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Permalink Reply by Richard Healy on December 27, 2009 at 6:12pm

I had over a thousand bluebells seeds harvested from my small patch under the magnolia tree and they went into the ground (with compost and fresh soil) September time I think it was - we've just had a sustained freeze and snowfall for the last few days over Christmas, which bluebells need to germinate, so I'm hoping that even if 50% come to flower, the magnolia tree is going to be packed full of bluebells come the spring!!

Permalink Reply by Sentient Biped on December 31, 2009 at 9:19pm

That's going to be impressive!

Permalink Reply by Little Name Atheist on February 28, 2010 at 11:36am

I hope you will share a photo with us when they come up.

Permalink Reply by Little Name Atheist on February 28, 2010 at 11:46am

Wow. A mature orchard! That's wonderful. That's also a lot to maintain.

One of the local cults in Vermont has a peace-loving reputation, but they believe in the curse of Ham, corporal punishment for children, and women being submissive to men. They also have a bad tendency to hide children who have one parent in the cult, and one not. It looks like someone from the group got to their Wikipedia entry.

Permalink Reply by Little Name Atheist on February 28, 2010 at 11:35am

Haven't started planning yet. Was reminded by the -tater's 90 year old grandmother, as she's already got hers planned. She planted 28 tomato plants last year, and canned quite a few quarts.

Seed Saver's Exchange is made of win. Haven't ordered anything from them yet, as I haven't taken the time to see what would grow in my growing conditions. I've been reading about them, and watching them grow for years, and cheering them on.

Locally, I and the -tater's 90 year old grandmother love High Mowing Organic Seeds Their seeds are fantastic... all grown under local conditions. The sprout rate is phenomenal. Locally (Vermont) owned, very conscientious people. Lots of heirloom and open pollinated seeds. They were also featured on Dan Rather Reports.

I also like Johnny's Selected Seeds. They're in Maine, and have similar growing conditions to me. They have a free, downloadable seed starting calculator on their website. They're also employee owned. Also have organic, heirloom, and open-pollinated seed.

Burpee has become controversial in some gardening circles. For some reason, they send me their catalog. I've never ordered from them. They are anathema to seed savers.

Fedco seeds is another seed company with a good reputation in the Northeastern US, but people in all 50 states buy from them. They are tres cool because they are a co-operative. Their site hosts a very good article about Monsanto. Anyone interested in open-pollinated and heirlooms seeds, as well as seed-saving may be interested in this article.

I'll be back with a couple more seed companies I like later.