Hello Gardeners
During the last seed packaging event we packaged lots of tomato and pepper seeds and they are now in the seed library. The online list is vegetable list.
There are many more vegetable, herb and flowers seeds still left to package and there will be another seed packaging event soon. I’ll send out information as soon as I have it scheduled. I’m waiting on a new order of seed envelopes
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Bring any seeds you harvested to donate to the seed library! I’d love to get some tomatoes, beans and peas—especially those you grew from open-pollinated plants!
Also, those of you who grew haricot vert beans for the Grow a Row project, please donate them now!
If you can’t come to this seed packaging event or prefer to package seeds at home, I can provide a bag with seeds and supplies for you to pick up at the White Bear Lake library seed table. Just send me an email (wblseedlibrary@gmail.com) and I’ll prepare the bag and let you know when I’ve placed it on the seed table for you to pick up. Directions are included! I probably won’t get the bags prepared until after January 20th.
Staring Seeds Indoors
I know you’re anxious to start growing seeds, but hold off awhile. It’s not time yet.
So when is it time?
Many vegetable, herb and flower seeds need to be started indoors early in Minnesota as we don’t have a long enough growing season. Examples are tomatoes, peppers, and eggplant. The commercial packet or website information will say something like ‘start 4-6 weeks before last date of frost’.
To figure out when to start these seeds you need to know the growing zone of your area—the Twin Cities is in zone 5. The average last date of frost is May 10th. So counting backwards from May 10th, 4-6 weeks gives you a date of April 1-14.
Keep in mind the earlier you start seeds, the longer you have to care for them indoors. Which means run supplemental lighting, re-potting if necessary, watering, etc. Seedlings, even with great grow lights, are leggier and less stocky than seeds grown outside. You want relatively short, stocky seedlings.
Also keep in mind that it doesn’t mean on May 11th it’s OK to plant out your seedlings. Tomatoes and peppers are tropical plants (yes, they originated in very warm areas) and they need warm days AND nights—at least 50 degrees all the time! Plus seedlings need at least a week of hardening off before venture into their new home in your garden. So, do yourself a favor and read up on how to grow vegetables if you haven’t done it before. It may prevent a disappointment of an entire lost crop. The University of Minnesota Extension Service has lots of good information on how to grow vegetables here.
I’ll delve more into starting seeds in later emails. But here’s a common question:
Do I need grow lights if I have a south facing window?
Answer: Yes!
Even if it was sunny and cloudless everyday there are not enough daylight hours to grow almost all vegetable seeds inside in Minnesota. Most seedlings need 12-16 hours of good light a day. Everyday.
Stratifying Native Plant Seeds
There’s still time to stratifying native plant seeds! The seed library has a nice variety of seeds you can grow. The online list is here
Just a note about native plant seeds—Most native plant seeds need a period of stratification before they will germinate. Stratification is a period of cold, moist conditions that breaks the dormancy of native plant seeds. In nature this is called ‘winter’!
Here’s a brief description:
You can help get your native seeds a head start by doing one of the following right now:
1. Direct sow the seeds outside in a prepared bed. They should germinate next spring.
2. Use the winter sowing method to create a little like greenhouse for the seeds. Basically you cut a plastic jug in half, leaving a small part uncut as a hinge. Poke holes in the top, bottom and sides. Remove the bottle cap. Add potting soil and seeds. Water. Tape the top shut and write on the outside the type of seeds. Place OUTSIDE now in a sheltered area that will get sun, snow and rain. Early next spring you should see seedlings growing that you can transplant to your garden.
3. You can stratify seeds inside your refrigerator by placing damp sand and the seeds in a plastic zip lock bag and place the bag in the refrigerator for the number of days necessary to stratify. Remove the bag after the length of time and place the sand and seeds on a tray with potting soil. Place the tray under lights and water as needed. Soon you will have seedlings you can harden off outside and plant in your garden.
The seed packets in the seed library are labelled with the number of days needed for stratification or you can find this information online as well.
Upcoming Events:
National Seed Swap Day – January 27, 1-3 pm
Historic Como Streetcar Station, 1224 Lexington Pkwy N., St. Paul MN 55117
Join The MN SEED Project, The Saint Paullinators of South Como, Como Community Seed Library, and District 10 Como Community Council for an Epic Seed Swap on Saturday January 27th 1-3 pm at the Como Streetcar Station. Bring your seeds and arrive early for some epic trading, great garden conversations, snacks and more. For more information check the event listing here!
Meet Your Pollinator Webinar Series
January 30, 31 and February 1st - webinar
You may have planted flowers and pollinator habitat… now what? What kinds of insects are visiting your property? How do we keep our pollinator insects safe? Check out this upcoming webinar series to help guide you in improving your pollinator habitat. University of Minnesota Extension educators are excited to bring you this webinar series on learning more about our pollinators. This three-part series will cover how to help pollinators, pollinator insect identification, and integrated pest management practices to keep pollinators safe. Join us January 30, 31, and February 1 from 1:00-2:30 pm each afternoon for this free webinar. You must pre-register for this series at z.umn.edu/BeeSeries to receive the webinar links.
Winter Market – Farmer’s Saturday Feb 10, 10-1pm, Normandy Park Education Center
2482 County Road F East, White Bear Lake MN 55110
Twenty+ local food vendors will be sharing locally grown and crafted items including meats, cheese, eggs, micro greens, and maple syrup. Many locally preserved options, like jams, jellies, sauces, sauerkraut, and kombucha will be available. Great gifting options such as soaps and specialty hand crafted goods as well.
This year they are back partially inside, as our community has requested! The majority of vendors will be inside, along with our community booths and the Senior Center Craft Corner.
See Winter FM for more information.
Pam
Contact info for the Seed Library:
Email: wblseedlibrary@gmail.com
Blog site: WBL Seed Library
