markets capitulating the way they are I thought I'd get a head start on finding seeds for next spring/summers garden season.

I plan to go out to my local greenhouse tomorrow to see what they have left over, hoping for some Kale, Leeks, etc.,

Some plants I may
even be able to plant now and winter over if we manage to get this other raised bed moved, it has hoops on it and with the addition of plastic, etc., could have a mini green house going this winter.

So where are you planning to order your seeds from, assuming you cannot find them locally, and what are you thinking of planting next year that you didn't plant this year?

 

[Sam I Am]

If you're in a cool to OH MY GAWD it's COLD!!!! (ME!!!) climate, try these; https://bestcoolseeds.com/. We use them and they're great. Made for Alaska's cold. Nice stuff and plentiful when they grow.

 

[Freeholder]

I'm working on an order right now from Pinetree. Fedco won't have their new catalog ready until November; if the economy allows at that time, I'll order more bulk stuff from Fedco. But I have quite a lot of seeds on hand, and with the fresh stuff from Pinetree we should be okay for a couple of years.

Kathleen

ETA: I've got a couple of south-facing windows in the house that I've got big planters in. A couple of years ago I grew micro-greens all winter, and I plan to repeat that this winter. I also want to make some kind of 'window-farm' that will stand behind the big planters (so as not to block their light) and swing out of the way to make it easier to tend the big planters.

 

[Freeholder]

If you're in a cool to OH MY GAWD it's COLD!!!! (ME!!!) climate, try these; https://bestcoolseeds.com/. We use them and they're great. Made for Alaska's cold. Nice stuff and plentiful when they grow.

Thanks for that link -- I may order some stuff from them, too. We aren't that cold, but being high elevation and pretty dry (especially in the summer, hence all the forest fires) we have a very short growing season with cool to cold nights.

Kathleen

 

[packyderms_wife]

If you're in a cool to OH MY GAWD it's COLD!!!! (ME!!!) climate, try these; https://bestcoolseeds.com/. We use them and they're great. Made for Alaska's cold. Nice stuff and plentiful when they grow.

We can have warm winters and we can have oh my gawd it's cold outside winters. Various sources predicting the upcoming winter for my part of the Midwest are contradicting one another.

 

[Sam I Am]

Yeah, a few years back they called for tons of snow and cold for the winter and we were in shorts in Dec and Jan.... go figure.

 

[TerriHaute]

I have been thinking the same thing for awhile now. I save most of my seeds but this year I am doubling up on what I save so they can be shared or bartered. I bought a few seeds from Territorial that arrived this week, it only took a few days from the time I ordered them. I got the large package of dill (mine did poorly this year with all the rain and the monarch caterpillars), celery, onion, and bell peppers - mostly stuff that I'll start in the greenhouse in late winter. I checked out what our local greenhouse had a couple of weeks ago and bought fall seeds: kale, swiss chard, turnips, greens, onion sets, a few broccoli and brussel sprouts plants and also some sweet corn, winter squash, and cucumber seeds for next summer. The hot peppers, beans, and tomatoes did great this year, plenty of seeds there to save.

 

[packyderms_wife]

I got the large package of dill (mine did poorly this year with all the rain and the monarch caterpillars).

Maybe this is why I can't keep dill alive, let alone around. I didn't realize the monarch caterpillars fed on Dill, I thought it was just milkweed which I do have growing in my yard. I've got a ton of monarch butterflies hatching out right now... wonder if they taste like dill?

 

[packyderms_wife]

I checked out what our local greenhouse had a couple of weeks ago and bought fall seeds: kale, swiss chard, turnips, greens, onion sets, a few broccoli and brussel sprouts plants and also some sweet corn, winter squash, and cucumber seeds for next summer. The hot peppers, beans, and tomatoes did great this year, plenty of seeds there to save.

How far south of Chicago are you? Just wondering on your zone, if you look on a map we are about even, just slightly north of Chicago. USDA says we're zone 5a/6b now, gotta make that global warming bs stretch you know, but we plant for 5b/4a and with some things like fruit trees, blueberries, etc., 4b/3a which is what several old timers and orchards around here recommend doing so takes into account those hard freezes we've been known to get Memorial Day weekend.

Anyway, I'm looking at growing some chard, kale, and the like over the winter in a covered hoop house so need recommendations. If I could get a row of turnips, radishes, etc., that would be great. Me thinks it's not possible to overwinter cucumbers though.

 

[skwentnaflyer]

http://www.mcssl.com/store/calebwarnock
This guy has some pretty good books, the one on winter farming is excellent. He has some unique offerings for winter greens including kale, and a rutabaga/kale cross.

 

[packyderms_wife]

From post #250 in this thread http://www.timebomb2000.com/vb/show...bergeddon!-Dow-Futures-down-almost-400!/page7

For northern seed:

Fedco Seeds
Johnny's Selected Seeds
High Mowing Farm
Seed Savers Exchange

Find seed that was raised in the same climatic region as you grow in.

 

[packyderms_wife]

http://www.mcssl.com/store/calebwarnock
This guy has some pretty good books, the one on winter farming is excellent. He has some unique offerings for winter greens including kale, and a rutabaga/kale cross.

His book looks interesting.

 

[Cyclonemom]

Maybe this is why I can't keep dill alive, let alone around. I didn't realize the monarch caterpillars fed on Dill, I thought it was just milkweed which I do have growing in my yard. I've got a ton of monarch butterflies hatching out right now... wonder if they taste like dill?

It is usually swallowtail caterpillars, which are similar to monarch caterpillars. You will also find them on parsley.

 

[packyderms_wife]

It is usually swallowtail caterpillars, which are similar to monarch caterpillars. You will also find them on parsley.

I have several types of butterflies and caterpillars in my garden, their munching on everything they can get ahold of. Will have to go look at my parsley now.

 

[packyderms_wife]

bumping for the night shift

 

[TerriHaute]

It is usually swallowtail caterpillars, which are similar to monarch caterpillars. You will also find them on parsley.

It very well could be. There are lots of both types of butterflies around here this year right now. A non-expert told me they were monarchs. Either way, my dill plants look like skeletons and I have given up on getting seeds from them. I decided to be nice and let the caterpillars have the plants and am keeping the chickens away.

 

[TerriHaute]

How far south of Chicago are you? Just wondering on your zone, if you look on a map we are about even, just slightly north of Chicago. USDA says we're zone 5a/6b now, gotta make that global warming bs stretch you know, but we plant for 5b/4a and with some things like fruit trees, blueberries, etc., 4b/3a which is what several old timers and orchards around here recommend doing so takes into account those hard freezes we've been known to get Memorial Day weekend.

Anyway, I'm looking at growing some chard, kale, and the like over the winter in a covered hoop house so need recommendations. If I could get a row of turnips, radishes, etc., that would be great. Me thinks it's not possible to overwinter cucumbers though.

I am in growing zone 5b, a couple of hours south of Chicago. Cucumber definitely will not make it past a frost, but chard, kale, turnips, lettuce, onions, and radishes will do fine in colder weather. I have had good luck with kale and lettuce surviving in a plastic covered raised bed until the temps dropped into the teens in January. The family gets a kick out of having a salad picked from my garden on Thanksgiving.

 

[packyderms_wife]

I am in growing zone 5b, a couple of hours south of Chicago. Cucumber definitely will not make it past a frost, but chard, kale, turnips, lettuce, onions, and radishes will do fine in colder weather. I have had good luck with kale and lettuce surviving in a plastic covered raised bed until the temps dropped into the teens in January. The family gets a kick out of having a salad picked from my garden on Thanksgiving.

Good to know, if I can keep my kale, etc., going until January this would be great!

 

[moldy]

I get most of my seeds from Baker Creek. Have always been really pleased with them.

 

[AlaskaSue]

Just adding my $.02 to second Sam I Am's post for the BestCoolSeeds site for Denali Seed Company. I have bought from them the past several years and highly recommend them. The variety available may not be what you have for warm weather growers, but for my money I really appreciate the seeds I get from these folks. Very good germination, disease resistance, and yield -- and no GMO. They even have tomatoes that can be grown outside of a greenhouse!!

 

[Sam I Am]

Any recommendations for cover crops?

We let our garden go this year due to a medical issue over the summer so now we're going to till it and add a cover crop; any suggestions?

Thanks!

 

[packyderms_wife]

Any recommendations for cover crops?

We let our garden go this year due to a medical issue over the summer so now we're going to till it and add a cover crop; any suggestions?

Thanks!

peas, oats, alfalfa, that seed place you sent me a link to had cover crop seeds.

 

[summerthyme]

Depending on where you are in terms of climate, at this time of year, something like winter wheat or rye would be good...

Alfalfa is deep rooted, and while a legume, can be tricky to eradicate since it's a perennial.

Johnny's seeds sell cover crop seeds, and Shumways has had decent prices on "farm" seeds in the past.

(note, that's winter rye, NOT perennial ryegrass!)

Summerthyme

 

[packyderms_wife]

Depending on where you are in terms of climate, at this time of year, something like winter wheat or rye would be good...

Alfalfa is deep rooted, and while a legume, can be tricky to eradicate since it's a perennial.

Johnny's seeds sell cover crop seeds, and Shumways has had decent prices on "farm" seeds in the past.

(note, that's winter rye, NOT perennial ryegrass!)

Summerthyme

So if we wanted to we could throw some organic winter wheat, that's getting a little old in my stash, into the raised beds here in the next week or so? Would it have enough time to be beneficial come spring?

 

[summerthyme]

So if we wanted to we could throw some organic winter wheat, that's getting a little old in my stash, into the raised beds here in the next week or so? Would it have enough time to be beneficial come spring?

Should be...if it still is viable.

Summerthyme

 

[Faroe]

Maybe this is why I can't keep dill alive, let alone around. I didn't realize the monarch caterpillars fed on Dill, I thought it was just milkweed which I do have growing in my yard. I've got a ton of monarch butterflies hatching out right now... wonder if they taste like dill?

I had a nice stand of Dill - destroyed in a week by caterpillars. Big stripey bright yellow creatures.

They were simply too pretty to kill.

 

[packyderms_wife]

I had a nice stand of Dill - destroyed in a week by caterpillars. Big stripey bright yellow creatures.

They were simply too pretty to kill.

I think those belong to one of the really pretty butterflies too, so don't kill them, but I totally understand.

 

[packyderms_wife]

Should be...if it still is viable.

Summerthyme

okay then, well we will be moving the last raised bed this weekend, when we are done I will plant that small bag of compromised wheat berries ( have no clue what happened to the bag but I'm not eating it now) and see what happens!

 

[summerthyme]

I had a nice stand of Dill - destroyed in a week by caterpillars. Big stripey bright yellow creatures.

They were simply too pretty to kill.

Those are the caterpillar of the Black Swallowtail butterfly- and yes, both the caterpillars and the butterflies are just gorgeous.

However, you don't have to let them eat all your plants... if you have Queen Anne's Lace (wild carrot) around, simply move the caterpillars to those plants. They eat anything in the parsley, carrot, dill (umbiliferae family) group. I even found some on some "wild celery" which is quite toxic... first time I realized they'd eat those. I saw the butterfly laying eggs this June, found a few eggs on the undersides of the leaves and brought them inside. Hatched out the eggs and then passed several of them on to the grandsons... they finished raising them on wild carrot.

Monarchs only eat milkweed, and are orange/black/white striped.

Summerthyme