Maine

[lazy gardener]

Love Johnnies too... but have been a loyal fan of Fedco Seeds for years, also a Maine company, but prices much lower and many of the same varieties, good seed count and quality. Have you ever tried All Red potatoes? I can't get them any more but they're awesome, pink flesh, red skin. May try amaranth this year as a protein grain and green and for birds and family.

 

[gracejr]

LazyG, they have all reds at high mowing seeds. Just got my catalog from there last week. They have all blue as well, which look pretty neat. This will be my first year doing a garden, I always mean to but it never happens for one reason or another. I am determined to make it happen this time.

http://www.highmowingseeds.com/ Everything is organic seed, no GMO, and a good selection of heirloom varieties as well.

 

[joanie_maine]

Wow! Thanks for the info, Hoppy.

I'll make sure to go post that on the page!

and the page has been approved to post our for sale items and poultry wants as well.

Quote:

 

[buckabucka]

You got those bantam barred rocks?  Oh my son was so jealous.  They are incredibly nice quality.  I wish I had a truck I could have bid on that bird cage.  We definitely wanted it.

I hid behind Hoppy for most of the meeting but at the end the folks were pretty nice to me, too.  I don't like the location but that's another matter. 

How many folks are hatching or planning and to and what may I ask?
HEY CHICKMAGNET, I expect you to chime in with a yes, I am breeding my lovely RIR
Hoppy and Clover have silkies
Who else??  This is like seed catalogs for me... I leaf through and dream of what spring will bring.

 

Trying to catch up on posts. The best part of winter is sitting by the fire with seed and poultry catalogs. I change my mind everyday, but right now I plan to hatch my own Basque, lavender Ameraucanas (both in small numbers), and olive eggers. I might also do Exchequer leghorn and Welsummer eggs, but not until at least late March.

 

[buckabucka]

Love Johnnies too... but have been a loyal fan of Fedco Seeds for years, also a Maine company, but prices much lower and many of the same varieties, good seed count and quality.  Have you ever tried All Red potatoes?  I can't get them any more but they're awesome, pink flesh, red skin.  May try amaranth this year as a protein grain and green and for birds and family.

I'm also a loyal Fedco fan, although I love the glossy Johnny's catalog and usually buy a few odds and ends that Fedco doesn't offer (like the Islander pepper). My favorite potato is Carola, but we grow others too.

We have a tradition here. Seed order involves a bottle of good red wine (used to be candlelight, but we got too old to see the catalog well). We both read the catalogs in advance, and then we "argue" for our own selections. After a couple glasses of wine, we ended up ordering everything and adding a few peculiar things too .

I start all my own seedlings and often toss the extras. Maybe I should finally attend a swap this year.

I'm glad Mainechick mentioned the lettuce. I should try that when I start my onions in February. I can put them out in the hoop house once the seedlings get going. Everything out there comes to life in late February.

 

[Mainechick168]

Love Johnnies too... but have been a loyal fan of Fedco Seeds for years, also a Maine company, but prices much lower and many of the same varieties, good seed count and quality. Have you ever tried All Red potatoes? I can't get them any more but they're awesome, pink flesh, red skin. May try amaranth this year as a protein grain and green and for birds and family.

Fedco is great to. I like their selection of apple trees. I always say I'm going to order some, but never get around to it.

My fave variety of potato are the red gold- red skin, gold flesh- they are super. They are not great for storage, but are great new potatoes.


SCG- this is good to know about the seedlings! I tend to start way more than I need.

 

[annabananaandfamily]

I am so glad so many of you are doing seedlings because my green thumb isnt very green yet! The new house has a huge raised bed that needs some tlc and i will need all tje help i can get getting things to grow in it after that! I am totally inexperienced with the garden.
Now i am so looking forward to swap seaspn!

 

[ashandvine]

I can't believe how many people enjoy looking at he catalogs like I do. I thought I was weird. Wow. Fedco and Johnnies, yes yes. And purple potatoes and Amaranth- yes! Amaranth as a grain is a bit difficult for the birds from what I hear as the seeds are so small but the leaves are good for us and them and taste pretty good when small and alright when large. I put in rye and oats last year and lost them all to deer very near harvest. I was a little upset at that. I have a HUGE garden bed here. I am terrible at starting lettuce but admit that I grow nearly everything else without difficulty. I put red lettuce and nasturtiums in large decorative pots last year and that was a success. The chickens loved the nasturtiums more than I expected. We didn't eat too many for that reason. Of course they ate my radishes too and I didn't know they would do that either. I am going to try sprouting some scratch for them this winter. I just got some really nice scratch to try it with. I have heard that burlap is the best way to go.

Ducks... I like mine halved and deep fried at the oriental restaurant Very crispy skin and .... yum. I'd raise ducks if someone else would kill them. I don't do rabbits or ducks despite wanting to eat them. I'll clean and gut and skin anything dead already but the killing part has me done in. I have had to do it and hate it. I can process my chickens and push comes to starve I'll eat a squirrel but for now the killing of the ducks has bad memories for me. I better get over it too because someone has already told me they would buy any ducks I would sell them.

 

[hoppy]

having worked at johnny's in the ordering dept, get your order in early, somethings are out of stock by jan 1st.
like the kaiki pumpkin the first 2 yrs (it's a pumpkin with no shell on the seeds- really yummy for roasting and no hassle eating.)

I love duck. I have never cooked it myself though. Has anyone ever been to Duckfat ( restaurant) in Portland? I want to go...I hear lots of awesome things about it...like french fries cooked in duck fat!!

Someone mentioned seed catalogues! I got my Johnny's not long ago...I'll place an order soonish, I missed out on my favorite potatoes last year...won't happen again! I looove love love browsing the pages on a snowy day- imagining how the garden will be laid out next spring... speaking of which- I'm going to experiment with lettuce on my sun porch this winter- i'm going to plant some in a window box and see what happens.

 

[kinsey228]

Is anyone going to be selling any Marans this year? I've been looking for 2 years, and I still haven't gotten that lovely chocolate colored shell.