What did you do in the garden today?

[Beekissed]

The cheapest, best heirloom seeds I've found have been from Pinetree. Been ordering from them for some years now and the quality never disappoints and I find them to be cheaper than anywhere else. They seem to have a huge variety of plants from all over the world as well.

They are half again less than the other seed companies discussed..and for more seed.

 

[lazy gardener]

I did pine tree in the past, and was quite disappointed. one packet of seeds arrived crushed. not very good germination on other seed. Granted, they would have replaced them... but, when I get burned by a company, I tend to just write them off my list and move on.

 

[LittleLakePhil]

I did pine tree in the past, and was quite disappointed.  one packet of seeds arrived crushed.  not very good germination on other seed.  Granted, they would have replaced them... but, when I get burned by a company, I tend to just write them off my list and move on.  

Wow LG.... I've had good luck with them.... Sorry you didn't.
I did have issues with a company.... In fairness I could have given them a second chance but with so many catalogs each year....I moved on too.

 

[Beekissed]

I've had nothing less than 100% satisfaction with Pine Tree Seeds....no mistakes, no lack of germination, good selection and the best price out there I could find. Any given time a company can not deliver the best to any given customer, so they are not fail proof, I'm sure. I like how prompt they are also, as well as the fact that they use recycled paper for their catalogs and seed packets. There's only been a few things I've had to source elsewhere, as they carry most of what I like to plant at the price I like to pay.

This year, though, I'm going to get more serious about saving my seeds, so it's likely I'll have to buy less and less. Saving my seed packets this year so I can put the appropriate seeds back in the original packets.

 

[LittleLakePhil]

I've had nothing less than 100% satisfaction with Pine Tree Seeds....no mistakes, no lack of germination, good selection and the best price out there I could find.  Any given time a company can not deliver the best to any given customer, so they are not fail proof, I'm sure.  I like how prompt they are also, as well as the fact that they use recycled paper for their catalogs and seed packets.  There's only been a few things I've had to source elsewhere, as they carry most of what I like to plant at the price I like to pay.

This year, though, I'm going to get  more serious about saving my seeds, so it's likely I'll have to buy less and less.  Saving my seed packets this year so I can put the appropriate seeds back in the original packets. 

X2 on both accounts.....

 

[Beekissed]

Don't know about y'all, but I've been doing this for nigh 40 yrs now and it just never gets old to me. I must have looked at those new sprouts half a doz. times today, just tickled pink to see their little, tender leaves unfolding.

I'm pondering....but I think gardeners are born, not made. Oh, I think someone can learn to garden and do it efficiently, but I think the heart of a gardener, the passion that lies within, must be something a person is born with....I can remember from my earliest memories just being fascinated with the growing, the harvesting, the variety and qualities of things grown at home, how they tasted and looked, how they grew and watching them grow. Just fascinated me and still does...that feeling has not diminished one iota over the years.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

I couldn't agree more. Some people just don't internalize things. They have eyesight but no vision and don't commit things to memory. I've been a gardener/farmer all my life. I think that has a lot to do with it. People that have never grown things or kept animals have an almost insurmountable learning curve to overcome.
Some people hear words or witness things and don't think about it for a second after the experience.
I'm amazed at the simple or commonplace things adults DON'T know.

On the point of what did I do today, I'm only half way through it but I'm starting tomato seeds, planting some peas, building soil circles around fruit trees where I'm planting strawberries, planting some more asparagus, lettuce, spinach and going into a beehive and perhaps splitting it. I'm sure it is close to swarming.

 

[GardenNut]

Oh my goodness! Thanks to this thread/website, I've finally found where I belong! I grew up helping my mother in the vegetable garden and hated every minute of it. I grew up, left home, and slowly realized all the things I missed. With each passing decade of age, I've enjoyed gardening more and more. I do better with flowers, but I'm working at improving my vegetable gardening skills. At 56, I now appreciate and enjoy trying to grow my own food! People look at me like I'm nuts, but I want to know where my food comes from! And I'm tired of wasting money on half-rotted produce or almost-expired meat!

I didn't do anything in the garden today. My lawnmower wouldn't start, and that put me in a funk. And the wind here is still ridiculous. I wanted to put the chicks outside, but I was afraid it was too chilly and windy for them, since they've been inside. But the funk and the weather will hopefully improve by tomorrow! It's Maryland weather, give it 5 minutes, and it could change completely!

 

[Beekissed]

I couldn't agree more. Some people just don't internalize things. They have eyesight but no vision and don't commit things to memory. I've been a gardener/farmer all my life. I think that has a lot to do with it. People that have never grown things or kept animals have an almost insurmountable learning curve to overcome.
Some people hear words or witness things and don't think about it for a second after the experience.
I'm amazed at the simple or commonplace things adults DON'T know.

On the point of what did I do today, I'm only half way through it but I'm starting tomato seeds, planting some peas, building soil circles around fruit trees where I'm planting strawberries, planting some more asparagus, lettuce, spinach and going into a beehive and perhaps splitting it. I'm sure it is close to swarming.

I agree. There are many, many who do things, see things and even grow and keep things but they don't actually SEE things. They live on the surface of the Earth but not exactly ON the Earth, so to speak. A fella told me the other day that I seem to know my chickens better than he knows his, then implied I must have a "pet" flock because of this fact. I had to laugh....my birds are wild and are never handled, never hand fed, no petting goin' on. I know them better because I'm observant...that's no big secret.

I'm a born observer, it's what I do. My most favorite thing to observe is nature and all its various workings. I think most farmers or gardeners who were born to do it are just born observers, is all. We love to see and we love what we see, as we observe creation and the creatures therein. The biggest thrill, I think, is to become a part of that thing we observe and to be able to affect change, especially positive change, or just live in a closer harmony with it than others who simply do not see.

 

[lazy gardener]

I agree with you GN. and CC. The average person who goes to work, comes home, vegges in front of the tube, only to get up and do it all over again misses so much of the rhythms of life, and the pleasure that those rhythms and patterns create. How many folks get excited to see snow fleas? How many folks even know what a snow flea is, or have taken the time to inspect the little black specks on late winter snow to see that they are actually tiny little insects that hop around? How many folks can stop in the lawn, and pick a bouquet of 4 leaf clovers, without hardly having to look for them? How many folks can see the flower within a flower, and appreciate the infinite beauty of that perfect little blossom? And how many folks get infinite smiles every day and every hour over those little tidbits of God's creation? Call me a simpleton! I'll sit here, and marvel at the joys and thrills that unfold outside my back door, and be thankful for every moment I have to spend out there. And, enjoying those pleasures, I believe gives me a greater awareness of the rest of the stuff that makes up my world. Enjoyment of the intricacies of human nature, when I do have to do the "go to work" thing!