Seedy Saturday Haul

{part of the North Bay Horticultural Society table}

I had a fruitful, albeit short adventure at the North Bay Seed Exchange & Eco Fair. Unfortunately I had to do my rounds before the event officially opened, so there were some vendors I missed. However, I came home with awesome seeds from both the exchange and vendors, some raspberry leaf tea, and got to catch up with folks and meet some others.

{Isabelle Legault of Field Good Farms}

One of the people I was chatting up a storm with was Isabelle Legault {who I also purchased the raspberry leaf tea from} of Field Good Farms. Isabelle is a good example of why small farm folk are kickass. She is warm, knowledgeable, and extremely passionate about sustainable and ethical agriculture. It makes me giddy to see so many people like her coming back here to the North to carry on the ways of their ancestors.

{the haul}

As for what I actually came home with...

From the seed exchange I got Potimarron squash, Summer Ball zucchini/pumpkin hybrid, Orca bush beans, Rouge d'Hiver lettuce, Scarlet Globe radish, Black Krim tomato, Cherry Red Pear tomato, San Marazano Roma tomato, Tigerella tomato, Orange Blossom tomato, hot banana pepper, Scotch thistle, lavetera, and datura {light purple}.

I also purchase some seeds from Midlothian Valley Farm. I got Scarlet Runner beans, orange and red bell peppers, and Painted Mountain & Pickaniny corn.

:D

Sláinte!

Laurel

Veggies Owned by Monsanto {!!!}

I got a link from a Near North Locavore member to a blog post entitled Forewarned is Forearmed: Veggies Owned by Monsanto. The post lists all of the vegetable varieties that are apparently owned by Seminis, a company purchased by Monsanto a few years back. I had a look and my jaw dropped. Get a load of this:

Beans: Aliconte, Brio, Bronco, Cadillac, Ebro, Etna, Eureka, Festina, Gina, Goldmine, Goldenchild, Labrador, Lynx, Magnum, Matador, Spartacus, Storm, Strike, Stringless Blue Lake 7, Tapia, Tema

Broccoli: Coronado Crown, Major, Packman

Cabbage: Atlantis, Golden Acre, Headstart, Platinum Dynasty, Red Dynasty

Carrot: Bilbo, Envy, Forto, Juliana, Karina, Koroda PS, Royal Chantenay, Sweetness III

Cauliflower: Cheddar, Minuteman

Cucumber: Babylon, Cool Breeze Imp., Dasher II, Emporator, Eureka, Fanfare HG, Marketmore 76*, Mathilde, Moctezuma, Orient Express II, Peal, Poinsett 76, Salad Bush, Sweet Slice, Sweet Success PS, Talladega

Eggplant: Black Beauty, Fairytale, Gretel, Hansel, Lavender Touch, Twinkle, White Lightening

Hot Pepper: Anaheim TMR 23, Ancho Saint Martin, Big Bomb, Big Chile brand of Sahuaro, Caribbean Red, Cayenne Large Red Thick, Chichen Itza, Chichimeca, Corcel, Garden Salsa SG, Habanero, Holy Mole brand of Salvatierro, Hungarian Yellow Wax Hot, Ixtapa X3R, Lapid, Mariachi brand of Rio de Oro, Mesilla, Milta, Mucho Nacho brand of Grande, Nainari, Serrano del Sol brand of Tuxtlas, Super Chile, Tam Vera Cruz

Lettuce: Braveheart, Conquistador

Melon: Early Dew, Sante Fe, Saturno

Onion: Candy, Cannonball, Century, Red Zeppelin, Savannah Sweet, Sierra Blanca, Sterling, Vision

Pumpkin: Applachian, Harvest Moon, Jamboree HG, Orange Smoothie, Phantom, Prize Winner, Rumbo, Snackface, Spirit, Spooktacular, Trickster

Spinach: Hellcat

Squash: Ambassador, Canesi, Clarita, Commander, Dixie, Early Butternut, Gold Rush, Grey Zucchini, Greyzini, Lolita, Papaya Pear, Peter Pan, Portofino, President, Richgreen Hybrid Zucchini, Storr’s Green, Sungreen, Sunny Delight, Taybelle PM

Sweet Corn: Devotion, Fantasia, Merit, Obession, Passion, Temptation

Sweet Pepper: Baron, Bell Boy, Big Bertha PS, Biscayne, Blushing Beauty, Bounty, California Wonder 300, Camelot, Capistrano, Cherry Pick, Chocolate Beauty, Corno Verde, Cubanelle W, Dumpling brand of Pritavit, Early Sunsation, Flexum, Fooled You brand of Dulce, Giant Marconi, Gypsy, Jumper, Key West, King Arthur, North Star, Orange Blaze, Pimiento Elite, Red Knight, Satsuma, Socrates, Super Heavyweight, Sweet Spot

Tomato: Amsterdam, Beefmaster, Betterboy, Big Beef, Burpee’s Big Boy, Caramba, Celebrity, Cupid, Early Girl, Granny Smith, Health Kick, Husky Cherry Red, Jetsetter brand of Jack, Lemon Boy, Margharita, Margo, Marmande VF PS, Marmara, Patio, Phoenix, Poseidon 43, Roma VF, Royesta, Sun Sugar, Super Marzano, Sweet Baby Girl, Tiffany, Tye-Dye, Viva Italia, Yaqui

Watermelon: Apollo, Charleston Grey, Crimson Glory, Crimson Sweet, Eureka, Jade Star, Mickylee, Olympia

* Marketmore 76 is a very old cucumber-variety. If you are ordering it from a seller of heirloom veggies, check with the dealer to make sure the seeds were not purchased from Seminis/Monsanto. If you buy the seeds from a big-box garden center, odds are they were purchased from the evil empire.

{list thanks to Kevin Lee Jacobs}

Well shit, I have purchased more than one off that list. Fuckers will definitely not be getting my money again. And to be clear, no one is claiming {from what I have seen anyway} that these varieties are GMOs, however they are owned by a company who creates other GMOs. That and Monsanto is in the business of suing farmers for having their patented crops in their fields due to cross-pollination, contaminating organic crops for the same reason, threatening biodiversity of crops, and a whole host of other evil shit.

*rant done*

Kevin Lee Jacobs is right: Forewarned is forearmed. Help spread the word folks! You can double check the list right from the company website.

Sláinte!

Laurel

Favourite Ontario Seed & Plant Suppliers

{royalty free photo}

With tomorrow's local seed exchange coming up, I have been taking stock of what we have for our own garden and figuring out what we want to add to our wish list. I am sure that we will be able to find some of what we are looking for, and there will probably be some surprise additions too. What we can't find at the seed exchange will be purchased from our favourite seed and plant suppliers.

I thought that I would share some of them with our readers and recommend you check them out too.

Plants

Commanda Country Gardens is located in Powassan Ontario, and customers can either go to their beautiful farm or to the North Bay Farmers' Market to purchase the hardy perennials that Jim & Judy Merrick sell. At least half of our perennials are from them, and the owners are very helpful to answer questions and make suggestions. When it came to our first garden in North Bay, their advice was especially helpful. Coming to a colder climate and only having a balcony, it was largely thanks to their great tips on how to over-winter our container garden that it had survived {!!!}.

If I can't get what I am looking for from Commanda Country Gardens, then I will likely purchase them from Richters located in Goodwood Ontario. The drive would be a tad far for me, so I get them online and have them mailed. You can find just about anything your little heart desires there, along with dried herbs and seeds too.

Seeds

The seed company that I have been buying from the longest is Urban Harvest, since I had my first personal garden in Toronto. They have an excellent selection of organic & heirloom seeds, from edibles to useful ornamentals.

Also in Toronto is Cubit's; they have an Etsy shop where you can purchase rare, heirloom and organic seeds.

I have mentioned local Soggy Creek Seed Co. a few times, but the goodness that they grow is worth mentioning time and time again. They still have the prettiest seed packages out there and just about every type of seed they sell is now a staple in our garden.

The Cottage Gardener has a slew of different organic and heirloom vegetable seeds, along with historic herbs and flowers.

And then there is Terra Edibles that has one of the best selections of heirloom tomato seeds that I have personally witnessed. They also carry other great veggie and flower seeds.

Sláinte!

Laurel

Luverly of the Week: Great Horned Owl by Brendan Lally

{original photo by Brendan Lally}

Introducing Unfettered Wood & Some Updates

In a somewhat plodding fashion I have been working on a project that I have been planning for a long time now. Finally after smoothing out some final details I am now offering my folk magic services to the wider public.

If you are interested in finding out more, please feel free to check out the Unfettered Wood website. I have also created a blog for Unfettered Wood, which people might be interested in reading, even if only for the information about Paganism and witchcraft {content coming soon!}.


Between that, preparing for the upcoming growing season and Imbolc, I have had little time to get into too much trouble!

We still have what has seem to become our "central" altar set up for Imbolc, leaving Brigid her daily offerings there instead of in kitchen, which is the usual station for her wee shrine.


On the Eve of Imbolc I left out a some offerings along with some items in the hopes that Brigid would stop by and bless them on the balcony that is just off of our bedroom.

There were some "signs" that she may have visited, and one admittedly unnerved me a bit. Perhaps it is a bit typical of me to wish for something like that and once I get what appears to be a tangible sign I start shitting bricks! ;)

{some of the items that were left out on the balcony to be blessed}

My sweetie got me a nice little Brigid's cross from Laura Travis' Etsy shop, which arrived right on Imbolc. It was nice that I didn't have to struggle to make one this year, because rush weaving skills I have not.

I will be starting some seeds very soon, after the local seed exchange this upcoming Saturday {stop by if you are in the area!}. :D Which reminds me, and I found a nifty seed starting guide over at the Little City Farm blog.

Sláinte!

Laurel