We interrupt our regularly scheduled program....
I’m finishing up my end of season reviews, still a few more to go on those, but thought I would slip in this post because I received this in the mail yesterday:
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| First seeds to arrive this year from Baker Creek |
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| Seed heaven... |
I was planning on picking up my seeds this past week, but my daughter really wanted to come along – I get so happy when I see my kids show so much enthusiasm over seeds. Well, most of the time I’m happy – not so much when they sit there arguing over who will open the Baker Creek package.
William Dam doesn’t have late hours during the week, so we had to wait until today to go.
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| My daughter couldn't wait to get inside |
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| Second batch of seeds plus a container of mycorrhizal fungi |
I love having an actual seed house within driving distance – comes in very handy during those mid-season seed emergencies :)
Exciting!!!!!!!!! Thank you very much for the GREAT explanation of the onions for me. I copied it and am running it off. Nancy
ReplyDeleteOh, your very welcome Nancy - here's to a great gardening season for both of us this year!
DeleteWow-that place looks like a great place to spend an hour ---I would have trouble in there-LOL!
ReplyDeleteYou're right about that...temptation is literally everywhere! They have a greenhouse too and several outdoor plots where they test out different varieties - all of which is open to the public once the weather warms up. I'm not sure I've ever been inside the greenhouse, so I plan to check it out this year.
DeleteThat seed house looks to be an interesting place.
ReplyDeleteThere are a couple of other seeds houses within driving distance (Stokes and OSC) but both are further away and nowhere near as good in terms of vegetable seed selections.
DeleteThe seed-house concept is a new one on me (though most of our Garden Centres sell lots of seeds). Must be a big temptation having a place like that within easy reach!
ReplyDeleteThankfully it's still a 25 minute drive - any closer and my seed collection would likely be twice as big!
DeleteI've never seen so many seeds! Wowzers! But how exciting. :o) I get a thrill when I see my seedlings under the grow lights in my basement. :o)
ReplyDeleteIt's crazy, isn't it. Even though I had previously received their catalogue and knew all of the seeds they carried, that didn't stop me from being amazed the first time I went there. And those first seedlings of the season are particularly exciting, aren't they?
DeleteI have a couple of seed suppliers nearby but they are tiny ... wow, I can't imagine being at that William Dam store. I have yet to try Bsker Creek but it's on my list.
ReplyDeleteAnd so wonderful that your kids are showing some interest!
Thanks Susie - I'm always happy when the kids get excited about the garden. I hope that's something they don't grow out of!
DeleteI usually end up wanted one or two new varieties as the season progresses, so having a nice source of seed close by is definitely convenient. The seeds at local garden centres and hardware stores are normally the standard, boring hybrids, although I must say that a couple of times, I have purchased some winners (like Contender bush beans - an heirloom that I've since saving seed for).
Enjoyed your post about onions could you explain how to cure them. I'm
ReplyDeletelearning to garden so all my onion were sets from the grocery store and at the end of growing season they were about the same size as I set out. Thank you
Anne
Hi Anne - Once I harvested the onions, I left them outside in the sun for a few hours, then I brought them into the garage & laid them out on a rack that I built from bamboo poles. You can see what I did near the bottom of this post:
Deletehttp://homegrown-adventuresinmygarden.blogspot.ca/2014/09/garlic-shallots-2014-results.html
Of course, you don't need a rack to cure onions - you can simply lay them out on newspaper, which will work just fine too. They should be placed in a dry, warm spot with good air circulation - a garage or shed is ideal. In general, they take about 3 or 4 weeks to cure - what you are looking for is that the neck & leaves are thoroughly dry.
As for your onions not growing very much, that could be from a number of issues - inadequate water, sunshine or soil fertility. Also, onions are sensitive to the number of daylight hours, which affects when they bulb up. There are both long day (grown in the north) and short day (grown in the south) varieties. I do, however, doubt that would be the issue seeing as you picked up the sets at a local store - you would assume that they would sell varieties that are suitable to your area!
I checked out you rack ~WOW!!!! Hubby said he would try to fix
Deletea rack like your- now I need to grow some onions to put on it :)
Thanks so much
Anne
It would be great to have an actual seed store closeby. Other than a limited selection of beans and seed potatoes, there's not much I can buy locally. I do have a couple of nurseries that offer plants, but even then it's not always the varieties I want to grow. If I went to a place like William Dams, I would have to take the truck to bring everything home!
ReplyDeleteThere really is so much temptation there - it takes a lot of willpower not to purchase everything that strikes my fancy! Around here, nurseries are usually the last place I go to when purchasing seed and their plant selections leave a lot to be desired - half the time they don't even list a specific variety. I guess that many people are satisfied with knowing that they are buying a "cherry tomato", but I'm not one of them!
DeleteThat seed house looks a great place.. I would be in there hours.. :o)
ReplyDeleteIt is wonderful - what's funny is that many locals don't know it's there & are always surprised when I tell them about it.
DeleteI love the drawings on the front of the seed packets :)
ReplyDeleteThose are my favourite packet designs too:)
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