Heirloom Gardening

[confederateknowhow]

Does anyone do any heirloom gardening?
Do you know where i can find heirloom pepper seeds?

I'm ready for summer...i'm having withdraws not having dirt under my finger nails...now i just have saw dust in my hair from working in the wood shop...

 

[monty]

Way to go! You want to visit Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds at

www.rareseeds.com

There are a couple of others and I will research their names and addys and post as soon as I can. Got catalogs here somewhere.

You will truly enjoy doing business with Baker Creek. About twelve years ago a 19 year old kid got a bee in his bonnet about preserving our food supply and built that idea into a multimillion dollar international business and never lost his down home lifestyle and purpose.

The young man's name is Jeremy Gettle. And the big "play with your food" dudes like Monsanto are really nervous about him. I love it and admire him!

Happy Gardening
and
Cheers!

 

[athabaskar]

Yep, that's your guy. They produce the cleanest and best heirloom seeds in the country. Also, coming from a central location, it is suited to grow most anywhere. Good folks.

 

[tn_bbq]

I started some seeds last week in those peat pots (no heirlooms and nothing fancy).

Today is/was one of the nicest days we've had in months, so I spent a little time playing in the dirt outside. Raking my leaves and mulch in my bed. I think I'm going to shred some leaves with my mower.

You say you've got sawdust. Do you compost and/or use the sawdust in your garden? I'd think that might not be a terrible idea.

Hopefully my garden results will be better this year. Last year we got too much water and I had a bad case of bugs (I hardly had any squash or cukes and that stuff is practically idiot proof).

 

[DanMcG]

I've always been told that fresh sawdust or chippings will rob the soil of nitrogen and starve the plants for what they need. but compost of the same stuff would be great. can someone correct me please?

 

[bwsmith_2000]

Dan,
You're right on about the green sawdust and green clippings. They should be composted before putting it around plants ..... I have used it effectively but always adding sufficient nitrogen to avoid the problem. That can be a little tricky though. Too much and the nitrogen will burn the plants. Too little and you have to other problem. My advise is to compost the green material first and then use it with confidence.

 

[monty]

Yup! I agree with Bill; get the wood out. My compost heap is only grass clippings, leaves, old plants and some hay. Add a bit of rich soil, plenty of water and let it be.

I compost my critters manure separately from my green compost as well. I pile the manure and hay from the barn floor and add a bit of lime as well as some not so rich soil and add water. Mix it up a bit and voila! Works wonders.

And the wood will rob nitrogen. Another factor here is that wood takes so much longer to decay it will slow the progress of your pile. Compost the wood separately, if you must compost wood.

Cheers!

 

[fire it up]

Ordered from rareseeds for the first time this year, extremely happy with their selections, speed of shipping and even fancy packaging.
Though if you are planning on doing peppers they need to be started indoors very soon so you should order as soon as possible.