#planting seeds for gardens to grow

[hyacinthusmemorial]

Hope is the theme of today for quite a few reasons.

[axololtls]

update on my blueberry bush; things are coming along nicely!!!

[troythecatfish]

[tomorrowsgardennc]

y'all seemed to like the design i did for the green doctor cherry tomato, and i have been working a lot lately on new designs and photographing them so i wanted to share. i don't like selling myself, but i do love feedback and critique above all so let me know what y'all think. if you want to see more of the seed package designs i have them on my website: https://tomorrowsgardennc.com/collections/seeds

i've been processing a lot of the seeds, too, and there are a few varieties i have TOO many seeds for. so many that i will never be able to sell them all. i do have my very own tumblr community for seed swapping, and i plan on posting the overstock on there once the website is up-to-date and open for seed swapping. seed buying season is around the corner, so make sure you join the community before going through all those catalogs!

[turqo]

[wildrungarden]

7/13/24 ~ harvest 🧺

[invoke-parlay]

Spoon tomatoes!! They’ll be turning ripe soon!!

July 19, 2024

[coridallasmultipass]

I fucking love snapdragons, man! Natures funky little puppets.

This has been a snapdragon appreciation post.

[balkanradfem]

So, I decided I could start onion seeds early. I've never started onions from seeds, and my seeds are just the ones I've collected from an onion in my garden (if they grow for 2 years, they make a flower, and then the seeds are inside).

First I had to find some good containers, and this is where I got side tracked. I've been collecting plastic cups and food containers for years now, and I've just been putting them in the basement, not realizing how much I've got. So I grabbed all of the storage boxes and decided to see what I have. This is the sight that greeted me:

I became a little concerned, in anyone else's home this many containers would be considered garbage, but when I think more about it, it's a good thing for me to have them. I never bought any of these, I've gotten them from roommates, been given some as a gift, from people trying to get rid of them, some I've just found in the forests and creeks, some I've found in the trash and saved. While they're all with me, they're not in a landfill, and I'm dreaming of one day having a big garden that can feed lots of people, and at that point, it would be so great to never be out of little seedling pots.

I spent some decent time sorting these out in categories and stacking them to make them more manageable, these are the categories:

At this point I went to research how growing onion from seed works; I found out a lot! Firstly, they need to be planted very shallow, half of an inch. They should be started 8-10 weeks before planting outside, that also works out great, I can plant them out in March. They will germinate in one week, and sometimes their tops are stuck in the soil, and will stop them from growing; in that case it's best to cut the top off, than to pull it out. The plant is so fragile, you're likely to pull it all out. Cutting the top off will not hurt them, but make them grow more straight. I also found out that onions decide to bulb once they calculate that there's more than 10 hours of sun in the day, how cool! That's also why its important to start them early, and give them a good start before the days become long enough for them to go into bulb mode.

So last year when planting, I've been mixing some forest soil, old soil and sand into my planting mix, because that made the soil very light and airy, and I thought it would be good for the little plants. I've however noticed, that the plants were not doing great in that soil, even though they did succeed, it took them longer than usual. I've decided to just go with pure forest soil this time, no mixes or additions, that way it will have the max nutrients and I think it's what my plants are looking for.

These are the containers I've chosen; I've also put them in these big transparent cake containers, because when I close them up like that, water cannot evaporate out, and they're kept in high humidity, which will help the germination. After they start growing, I'll put them in normal trays.

I've decided to experiment a bit so for the left one, I put exactly one single seed in each space, but in the second one, I've peppered a lot of seeds, just to see what happens. I can always thin them out if a lot of them grow. Once on top of the soil, I've sprayed them with water gently, and then peppered some more soil on top so they're safely surrounded with soil.

And now we wait! Hopefully I'll have some onions next year :)

[alwaysamaritimer]

(via GIPHY)

[anipgarden]

M I L K W E E D

[urpaperboy]

hey is this a safe space to say that i've had the idea about southern flowers for a while, I've just been too much of a coward to admit it because I genuinely thought rare pairs in this community would be frowned upon 🧍

[suzycreamcheeze]

🌸 Morning Glory 🌸

[tomorrowsgardennc]

Seed Sourcing Guide: An Opinion

i was listening in on a seed saving nerd zoom meeting last night when one of the best quotes ever said was said said: "the best seed 'store' is your own backyard." and the lady is totes right. downside is... you gotta source the seeds before you start saving them. with it being seed buying season, and a lady totally saying the best quote for any and all seed nerds to fuel my drive to finally sit down and write this, i have come up with:

tier list for seed sourcing websites NOT SPONSORED BTW

✨ top tier best tier ✨

ok so, i never really heard of true leaf until last year. but i have been sourcing almost all of my seeds from them since! they're not the same grow zone as me, but utah has some of the best soil in the nation so maybe that's why their seeds are the absolute best when it comes to germination. they also have a huge variety of seeds, all gorgeously designed in a quick-to-understand format (like their icons for heirloom versus hybrid, container friendly or not, etc.) their information is all legit and comprehensive as shit. my microgreen farmer friend gets all his microgreen seeds from here, too. couldn't recommend them enough!

if your looking for tomatoes specifically, then tomatofest is legit the best. they were recommended to me a few years ago by my farmer mama, and legit they are the best for any and all tomato types. if i ever need a new tomato variety, this is where i go no matter what. if they don't have it, then must not be worth growing. germination rate is always high, the plants come out great, and always fast with shipping.

i have not met a home gardener or farmer friend who doesn't have hoss in their seed library. their selection is small and their website is mid, but damn do they have the best germination rates out there along with the healthiest looking plants i ever did done see or grow. and tbh that's really what matters at the end of the day - not the germination rates, or shipping, or quantity, but rather how the vegetable or fruit plant thrives and produces. and hoss ticks off all those boxes beautifully.

😐 middle tier is mid 😐

eden brothers is mid tier only because i have attempted to germinate about 12 different seed types from them over the past 5 years and never have i ever gotten anything better than 10% germination rate. but their BULBS, their bulbs are absolutely amazing! if i need a flowering bulb to add to my cut flower garden, then this is where i source them from. never any issues with molded bulbs, and they grow true to what they say they will and how (so information is accurate). just... don't bother with the seed section.

i really truly and honestly and want to put renee's garden seeds in top tier... but i have tried over 20 different herb seeds from renee's and the herbs just never germinate. ever! the flowers, amazing. the vegetables, pretty good. selection, absolutely amazing. but the herbs, bro i don't know where they're sourcing their herbs from but it ain't happening. at least for me. maybe others more north would have better luck.

grow organic is great for supplies such as fertilizers and such, but not so much for seeds. i sourced my California softneck garlic from them and they were wonderful. i've had another farmer friend say she gets all her onion starts from them as well and her onions are phenomenal. but i've tried only 3 seed varieties from them with decent germination but didn't live long at all. if you're looking for tubers or vegetable bulbs, then totes. otherwise, be weary of the seeds even if the germination is great. (me thinks they save seeds regardless of how the plant lived, compared to saving seeds only from healthy plants.)

💀 worst tier don't bother 💀

johnny seeds used to be my go to for seeds when i was only focused on transplants. this was because they're the only one who sells in bulk, and honestly that's the only perk for them. you have to buy their seeds in bulk to get any decent germination out of them. but if you want 200 basil plants, then buying 500 basil seeds from them will be just fine. if you just want 2 basil plants, then don't even look at this website. they have one of the best seed starting soil mixes, but the shipping costs more than the soil. and they have some nice supplies. but this is a seed tier list, not a supplies tier list.

hopefully the fiasco with the purple galaxy tomato in January of 2024 has shed some light to how bad this company is, but if not then i'm including them on this list. they were pretty bad before that, but at least they live up to their name. i have sourced a few vegetables from them, but only because nobody else had them. which honestly should be a red flag. BUT c'est la vie, i bought seeds from them 3 years ago and haven't gone back. they're overpriced, germination rate is OK but considering the price tag their germination rate should be better and they're not. they try to pull themselves off as the "small guy" when they're clearly not.

https://www.burpee.com/

burpee seed company is legit the worst. they're so bad that a link to their website breaks tumblr and makes my tier list look ugly. they might lure you in with their gorgeous website, and with the huuuuge variety they have. but the website NEVER works, the varieties are almost 99% hybrids that don't grow or produce well, and the germination rate is abysmal. yes, they sell in all major and minor box stores but that's because capitalism, not because they're the best. stay. away.

🏅 honorable mention 🏅

so first off, let me say i have never bought from this website. but i have been gifted many seeds from them from several people. not sure if that's good or bad, hence the honorable mention category.

the seeds i've been gifted from 3 different farmers, and they're all winter varieties. and they've all done amazing!! i did buy some flower and herb seeds from the local hardware store, and the seeds were acceptable for germination rate. i do not blame that on the company, though, since that hardware store is so old school that they don't even have A/C inside. creaky wood floors, smells like old metal, that kind of hardware store. so not the best environment to store seeds in. but i will be buying some for this year to try out directly from their website, seeing as how if 2 year old seeds germinate pretty good and ones stored in horrible conditions are OK then fresh from the source MUST be great!

📝 let me know who i forgot and where you would rank them 📝 plz thnx luv u

maybe i'll do a tier list for even smaller seed companies, like my size seed companies?? whatchu think?? i've only tried a few so it would force me to try out some more!

[theinternetisaweboflies]

my first blossom on my first pumpkin plant

[wildrungarden]

6/27/24 ~ lil baby harvest 🍅🌶️🍓