By threegardeners December 6, 2014 | How To Turn an Aquarium into a Terrarium There seems to be a lot of mystery involving terrariums. Mention one and people run away in fear. I don't know why, it's really quite simple. Let me show you. (924 words - Read the full article) |
By dave December 5, 2014 | Making Stepping Stones At the Whitinger Farm, we are busy making stepping stones for a walkway between our driveway and the house. It's an ambitious project and we've already made dozens of stones. By popular request, here is the tutorial on how we're making them. (1,011 words - Read the full article) |
By Bubbles December 4, 2014 | Grow Your Own Turmeric from the Grocery Store If you've ever eaten East Indian food, you've probably tasted turmeric, the bright yellow, pungent spice. It's usually found in powdered form, but it can also be eaten freshly sliced from the root. Would you believe that you can grow it yourself from tubers that are found in most international markets? If that doesn't catch your attention, you can also grow these same tubers/rhizomes into lovely blooming gingers for your summer garden before you harvest the roots in fall for turmeric. (715 words - Read the full article) |
By Horseshoe December 3, 2014 | Willow Tea for "No Cost" Rooting of Cuttings Need a "no cost" solution for rooting cuttings? Try willow tea. Use green willow branches steeped in warm water and cooled overnight, This solution will stimulate rooting, growth, and good health for cuttings as well as for established plants. The growing tips of willow branches possess high levels of the auxin indolebutyric acid, a synthetic form of which is used in most commercial rooting compounds. |
By rcn48 December 2, 2014 | Tutorial ~ How To Make a Hollow Concrete Sphere Concrete statuary in some of the gardens I've visited has always captivated me. Unfortunately most statuary I've priced is quite expensive and with my tight budget the chances were slim that any of these creations would ever find themselves in my gardens. However, several years ago I was intrigued when I stumbled upon instructions for making "hollow concrete spheres". I was pleased to learn the cost of materials is fairly inexpensive and last year successfully completed my first sphere. I'd like to show you how easy it is and hopefully inspire you to create your own hollow concrete sphere! (2,260 words - Read the full article) |
By Newyorkrita November 30, 2014 | Short on Space But Want Home-Grown Peas? Grow Peas in Pots. Any type of garden peas, including snap peas, snow peas and shelling peas, can be easily and successfully grown in large pots. (126 words - Read the full article) |
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When I began ordering seeds from Diane about 10 years ago, she offered mostly flower seeds, but she has gradually expanded her offering of open pollinated herbs and vegetables (8 peppers and over 140 tomato varieties, for example). Her prices are competitive, and essential growing info is pasted onto her plastic packages. My only caution is to read her descriptions carefully and to cross-check them with other sources, since some of her flower selections are wild varieties.
A large (and idiosyncratic) list of flower and vegetable seeds at very reasonable prices. While you are liable to find some rare or exotic specimens here, some common categories are rather skimpy (only one marigold, listed under Tagetes, for example). I have a general rule not to keep seeds longer than three years, but many of their packets come in such large quantities that I have to throw some away. Nevertheless, I have been ordering from them for ten years, and I have had good results with most of my purchases. Their envelopes contain only minimal sowing information, but that can usually be found on their website or in their printed catalogs, neither of which has photos of the offerings.
I have only been ordering from them for the past two years, but I have had good luck with most of my purchases, and one (a marigold) performed exceptionally well. Their prices are competitive, and they list detailed growing info on their double-sealed seed packages.
Good selection of both flowers and vegetables at very reasonable prices and fast delivery. An example of their customer service: I mentioned on an online forum that I had bad luck with a certain tomato, without mentioning the seed source. The Sample owner read the forum, recognized my name as a recent customer, and on his own sent me another package of that variety! My only complaint is that that the index to their lists (at the top of their website) is not arranged well. They do not print planting/growing info on their packages, but this is not a handicap to an experienced gardener.
We keep growing, because ATP is where all the excitement is these days! Check out these numbers from last week: