It's the SEED-Y Time of Year! NEW Heirloom Varieties!

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I've been working on increasing our heirloom seed varieties this past year.  When we first opened Mary's Heirloom Seeds back in 2011 we offered 20 varieties.  By mid-2013 we offered over 70.  Now, I am please to announce we offer 105 varieties with several more on the way!

Shipping on Heirloom Seeds is FREE!!!  

Check out Mary's Seeds of the Month Club.  It's a 6 or 12 month membership and make a Spectacular Christmas gift!

Mary's Heirloom Seeds All NEW Varieties  December 2013

It's Official, We now offer over 100 Seed varieties! Check out our New Arrivals Just in Time for delivery before Christmas! Russian Red "Ragged Jack" Kale 55-60 days.  A tender and mild, a pre-1885 heirloom variety. Oak type leaves have a red tinge, and stems are a purplish-red. Great flavor.  A hardy plant that fares well in cold weather, often thriving through the winter.     Check it Out! Hopi Blue Corn   *Non-GMO* 90-110 days.   Considered a staple corn of the Hopi people, this corn can be eaten as a sweet corn when young, or allowed to dry it can be used to make flour. Hopi Blue has a higher protein content than a dent corn and makes wonderful tortillas. The 7 inch, dried blue ears also make great autumn decorations. Plants are 5-6 feet tall.         Check it Out! Catnip! Catnip grows to a height of three or four feet, and features downy, light green foliage with small lavender flowers that grow on spikes up to five inches long. The vibrant green leaves of catnip are not only attractive to cats but are popular in tea for people as well.     Check it Out! Thai Holy "Kaprao" Basil A stronger-flavored basil than sweet basil, Thai Basil also has a hint of licorice flavor. The leaves, which are about half the size of sweet basil, have purple stems and make pretty garnishes. Plant Size: 1 to 2 feet tall and wide.  Check it Out! Purple Coneflower Open Pollinated. Also called Echinacea. Lovely wildflower native to North America with lavender petals surrounding a reddish-orange cone center. Parts of this flower have purported medicinal benefits. Check it Out! This weekend we have decided to donate a portion of all seed sales to 2 local non-profit rescues.  The cutoff is Monday, December 16th @ 10am EST Why? because we ship within 24 hours and this will get your order to you by Christmas AND these babies need our help!   Read more for Details Have a wonderful weekend! Mary                           Mary's Heirloom Seeds Visit Our Blog Back to the Basics     All-In-One Veggie Combo Pack Great for a beginner or seasoned gardener.  The All-In One is a great garden starter kit.    Makes a GREAT gift!  This pack includes one full-sized packet of every veggie seed we carry.  Includes New Arrivals!         (Save over $100)  Check it Out! Visit Mary's Kitchen     Helpful Links What is TPP?   Growing Wildflowers  Mung Bean Sprouts

The last Creative Home & Garden Hop

Good Morning and Happy Sunday!

This is the last Creative Home & Garden Hop.  Not to worry...You can still party with me @ Tuesdays with a Twist and Real Food Fridays!

We've had an AMAZING week here.

The Seeds of the Month Club has been a HUGE success so far!

AND...We just announced NEW seed varieties!

RUSSIAN RED KALE

CATNIP

HOPI BLUE CORN...and More!

I sent out a bunch of new orders yesterday of Heirloom Seeds.  I am thrilled that more and more people are learning about the dangers of GMOs.

And now for the Party? 

The Creative Home & Garden Hop hosts:

Alison from Mumtopia
Mary from Back to the Basics and Mary’s Kitchen
and Lisa from Little Homestead on the Hill and The Self Sufficient HomeAcre

Featured Posts

Each host will share her own features each week. This means you have an even better chance of being picked! Be sure to visit all of our hosts to see if your post was featured!
My Features this week are: 

Best Dairy Goat Breeds for Small Farms from The Free Range Life

Eggnog Ice Cream with Rum Raisin sauce from One Acre Farm

How to Make Holiday Sugar Scrubs from My Lamp is Full

If you were featured, feel free to grab the button and share it on your blog!

<div align="center"><a href="http://littlehomesteadonthehill.blogspot.com/" title="The Little Homestead on the Hill"><img src="http://www.theselfsufficienthomeacre.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/featured-e1374073492382.jpg" alt="The Little Homestead on the Hill" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

Now, on to your latest creations!

• Share up to 3 of your Creative Home and Garden posts. Etsy sellers are welcome to share here too.
• Please link back to the hop in your post. If you don’t take a couple of seconds to do this, you won’t be featured. You can grab our cute button or use a text link in your post. Thanks for sharing the hop with others!
• Pretty please, with cherries on top, go visit as many of the other bloggers posting as you can! The whole point of a hop is to build a community of like minded bloggers who share and support each other. We all love to hear from our visitors, so please leave thoughtful and kind comments when you visit!
• Link your posts once. Please do not link the same post you linked last week! Let’s keep it fresh and fun!
• By linking your posts here you are assuring us that all images and contents are your own, or you have permission to share them. You are also agreeing to let us share your post and images on social media and our blogs.
• Happy hopping!

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**BREAKING NEWS** Update

I had intended to share info on NEW Heirloom Seed varieties @ Mary's Heirloom Seeds but something VERY important has come up.

I follow Spots and Stripes Exotic Rescue on facebook.  This week one of their babies has fallen ill and needed LOTS of medical attention.  
We've been there!   So... My husband and I have decided to donate
 $1 from each Wheatgrass Kits AND $1 from each Heirloom Seed pack from our sales this weekend.  

The cutoff is Monday, December 16th @ 10am EST
Why? because we ship within 24 hours and this will get your order to you by Christmas AND these babies need our help!

Wheatgrass Kit #3 with Container  (3 kits=$3 donation)

Grow your own non-GMO, soil-free Cat Grass!!!
Kit #3 includes:
1 re-useable tray
3 - 4in x 5in coconut coir mat
3 ozs. Organic Hard Red Wheat, non-GMO

Only Kit  #3  includes a re-useable tray.  The first 2 kits ship for less because they are less bulky. Kit #3 makes a great gift for the animal lover in your life!  $13.50 plus shipping



Wheatgrass Kit #2  (3 kits=$3 donation)
Grow your own non-GMO, soil-free Cat Grass!!!
Kit #2 includes:
3 - 4in x 5in coconut coir mat
3 ozs. Organic Hard Red Wheat, non-GMO
*container not included*
$9.50 plus shipping
 check out our Kits


Wheatgrass Kit #1  (1 kit= $1 donation)
Grow your own non-GMO,  soil-free Cat Grass!!!
Kit #1 includes:
1 - 4in x 5in coconut coir mat
1 oz. Organic Hard Red Wheat, non-GMO
*container not included*
$4.50 plus shipping

If you have questions please feel free to ask!

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What is TPP? How does it Effect YOU?

“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use

 to change the world.” ― Nelson Mandela

TPP stands for Trans-Pacific Partnership.  
From Eff.org "The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) is a secretive, multi-national trade agreement that threatens to extend restrictive intellectual property (IP) laws across the globe and rewrite international rules on its enforcement. The main problems are two-fold:
(1) IP chapter: Leaked draft texts of the agreement show that the IP chapter would have extensive negative ramifications for users’ freedom of speech, right to privacy and due process, and hinder peoples' abilities to innovate.
(2) Lack of transparency: The entire process has shut out multi-stakeholder participation and is shrouded in secrecy."

My thoughts: Any Multi-Nation "deal" that might take away more of our rights as Free American People is a bad idea.  The US is riding the razors-edge at the moment but it could tip in either direction.  Civil Wars have been fought over less.

Here's what I mean... from Expose the TPP,  

The Trans-Pacific Partnership Would Undermine Food Safety

The TPP would require us to import meat and poultry that do not meet U.S. food safety standards. 

The TPP would require us to allow food imports if the exporting country claims that their safety regime is "equivalent" to our own, even if it violates the key principles of our food safety laws. These rules would effectively outsource domestic food inspection to other countries.  

Under TPP, any U.S. food safety rule on pesticides, labeling or additives that is higher than international standards would be subject to challenge as "illegal trade barriers." The U.S. would be required to eliminate these rules and allow in the unsafe food, or we would face trade sanctions.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration already inspects less than 1% of all seafood imports for health hazards. Entering into the TPP with Malaysia and Vietnam, both TPP negotiating parties and major seafood exporters, would increase seafood imports and further overwhelm inspectors' limited ability to ensure the safety of our food. Some TPP countries have serious shrimp and fish safety issues. For example, even with the minimal inspections, high levels of contaminants have been found in Vietnam's seafood.

Under the TPP, food labels could also be challenged as "trade barriers." The TPP would impose limits on labels providing information on where a food product comes from. The TPP also would endanger labels identifying genetically modified foods and labels identifying how food was produced. TPP would expand the limits on consumer labels already included in existing "trade" agreements, like the World Trade Organization (WTO). But already under the WTO, the U.S. dolphin-safe tuna fish label and our country-of-origin meat and poultry labels have been successfully attacked by other countries. And, under TPP, a foreign meat processing or food corporation operating within the United States could directly challenge our policies that they claim undermine their expected future profits - meaning a barrage of new attacks. 

Maybe you have seen the "March Against Monsanto" signs, petitions and events that happen around the world in May and October every year.  Maybe you've thought "well this doesn't effect me so I won't worry about it."  

Well, it effects YOU.  It effects ME.  It effects OUR FAMILIES!

The TPP takes away rights that are protected under the Constitution.  THE SAME CONSTITUTION THAT OUR BRAVE MEN AND WOMEN FIGHT AND DIE FOR. 

I urge you to learn more about the TPP and SHARE.  If you're a blogger PLEASE share the info on your own blog and invite others to learn and share.

 “I am not a teacher, but an awakener.” ― Robert Frost

Recycling in Your Garden

There are many way to use recycled goods in your garden...

Recycling in your garden  Mary's Heirloom Seeds NEW! Victory Garden "Ballistic Seed Balls" Seed bombing or aerial reforestation is a technique of introducing vegetation to land by throwing or dropping compressed bundles of soil containing live vegetation, seed balls. How do they work?  (clink the link) Visit our Page Quick Links Compost   Companion Planting  Sprouts! Join Our Mailing List! Are you ready to get a jump on your New Year's Resolutions for your garden?  Let's Go! How do we Recycle? -Compost: Compost is a natural soil amendment and garden fertilizer. It can be made FREE using kitchen scraps. Apple cores, celery or carrots parts, rinds and peels from fruits and veggies...throw it all in there! But don't stop there- also use grass clipping, dead leaves and other yard waste. Not only does composting save money on expensive fertilizers and soil amendments, it keeps all of this "trash" out of your garbage bin and out of landfills. -ReUse: It's not necessary to purchase fancy or expensive containers in the garden.  I prefer to use recycled pots and containers.  For seedlings, I have cleaned (sterilized) yogurt or cottage cheese containers and then poked holes in them for drainage.  When I ran out of plastic I used recycled toilet paper rolls. -Save Water: Using rain water to nourish your garden is another great way to recycle and save money.  Sure you can buy expensive equipment, but recycling is easy! We'd love to hear how You recycle in the garden! "The single greatest lesson the garden teaches is that our relationship to the planet need not be zero-sum, and that as long as the sun still shines and people still can plan and plant, think and do, we can, if we bother to try, find ways to provide for ourselves without diminishing the world. "   --Michael Pollan, The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals HAPPY PLANTING!!!

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Tuesdays with a Twist #36

Good Morning and Happy Tuesday!

We had a relaxing AND productive weekend.

I made more Victory Garden "Ballistic Seed Balls"

Available varieties: Bachelor Button, Marigold and Organic Alfalfa

What are Ballistic Seed Balls?

"Ballistic Seed Balls" are hand rolled balls of life!  Seed bombing or aerial reforestation is a technique of introducing vegetation to land by throwing or dropping compressed bundles of soil containing live vegetation, seed balls.   How do they work? (click the link)

<a href="http://back2basichealth.blogspot.com/"><img border="0" src="http://i1287.photobucket.com/albums/a627/greenmary_smith/ad9dc0c5-5f80-4ed7-a18c-c6e9fb42d156_zpsde41d9bb.jpg"/></a>

Welcome to another No Rules Party!

We're your hosts 

Joyce @ It's Your Life! 

and me...Mary @ Back to the Basics and Mary's Kitchen
And your Co-Hosts
Marci @ Stone Cottage Adventures
And please Welcome Jenn @  Endlessly Inspired

Features!  
Each co-host will be sharing her own picks for Features. This gives everyone a better chance of being featured. Be sure to check all of our blogs to see if you were featured!
  My Features this Week are:

Create Less Waste this Christmas from Taylor-Made Ranch

Making Medicinal Elderberry Syrup from Homespun Seasonal Living

Spiced Holiday Smoothie from Ragdoll Kitchen

The party starts every Tuesday at 7am EST and will continue until Friday at 11:59pm.  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!

Before you go...Please Read!
Our Goal is to raise GMO Free awareness through social and educational programs throughout the country. We would like to build GMO-Free Gardens in schools and for Food Banks to provide nutrients for those in need.We currently work with several local schools to share growing information as well as donations of non-gmo seeds to teachers, students and school staff.

Victory Garden "Ballistic Seed Balls" and How they Work!

Let's talk about Victory Gardens and Seed Balls...

What is a Victory Garden?

The term Victory Garden became popular in the 1940s during World War ll.
Faced with food shortages due to labor and transportation issues, the US government called upon it's citizens to provide their own fruits and vegetables. 

It is estimated that nearly 20 million Americans answered the call.  This initiative not only conserved fuel but generated food which had become a scarcity in both the states and abroad.
Today, there is a renewed interest in Victory Gardening.  With rising fuel and food costs and concerns about overall health, the home gardens and Victory Gardens are back!

What is a Seed Ball?

Seed bombing or aerial reforestation is a technique of introducing vegetation to land by throwing or dropping compressed bundles of soil containing live vegetation, seed balls.

How do they work?
After about three weeks the first seedlings work their way through the seed ball and root into the ground below. The seedlings will then grow into mature plants and face whatever conditions Mother Nature has in store for them. As they grow, more seeds germinate and the seed ball begins to dissolve. This can take days, weeks or months – it depends on the quantity of rainfall. 

Have you ever "Seed Bombed" your garden?  I have and it worked!
I started with these tiny balls of life.  Inside are lots of organic, Non-GMO seeds ready to spring to life after they've been given water and sun.

I started with Marigold Ballistic Seed Balls

I decided to "seed bomb" a few containers so that I knew

 exactly where the seed balls went. 

Pepper pot #1

 

Pepper Pot #2

 After a few weeks I have marigold in my pepper pots.  We had LOTS of rain for a solid 2 weeks so I didn't think the little seedlings would survive but they made it.  AND I saw a squirrel in one of these pots the other day digging them up! UGH!

Considering the crazy rain and the garden pests this "seed bombing" experiment was a success!

Would you like to create your own Victory Garden?   
Mary's Heirloom Seeds now offers Victory Garden "Ballistic Seed Balls."

Orders of Mary's Victory Garden Ballistic Seed Balls may take up to 3 days to ship.
All of the seeds used are non-GMO, untreated, organic seeds. 

Ballistic Seed Balls are available in packs of 2, 6 or 12. 
These flower garden kits are sure to attract novice and expert gardeners alike - and flying creatures too! Whether planted in the yard, in containers, or in an outdoor window box, these seed collections will create a vibrant spectacle that would make any gardener proud and flying creatures happy.
Hand-rolled  in the USA.  

Available varieties: Bachelor Button, Marigold and Alfalfa

 

The Creative Home & Garden Hop #21

Good Morning and Happy Sunday!

Another early morning walk @ the beach

I decided to take a break from the Farmer's Market for the month of December.  It doesn't mean I'm sleeping in...Just that I don't have to be out in my booth all day Saturday and Sunday.  This means I'll have a little more "me time" and time for the blog.  
It also means my first REAL day off in almost 4 months.

Did you know we've created a Seeds of the Month Club?

I sent out a bunch of new orders yesterday of Heirloom Seeds.  I am thrilled that more and more people are learning about the dangers of GMOs.

And now for the Party? 

Welcome to the New and Improved Blog Hop!

The Creative Home & Garden Hop hosts:

Alison from Mumtopia
Mary from Back to the Basics and Mary’s Kitchen
and Lisa from Little Homestead on the Hill and The Self Sufficient HomeAcre

Featured Posts

Each host will share her own features each week. This means you have an even better chance of being picked! Be sure to visit all of our hosts to see if your post was featured!
My Features this week are: 

I love when people try new things!

Visit to a Century Old Farm Orchards from Summers Acres

If you were featured, feel free to grab the button and share it on your blog!

<div align="center"><a href="http://littlehomesteadonthehill.blogspot.com/" title="The Little Homestead on the Hill"><img src="http://www.theselfsufficienthomeacre.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/featured-e1374073492382.jpg" alt="The Little Homestead on the Hill" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

Now, on to your latest creations!

• Share up to 3 of your Creative Home and Garden posts. Etsy sellers are welcome to share here too.
• Please link back to the hop in your post. If you don’t take a couple of seconds to do this, you won’t be featured. You can grab our cute button or use a text link in your post. Thanks for sharing the hop with others!
• Pretty please, with cherries on top, go visit as many of the other bloggers posting as you can! The whole point of a hop is to build a community of like minded bloggers who share and support each other. We all love to hear from our visitors, so please leave thoughtful and kind comments when you visit!
• Link your posts once. Please do not link the same post you linked last week! Let’s keep it fresh and fun!
• By linking your posts here you are assuring us that all images and contents are your own, or you have permission to share them. You are also agreeing to let us share your post and images on social media and our blogs.
• Happy hopping!

<div align="center"><a href="http://littlehomesteadonthehill.blogspot.com/" title="Little Homestead on the Hill"><img src="http://www.theselfsufficienthomeacre.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/IMG_7782-001-e1374069167884.jpg" alt="Little Homestead on the Hill" style="border:none;" /></a></div>