Having a plan either in life or in the garden makes things easier. It gets you from point a to point b or point z much easier. It can also minimize surprises, like planting 10 zucchini plants and almost filling your bathroom with zucchinis (for my market garden I only plant 10-15 plants and it’s…
Author: Pumpkinist Lora
I have a 3 acre pumpkin patch in Manitoba and also have 1/2 acre of veggies, garlic and flowers. I have 5 cats: Eddie, Java, Dac, Lexi, and Gracie. I love coffee and being creative. Be kind!
Starting Seeds Indoors
In this post I described everything you need to start seeds inside. Now that you have everything for seed starting what’s next? When do you start seeds? How can you make sure you have successful germination and strong healthy seedlings. When to start seeds? Most seed packets will give you information on when to start…
Starting Seeds Indoors: Set Up and Supplies
You have the seeds and you have them organized, now what? Before planting them you need to make sure you have all the supplies for successful germination and growing. Seedlings without proper light will get leggy and weak which will make for a unsightly plant that may not survive when planted out. Not having a…
The Robotic Gardener
I have been a gardener for over 35 years and my style is “I know, therefore I do”. When writing blog posts trying to dissect the why of what I do can be challenging. I know what I’m doing, but trying to explain to someone why I’m doing it makes me do a lot of…
Stratification of Seeds…Tricking Seeds
Stratification is simply tricking seeds into growing/germinating, in simple terms. It is creating an artificial winter and than creating an artificial spring. Some seeds need to be cold for a few weeks to months before they will germinate. A way to mimic winter is to put seeds into the fridge and than growing them under…
Start Indoors or Direct Seed
Some seeds need to be started indoors and some can be direct seeded in the garden. If you don’t have an indoor plant room or don’t care to start seeds indoors Penner Pumpkins Farm Store sells a wide range of plants online. Lorissa plans to have the website up and running by the end of…
Storing and Organizing Seeds
Seeds can be stored so that they are viable for a few years. The key is to make sure they stay dry, are kept in a cool and dark location. I store my seeds in zip lock bags, medicine and vitamin bottles, and plastic containers(my local thrift store sells yogurt, margarine, sour cream etc containers)….
Reading Seed Packets
Some seed packets have a wealth of information on them and some seed packets are bare bones. What does all the wording and numbers on the seed package mean? The year is when the seeds were packaged. 2020 means it was packaged last year. The yellow box contains information on planting. A tip for planting…
Seed Companies, Ordering Seeds
There are tons of seed companies out there. I have found my favorites and continue to order from those year after year. Occasionally I will try a new seed company if I need a certain seed and my major seed companies don’t carry it. What companies do I use? Stokes Seeds and Siegers (which is…
Ordering Seeds Online
Having a 3.5 acre garden I order a lot of seeds. I also use a lot of different companies so I can get the varieties I want and because of price. So how do you know which seed company to order from? Check out what kind of seeds the company sells. Heirlooms, hybrids, open pollinated,…
Pumpkinist Lora 