Seeds and Bulbs...A dying industry?

Seeds and Bulbs have been around forever. And for as long as I can remember they were an essential part of the gardening experience. Over the past ten or so years I have seen a shift in the way people garden. Younger Gardeners (under 35) like to buy instant gardens. You know, the already made up planters to put on their patios, big, fancy coco baskets already made up as well. Tomato plants in patio pots, etc.

The older, more experienced gardeners who always bought their onion sets in March and all the Seed packets with the starter trays, and the bulbs seem to be a dying breed. These were gardeners, real gardeners who started from the ground up, got their hands dirty and truly enjoyed the labor and its successes.

I would hope to see the instant patio gardeners of today turn into the "true" gardeners of tomorrow as they retire from having full time jobs and over scheduled lives. I know there are many of us who have helped our parents and grandparents garden and loved it.

I see part of our gardening industry slowly disappearing from the local garden centers. People won't buy the seeds and bulbs unless they are on sale or at the end of the season when they are just about being given away. This ruins the market. Less and less will be purchased by the retailer, thereby less and less being manufactured by the grower.

Bulbs are a fantastic, generally inexpensive way to get some beautiful, unusual and even exotic looking plants for your yard. Many bulbs you can buy, you cannot get already grown in containers.

Seeds do take more time and care, however they are the least expensive way to get lots of plants. Perennial seeds are great. For 1 packet of seeds (usually less than $3) you'll get plants that come back year after year, spread, and can be divided to share with friends. I harvest seeds from some of my favorite annuals, to have for the following year. Although they are not always the same as the original plant.

Starting seeds are a great project if you have kids. This is the most exciting part of spring at our house. We let the kids pick out their own packet of seeds, we set up a table in the garage for potting them up. It's usually to cold and dreary on the East Coast to do this outside.
The kids check them for water every day and when the first seed pops through the surface, you would think it was Christmas! Once its warm enough we plant them. Our 5 year old twins and even the 2 year old have to plant "their" seeds. They care for them and watch them grow, and everyone that comes to our house gets shown the plants. Our children take a great sense of pride in their gardening. I know someday they will probably be instant gardeners when their lives are busy, but someday they will be the "true" gardeners of our future.

We get so caught up in every day stuff, sometimes we forget to stop and smell the flowers. Gardening is a release for me, a way to let the stress of the daily grind fall away.

Try buying a few packs of seeds or some bulbs and create life. Watching a living thing grow and unfold before you is extremely satisfying and beautiful.

Two of my favorite Fertilizers

When I come across a product I truly love and believe in I like to share it. Two of my favorite organic (that's all I use) fertilizers are Milorganite and Merrill's Compost Tea.

I love them because they are 100% Natural Organic Products. These companies each make a product that is organic and beneficial from waste.

Milorganite has been around for over 80 years and is a by-product of Milwaukee's water treatment system. It is safe to use in any climate at any time of the growing season...even drought.

Milorganite contains no salts (that can burn turf) so it doesn't even need to be watered in to work. It relies on natural microbes in the soil to break down the nutrients.

Milorganite not only contains Nitrogen and Phosphorous, it contains Calcium which is essential for nutrient uptake and Iron that makes everything a nice dark green. I use Milorganite on my lawn, trees, shrubs and perennials.

Merrill's Compost Tea is one of the most fantastic products I've ever used. They look like tea bags (don't drink them by mistake!). Keep an old gallon jug handy. Fill it up with tepid water and drop in one tea bag. Let it steep for an hour or so and then water your plants. I like to let my "tea" steep overnight. This is the best fertilizer for houseplants, annuals, roses and perennials. You can water as you normally would or foliar feed with a spray bottle. The first time I used this was in the middle of winter on my houseplants. The results were amazing! If they could have my plants would have jumped up and done a jig!

Both companies are committed to using natural resources and sustainable agriculture. These are truly earth friendly products. They are easy to use and inexpensive. The results will astound you!

How to keep Critters out of the Garden , and Flower Beds too!

This is a timeless struggle between the Gardener and Nature's creatures.

Rabbits, Deer, Chipmunks, Squirrels, Gophers, Moles, Voles and Ground Hogs are probably our biggest challenge in our Vegetable and Flower Gardens. Following are a few easy tips on how to get rid of these pests:

There are all natural repellents such as ShakeAway, Liquid Fence, Deer Away and Critter Ridder.
These all natural repellents all work well and all work in different ways.

Shake Away is a granular Predator Urine product. This is a fantastic product. It creates the scent of predators such as fox, coyote and bobcat. They will not wash away in the rain and do not evaporate. They are not messy or highly stinky, like their liquid counterparts. They even have one for cats.

Liquid Fence Products such as their Mole and Vole repellent are odor and taste based repellents. Mole and Vole is all natural liquid that is sprayed and gets down into the soil to coat the roots of plants and earthworms. Their tasty meal is no longer tasty. They simply go elsewhere to look for food. It is long lasting and won't harm vegetation.

Critter Ridder by Havahart comes as a granular or a liquid and is listed OMRI organic. It will repel skunks, ground hogs, squirrels, racoons, dogs and cats. They are both pepper and capsaicin based products.

Critter Ridder Deer and Rabbit repels by scent and it lasts up to 3 months. It is also listed OMRI organic.

These are all safe, natural products. There are a few other items that also work well. Human hair and dog fur will also work. Human hair works the best. Go to your local Barber Shop and ask for some hair. Yeah, they might look at you a little funny at first, but they will think you are a genius when you tell them what its for. Put it around the perimeter of your garden. This will decompose naturally. It may need to be applied once or twice. With all these products, once a Critter knows your garden or flower beds are not a safe or tasty place to go...they usually will not come back.

Happy Gardening!