what you gonna grow for this season !!!

dill786 · Post by **dill786** » Fri Jan 04, 2013 7:46 am

on every page there seems to be 60% f1 seeds........

Intrinsic · Post by **Intrinsic** » Fri Jan 04, 2013 11:54 am

Cool Dill!
Yeah I’v been skimming through seed catalogs too, sure is fun huh? Different catalogs over here tho.
Pinteree, Seed of Change, Peaceful valley and burpee.
But this year I’m been seeing a girl who manages a large nursery in the Monterey area. Might be getting my new seeds free this year

now if I can only decide what to grow.

I’ve lost my little helper for watering when I leave on trips, so this year I’m getting off my ass and gonna figure out how to automate watering for the veggie garden. Having to buy fresh vegetables this winter really shows how expensive veggies have gotten. Can’t afford not to grow. Dang, same reason I got hooked into growing my own weed too.

dill786 · Post by **dill786** » Fri Jan 04, 2013 1:58 pm

anyone else notice the rise of f1 seeds in seed catalogues !? theres gonna be a time not so far from now when all we see from these big on line seed vendors is F1`s and No heirlooms.

Intrinsic · Post by **Intrinsic** » Sat Jan 05, 2013 1:37 pm

I skimmed through my catalogs, this year and last year and didn’t notice any increase on f1’s. if anything more heirlooms showing up. Except Burpee, which is famous for it’s hybrids. I’ll keep an eye out and see what the garden centers are stocking.

There a couple of seed exchange networks on line I participated in the past, not for a while tho. So there is a force to keep the heirlooms going and big seed commercialization out, heck I think even Michelle Obama promoted heirlooms in her whitehouse veggie garden.

But you are right, we got to keep on eye on those big seed buggers.

dill786 · Post by **dill786** » Sat Jan 05, 2013 1:48 pm

thanks intrinisic..

there is one company called baker creek in California i think, they have a huge range of heirlooms along with burpee, however the english seed companies are big on f1`s on some vegetable seeds they are all f1s ...

dill786 · Post by **dill786** » Sun Jan 06, 2013 12:09 am

gonna get me some butternut squash and parsley seeds on monday, i am getting itchy feet,,

deran · Post by **deran** » Sun Jan 06, 2013 4:25 am

commercial catalouges for commercial gardens

you wont find heirlooms in fancy glowing papers, id suggest youd google up some preservations projects nearby you or visit some private nurserys around your area, those can hook you up with the passionate growers

Intrinsic · Post by **Intrinsic** » Sun Jan 06, 2013 2:15 pm

Dill, Yeah, I’ve ordered from Baker Creek before, I’m purty sure I posted some pics of their orange bell. big, not prolific but nice, I still have seeds, 2nd generation I made from ‘em. Be growing more this year.

: BakerBell.JPG (24.52 KiB) Viewed 3091 times

A couple other cool all heirloom places I use are
Seed Savers Exchange. A “non-profit seed bank” you can buy directly from them.

Sustainable Seed Co. good prices and so far good stuff.

Heirloom acres is purty good too, shipping is less then stellar. But always good germ rates and vigorous plants. Family run business.

Intrinsic · Post by **Intrinsic** » Sun Jan 06, 2013 2:22 pm

Deran, yer right and I already done so, years ago. There are lots of little family owned nurseries in my state just now making an internet presence, usually limited choices but heirlooms not found elsewhere.
As I mention my library does a local seed bank, anyone can take seeds or leave off, all free, and has been a great way for me to get varieties proven adapted to my local climate. The cantaloupe I grow now initially came from there. And I’ve donated my chili and lettuce seeds. Its really cool. I learned other libraries doing this is not uncommon.

you wont find heirlooms in fancy glowing papers

I don’t know about that, my purple pole beans were original bought from a big commercial seed place, Burpee. A great heirloom, I love it and been growing it for many generations now.

deran · Post by **deran** » Sun Jan 06, 2013 6:23 pm

aloha

yeah, we can see strain awarness coming slowly to the end user, similiar like with ganja strains; a few years ago (maybe decades) it was hard to find those heirlooms, they are coming back, thats why you can find them today again.

im sure youve read that article by dj short about the sweet spots around the globe for ganja, well thats the same approach to any other kind of fruit, vegetable, bush etc ... just think about micro climates within a radius of some 20 miles / kilometers; some strains will respond better and some worse; and thats why heirlooms and local nursarys should be favored to give you a product which fits best for that area.

nothing beats the quality of homegrown (we already knew that long ago

) , so im happy that those old heirlooms found a new outlook in todays world, especially the diversity and resistance that they carry along.

i learned some weeks ago, that nearly all apples found in supermarkets lack secondary nutritional values they used to have - they arent anymore that healty, aint that tragic?

i mean monsanto, terrminator genes, patenting nature, unhealty food .... where to stop ... damn world lol