I’ll make this brief so we can get to the good stuff, which is Free Seeds.
Something happened a couple months ago when I started getting death threats for writing this blog. I had my own “put up or shut up” moment and realized that, in writing here, despite what I’d been telling myself about how this blog was just my hobby, I had accidentally created for myself an awesome job, and I had two choices: quit and lick my wounds because sometimes people are jerks, or respect this gig for what it really is.
After the douche-waffle thing, I took a few weeks off and really thought about what the hell I was doing here. In the end I decided that, if the Universe hands you the opportunity for your dream job, you take it and you work hard and you don’t complain. That snapped me out of a kinda anti-consumerist delusion I’d been operating under, this idea that I would be a complete fraud if I got compensated at all for the inordinate time, effort and expense it takes to make this blog happen.
So, anyway, long-story-short, now I have a sponsor. No – I have the best sponsor. When you are a little advertising shy like me, it helps when your first and only sponsor is a small, friendly, super-ethical seed house that believes in the exact same things you do.
Meet High Mowing Organic Seeds
High Mowing Organic Seeds is my new sponsor. They are a 100% organic, GMO-free, farm-based seed house. They are located in Vermont, and grow and trial many of their varieties in-house, but also have partner organic seed growers in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, California, Vermont, and New York.
I love them, and here’s why. High Mowing is doing something really important – they are aggressively developing more varieties of seeds that are successful for organic growers. That matters for two reasons.
The Selfish Reason – Organic Adaptation: You know how people talk about how heirlooms are awesome because they have become adapted to certain conditions over generations of seed-saving? Well, the organic thing is no different. Seeds grown from organically grown plants carry genetics that make them better adapted to successful organic culture in the garden or in the field.
Conventionally grown seeds come from plants that probably grew well with a lot of help from high doses of very strong chemical fertilizers, fungicides and herbicides. But you aren’t growing your veggies that way, so why buy seed that is adapted to that culture when organic seeds are more likely to thrive under the backyard organic conditions you’re providing?
The Big Picture Reason – Look, most people growing vegetable seeds are decent folk, but the regulations regarding what can be sprayed on seed crops is far more lenient than what exists for crops grown for human or animal feed consumption. Because of this, it’s pretty easy to spray stuff on your seed crops that you’d never be able to spray on your food crop. The Oregon Department of Agriculture, as an example, grants Special Local Need (SLN) pesticide registrations for crops grown for seed. These give the grower carte blanche to spray…um, basically whatever…as long as they include this message on the wholesale tag:
“This seed was produced using one or more products for which the United States Environmental Protection Agency has not established pesticide residue tolerances. This seed, in whole, as sprouts, or in any form, may not be used for human consumption or animal feed. Failure to comply with this condition may violate the requirements of the Federal Food and Drug Administration, the Oregon Department of Agriculture, and other regulatory agencies.”
That’s just not very comforting, is it?
Stuff like this makes me feel like insisting on organic growing methodologies from seed-to-sandwich isn’t nearly so paranoid as it might seem. And that’s where High Mowing comes in. 100% organic seed production means none of their products are part of the problem, and – in fact – by pushing more seed crop land into organic production, supporting their seeds is nudging acreage towards the solution.
Win Free High Mowing Organic Seeds
Okay, back to selfish…High Mowing is starting off their sponsorship here at NW Edible with a bang by giving away one of their 100% Organic Garden Starter Collections to one lucky reader.
The High Mowing Garden Starter Collection includes 10 seed packets of adaptable, easy-to-grow, organic vegetable varieties (I’ve grown most of these very successfully in the Pac NW) and – bonus!- it comes in a fab, reusable box.
This collection includes one packet each of:
- Provider Bush Bean
- Detroit Dark Red Beet
- Danvers 126 Carrot
- Marketmore 76 Cucumber
- High Mowing Mild Mix
- Gourmet Lettuce Mix
- Cascadia Snap Pea
- Cherry Belle Radish
- Sweet Basil
- Dark Orange Calendula
This collection is valued at $27.50. One lucky winner will get the whole collection for free.
To enter to win, leave a comment on this blog post telling me what vegetable you have the most trouble growing. (Mine is carrots, which is why I am excited to see if this rust fly resistant carrot lives up to the hype.) The winner will be notified by email.
Contest open until Thursday, January 9th at 8:00 PM PST. Contest open to US residents only due to shipping regulations.
Thank you to High Mowing for sponsoring this giveaway. I encourage you guys to go check out High Mowing and request a free catalog. See if you like what you see.
Good luck everyone!
Update: Contest now closed. Thank you to everyone who entered, and to High Mowing for sponsoring this giveaway. Congratulations to winner Joy D, who said, “I started gardening in a field claimed as a community plot for gardeners. Therefore the root veggies were/are the hardest. (I could find no one with a rototiller. When I was a kid my Dad was busy with his rototiller every day after he came home from his job until dark. Helping everyone he could to get a good start in their gardening.)”
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What do I have trouble growing? Don’t say “WHAT!!!!! You cant grow squash?” I have these evil bugs just waiting to bite into my first squash, and my vines just scribbles up. Sad.
Tomatoes. I’ve had problems the last couple years. And I LOVE them.
Tomatillos. My seedlings fail and I then end up purchasing plants. The plants grow great, lots of husks develop but very little of the fruit gets big enough to harvest.
For some reason my peas don’t do well. I tried to grow sugar snap and shelling peas. They both did poorly. But I’m going to keep trying.
Another excellent article as usual – we so appreciate your wisdom and shared experiences. I’m so glad you got a sponsor – I’ll check them out. Thank you.
Thanks dr. Dave! That really means a lot – I was nervous about monetization, but High Mowing is company that is very easy to feel great about partnering with.
Corn. I think I missed the small print. Should I have pollinated something?
I can’t seem to get anything in the melon family to grow! I’ve tried letting them wander and even on a trellis. No matter what I do they stop growing and get all mushy! I will keep at it though!
Hey Jessica,
Erica helped me with my melon issue, and held my hand ( through many many emails) to teach me how to grow them in containers. The trick for me was a combo of silver reflective mulch, and heat sinks. All I can tell you is as always she was right! Good luck!
Cauliflower. I just can’t seem to get it to work here in Northern Mississippi and my boys love it. Ordered a new book geared more to Southern gardening so maybe that will help. With our heat and humidity a lot of things you could grow would just shrivel up here.
Hello Sukie:
May just be too hot there. If you want a really good source for info on possible problems try getting the Stokes Seeds (www.StokesSeeds.com) catalog. Stokes is a big commercial seed supplier in the NE USA and Canada. The beauty of their catalog is they give a lot of growing info for all the seeds they sell. They germination test all their seeds in soil and print the results on the package which is nice when you are trying to get a certain number of plants without ending up with enough for the Red Army. They also specialize in among other things, cauliflower. While Stokes is a commercial house they also sell a lot of O/P, heirloom, and untreated seeds including most of the stuff listed in the prize pack if that’s what floats your boat. I’ve been ordering from Stokes for over 20 years with great results. I live in Chestermere, Alberta, Canada. We have a very short growing season and their catalog helps me to pick stuff that has a chance of maturing. On the bright side our cold winters suppress many of the bug problems you guys have. Good luck with the cauliflower!
I’m fighting with growing potatoes. My last (and first) two seasons I didn’t even get back what I planted. Had them in ground, buckets and cages with same bad results.
Zucchini has been the hardest for me this past year at our new home. Tomato’s, peppers (all sorts), and even corn did well, but my zucchini just had the blossoms and no fruit! It was weird!
Try planting borage near your zucchini and cucumbers and they will get pollinated better. The bees can’t resist borage.
Bell peppers grow but never get to a decent size. Hot peppers always do great. Zone 8.5.
The aphids love our Brocolli as much as we do.
Keep up the good work!
I have problems growing carrots too! I live in the Ohio valley and have a lot of clay in the soil. I try to lighten it but still haven’t figured out how to get it right. Btw, I love your blog and admire your writing. You should not feel guilty about having a sponsor. High Mowing Seeds has an excellent reputation and I’m sure many of you followers appreciate the care you took in researching their growing methods — I do. You have inspired me over the last several months when I have faced some challenges. I have a home based cottage bakery and grow as much of my own ingredients as possible and rely on organic certified and fair trade certified for the rest. Sometimes I doubt the financial wisdom of sticking to my principles but then I read one of your posts and I realize that stubbornly holding on to my personal ethics is the most important and essential thing to do. Thanks, Erica
Thank you Cathy. That means so much.
I always thought cucumbers were the easiest thing to grow but two years in a row I had some kind of wilt or disease that wiped them out overnight. I also have a hard time getting beets to get big quickly, they get kinda woody before they get big for me….
Winter squash. I know the reason: squash vine borer grubs. Just haven’t figured a way to outwit the moths that lay the eggs that become the #$%@! grubs. Zone 5A, central New York State.
I have problems with peas. Something in my backyard loves eating them as much a I do. They usually get them first! 🙂
I can only pick one veggie that’s the bane of my existence? I guess that would have to be tomatoes. All its relatives too, like peppers and eggplant. I’ve never gotten a crop of Brussels sprouts or cauliflower either.
I have trouble growing cucumbers. For the last three seasons they just seem to get only as big as my thumb and then the wilt and die. Also, my zucchini doesn’t grow to full length. My tomatoes do seem to grow fairly well. I don’t know if it is the Indiana weather or I just don’t have a green thumb.
I’ve had the most trouble with sweet peppers. Hot peppers are no problem, but I haven’t had great luck with the bell peppers. Or tomatoes for that matter. Nematodes!! <>
My garden failure is squash. In my hot humid climate if the squash vine borers don’t get it, then it is powdery mildew. I have tried everything I have seen recommended to prevent the borers but they always find a way.
I live in Florida and I have a lot of problems with Zuchini. The bee population has been decimated and I try to manually pollinate but to no avail.
I have problems with broccoli!
My most frustrating has been tomatoes, though I do get a lot each year. Nematodes here too, I’m afraid. Also have had almost zero success with carrots.
I have trouble with peas and carrots, also squash. Beautiful flowers…no fruit even though we have soooo many bees.
I have trouble growing winter squash (due to squash vine borers) except on the rare occasion that it grows on its own out of the compost bin. Why the borers discriminate against compost bin squash is beyond me, but alas the compost squash is usually “mystery” summer squash. So I make gazillions of mystery summer squash(aka zucchini) muffins…
Interesting. Possibly there is enough other life (SVB predators, etc) in the compost that it’s hard for the SBV to get up to damaging levels? Just tossing out ideas. I have made many mystery squash muffins too – I know exactly what you mean.
The other possibility that occurs to me is the compost pile is either too hot for the SCB worms, or for the wggs that hatch them. If the heat kills the eggs off, the worms will bever hatch.
You may want to consider deliberately planting your winter squash in a bed on top of the compost pile. I’d love to hear how that turns out if you try it.
Carrots, I cannot get carrots to grow. The tops get absolutely beautiful but there is never any size to the carrots when I pull them.
Tomatoes…… always stay green, they get cracks and bugs before the even start to ripen 🙁
Anything the rabbits like to eat, and parsnips.
Well, I guess it would have to be squash b/c the vine borers got them all last year. A close second would be brassicas that were devoured by cabbage worms.
Lately it’s sweet potatoes. I think the spot I picked at our new house is too much clay and needs some serious revamping.
I’d like to say “everything” since three months after we moved in I planted my lovely little seedlings I cuddled and watered from seed inside….. and the deer promptly mowed everything down in one night. This was AFTER I built a 9 ft tall deer fence enclosing my 100×50 ft garden area.
Mike, We have deer, too. They are so comfortable living around people that they stand right next to our house and stare in our windows.
Our garden fence solution: double it. (Not height ~ this works even when the fence is low.) Make two parallel layers, an inner fence and an outer fence aroubd yiur garden, about three to four feet apart, meaning far enough apart that they can’t clear both fences at once and close enough together that there’s not enough room for them to land in between. Our sweet deer just stand there wishing.
To compensate them for being cooperative, we provide treats in another part of our yard.
Cucumbers hands down. We have a short growing season, and rather than cucumbers, I end up with mini shrumpled gherkins.
i haven’t been able to have a garden for the last few years and this year i finally can!!! hope i win the seeds and then hopefully i won’t have trouble with anything!
Cukes. There are so many diseases and pests, we only get a few per year even though we plant many varieties.
Cauliflower and broccoli – problems with bolting i’ve had, and bugs causing holes in leaves!
I can’t grow broccoli. Weather here in southern new england goes from cold to hot way too fast. It bolts every year. Since we like broccoli a lot, I keep trying. This year, I’ll try growing it for a fall harvest.
Ever since we moved out to the country I have a hard time with cabbage. In the city they grew magnificently. 🙁 I will keep trying though. Thanks for the great giveaway and for plugging along. I just found your blog and I enjoy your posts. Keep up the great work!
Beets.
I have trouble getting lettuce growing. Have considered buying it already started at the garden center and crossing fingers from there, but would really feel accomplished to start and grow my own from seed……
Carrots, they are my nemesis. And corn, earwigs earwigs and more earwigs. Thank you Erica!
I have a hard time growing carrots and radishes! I thought they were supposed to be the easy crops! I think my problem is I just keep trying to Incorporate them with other plants as a filler so they never get the attention they need. Also starting seeds in general, I don’t gave a green house so I use the laundry room and my roommate is continuously moving them out of the light, so that is a whole other task to deal with. I’m glad you gave such a great sponsor and that you didn’t give up and pack out, this blog has helped me tremendously even though I am in the Bay Area in California.
Daikon never makes it in my garden. It’s apparently delicious to the flea beetles around here. I’ve tried neem oil, insecticidal soap etc. No luck.
We’ve used High Mowing seeds and they pretty much all produced fantastic results! Had the most trouble with corn we tried last year in NorCal, and a little trouble with super super hot peppers damping off. Take a look at our little microfarm at https://www.facebook.com/SelassieSprings. Hope to win some seeds for our next plantings!
Last year my bell peppers and snap peas bombed, had tomatoes and zukes coming out the whazoo though!
My Bell Peppers never make it much larger than golf balls. I’d love some that grow to a decent size here in the PNW, or at least, advice on how to get them to. Love what the new sponsor is offering. Seeds without all the chemicals – Yay!!
Love your blog, I found you via a link from High Mowing seeds!! My trouble is always with tomatoes.. Every year something else goes wrong, usually the leaves disappear before they get larger than a golf ball. This year we have a new house and will put in a new garden so I am hopeful that this is the year!
I have trouble growing zucchini or any squash for that matter. I planted 12 squash plants last year and got maybe 5 wimpy zucchini for my efforts. The plants just never took off, and any that grew even a little got eaten by bugs. I’ve not had any luck in the past with zucchini either though, so it may be something I’m doing wrong. My husband says I’m the first person he’s ever seen that can’t grow zucchini.
I have trouble growing pumpkins. I live in the Southeast where we have to truck our pumpkins in from northern states, but each year I’ve battled either squash bugs or to much water or something. In my 5 years of growing, I’ve only had 2 successful pie pumpkins.. But that’s not going to stop me! I will keep finding a way until I can grow pumpkins. So excited to hear about ‘High Mowing Organic Seeds’– I’ve been looking to broaden my organic corn seed selection. Thanks!
I’m a huge high mowing fan! I’ve struggled with getting artichokes to produce, and even after overwintering last year I’m afraid this deep freeze is going to se me back to zero.
Bell Peppers. Every year I try. Every year I fail.
We’ve had terrible trouble trying to grow corn! The best corn we grew was 1 stalk, it grew in our cow pen , after it was taken to butcher,lol. I guess manure is the best fertilizer!