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It's planting time!  We want you to be successful when starting your seeds.  Here are a few tips to remember when you get to growing your seeds: The basics of seed germination: Healthy seeds are little protected packets of everything a plant needs to get off to a great start.  As a survival mechanism, seeds are dormant and protected by a hard seed coat until the right conditions arrive for them to grow.  They've evolved this as a protection, otherwise they would germinate in unfavorable conditions. When we germinate the seeds for our garden, we strive to create just the...

Giving Ground Seeds has joined the Open Source Seed Initiative as a seed company partner.  This means we are growing and offering some OSSI pledged varieties and are committed to promoting the ideals of the Open Source Seed Initiative.  We love this organization and we'll be growing and offering even more OSSI pledged varieties in the future.  The mission is simple- keep seeds and their genetics free from patents.  Pledged OSSI varieties are free to be used by anyone for any purpose- growing, seed saving, breeding, sharing, trialing, publishing information about, and selling.  Plant can breeders pledge varieties or plant...

This week Homero Gomez, a leading activist for monarch butterflies in Mexico, was found dead in a well in Michoacan.  Homero was an outspoken advocate for the monarch and fought for the protection of their vital overwintering habitat in Michoacan state, where millions of butterflies journey each year from Canada seeking the shelter and warmth of old-growth trees.  Though cause of death is still not known, Gomez disappearance one week prior to his death led to speculation of his being a target of illegal logging operations in the area.   Michoacan state is home to Mexico's largest butterfly reserve, El Rosario...

'Thelma Sanders' Acorn Squash- Cucurbita pepo What an impressive little heirloom. These girls totally got the shaft in my garden this year, but they never seemed to notice. They were planted in the partial shade of a mugo pine, near the grassy perimeter of the garden, and more densely than I would have liked. Still they performed great! They got an average of 6 hours of full sun each day. I planted four 18” diameter mounds, thinning to 2-3 plants per mound. The mounds were 3' apart. The vines were vigorous and all stayed healthy, no squash bugs or the...

10 Steps to Great GarlicFall is the time to plant garlic and shallots!Growing great garlic is a relatively simple, follow these few steps will have you turning out beautiful heads next summer!1.  Plant individual cloves with the root side down 2-3 inches deep and 12" apart September through November, depending on your climate.  Wait until after your first frost, but before the ground freezes.  It's a pretty forgiving time frame compared to other crops, but garlic that has had a little time to get roots growing will be more frost tolerant when it comes time for deep freezes.  Cloves planted...