Canna's TERRA line of nutrients

With the outdoor gardening season officially here in the northeast, most people are turning to soil as their growing medium.  With so many options for fertilizing, it can get confusing.  Some people choose to build their fertilizer into their medium (with guanos, "meals"- bone/blood/fish/kelp/alfalfa etc., earthworm castings, compost, or a time release fertilizer).  Other people choose to stick with a liquid nutrient that they mix into their waterings.  For that option, Canna has designed their Terra line of nutrients specifically for use with soil.  Terra is a one-part base nutrient (you use Terra Vega in the vegetative stage, Terra Flores in the flowering stage).  Whether you use it as a stand-alone nutrient or in conjunction with Canna's additives (check out their Grow Guide to make your custom feeding chart), it is excellent for use with all soils.  If you're looking for an organic option, try their Bio Canna line (made with no animal ingredients whatsoever).

New Seeds are In!

Today we received our first batch of seeds for the 2013 outdoor season!  This year we've decided to switch from Seeds of Change to a smaller, independently owned, farm-based and more local seed company, High Mowing Organic Seeds (from Wolcott, VT).  We've used their seeds for years in our own gardens and in-store displays and we are very happy with their quality and germination rates.  Plus they are, of course, 100% certified organic and non-GMO.

We've chosen a selection of our favorites to start out the season:

Astro Arugula

Black Beauty Eggplant

Cherokee Purple Tomato (Heirloom)

Chives

Early Jalapeño

Genovese Basil

Greek Oregano

High Mowing Mesclun Mix

Hungarian Hot Yellow Wax Pepper (Heirloom)

King of the North Pepper (an early ripening bell pepper that is good for growing in the north east)

Lacinato Dinosaur Kale (Heirloom, a personal favorite - great for dehydrating and making Kale Chips)

Lemon Basil

Magnum Orange Habanero Pepper

Mountain Princess Tomato (Heirloom, these are perfect for container gardening and when space/height is limited)

Nautic Brussels Sprout

Optima Butterhead Lettuce

Rainbow Chard (see photos!)

Red Oakleaf Lettuce

Red Russian Kale (Currently growing at the Nyack store)

Renegade Spinach

Ring -O- Fire Cayenne Pepper

Sage

San Marzano Tomato (another favorite, great for sauce and salsa even though it's considered a "paste" tomato)

Santo Cilantro

Sugar Ann Snap Peas

Sweet Thai Basil

Thyme

Yellow Pear Cherry Tomato (Heirloom)

An in-store favorite, Rainbow Chard (aka Silverbeet) - photos from the last time we grew it in Nyack:

Even the roots are rainbow!

If there are any seeds you'd like to see us carry, we are open to suggestions!  Check out the High Mowing Organic Seeds website and let us know.  We also take special orders.

Back in Stock: Nirvana from Advanced Nutrients

After being backordered from the manufacturer for the last few months, Advanced Nutrients' Nirvana is back in stock at both stores.  It's a good all-natural additive to any nutrient regimen and for use with any growing medium.  It's also part of the Advanced "Professional" feeding schedule.  Nirvana is full of beneficial organic ingredients:  Humic acid acts as a catalyst for all other nutrients you're using allowing for easier uptake, whey protein is an all-natural bloom-booster due to the fact that it stimulates amino acid production (plus Nirvana contains a bunch of different amino acids, and B vitamins derived from seaweed extract), alfalfa extract helps to accelerate CO2 intake, plus azomite (made up of TONS of trace minerals and elements), yucca and Chilean soap bark extracts (natural plant surfactants), earthworm castings, bat guano and more.  

We Heart Astoria

The other day we had a visit from WT and Erich from Gardenfreude, who were guest blogging for WeHeartAstoria.com. They featured our Queens store in an article for the blog, check it out!: Guest Bloggers Gardenfreude Dig Up Great Garden Resources. Besides our store, there are a bunch of other awesome gardening resources for Queens locals.

Seeds of Change

We just received our first order of seeds for 2012. We buy our seeds from Seeds of Change because they're a great, conscious company and all of their seeds are 100% USDA certified organic. We chose some great varieties this year:

- Genovese Basil*

- Thai Basil

- Slow Bolt Cilantro*

- San Marzano Tomato* - Love these...great for sauce and salsa

- Beefsteak Tomato

- Fox Cherry Tomato

- Black Beauty Eggplant

- Dark Star Zucchini* - Excellent flavor in both the zucchini and the blossoms.

- Cal Wonder Bell Pepper* - Classic heirloom sweet bell pepper

- Bendigo F-1 Bell Pepper

- Jalapeno Chile Pepper

- Habanero Chile Pepper

- Leonardo Radicchio* - Great in salads

- Red Russian Kale

- All Lettuce Mix

- Mesclun Mix

- Arugula

(* some of my personal favorites)

We also have their Tomato Garden Starter Kit and the Herb Garden Starter Kit...great for kids or to give as gifts.

It's still early in the year and this was just our first order of seeds. If there are any varieties you'd like us to carry or if you'd like to place a special order, let us know!