Your 2024 Garden

[Sally PB]

Last chance for Baker Creek

Let us know how they do. I'm not ordering from them this year. I had VERY poor germination with their seeds. With my growing season, I can't take the chance that I'll have time to replant the long season stuff.

I planted a row of collards and chard 4-5 weeks ago. ZERO of the collards sprouted, and maybe 1 of the chard. I planted store bought chard seed in the rest of the row, and it came up, so it's not the soil.

I'm very disappointed, and I hate to lose one of the heirloom/OP seed suppliers I've ordered from for years.

 

[NanaK]

Let us know how they do. I'm not ordering from them this year. I had VERY poor germination with their seeds. With my growing season, I can't take the chance that I'll have time to replant the long season stuff.

I planted a row of collards and chard 4-5 weeks ago. ZERO of the collards sprouted, and maybe 1 of the chard. I planted store bought chard seed in the rest of the row, and it came up, so it's not the soil.

I'm very disappointed, and I hate to lose one of the heirloom/OP seed suppliers I've ordered from for years.

Oh no! Collards usually come up in days.

 

[NanaK]

Yesterday I cleaned up 2 more rows and moved more compost. Started getting warm so that was it. I did pick one more Crimson Sweet and 2 Sugar Baby watermelon.

Next few days will be very hot. I already miss the cooler days we had last week.

Still have some collards, cabbage and broccoli starts inside. Hopefully they will be moved outside this weekend.

 

[fuzzi]

Let us know how they do. I'm not ordering from them this year. I had VERY poor germination with their seeds. With my growing season, I can't take the chance that I'll have time to replant the long season stuff.

I planted a row of collards and chard 4-5 weeks ago. ZERO of the collards sprouted, and maybe 1 of the chard. I planted store bought chard seed in the rest of the row, and it came up, so it's not the soil.

I'm very disappointed, and I hate to lose one of the heirloom/OP seed suppliers I've ordered from for years.

Which company are you ordering from?

I prefer heirloom or non-hybrid options, and free shipping. I need some pea seeds, forgot to order them.

 

[Nomadicus]

None of my fall planting of pole beans came up. Well 1 and a half did on the end of the row. There were 3 different varieties planted. I'm not planting in that spot anymore. This is not the first time. I'm just glad we didn't put the trellis up. Before I plant pole beans again I'm going to test the germination well ahead of time. I don't think it was the seed but something in the ground. We had some Blue Lake beans that did very poorly in that spot and so did some Sugar Snap peas. I think that is where the new greenhouse will be put up.

 

[Nomadicus]

Well there is a chance for rain in about 4 hours and it is still 93° in the tater patch. So I've got to head out there and round up the ones that were sunning and get them under a shelter so the can't get wet. Thought I could already hear thunder.

 

[Sally PB]

Which company are you ordering from?

I prefer heirloom or non-hybrid options, and free shipping. I need some pea seeds, forgot to order them.

My usual 3 were:
Baker Creek, Sow True Seed, and Seed Savers Exchange. All heirloom, OP varieties.

BC was the only one who had free shipping as a matter of course. Sow True just had free shipping for a while, but I think that's ended. I don't recall SSE offering it, but I could be wrong.

I will order from Sow True because they are a small company, and I want to support them. I'll order from SSE because I think they do something important, keeping OP and heirloom varieties available. I'll pay for shipping if it isn't free.

I know how expensive shipping is, as I worked in shipping for several years. USPS First Class postage was the cheapest option, but it could still be $6 or more, depending on the weight and the distance.

(Remember high school physics? Force through distance = work. Weight through distance = shipping. Too late, I already quit my day job when I retired.)

 

[Nomadicus]

My usual 3 were:
Baker Creek, Sow True Seed, and Seed Savers Exchange. All heirloom, OP varieties.

BC was the only one who had free shipping as a matter of course. Sow True just had free shipping for a while, but I think that's ended. I don't recall SSE offering it, but I could be wrong.

I will order from Sow True because they are a small company, and I want to support them. I'll order from SSE because I think they do something important, keeping OP and heirloom varieties available. I'll pay for shipping if it isn't free.

I know how expensive shipping is, as I worked in shipping for several years. USPS First Class postage was the cheapest option, but it could still be $6 or more, depending on the weight and the distance.

(Remember high school physics? Force through distance = work. Weight through distance = shipping. Too late, I already quit my day job when I retired.)

If I thought about it long enough I might could remember how much weight lifted in x amount of time = one horsepower. Not going to google it because I don't care. My tiller says it is an 8 horse model and my riding JD mower and garden tractor is 19 horses that I don't need to have a stable to keep them in.

 

[Nomadicus]

As for heirlooms vs hybrids I don't have a preference. The most beloved heirlooms were at one time a hybrid. That's how new heirloom varieties get created. A prime example is Mortgage Lifter tomatoes that an auto mechanic created by crossing large sizes of several tomatoes back and forth together until he found the one he liked best. The next step was to stop crossing and just keep planting seed from the newly produced tomatoes until the seed finally started producing a true new variety over and over again and a new heirloom was born. He sold enough plants from is new heirloom variety to pay off his $6,000 house mortgage. That explains the name of his creation. Normally I go with hybrid tomatoes in order to find plants that are both nematode, virus, and fungi resistant. There are many hybrids that I don't like the taste of and never plant.

 

[Sally PB]

The most beloved heirlooms were at one time a hybrid. That's how new heirloom varieties get created.

Yes! One of my best producing tomatoes this year is Ace 55, which was originally a hybrid too.

Heirloom (better name is OP, ie, open pollinated) varieties are important to me because I save seed.

Hmmm... I could plant some hybrids, save some seed, and see what I get. I would guess the seed wouldn't run true, but I might get something I like. Something to think about over the winter.