What did you do in the garden today?

Though I will admit a long running love of baker creek. They have yet to fail me with seeds and there are always some odd ones too lol.
I love Baker Creek. They are one of the three I order from every year. The other two are Seed Savers Exchange and Sow True Seed.
I told Gurneys and they refunded all my money I paid for it.
After a not-good experience with Gurneys, I'm done with them.
Then I should be getting “music” garlic this fall,
Music (hardneck) is the variety of garlic I've grown for three years now. I got the original cloves to start from a local farmer's market, and haven't had to buy any since. Eat the little cloves, plant the big ones. But since Music grows only 4-5 cloves per bulb, they're ALL big cloves! :)
 
I love Baker Creek. They are one of the three I order from every year. The other two are Seed Savers Exchange and Sow True Seed.

After a not-good experience with Gurneys, I'm done with them.

Music (hardneck) is the variety of garlic I've grown for three years now. I got the original cloves to start from a local farmer's market, and haven't had to buy any since. Eat the little cloves, plant the big ones. But since Music grows only 4-5 cloves per bulb, they're ALL big cloves! :)
Seed savers exchange is awesome! I have yet to have a bad time with anything I've gotten from them and the large pumpkin selection is wonderful. I did get seeds from a huuuuuge pumpkin (not quite a record breaker) from bakers. I have high hopes for one of the plants it's leaves are the biggest I've ever seen. Love a good big pumpkin for Halloween
 
Hey I wish I had planted garlic n I didnt...so got to lookin n had no idea there are so many varieties of garlic!
Is there a "go to" that yall have of variety and a place you get em from?
Some places are already sold out from people pre-ordering!
I just went to the local farmers market/farmstand and bought a bunch of heads the first year. I knew it would grow well in my area since other farmers were using it successfully. So I have no idea what kinds I have but they all grow well here.
Seed savers exchange is awesome! I have yet to have a bad time with anything I've gotten from them and the large pumpkin selection is wonderful. I did get seeds from a huuuuuge pumpkin (not quite a record breaker) from bakers. I have high hopes for one of the plants it's leaves are the biggest I've ever seen. Love a good big pumpkin for Halloween
Seed Savers Exchange is my favorite too, with Baker Creek as a close second. I will check the hardware stores and lowes if I am there but usually can resist the temptation to add anything else (usually) 😂
 
Seed savers exchange is awesome! I have yet to have a bad time with anything I've gotten from them and the large pumpkin selection is wonderful. I did get seeds from a huuuuuge pumpkin (not quite a record breaker) from bakers. I have high hopes for one of the plants it's leaves are the biggest I've ever seen. Love a good big pumpkin for Halloween
Seed Savers is the place that had “crop failure” on all 3 garlic types I ordered. And I wasn’t notified until late in the season, when I couldn’t order from anywhere. Really? All 3 types had crop failure and no one was wise to it until late in the season? Hmmmm…

But, I have gotten many other things from SS, and generally always been pretty happy. We’ve had a few things not germinate or grow well, but, not too many have had issues.

I have noticed that they have limited choices in some categories. But, they usually have good selections for dried beans…and I do love growing my dried beans.
 
This past year, I ordered from:

1. Gurneys: new to me. The two different rhubarb have done well. I also ordered bug netting, but it wasn’t great-water just rolled off no mater what direction I sprayed water from or how high or low the pressure. I wrote a negative review to warn others it shed water but could be a light frost cover, and did receive an in-store credit for the item, so I’d give them another try.

2. Territorial. Always had positive experiences. Good selection. I’ve ordered seeds, plants, potatoes from them. Have nothing negative to say except a few things seem to be pushing the upper end of being too pricey (10 seeds of x for $7.98, for example- but to be fair, that tomato was extraordinarily productive and tasty, and every single seed germinated and was healthy).

3. Burpee. Excellent germination in every.single.thing. Their descriptions and info are also correct, accurate, informative. They have amazing selection in several categories, but limited in others. Big company, always have new things to try, and sometimes we need hybrids to get us something good for our microclimate or bug issues -and they certainly have hybrids. I’ve gotten started plants from them -they performed well and were all healthy. I’ve gotten strawberry and raspberry plants from them -also very happy with those. Sounds like I love them, right? Well, I have had some issues with them and their CS is rather poor. But, the positives outweigh the negatives for me and I’ll keep checking them out for offerings.

4. Seed Savers. I’ve always checked their offerings. Have unique items and good selections in some categories. Prices can be a bit high. Not everything has germinated to my expectations, but most have.

5. Baker Creek: first time using them. Verdict not yet determined. Have had good germination on all carrots, rutabaga, tomato and melon seeds. Some interesting offerings.

6. John Scheepers Kitchen Garden seeds: first time using them. Bought spring shipped garlic (waiting for fall shipped), spring one grew well. Seeds: I find their packets lacking in information- pretty sure they don’t list “days to harvest” info as an example, and descriptions are a bit general. Good varied offerings. I bought several seed packets, including flower seeds. Poor germination on some marigolds, and completely no germination on climbing snapdragons. Would consider them again…but would not buy solely from them.

7. Sandhill Preservation. EXCELLENT selection and pricing. They are a small operation focused on preservation rather than profit. So, there are some good and bad with this. The good: they hand measure do you always get extra seeds. They also believe in giving more if the harvest gave more: I received a jam packed packet of one type of garlic bulblets - must have been 150-200 bulblets in the packet. The bad….I’ve gotten a mixed packet of pepper seeds once-I started several seeds from one packet of x variety. The resulting mature plants all produced different peppers…hmm maybe a less organized helper just wasn’t paying attention? Also, they are old school: print order and mail it in with check. No one there to answer phone all the time. But, they do respond to emails very well and I have gotten ahold of someone in the office. Lots of info on the website. I’ve ordered chickens and many, many seeds from them. This year tried sweet potatoes (they offer around 200 varieties), and they are doing well, so far.


It’s fun to seed shop and see all the offerings.
 
Well I've only ordered from one place since getting back into gardening this year and was little disappointed as to germination and growth of what did germinate. Not to mention the packets did not have very much information on then as to growing info like what you normally see when getting seed packets at local stores.
That was at True Leaf Market. And since didn't see any of yall use them I'll not go back there!
Based on research it looks like I'm in an area that can grow all kinds of garlic!
So few questions...
Just make sure you pick a garlic that will work well in your growing zone. Hardneck varieties are usually better up north as softneck in the south. Elephant garlic, though technically not garlic, is a favorite for my zone. They tolerate our warm climate better.
How does Elephant Garlic differ from any other garlic if uts not technically a garlic?
MIGardener
They are the ones that say sold out....is that currently or is that for pre-orders for fall that are already sold out. I know they have a large business so wasn't sure.
I simply picked up some organic garlic at the store and planted it. I've done both white and purple garlic. It's worked well for me for the past 2 years... And cheaper than buying online.
That is AWESOME! Do you split up the bulb and plant in the individual cloves then?

Have I told yall lately how much I appreciate ALLLL YAAAALLLLLLLLL!!!
 
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Question on watering...I usually water in the mornings but it seems like i get a later start each day!
Do yall just have preference as to if ya water at night or morning...or is there a reason u do one or the other for the benefit of the garden?
I also threw out a few seeds in the raised bed yesterday for another round of tomatoes and basil.
Should I water those seeds each day til they germinate?
We are in high 90s-100s and seldom getting rain.
 
Seed Savers is the place that had “crop failure” on all 3 garlic types I ordered. And I wasn’t notified until late in the season, when I couldn’t order from anywhere. Really? All 3 types had crop failure and no one was wise to it until late in the season? Hmmmm…

But, I have gotten many other things from SS, and generally always been pretty happy. We’ve had a few things not germinate or grow well, but, not too many have had issues.

I have noticed that they have limited choices in some categories. But, they usually have good selections for dried beans…and I do love growing my dried beans.

I stopped using Seed Savers Exchange years ago because I had a bad experience one year. It was like 2014 or 2016? So long ago that I was considering trying them again, lol. Their prices are very high for them to have such low germination though. I'll keep in mind to never buy garlic from there. 😆
 

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