The Maine Giving Garden Begins

Posted by on Mar 11, 2019 in Giving Garden, Maine | No Comments

organic celeriac seeds Maine

The giving garden has officially begun. We plan to grow many of pounds of fresh, organic, and top quality, produce that we will deliver to the food pantries, schools and any place there are people in need in our area. Food insecurity affects one in four children in Maine and up to 17% of all households.  Approximately 6-7% of all Mainers do not have enough food to eat every day.  Maine is the most food insecure state in New England and high up on the list in the US. Lincoln County Maine, where we live, has a wide gap of rich to poor.

We aim to do what we can to help feed those in need and educate the community on how everyone can help by working towards solutions to hunger and poverty.

To start out we have planted onions, shallots, leeks, celery, parsley and celeriac in our indoor ‘greenhouse’ ie, metal shelving in the guest bedroom and T5 flourescent  lighting. We do not have a heated greenhouse and we decided to plant here , in the house, to keep the seedlings close rather then have them in an exterior greenhouse off of the property.

Organic seeds and soil Maine

The goal is to plant intensively for maximum yield in minimum space with healthy plants and soil. We have planted thousands of onions and hundreds of leeks, celery and parsley and just a little celeriac. All of these seeds fit in just 5 trays!

I have a very non-scientific mind and now all must be logged and recorded. It’s a whole new world for me and I am doing my best with spreadsheets and numbers.

As I adore variety I have chosen seeds from multiple seed providers and picked many different kinds of  beautiful organic seeds.

Organic seeds and soil for the 2019 garden Maine

Seed companies we use and recommend:

Seeds we have started with and where they came from:

(I love all of the names)

Onions:

  • Dakota Tears – High Mowing Seeds
  • Cortland – Johnny’s
  • Yankee – Johnny’s
  • Walla Walla – High Mowing Seeds
  • Talon – High Mowing Seeds
  • Sedona – High Mowing Seeds
  • Cabernet – Botanical Interests
  • Geneva – High Mowing Seeds
  • Red Baron – High Mowing Seeds
  • Rossa Di Milano – High Mowing Seeds
  • Calibra – High Mowing Seeds

Shallots

  • Conservor – High Mowing Seeds

Celery

  • Tango – High Mowing Seeds
  • Tall Utah – High Mowing Seeds
  • Giant Red – Baker Creek

Celeriac

  • Monstorpolgi – Seeds Savers Exchange
  • Diamant – High Mowing Seeds

Leeks

  • Kings Seig  – Fedco
  • Tadorma – High Mowing Seeds
  • Bandit – High Mowing Seeds
  • King Richard – Botanical Interests

Parsley

  • Italian Flat Leaf – High Mowing Seeds

What is your favorite place to buy seeds?

We have been learning to save our own seeds and for our personal garden will be trying them out. Stay tuned for updates on all of the giving garden fun. And if you are around the MidCoast, we’d love to hear from you.