OT - New To Gardening

WeberWho

My wife wants to start a garden. We started the foundation for one last fall. It's all going to be one big learning experience. I'm wondering if anyone has any suggestions on where to buys seeds. I'd imagine there is a difference in quality from one to the other. Thanks for any suggestions!

GregW

My grandfather always bought from Parks Seeds, back when the only way was from a mailed seed catalog. Now through the miracle of the internet- https://parkseed.com/

He also went to the local farm supply for common seeds like Silver Queen corn.
If you are planting a small farm size plot, going to the farmers co-op if you have one in your area will be more economical, but will have a smaller selection of varieties.

alaskanassasin

  Gardening the way I do it.

  I don't bother starting anything from seed indoors, by the time you buy the trays, water, transplant, lighting, buy dirt, climate acclimation, and on and on, I find its cheaper and easier to get established plants from a nursery early in spring. That covers me on peppers, tomatoes, egg plant, tomatillo, things like that.  The exceptions being something you really want and can not get local.

 

  Direct sew into the garden once the soil warms up, carrots, lettuce, onion sets, potato, cucumbers, melons, pumpkins, sunflowers, things like that.   Personally I don't worry about seed brand.

 

  Weed control, pest control, watering system, trellis and spacing should be on your radar.

kl8ton

I pretty much agree with @alaskanassasin

Our local farmers market had an abundance of transplants for reasonable prices.  This. is. a. rabbit. hole.

dbCooper

In the same camp as @alaskanassasin seedlings from a local nursery, or if the timing is right, the ag college at the state university in Lincoln.  They have a one or two day sale of seedlings each year at attractive prices.

If you are set with going from seed, Burpee has good products.... https://www.burpee.com/. In this area they are stocked in hardware stores, Ace, Tractor Supply, etc.

HeavyG

I agree that getting seedlings from a local store is a good start. However, it can be difficult/impossible to always find a specific species/cultivar. If you have a specific variant in mind you may have to start from seed.

If you are looking for seeds I'd start the hunt now as I have heard that in some vendors supply can be scarce due to the "pandemic demand".

Also, look on ebay and amazon. A few years ago I was looking to buy some peri peri seeds and the only vendor I could find was on ebay and the pricing was reasonable and the seeds were good quality.

shtgunal3

I mostly buy from the local co-op or seed and feed store. If it’s something I can’t find local, I have purchased online from parkseed. They are a great online company.

SciAggie

Good luck! My wife and I put in raised beds last spring. We didn’t know diddly about gardening. We’ve had a blast. Some success, some failure - and a ton of fun. I don’t have any real advice. Listen to these folks that know what they’re doing. 

I’ll take that back; I do have some advice. Start your garden. Have fun. 

HeavyG

One thing I would add is that if you have rabbits in your hood plan on buying some fencing materials. Little buggers kept eating my chives last summer. That won't happen this year.

CPARKTX2

Agree with buying starter plants, especially to start as you learn. 

Gulfcoastguy

rareseeds.com usually since the 90’s. What general location are you located at and what are you interested in planting? 

WeberWho

Gulfcoastguy said:

rareseeds.com usually since the 90’s. What general location are you located at and what are you interested in planting? 

We are in Minnesota. We are going to try the "Back to Eden" style of gardening. (No till) My neighbor gave me some really good insight on how to start last fall. He has had really good luck with this particular type of gardening. 

 I'm not necessarily sure what my wife has all planned out. I know a patch of asparagus will be going in. I believe that takes 2-3 years to establish. I'd imagine herbs, tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, squash, watermelons, pumpkins, etc. (In small numbers) I would like hot pepper plants. 

I've been reading these comments to her and she's comparing them to what she's read or learned so far. It's been super helpful. 

Gulfcoastguy

Watermelons might be difficult due to your short growing season and cool temps plus they take up room. Blacktail Mountain is an excellent icebox sized choice. For tomatoes 🍅 Sungold or it’s newer offspring Sunsugar are excellent cherry tomatoes that produce relatively quickly. Speaking of cherry, any thought of fruit trees or bushes?
Back to vegetables by squash are you talking about summer squash like zucchini or winter squash like Buttercup? Winter squash tend to have longer vines. I really can’t recommend varieties for winter squash because our climates are so different. Possibly Buttercup, Kabocha, or related hybrids.
you might also consider garlic.

Gulfcoastguy

Oh hot peppers, look for a variety called Thai Hot for a quick producing, compact, and decorative drying pepper. This is the typical pepper used in Thai cooking.

WeberWho

Gulfcoastguy said:

Watermelons might be difficult due to your short growing season and cool temps plus they take up room. Blacktail Mountain is an excellent icebox sized choice. For tomatoes 🍅 Sungold or it’s newer offspring Sunsugar are excellent cherry tomatoes that produce relatively quickly. Speaking of cherry, any thought of fruit trees or bushes?
Back to vegetables by squash are you talking about summer squash like zucchini or winter squash like Buttercup? Winter squash tend to have longer vines. I really can’t recommend varieties for winter squash because our climates are so different. Possibly Buttercup, Kabocha, or related hybrids.
you might also consider garlic.

Thanks for all the insight and recommendations. I'll be sure to pass this along. 

No fruit trees at the moment. The previous owner had a smaller apple tree and we unfortunately didn't do a very good job with it. Half the tree ended up snapping off in a wind storm with the apples. We should have probably picked off some of the apples. My neighbor has an apple, fig, and possibly a pear tree in his backyard. He also has raspberry bushes. So it's possible. We have really sandy soil. Another reason why he recommended the no till way. We brought in a bunch of compost this past fall. I think we will add to it again this spring. My neighbor says he hardly touches it once everything is planted. Hopefully we can emulate his garden in the next 4-5 years. 

I'll definitely take a look at the Thai Hot peppers. I'd like to find a variety of pepper. Thanks!

Kayak

Fencing first and foremost. Nothing makes you more upset than to come out and find some varmint has harvested the day before you were going to. Rabbits are easy to foil, chipmunks, birds, squirrels, and groundhogs harder, deer impossible. After that, understand that tomatoes and peppers get disease, and cucumbers draw cucumber beetles. I enjoy starting seed for tomatoes and peppers, and flowers for my wife, but there’s a learning curve. Johnny’s seeds has good varieties that you won’t find in any nursery. 

kl8ton

WeberWho said:

Gulfcoastguy said:

rareseeds.com usually since the 90’s. What general location are you located at and what are you interested in planting? 

We are in Minnesota. We are going to try the "Back to Eden" style of gardening. 

Ummm  - pre fall of man?  

Kayak

kl8ton said:

WeberWho said:

Gulfcoastguy said:

rareseeds.com usually since the 90’s. What general location are you located at and what are you interested in planting? 

We are in Minnesota. We are going to try the "Back to Eden" style of gardening. 

Ummm  - pre fall of man?  

I think it has to do with gardening naked.

WeberWho

Kayak said:

Fencing first and foremost. Nothing makes you more upset than to come out and find some varmint has harvested the day before you were going to. Rabbits are easy to foil, chipmunks, birds, squirrels, and groundhogs harder, deer impossible. After that, understand that tomatoes and peppers get disease, and cucumbers draw cucumber beetles. I enjoy starting seed for tomatoes and peppers, and flowers for my wife, but there’s a learning curve. Johnny’s seeds has good varieties that you won’t find in any nursery. 

My biggest worry is the Asian Beatles. They come out in full force with a couple of our trees. I can only imagine what they could do to the garden. Gophers are a hit and miss depending on the year. Rabbits will probably be the biggest issue. Fortunately/unfortunately we don't have very much wildlife around here. A squirrel is a rare sighting. We for sure will have to do some type of fencing. 

HeavyG

I had beetle problems once and those bag a bug traps that you hang took care of the problem pretty quickly.

Elijah

Rareseeds.com has very good choices and I've never had a bad bag. They are rather expensive though. I went down the rabbit hole of starting, hardening, planting. I'm in the south and I believe the advantage of starting early is only if your growing season is less than what you need for a plant. These days I just put them in the ground. 

WeberWho

HeavyG said:

I had beetle problems once and those bag a bug traps that you hang took care of the problem pretty quickly.

Thanks for the recommendation. I just spent the last 20 minutes on YouTube watching people catch bugs in a bag! I never heard of it. I'm going to put a couple of those up this summer. I used preventive spray a few years ago and it seemed to work pretty well. I did the same last year and it didn't even phase them. (Although it was a new never opened gallon bottle of spray from the previous summer it may have gone bad over the winter with the temp swings. So I take full responsibility of the beatles coming back last year)

hoosier_egger

I like to start my plants from seeds. Especially heirloom tomato. They seem to do better than starters purchased at big box retailers. Blight and other diseases are controlled better. 

Make your rows wide enough to get your tiller through. I recommend checking your soils PH, you may need to add lime or other supplements. Rabbit hole indeed but nothing more rewarding. 

frazzdaddy

Procured several power poles last fall. Neighbor has a sawmill. Going to build some nice raised beds.

Gulfcoastguy

frazzdaddy said:

Procured several power poles last fall. Neighbor has a sawmill. Going to build some nice raised beds.

Please don’t do so with treated wood , at least for food gardens.

alaskanassasin

frazzdaddy said:

Procured several power poles last fall. Neighbor has a sawmill. Going to build some nice raised beds.

 Your neighbor is going to run a arsenic and creosote injected power pole through his mill?   

Gulfcoastguy

alaskanassasin said:

frazzdaddy said:

Procured several power poles last fall. Neighbor has a sawmill. Going to build some nice raised beds.

 Your neighbor is going to run a arsenic and creosote injected power pole through his mill?   

Likely with old metal spikes in it.

alaskanassasin

 I was just reading a forum on milling power poles, one guy said he had a head ache for 24hrs, another said do it in the winter because the dust and his sweat caused his arms to be covered in rashes.

rcone

Without gaining information from a local gardener; visit a local nursery (not Home Depot, or similar ilk), they will have the best knowledge available for what grows best in your area. If you can, plant multiple varieties of different vegetables to see what will grow best. Take notes of the specific varieties of plants you selected; at the end of the year assess the productivity of your garden: what worked, what didn't, your level of required effort through the summer, any problems with bugs, watering, etc, and start making a plan for next year. 

WeberWho

.

Canugghead

kl8ton said:

I pretty much agree with @alaskanassasin

Our local farmers market had an abundance of transplants for reasonable prices.  This. is. a. rabbit. hole.

You may also need some barrier/fencing to protect your plants from rabbits!