bought seeds yesterday

[plantsnobin]

My husband was rained out of work, I wanted to get out of the house so we went to Rurual King-yes, we are that pathetic. I don't usually even look at seed racks at stores, but I was surprised at what they had. I picked up a few things, Japanese Hulless popcorn and a few other things. But what really surprised me was that they had cotton seeds. Here I thought that seed companies weren't supposed to ship to Indiana, and they have it on the shelves. I guess my only point is that even box stores are carrying the good stuff now, so there must be a good demand for the good stuff. People really are coming around to growing their own. Maybe it is because of the bad economy, maybe because they realize homegrown tastes better and is better for them. Whatever the reason, it's a good thing.

[bluelacedredhead]

Karen, I wish the seed racks were out here. One of the big box stores advertised an Indoor Plant sale here last weekend. I went hoping that along with indoor plants, they would have the garden seeds out. No such luck. I did however, buy a bag of starter mix.

When I worked retail hardware, we had a rack from a Canadian seed supplier that sells a lot of heirloom varieties. But as heirlooms became trendy, I was dismayed to find that the seed rack sent to our little rural store no longer contained the Heirlooms. Instead, it was rife with Hybrid varieties. Turned out, the company was sending the Heirloom varieties to large stores in urban areas where they were assured the sales.

May I ask why Cotton is not to be shipped north? Does this go back to the times when the South relied solely on Cotton as a way of life?

[PatrickW]

I guess Indiana is not exactly the right climate for cotton? It's strange they would sell cotton seeds.

You see that sometimes here too. For example, it's almost impossible to grow melons of any kind here. You might get a very early watermelon to grow here, like Blacktail Mountain, but even that's a maybe. That doesn't however stop seed stores from selling commercial (water)melon seeds.

I think the reason you are seeing more heirloom seeds is people are refusing to buy commercial F1s. Even here where it's nearly illegal for a store to sell anything but F1s, people are getting fed up with them.

Unless you guys are active on blogs outside this forum, you might not know, but no serious gardening blogs have anything but heirloom varieties these days. Even the president's vegetable garden has mostly OP varieties.

If you only grow commercial F1s in your garden, you don't have any seeds to share, you don't have anything exciting to take pictures of, in fact there's a pretty good chance you won't really grow anything interesting. In short, you find yourself isolated from the rest of the garden blogging world.

Anyone know about any serious forums where they discuss commercial varieties? Maybe what chemicals to use in your garden? I don't know of any, but of course that doesn't mean they don't exist.

[mjc]

Jan 21, 2010 10:49:53 GMT -5 PatrickW said:

Anyone know about any serious forums where they discuss commercial varieties? Maybe what chemicals to use in your garden? I don't know of any, but of course that doesn't mean they don't exist.

Huh? Monsnato has forums?

Well, not gardening but some of the agricultural places are definitely 'pro-hybrid'.

[sandbar]

Karen, if you haven't grown Japanese Hulless popcorn before, you will be very satisfied with your crop. It's the only kind of popcorn I grow and we really enjoy it. It's a white corn (which I prefer) and I can't remember ever having a hull stuck in my gums after eating it.

No Rural Kings around here ... may have to stop by TSC.

[flowerpower]

The TSC around here only carries Ferry Morse seed. I see that Agway had seed out all year. It was only one rack. But at least it was Botanical Oddities. And the majority of the varieties are OP.

I did see some lady on another forum say she is growing only[/] hybrid maters. Her reason is that heirlooms do not produce as well. Uh ok lol

[sandyloam]

Karen,

Wow, cotton seeds at Rural King? One year I tried to grow a small row of cotton plants in Dubois area. Started them under lights, transplanted, etc, one or two bolls ripened. It's been long enough ago that I don't have records of the season. One year some store in Jasper had seed peanuts in bulk. Boy, the deer loved 'em, and the groundhogs, and the wild turkey; a garden in that area was a real buffet for wildlife. Now I want to go to town just to see what silliness our local Rural King has in the racks up in the northern part of the state where I currently kill plants.

Pinetree Garden Seeds was really speedy on seed delivery - couple of days from ordering on line, so onions, cabbage & leeks are coming up under lights. Fedco is a bit slower, awaiting more varieties of onions and leeks from them.

Local nursery had a small rack, really a box of seeds, from Baker Creek last week; no variety I really wanted, but interesting to note. Now if I could just find a packet of Capucijner Peas. . .TSC is usually worthless for seeds, unless something odd slips in the mix in a given year, but I am picky on varieties.

No big box store transplants for me this year, including Rural King. "Bonnie" ain't so bonny anymore - bugs and blight last year. I'm sticking to the local nursery and raising my own transplants.

Sara

[plantsnobin]

Sara-You are from Dubois??? I live in Paoli. It was the Jasper Rural King that we went to. They also had peanut seeds for sale, but I already have peanut for this year. Welcome to our forum . Always nice to hear from local folks.