WHAT A GRAND RESOURCE RIGHT HERE IN YELM!
YELM EARTHWORMS & CASTINGS FARM MARCH, 2008 NEWSLETTER

“You do not have to read tea leaves, read the stars, muscle test or do any other sort of divining to see that if you have not grown at least some of your own food before or are not doing so now, now is the time to start!
Veggie Starts

Starts are in! Here is what we currently have. More varieties will be here throughout the season with tomato and pepper starts coming in about 5-6 weeks.

Cabbage Mammoth Red Rock and Early Jersey Wakefield

Brussels Sprouts Long Island Improved

Collards Green Glaze

Broccoli Nutri Bud and Early Green

Kale Red and White Russian

Lettuce Cosmo Savoy and Red Oak Leaf

Mizuna Mustard Kale Red Ursa

Cauliflower Snowball

Spinach America

Onion Yellow of Parma

Leeks Prizetaker

Garlic Lorz Red Italian ($3.00)

Except where noted, all starts are $1.80/4-pack. All are certified organic.

Vegetable Seeds

We have in stock two lines of vegetable and herb seeds this year: Irish Eyes and Olds. Irish Eyes is a regional family owned seed company based in Ellensburg, WA whose slogan is Short Season Seeds for an Early Harvest. Olds is based in Madison, WI and was started by Levitt Lincoln Olds in 1888 now owned by Land O Lakes. Their slogan is Seeds You Can Count On. Prices range from $2.49 to $3.99.

All are certified organic.

Heart and Soil
(Reprinted with permission from Kellie Peterson of Gordons)

Incentives for planting your own vegetable garden continue to mount, as rising gasoline and grocery prices whittle away at our wallets. Another reason to grow your own is the sweet, intense flavor of home grown vegetables, which is far superior to that of vegetables grown in other states, vegetables which are often harvested before ripening, and which travel for days and end up sitting on market shelves.

Grown in rich, organic soil and consumed right after harvesting, vegetables have a greater health benefit than those grown in overused, infertile soil that lose their nutritional potency in transit and on the shelf.

Whatever gives you the impetus to grow a vegetable garden: bravo! Now lets get started.

Many seed companies offer organic seeds: Botanical Interests, Irish Eyes (organic seed grown in Washington), Territorial Seed, and even Ed Hume has a small line of organic seeds.

Whether you carve out a garden plot or grow vegetables in containers, start now by sowing some seeds indoors. Using egg cartons, peat pots or seed-starting trays, sow pepper 8-10 weeks before the average last frost date (check on-line for your area). Tomatoes 6-8 weeks, Brussels sprouts 4-6 weeks and broccoli about the first of February. Be sure to use a light seed-starting soil mix. Plant seeds below the soil. To avoid tall, leggy seedlings provide 14-16 hours of light daily by hanging fluorescent light one to two inches above the seedlings. When the roots reach the sides of the pot, transplant into larger containers, then outdoors when soil temperatures and weather permits.

For more information on starting seeds indoors, visit your local, independent garden center.”