Thread: Preparedness Advice Needed

Can anyone recommend a reliable, reasonably priced Organic Heirloom Seed Company?

I know the topic of vegetable gardening has come up in the past, and there seems to be a lot of people on this forum with experience in this area.
I'm a beginner and a little nervous about starting my first organic vegetable garden. Let's just say I'm agriculturally challenged! But with things the way they are, I'm very motivated to get something going.

I've been doing a lot of research and was somewhat relieved to read that the success of a good garden takes brown knees and not necessarily a green thumb! So with that in mind, and being it's January, I am ready to start shopping for seeds. I want to start them indoors and transfer them later.

I've read that it's best to grow things that are native to one's given area. This may be a silly question but if this is the case, do I have to purchase seeds locally?? I live on Long Island, in NY and I'm along a bay. From what I understand, we've got 2 different zones out here. 6A and 7 I think.. Anyway, would appreciate the advice. Thanks!

I was inspired by this family in CA. Amazing what they did with such little property:

http://www.pathtofreedom.com/

I would buy certified organic seeds either locally or packaged by a company anywhere in this country, as long as they are certified organic. Through the Internet you can also find a lot of heirloom seeds, meaning they have not been genetically modified.
Tomatoes are the easiest to start, IMO, and with a sprinkle around the plants with Epsom salts once they start to bloom, those tomatoes will be sweet. Another tip is that if you are defrosting fish, do so in a bowl of water and pour the fish water around the bed to amend the soil. (My grandfather, an agriculturalist, used to buy boatloads of fish, let them rot to amend sandy soil and grew prize-winning huge vegetables.)
Starting seeds indoors can be tricky if the heat is on and is drying the atmosphere. I keep a spray bottle full of water to spray on the seedlings, and if it is a fairly nice day outside, the seedlings spend a couple hours in the sun. (It hardens them before you plant them in permanent beds.)
Good luck, and planting and maintenance is probably one of the most relaxing things you can do.
Years ago there were studies about talking to plants, and what kind of music they liked. Apparently, talking to the plants worked and they flourished, and they preferred classical music to rock and roll. In the 1960s a researcher attached a lie detector to his philodendron, and while he talked soothingly to the plant, his assistants would come and burn a leaf or yell at the plant, and the graphs began showing the plant would recoil when one of its abusers walked in the room.

Originally Posted by chloe24

Can anyone recommend a reliable, reasonably priced Organic Heirloom Seed Company?

I know the topic of vegetable gardening has come up in the past, and there seems to be a lot of people on this forum with experience in this area.
I'm a beginner and a little nervous about starting my first organic vegetable garden. Let's just say I'm agriculturally challenged! But with things the way they are, I'm very motivated to get something going.

I've been doing a lot of research and was somewhat relieved to read that the success of a good garden takes brown knees and not necessarily a green thumb! So with that in mind, and being it's January, I am ready to start shopping for seeds. I want to start them indoors and transfer them later.

I've read that it's best to grow things that are native to one's given area. This may be a silly question but if this is the case, do I have to purchase seeds locally?? I live on Long Island, in NY and I'm along a bay. From what I understand, we've got 2 different zones out here. 6A and 7 I think.. Anyway, would appreciate the advice. Thanks!

I was inspired by this family in CA. Amazing what they did with such little property:

http://www.pathtofreedom.com/

I grew a garden last year on my fire escape in containers and had good luck. As I live in San Francisco, I was able to keep growing most of them right through the winter. I love it. When I eat my veggies I know they are clean. Anyway I will give you my seed sources. They all have a mix of heirloom and hybrid seeds. Just go to the sites and search for heirloom if thats what you want. They have a good selection and I have had good experiences in ordering from them.

Park Seeds
Burpee Seeds
Swallowtail Seeds

Just google them to get the links. Park Seeds has the fastest shipping. But all three are pretty fast. And I had good luck with seeds from all three. Burpee and Park have the most thorough instructions on the packets. Swallowtail has less instructions. Burpee and Park have a huge selection.

I also ordered one time from Heirloom Acre Seeds but it took more than a month to get the seeds and the packet did not have very good instructions on them. But the seeds did well. I think the delay was due to some weather conditions, but I never did order from them again because I had bad luck with their customer service...but you can try them if you like.

Another one that I tried was Seeds of Change. The packets had little or no instructions. But I used the net to get information, and the seeds still did well. They have slower shipping though.

For fertilizer I use Jobes spikes for veggies and they also have spikes for tomatoes. The spikes are time realeased and dont wash away when you water. I could see a definite difference after using them. Especially the snap peas and parsley did extremely well. The potaotes did well too. They all did pretty well except the melon....but I think this area is not good for melons.

Good luck. I hope you have as much fun with it as I have. I have seeds on the way and my containers are all ready for planting.

Always had good luck with Burpee Seeds. I would say between 85% to 95% germination rates. Even with seeds that were up to 3 years old. But the biggest thing you need, is good soil. Fishmeal (ground up fish) and innerds are wonderful for replenishing the nutriants the plants need. Especially if you need to use the same area year after year. That is why farmers will rotate the fields they use. To let the soil build back up again with fertilizer.

Also get to knowing what plants do well in cooler spring months. Stuff like spinache, broccoli, cauliflaur, cabbage, or any cabbage related plant. Peas are good in cooler weather too. And you can have your warmer weather plants started about 2 to 3 weeks before harvesting your spring crops. These can be canned, or blanched and frozen for future use. Canning is the best as it doesn't require power like a freezer does. And canning is not as hard as it seems. It is time consuming though. So having 1 or 2 assistants is a good thing. But remember, if everybody wants to be the grasshopper, just keep being the ant. And when the cold of winter sets in, you'll be fine, and not beggin' for a meal. You can do the same thing with stews, and soups and chili.

Hope it helps!

Here's a link to some canning info from one of our other posters.
http://www.alipac.us/ftopict-141982.html

http://rareseeds.com/

I have ordered from this site several times

Thanks for the post and info. I was just wondering this the other day!

Thanks for all the recommendations and great advice everyone. I will certainly check those places out.

Yes, tomatoes are at the top of my list to start off with. I'm told it's best to start off small for a beginner. So I'm thinking tomatoes, peppers, zuchinni, and beans. I'm leaning toward raised bed gardens. I'm really not that comfortable using my soil. We've had spraying done over the years in my local area so I would just feel a whole lot better buying organic soil from a reputable nursery.

One major problem I have is that my back yard faces North and doesn't get enough sun. The front of my house is where there's the most sun. Someone suggested that I plant a garden in the front! At first I didn't even consider growing a garden in the front of my house. It seemed a little weird! Plus, I like my privacy. But then I discovered the Path To Freedom website and something called the Edible Estates Project. I found pictures of different homes online with their gardens in the front. They looked clean and neat so maybe this is something new to try.

Check out some of the pictures here: http://www.fritzhaeg.com/garden/initiat ... imore.html Just click on the images to enlarge them.

From what I've been reading, more people are beginning to grow organic gardens. In fact, one report said that vegetable seed purchase has been up recently more than usual. Not too many people talk about it but I think they are quietly preparing in case of an emergency. That's mainly why I want to do it, but I also feel genuinely excited about the prospect of getting back to nature and actually eating vegetables that I grew all by myself! It must be very rewarding and sort of spiritual in a way.

The other day my chiroprator was telling me a story about an immigrant from Italy who recently settled here last summer (LEGALLY!) He couldn't understand Americans' preoccupation with their lawns and how crazy we sometimes get in maintaining it. The way he saw it, if a piece of land isn't being used to grow food, it was a waste of valuable space! Now more than ever, I see how vital self sustainability is, in order for people to be independent and to survive harsh times.

I want to get into canning as well but that will have to come later. I discovered if you go to YouTube and do a search on something you want to learn, they have instructional videos of regular people sharing their expertise in a given subject. Thought I'd pass that info along. Thanks again for the suggestions!

Go to www.motherearthnews.com. They are a wealth of info for sustainable living, gardening in small spaces and earth friendly cleaning suplies, etc.
Here is a link I got off thier site for a greenhouse you can make for $25.

http://www.instructables.com/id/Build_a ... _under_25/

Also, if your soil is crummy, you can buy bags of top soil, lay them on thier side, split them open and plant your garden right in the bag!

How to make instant no dig gardens!
http://www.motherearthnews.com/Organic- ... spx?page=3


Yes, I do believe people are qietly going about the business of preparing for the worst with food supplies home grown.

Originally Posted by SicNTiredInSoCal

Go to www.motherearthnews.com. They are a wealth of info for sustainable living, gardening in small spaces and earth friendly cleaning suplies, etc.
Here is a link I got off thier site for a greenhouse you can make for $25.

http://www.instructables.com/id/Build_a ... _under_25/

Also, if your soil is crummy, you can buy bags of top soil, lay them on thier side, split them open and plant your garden right in the bag!

How to make instant no dig gardens!
http://www.motherearthnews.com/Organic- ... spx?page=3


Yes, I do believe people are qietly going about the business of preparing for the worst with food supplies home grown.

Thanks for the new links!