Bells of the North Homestead

BIG SEED GIVEAWAY ~~ UPDATE ~~ The following seeds are free for the asking. Just ask. Acorn Squash Long Island Cheese Pumpkin Marina di Chioggia Kabocha Squash Delicata Squash Carnival (also heard it called Festival) Squash Galeux D'eysines Red Russian Kale Casaba Melon Santa Claus Melon Most of these I have either grown myself and harvested from the fruit or I purchased the fruit at a local vendor and then saved the seeds.  So far I have had massive successes with germination and growth for most of these seeds.  All of these seeds are no more than one year old. Due to high demand, the tomatoes are now GONE!   I still have loads to share of the others though! Also, keep in mind when making your list up and thinking of postage that if you would like all the seeds on this list it will fit into approximately 3 small envelopes.  I want to help keep the cost down to both you and I, especially during these more turbulent economic times.  Many Th

Its commonly said "Third times the charm". Well this seems to apply to a plant that I have tried to grow for some time. Jiaogulan. (jee-ow goo lan) Also called Southern Ginseng and The Herb of Immortality or in China, Xiancao.  Jiaogulan is a native to Southern China and is part of the Cucurbitaceae family which means its actually related to the cucumber and pumpkin family and like many other healthful plants out there, this plant too is considered to be a weed.  It is reported in several different sources that in this has been used medicinially for over 600 years in China and can be attibuted to the unusual longetivity of residents in the Guizhou Province.  I actually tried growing this about a year and a half ago and thanks to fungas gnats, and an environment that was much to its DISLIKE, it died.  I think for the first time it was actually the combination of too many gnats, too much cold, on the floor, not enough light. So I tried again. And it died.  That time

Who likes free stuff? I know I do! Okay, well.  I did an inventory of our entire seed bank and found we have a lot of extra seeds. Now, I do have to say, this offer is not exactly free.  There is a cost somewhat. Like last years Black Futsu Seed giveaway the only thing I ask on this one is that if you are interested you must cover the postage. This means, unlike last year when people sent me a self addressed envelope with postage included (.45 postage on one envelope, .45 on self addressed envelope. .90 grand total), you will only have to send .46 to me via Paypal. If you prefer you still can send me a self addressed envelope with postage but I suggest the Paypal method to save a bit of $$$ and I did have quite a few people report that they sent me envelopes that I never received. I will cover the cost of envelopes. If you are interested in this offer you can email me. If you are interested in getting some almost free seeds this is all I ask. Email me your address and

As usual, when I haven't written in a while it's almost always difficult.  I feel the panic rise as I think "OH MY where do I begin?" So, where do I begin? Three weeks ago we started our first sets of seeds.  These ones were the ones we already had on hand and also the ones we knew would be the more difficult to start.  Several types of bell peppers, hot peppers, tomatoes and eggplant. Yes, we started early but each year, like many other gardeners out there, we strive to learn from our mistakes.  Previous years we started seeds in the wrong places, we started seeds too late, and we did not provide enough light for the poor little things to flourish and grow. So this year we decided to start them a bit early and this time we also tried one other new tactic. Newspaper  pots!  We've tried plastic cups with holes in the bottom, buying the pots at Home Depot or Lowes, and we've even saved some of the seedling trays we've gotten when we've bought seedli