Tuesday, February 23, 2016

Tuesdays with a Twist #151 (no rules) LINKUP

Good Morning and welcome to another No Rules Party!

This month I shared my February Planting Guide for the US 
and last night I announced NEW
COMPANION PLANTING KITS
I've also added to my Planting Guide for 2016.  I'm really excited about our new garden expansion.  2016 will be our biggest garden ever! 


I've been busy learning and sharing about SOIL.  Find out more below!



Are you ready for the party?   We're your hosts 
Mary @ Back to the Basics and Mary's Kitchen
Marci @ Stone Cottage Adventures
Angie @ God's Growing Garden
PLEASE welcome back JOYCE @ Heavenly Bodies



Add our button if you've been featured!


The party starts every Tuesday at 7am EST and will continue until Saturday at 11:59am.  Feel free to stop back any time and "like" your favorites.  Please visit other blogs if you have a moment. 
Share older posts as well as new ones.  No limit on links!
*Pictures should be your own* 
By linking up you give us permission to use these photos
 (with proper link backs) in our features.   And now for the party!


Saturday, February 20, 2016

Tips for Transplanting Seedlings

We love to hear from our customers. 
Especially when they say "ALL of the seeds germinated.  Now what?"

This week, a customer asked me about transplanting tomatoes.  She said: The book just says 'Transplant tomatoes' but I don't understand when to do it.

We have a few tips and tricks.  Enjoy!

Transplanting Tomato Seedlings
-Before transplanting, work in a bit of compost for added nutrients.

-If you don't have compost or want to give your tomatoes an added boost, bury a handful of dead leaves and 1-2 banana peals several inches below the soil before you transplant.

-Remove the lower leaves from the stem and bury your seedling several inches deeper than it's current container.  This will encourage the tomato plant to grow more roots and grow stronger.

-Don't overcrowd tomato plants.  I know I get excited in the garden but tomato plants need plenty of fresh air to avoid disease.

-Water the soil thoroughly after transplanting and consider a liquid feed to reduce shock.

-Transplant time is a great time to plant companions around your tomatoes such as:
Basil, Borage, Marigold and Naturtiums.
These will deter bag bugs and attract good bugs!

-Sprinkle the plant and surrounding dirt with Diatomaceous Earth.  Adding a new seedling into the garden is like offering a feast to those nasty tomato hornworms and other harmful pests.


Diatomaceous Earth kills aphids, white flies, beetles, loopers, mites, snails, slugs, leaf hoppers, and harmful pests. Use Diatomaceous Earth inside your home, greenhouse or outdoors on fruits, vegetables, flowers, grains and grass.

Apply Food Grade Diatomaceous Earth up to and including day of harvest.

Do you have any tips that I may have missed?  Please feel free to share!



If you have additional questions about getting started or would like more info please feel free to ask.  As always, I am happy to help.

If you'd like to check out some of our gardening tips, check out our fb page.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Marys-Heirloom-Seeds/229833070442449

Or Sign up for our E-Newsletter

Friday, February 19, 2016

DIY Tomato Cages

It's a never-ending adventure here on the homestead and at Mary's Heirloom Seeds.  We are constantly working to share education, DIY info while providing tip-top customer service and AMAZING seeds!  This is an older blog post from Back to the Basics that we decided to re-vamp and share with you.  We love EASY DIY projects!

Materials
To get started, you'll need:
1- 50 foot root of fencing material or chicken wire
1 pack of electrical ties (5-8 per tomato cage)
wire cutters
measuring tape

I started with a 50 foot roll of fencing material then cut 5 foot long pieces to make cages 18 inches in diameter.  Instead of bending the ends to make hooks to hold them together I used electrical ties.  When I am done using the cages I can simply cut the electrical ties (I call them zip ties) and store the cages easier.
I snipped the ends off when I was finished.


Thanks to Doc who is super handy, no one was seriously injured during this process. 

Beautiful ROMA TOMATOES growing with our tomato cages

We used these cages in Florida and they were very easy to break down (snip the electrical ties) and move to our next homestead.

*UPDATE* We have been using these same cages for over 5 years and they still work great

 

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Marys-Heirloom-Seeds/229833070442449

Sign up for our E-Newsletter



Tuesday, February 16, 2016

Tuesdays with a Twist #150 (no rules) LINKUP

Good Morning and welcome to another No Rules Party!

Last week I shared my February Planting Guide for the US 
and last night I announced NEW
COMPANION PLANTING KITS
I've also added to my Planting Guide for 2016.  I'm really excited about our new garden expansion.  2016 will be our biggest garden ever! 


I've been busy learning and sharing about SOIL.  Find out more below!



Are you ready for the party?   We're your hosts 
Mary @ Back to the Basics and Mary's Kitchen
Marci @ Stone Cottage Adventures
Angie @ God's Growing Garden
PLEASE welcome back JOYCE @ Heavenly Bodies



Add our button if you've been featured!


The party starts every Tuesday at 7am EST and will continue until Saturday at 11:59am.  Feel free to stop back any time and "like" your favorites.  Please visit other blogs if you have a moment. 
Share older posts as well as new ones.  No limit on links!
*Pictures should be your own* 
By linking up you give us permission to use these photos
 (with proper link backs) in our features.   And now for the party!


Tuesday, February 9, 2016

Tuesdays with a Twsit #149 (no rules) LINK Up

Good Morning and welcome to another No Rules Party!

Last week I shared my February Planting Guide for the US 
and last night I announced NEW
COMPANION PLANTING KITS
I've also added to my Planting Guide for 2016.  I'm really excited about our new garden expansion.  2016 will be our biggest garden ever! 

Don't for get our SAVE THE BEES GIVEAWAY!!
It's live NOW thru Friday, February 12th!

I've been busy learning and sharing about SOIL.  Find out more below!



Are you ready for the party?   We're your hosts 
Mary @ Back to the Basics and Mary's Kitchen
Marci @ Stone Cottage Adventures
Angie @ God's Growing Garden
PLEASE welcome back JOYCE @ Heavenly Bodies



Add our button if you've been featured!


The party starts every Tuesday at 7am EST and will continue until Saturday at 11:59am.  Feel free to stop back any time and "like" your favorites.  Please visit other blogs if you have a moment. 
Share older posts as well as new ones.  No limit on links!
*Pictures should be your own* 
By linking up you give us permission to use these photos
 (with proper link backs) in our features.   And now for the party!


Sunday, February 7, 2016

Mary's Heirloom Seeds SAVE THE BEES Giveaway

We are THRILLED to sponsor another Giveaway at Mary's Heirloom Seeds.  As promised, now that we've reached 8,000 followers on our facebook page, we're ready to give away SEEDS!!!  You have a chance to win 1 of 2 organic BEE FRIENDLY Seed Combo Packs from Mary's Heirloom Seeds.

-"Wild About Wildflowers" Seeds Combo Pack

-*NEW* Edible Flowers Combo Pack

A total of 2 winners will be chosen!!!
This giveaway is LIVE Sunday, February 7th and ends 
Friday, February 12th at 11:59pm

About our prizes.... 

-"Wild About Wildflowers" seed combo pack
Includes 6 varieties of individually packed Wildflower seeds
NEW Seeds for this combo pack!

-French Marigold
-Bachelor Button
-Butterfly Garden
-Queen Anne's Lace
-Yarrow
-Zinnia Mix



-Edible Flowers seed combo pack


Includes 6 varieties of individually packed EDIBLE Flower varieties!
A unique mix of medicinal herbs and companion plant!
-Borage
-Calendula
-Nasturtium
-Purple Coneflower (Echinacea)
-Plains Coreopsis
-Yarrow
 

About Mary's Heirloom Seeds,
Mary's Heirloom Seeds is a "mom and pop" small business created out of a desire to help people become more sustainable and self-sufficient. Our customers know that we are a simple phone call or email away

We currently offer over 300 varieties of open-pollinated, non-gmo & non-hybrid, non-patented,  untreated, organic, heirloom garden seeds.   Mary has signed the Safe Seed pledge.  
Most orders place Monday-Thursday ship within 48 hours, except for Holidays.
Order herb and veggie varieties together and get an extra free seed pack!
*$10 Order Minimum on all seed orders*

From our seed pack envelopes to our labels and packaging material, all of our paper comes from post-consumer recycled material. We hand-pack, print and label all of our own seed packages. Our website is hosted with a wind-powered, sustainable company. 


Are you ready to enter the giveaway?


Giveaway is open to all Residents of the US and Canada.
Giveaway opens 2/7/2016 and ends Friday, February 12th at Midnight.
All giveaway entrants will be added to Mary's Heirloom Seeds mailing list.
Your information is never sold and we never send spam emails.


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Friday, February 5, 2016

Saving the Fremont Bean

Have you read my article about Ancient Seeds?  The world of seed saving and seed diversity is fascinating.  Most of my friends and family are aware of my passion but I was still completely shocked by what was gifted to me December 2015.

My Grandma Linda was visiting us from Utah and she gifted me a bag of HUGE purple speckled, deep purple (almost black) and white beans.  Of course, just by looking at them I knew they were something special.  Linda explained that she had purchased these beans in Utah and they are called Fremont Beans.  She stated that very little is known about them other than that they had been found in a cave in what was once Fremont Indian territory.  Hence the name, Fremont Beans.

I'm still giddy with excitement over the possibility of bringing these beans "back to life."  I have scoured the internet in search of more info about Fremont Beans and I've found nothing.  I've looked at images and none of them match these unique beans.  

Just to give you an idea of their size and color, here's a quick comparison
The Fremont Bean is rounder than the Scarlet Runner bean.  I love the mottled look of the Jacob's Cattle and Red Anasazi Bean but they are definitely much smaller than the Fremont bean.

This year I'll be growing them in the hopes of being able to share them with the world.  We need more people actively involved in seed diversity and saving dying breeds.

About Fremont Indians
From The Fremont,
Most archaeologists believe the Fremont developed out of existing groups of hunter-gatherers on the Colorado Plateau and in the eastern Great Basin. These small groups were, like their Fremont descendants, diverse, flexible, and adaptable. They ranged from fairly large and relatively sedentary populations in environments where resources were more readily accessible, to small, highly mobile family-sized groups where resources were widely dispersed. Over a span of about a thousand years, from sometime after 2,500 years ago to about 1,500 years ago, different groups of these hunter-gatherers gradually adopted, in a piecemeal fashion, many of the traits associated with the farming societies of the Southwest and Mexico.
First, corn and other cultivated plants (called domesticates), initially developed in what is now Mexico, then diffused northward throughout the greater Southwest and were added to the wild food subsistence base of native people sometime about 2,500 to 2,000 years ago in areas on either side of the southern Wasatch Plateau. This early use of corn and other domesticates occurred well before settled villages developed, and it seems that farming at first was just a part-time affair practiced by people who were still essentially nomadic hunters and gatherers. The earliest "Fremont" corn, radiocarbon dated to 2,340-l,940 years ago, comes from a cache near Elsinore, Utah; corn in sites along Muddy Creek in the San Rafael Swell date to just after the time of Christ. These sites suggest that farming was well established in some areas by 2,000 years ago. Outside this region, however, full-time hunting and gathering lifestyles seem to have continued unchanged. For example, in the deserts of the eastern Great Basin, at all of the many cave sites like Fish Springs, Lakeside, Black Rock, and Danger Cave, domesticates are absent throughout this early period and subsistence was based entirely on wild foods.


I'm told that the Fremont Bean is most likely more than 500 years old.  I might be able to find out a bit more as I learn more about Fremont Indians.  For now, I am working on another article about Ancient Seeds.  If you'd like to learn more, be sure to sign up for our free mailing list.  We'll definitely post throughout our journey of saving the Fremont Bean!



http://www.facebook.com/pages/Marys-Heirloom-Seeds/229833070442449

Sign up for our E-Newsletter




Wednesday, February 3, 2016

48 HOUR SEED SALE thru 2/5/16

ARE YOU READY FOR SPRING???



 
Mary's Heirloom Seeds
Quick Links
Join Our List
February 3, 2016
Sometimes we like to mix it up and offer a "flash" sale on certain items at Mary's Heirloom Seeds.  Since NOW it the time that most people are planning their gardens and ordering seeds we figured you'd like a chance to stock up on Herb Seeds!

We have a $10 order minimum on all orders and offer free shipping within the US on over
300 heirloom seed varieties
Just a reminder, We are still taking pre-orders of Organic Seed Potatoes thru February 14th.
*Shipping/delivery can take up to 3 weeks so place your orders early*

48 HOUR SEED SALE!    


This spectacular opportunity begins at 7pm PST on Wednesday, February 3rd and ends at
7pm EST on Friday, February 5th
ALL qualifying orders will ship out
on or after February 5th
*Click the picture to see sale info*
 
BORAGE 

 
CALENDULA 

 
CILANTRO 

 
FENNEL 

 
THAI BASIL 

 
YARROW 
 
BONUS: ORGANIC NEEM OIL
on sale thru 2/5/16
 

HELPFUL LINKS      


NEW SEEDS & PLANTING KITS 


NEW SEEDS added this week
 
BLACK KRIM TOMATO 

 
DANISH FLAG POPPY 

We've added 4 NEW Growing Kits at
Mary's Heirloom Seeds!
 
Companion planting is based around the idea that certain plants can benefit others when planted next to, or close to one another. 
Companion planting exists to benefit certain plants by giving them pest control, naturally without the need to use chemicals, and in some cases they can give a higher crop yield.  Generally, companion planting is thought of as a small-scale gardening practice, but it can be applied on larger-scale operations 
EACH kit includes one packet of
Borage-deters hornworms
Marigold-deters nematodes & attracts pollinators
Genovese Basil and Nasturtium as well as your choice of the following Vegetable
Tomato: ROMA
Squash: Black BeautyZucchini
Pepper: Cal Wonder
Eggplant: Black Beauty

KITS Also include
-24 Coconut Coir Pellets
-Plant Markers
If you have additional questions please feel free to ask. 

Happy Planting,





http://www.facebook.com/pages/Marys-Heirloom-Seeds/229833070442449

Sign up for our E-Newsletter