I'm always curious about what seeds other people order, so I'm posting what I sent for this year, in the hopes that you'll share your lists with me! I ordered seeds and onion plants yesterday from Pine Tree Garden Seeds at www.superseeds.com. I like this company for a few reasons:
- They are inexpensive. Most of the packets cost less than $1.50, some are under a dollar.
- The packets are small. I'm planting in a small garden and I don't need very many seeds. One packet usually has enough seeds for a couple of years.
- Affordable shipping.
- They have some really interesting stuff! Veggies and herbs from different countries.
- They are in Maine. Why do I care? Well, they don't ship my plants too early! Unlike the place in Missouri last year that sent my bareroot fruit in early March when we still had over a foot of snow on the ground.
- INDIGO - Since I've taken up knitting, I want to try dying my own yarn.
- BORAGE - For the flower garden...I love the blue flowers and think Jake will want to take pictures of them.
- DUKAT STRAIN DILL - My homemade pickles were not very tasty, so this dill is just for the leaves. I like it on my veggies.
- EMERITE BEAN - My favorite pole bean. Skinny French fillet beans.
- PINETREE BASIL MIX - Couldn't decide which basil to grow, so I went with a mix.
- HYBRID CANDY ONION PLANTS - See my post on being realistic. They really are sweet like candy...I seriously can eat the dried ones straight from the jar, and I'm not a big onion fan. I'm planning on drying them this fall - when I can plug the dehydrator in outside!
- TALL TELEPHONE PEA - My boys love peas, so I'm planting a bunch this year.
- MONARDA CITRIODORA LEMON MINT - The flowers look pretty, and I'll buy just about any plant that smells like mint or lemon!
- LINCOLN PEA - More peas...these are supposed to be very sweet. Heirloom.
- SENSATION MIX COSMOS - Here's to you, Amy! You'll have to share your hilarious cosmos story!
- FRECKLES LETTUCE - Romaine or Cos type of lettuce. I've only grown the leafy types, but I really like romaine, so I'm giving it a try. It's green with red freckles.
- AFINA CUTTING CELERY - I like celery, but it usually goes bad before I use it all. This is supposed to be easy to grow. I could just cut what I need. It was only $1.10 and could save me some wasted grocery money!
- ATOMIC RED CARROT - Our boys love to eat "bunny carrots" - just a big peeled raw carrot. These will be red ones.
- RAINBOW CARROT - I've grown these for a couple years, it's a mix of white, yellow, and orange carrots. All the colors taste different. I'm partial to the yellow ones.
- COSMIC PURPLE CARROT - Purple on the outside, orange inside. Mason grew awesome carrots last year - I'll let him plant them all again!
- DETROIT BEET - I like the greens and eat the beets when they are tiny.
- ALATA THUNBERGIA - Black-eyed Susan vine. Cute, annual flowering 3' vine, orange with dark center. One of my old fashioned favorites.
- KISS ME OVER THE GARDEN GATE - I'll admit that the name sold me. I'm trying this for the first time...it sounds interesting. Dangly pink flower clusters. Heirloom.
- ROYAL ENSIGN CONVOLVULUS - Bright blue bush morning glory with yellow stars. Another of my favorites.
- LEMON STAR MARIGOLD - Yellow French signet (single) marigold. Like Lemon Gems's if you remember them. Ferny foliage with delicate flowers.
- EARLY BUTTERNUT - Mom shared me her butternut squash last year - Yum! I don't know if our season is long enough, but I'll give it a try.
- SUPER SUGAR SNAP PEA - More peas. I like these because you can use them as sugar snaps, or shell them like English peas. Great for stirfry.
- DRAGON LANGERIE BEAN - My favorite bush bean. Flat yellow pods with purple stripes. Very tasty and easier to pick than green beans.
- HORN OF PLENTY - Yellow crookneck squash. My current favorite because they were firm textured instead of mushy. A big plus with me!
- DWARF CHERRY ROSE NASTURTIUM - I hate the smell, but love the flowers of nasturtiums. These should be short and hold their flowers up above the leaves. I'm excited to grow red ones.
- CACTUS FLOWER MIX ZINNIA - I've always loved zinnias and I plant them every year. I like these quilled flowers better than the rounded petaled types. They remind me of my mom because she loves zinnias too.
Note to Magen or anyone else who might decide to order from this company - I forgot to order the Fooled You Jalepeno Pepper seeds! They are supposed to be flavorful, but not hot, perfect for those tasty stuffed jalepeno's Kelli makes! Would you mind ordering me a packet? Let me know. Thanks.
5 comments:
Camille your blog is so much fun to read. I too love looking at all the seed catalogs. I generally look and dream. I love gardening, but I am lazy and procrastinate too much. So I generally settle to get seeds at a local store. I know, thats not the best.
This year, though I have tried to keep myself from looking at too many catalogs, since we will be moving soon and I got to wait until we get the ground ready to plant (sprinklers, etc) to do too much. I am sad to leave my berries behind especially. Maybe I'll get brave and try transplanting them.
Mostly I am trying to decide what trees I want at this point. Any pointers on choosing trees? What is your opinion, get from a local nursery or order by mail? I would really love peach and cherry trees, but we tried both at our current house, and did not have much success.
Ann,
How exciting to have a new yard to make your own! That first year is always hard - wanting to put in trees and lawn and gardens, but having to wait and get everything ready...I don't envy you there!
I like buy my trees, especially shade trees, in person whenever possible. I want to see it and touch it. Check out the roots, whether it's a bareroot tree or one in a pot. Notice the branching patterns and make sure the trunk isn't damaged... small broken branches can usually be pruned off without causing harm. (That said, my dad has had good luck with ordering fruit trees from Stark Brothers.)
Peaches and cherries are marginally hardy here. Although some people will tell you we are a zone 5 or even 6, we really are a 4 since -20 isn't uncommon. Sometimes in a neighborhood the houses will provide enough protection to create a microclimate - a warmer spot- where they can grow fine. Other times the trees will grow, but the blossoms will freeze every year. :( It's a bit of a gamble, but if you really like them, it is worth a try. Pie cherries are hardier than Bings. Apples, plums, and apricots handle the cold better and usually do fine here. We have several apple trees and get plenty of fruit. Our baby apricot tree produced 9 fruits last year.
I'd try moving your berries! Strawberries and raspberries transplant well, and if they don't make it, you're only out a bit of time.
Do you have any trees on your lot, or are you starting from scratch?
I love your list-- I wish I would have looked at your list before ordering, just to get some new ideas. I ordered the "fooled you" peppers! I am excited about those. I also got the giant greystripe sunflowers- Rich wants a Sunflower "Tunnel" this year-- we will see how that goes. I got some red shades Bee Balm-- I need something other than a purple flower-- I tend to buy lots of purple! I loved my Borage last year-- the flowers were so pretty and they attracted lots of bees.
I know you'll be shocked that I haven't thought at all about what seeds I'll be needing. I always just buy all my seeds at Anderson's. I know this is a dumb question, but why do you order your seeds rather than buy them there?? I'm guessing variety?? I guess I'm just boring--I go into Andersons, look at their list, and that's it!
Kelli,
You're right...I like to be able to choose from hundreds of varieties of seeds. I grow some unique things that are only available through the mail...they're not popular enough for a nursery to carry. My parents and grandparents always ordered their seeds too, so it's tradition. Plus, it's really the only kind of shopping that I honestly look forward to doing, and it gives me a "garden" project to do in the depths of winter.
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