I had a tea garden for 2023 and while I struggled with many of my vegetables, the herbs did great. Given how expensive they are it’s good investment too. I grew a chamomile mix from Fruition Seeds (Western New York), the smell of the flowers once dried is absolutely wonderful. Also grew a few different varieties of basil for a mixed basil tea (really enjoyed cinnamon basil from MIgardener especially), and sacred/holy basil from Hudson Valley Seed Company. This year, I want to add lavender, echinacea and hyssop. I had no idea that crimson clover is edible! I purchased seeds from Hudson Valley Seed company to use as a cover crop but had no idea it could used for tea. How cool!
My biggest fail last year was cucumbers, lol. Herbs are so expensive. I recently bought some herbs to start experimenting with tea blends and to see what herbs I wanted to grow more of, and boy were they pricey. I also ended up ordering them from an an American company so, shipping was crazy. I’ve heard of Fruition seeds, but haven’t really looked at them. I will need to take a look.
Something I heard and tried last year for tomato splitting. IDK if it’s the sole cause but for me I found almost no splitting in my tomato’s this year. I would keep an eye on the forecast and any (heavy-ish) rain that was coming I would go into my garden and pick any that have started to blush. Same thing with a heavy watering - pick them before. There’s something with the amount of water uptake on ripening tomato’s that contributes to splitting.
Great video with super good info Sherrie. I haven't even order up seeds great i forgot. I have been super busy 3 of our grand kids other grandpa pass away right around Christmas time so it been hard for them and we been helping out alot. Stay warm and safe up there.
Oh no Tony, I'm so sorry to hear that. You aren’t too late, I have more seeds in my carts for OSC - Ontario Seed Company and Westcoast Seeds. Obviously, I have a problem 🤣😂😅
Tea garden sounds awesome. So nice to pick fresh. We are planning to plant alot of lavender this year. Such a nice smell. Always a pleasure Sherry. Great video❤❤
Great video, as usual! You're always full of great info and you come up with the most brilliant ideas!!! Every year, I say I want to plant herbs (I have a few, but not many). I love the idea of a tea garden!! Do you have a favorite book or site that you gather info on which herbs to grow, to mix for teas? I'm hoping you'll share tea recipes!!
Thank you ❤️ I made tea blends this holiday year from last year's herbs and they were a hit with my friends! I bought a book by Rosemary Gladstar. It's WAY above my initial intent of blending amazing teas, but I can see it being a staple in my journey. I also just ordered Healing Herbal Teas, arrives today. I also watch a LOT of tiktok, 😆 I definitely will share my recipes!
Great video! Tea garden sounds so lovely, maybe one day I will give it a try and make a small one. Hope you and your family enjoyed your holidays. TFS ❤
I got great germination rates on all seeds I ordered last year from Incredible Seed company , including tomatoes and tomatillos ! Very fast shipping too.
I usually grow herbs but this year I am planning a tea garden as well. We live in Zone 6. I have had success growing Roselle (Hibiscus sabdariffa) and trying it again this year for my tea garden. I'm also trying a few different chamomiles, mints, calendulas, some of Baker Creek's Agastache and Calamintha flowers. They say on the website these are good for tea too. Looking forward to the next gardening season!
How excited are you?! I've ordered loose leaf herbs in an effort to start blending now so that I can determine how much of each one I want to grow. I'm going yo make my family do a tea tasting night, lol I need to take a look at Agastache! Thank you
Anise hyssop is an amazing pollinator attractor! I have 2 varieties.. that grow well im my 5b garden 😊 it’s always buzzing, hummingbirds love it.. and it blossoms right up to frost!
My borage too! I started some from seed but not this year. I must have pulled out 40+ plants that self seeded all over and I kept a few and moved them to where I wanted and they did amazing!!
Cherry tomatoes are my favorite to grow.. and I love the darker varieties! I do find the ones Ive grown so far at least, split really easily. Brads atomic grape did ok.. I may go check a few of these varieties at Bakers creek. I just placed a BI order😊 and I love the mixed cherry tomato bowls too❤❤
Im sorry for all the comments.. I just relate to everything you just talked about! And Im in 5b.. starting a new herb and tea garden this spring! I havent had luck with overwintering my lavender or rosemary yet. I end up purchasing them from my local greenhouse so I have them for the season .. I have 4 lavender and one rosemary that Im hoping survive overwinter this year. So far it’s been rather mild… anyways the only thing I would advise is sectioning off your mint. It is aggressive and will choke out other perrenial herbs. I have mine in those half barrel pots or 10 gallon containers. I have 4 or 5 varieties 😊 Hyssop likes lots of space and will need a bit of support if it’s windy .. mine gets to near 6 feet and each branch produces multiple blossomed .. like a butterfly bush kinda.. do you know what I mean..how that flowers. Any how.. I am going to go check out BC for a few herbs for my tea garden.. I love that yellow chamomile .. Ive purchased a few that you have from BI already.. I’ll see what i come up with.. I want to check a few of those tomatoes too!! Great video ❤
Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! I've made notes of everything you said. I really appreciate you sharing your experiences with me. Have you ever grown Blue Butterfly Pea? It's an expensive herb to buy, but has amazing benefits for hair and skin and turns tea the most beautiful blue colour.
I crew yellow pears one time and it was a terrible mistake. It was by far the most prolifically growing tomato plant in my tomato bed that wanted to take over the whole bed. It had very large numbers of fruit, but they were all tasteless and very dry, not juicy at all. I gave a couple of yellow pear seedlings to my mom and sister, and they had the exact same results. My sister was less diligent in pruning back her yellow pears, and it basically clogged out several other plants, effectively killing them.
@@GardeningintheNorth awesome. We are just west of North Bay. I will definitely follow you. It’s nice to see how your garden is coming when it’s pretty close to my area and I have chickens too….
I'm in the same zone as you, I'm in the Ottawa Valley. I'm looking forward to getting to seed starting and getting the garden going! It is my second year :)
@@CanadianTriumph very cool! Seed starting becomes addicting lol. Just pay attention to when to start your seeds. I’m getting better but I usually start lots to early and have to pot up more than I’d like and then I have more seedlings to take care of for longer. You learn lots every year and each year is different.
Finding fellow Canadian gardeners is amazing!! Seed buying is the addictive part for me. I feel the need to have all the seeds, lol. I use to start tomatoes March 15th, but I have found that my grow set up is too cozy for seedlings and they grow too fast and also needed to pot up and then find supports…. So I plan on starting tomato seeds April 1st.
I have found that the darker colored tomatoes are all fairly gimmicky or finicky and I’ve given up on growing them. The old heirlooms have good flavor, but bad resistance to disease, and not very good productivity. The new more intensely colored ones have little flavor, take forever to ripen, and are simply not worth growing. I’ve also found that while generally quite a reliable seed company that I order from several times a year (love the free shipping for when I only want a few packets), Baker Creek’s marketing department Photoshops the heck out of the photos of their more brightly appearing fruits and vegetables, including some of those tomato ones that you purchased, and they will never be as colorful in real life as in their catalog. The very best tasting grape-size tomatoes are Sungolds. I eat a lot of them straight off the plant as I’m wandering around my garden for a lunch break. They are incredibly sweet and flavorful, very early, and among the most productive of any small tomato. However, if you are not able to water very evenly and consistently, they are pretty susceptible to cracking. A close relative of the Sungold is the Sunsugar tomato, another hybrid orange grape tomato that I believe uses the Sunbold as a parent. It is not quite as sweet, but has significantly better resistance to cracking. In 2024 I am going to plant four Sunsugars and only one Sungold, because last year I got a little better results in terms of usable fruit production from the Sunsugars because they crack less.
You may just be into something there… the darker tomatoes are very finicky and do not produce well. When I order from baker creek, it $12 American for shipping, so I usually take a few days to make sure I have everything and place a big order. I usually forget what I ordered and it’s like Christmas when the order arrives 🤣
Hello, I've never bought chocolate mint seeds before. Do you mean the chocolate cherry seeds? Over the years, I have bought them from Vessey's seeds, Westcoast seeds and Baker Creek. I hope this helps!
@GardeningintheNorth nope, I mean mint, that tastes of mint and chocolate. I saw this plant displayed at the domes once in Milwaukee in the seasonal dome. (Smells divine)
A few years back I bought a chocolate mint plant from my local nursery, but I’ve never seen seeds for it. You absolutely right, it smells so good. I definitely would be interested in seeds if you find them!
I am in 5b also in SW NYS USA. BUT really ,keep that mint in a big pot. It will take over your WHOLE garden and it is impossible to pull out!!!! I have 3ft high apple mint all over my garden. It is beautiful ,but not where I want it now. Just a heads up
I had a tea garden for 2023 and while I struggled with many of my vegetables, the herbs did great. Given how expensive they are it’s good investment too. I grew a chamomile mix from Fruition Seeds (Western New York), the smell of the flowers once dried is absolutely wonderful. Also grew a few different varieties of basil for a mixed basil tea (really enjoyed cinnamon basil from MIgardener especially), and sacred/holy basil from Hudson Valley Seed Company. This year, I want to add lavender, echinacea and hyssop. I had no idea that crimson clover is edible! I purchased seeds from Hudson Valley Seed company to use as a cover crop but had no idea it could used for tea. How cool!
My biggest fail last year was cucumbers, lol. Herbs are so expensive. I recently bought some herbs to start experimenting with tea blends and to see what herbs I wanted to grow more of, and boy were they pricey. I also ended up ordering them from an an American company so, shipping was crazy. I’ve heard of Fruition seeds, but haven’t really looked at them. I will need to take a look.
Very nice haul of seeds. Have a great weekend!
Thank you! You too!
Great haul!
Thank you! 😊
Something I heard and tried last year for tomato splitting. IDK if it’s the sole cause but for me I found almost no splitting in my tomato’s this year.
I would keep an eye on the forecast and any (heavy-ish) rain that was coming I would go into my garden and pick any that have started to blush. Same thing with a heavy watering - pick them before. There’s something with the amount of water uptake on ripening tomato’s that contributes to splitting.
Now that I will only have the one gardening space, I will be able to keep an eye on that! Chocolate cherries never split and are delicious!
@@GardeningintheNorth worth trying!! It worked for me.
I’ll check those seeds out. I usually order from west coast seeds
I like west coast seeds too 😊
Great video with super good info Sherrie. I haven't even order up seeds great i forgot. I have been super busy 3 of our grand kids other grandpa pass away right around Christmas time so it been hard for them and we been helping out alot. Stay warm and safe up there.
Oh no Tony, I'm so sorry to hear that.
You aren’t too late, I have more seeds in my carts for OSC - Ontario Seed Company and Westcoast Seeds. Obviously, I have a problem 🤣😂😅
No problem we just are gardeners hahaha @@GardeningintheNorth
Saw the Tim Hortons cups, knew you were a fellow Canuk, instant sub 😂
YES! Thank you for the support 🙂
Tea garden sounds awesome. So nice to pick fresh.
We are planning to plant alot of lavender this year. Such a nice smell.
Always a pleasure Sherry. Great video❤❤
Thanks you! I've heard that Lavender can be temperamental, but once you get it going, it thrives ❤️
Great video, as usual! You're always full of great info and you come up with the most brilliant ideas!!! Every year, I say I want to plant herbs (I have a few, but not many). I love the idea of a tea garden!! Do you have a favorite book or site that you gather info on which herbs to grow, to mix for teas? I'm hoping you'll share tea recipes!!
Thank you ❤️ I made tea blends this holiday year from last year's herbs and they were a hit with my friends!
I bought a book by Rosemary Gladstar. It's WAY above my initial intent of blending amazing teas, but I can see it being a staple in my journey. I also just ordered Healing Herbal Teas, arrives today. I also watch a LOT of tiktok, 😆 I definitely will share my recipes!
@GardeningintheNorth Sounds so interesting!!! You should give courses 😁 Is the name of that book "Herbal recipes for vibrant health"?
Yes, that’s the Rosemary one. Provides recipes for tinctures and infusions, plus so more.
Great video! Tea garden sounds so lovely, maybe one day I will give it a try and make a small one. Hope you and your family enjoyed your holidays. TFS ❤
Thank you my friend. You totally should! Start with chamomile, lemon balm and lavender. Plant crimson clover all over your lawn! 🙂
I got great germination rates on all seeds I ordered last year from Incredible Seed company , including tomatoes and tomatillos ! Very fast shipping too.
That's GREAT news! They have so many unique seeds. I'm very excited about them!
If you like little pops of tomatoes in your salad, try Baker Creek Spoon tomatoes. Very proliferative. Good flavor for such a small fruit.
Teresa: try spoon tomatoes
Me: adds seeds to cart.... 30 minutes later... 10 items 🤣😂😅
I usually grow herbs but this year I am planning a tea garden as well. We live in Zone 6. I have had success growing Roselle (Hibiscus sabdariffa) and trying it again this year for my tea garden. I'm also trying a few different chamomiles, mints, calendulas, some of Baker Creek's Agastache and Calamintha flowers. They say on the website these are good for tea too. Looking forward to the next gardening season!
How excited are you?! I've ordered loose leaf herbs in an effort to start blending now so that I can determine how much of each one I want to grow. I'm going yo make my family do a tea tasting night, lol
I need to take a look at Agastache!
Thank you
Anise hyssop is an amazing pollinator attractor! I have 2 varieties.. that grow well im my 5b garden 😊 it’s always buzzing, hummingbirds love it.. and it blossoms right up to frost!
This is very valuable information! We have bees, so they will love them!
I second this comment
My borage self seeds everywhere! I seed started.. and failed last spring.. but I had over a dozen pop up thruout my garden!
Oh! Again, this is such valuable information. This will help me to decide where to plant it! Thank you
My borage too! I started some from seed but not this year. I must have pulled out 40+ plants that self seeded all over and I kept a few and moved them to where I wanted and they did amazing!!
I grew white borage this year also
Now I need the white variety, lol
Cherry tomatoes are my favorite to grow.. and I love the darker varieties! I do find the ones Ive grown so far at least, split really easily. Brads atomic grape did ok.. I may go check a few of these varieties at Bakers creek. I just placed a BI order😊 and I love the mixed cherry tomato bowls too❤❤
Be careful! Once you start looking, you may end up with more tomato seeds than space to grow! 🤣
Im sorry for all the comments.. I just relate to everything you just talked about! And Im in 5b.. starting a new herb and tea garden this spring! I havent had luck with overwintering my lavender or rosemary yet. I end up purchasing them from my local greenhouse so I have them for the season .. I have 4 lavender and one rosemary that Im hoping survive overwinter this year. So far it’s been rather mild… anyways the only thing I would advise is sectioning off your mint. It is aggressive and will choke out other perrenial herbs. I have mine in those half barrel pots or 10 gallon containers. I have 4 or 5 varieties 😊 Hyssop likes lots of space and will need a bit of support if it’s windy .. mine gets to near 6 feet and each branch produces multiple blossomed .. like a butterfly bush kinda.. do you know what I mean..how that flowers. Any how.. I am going to go check out BC for a few herbs for my tea garden.. I love that yellow chamomile .. Ive purchased a few that you have from BI already.. I’ll see what i come up with.. I want to check a few of those tomatoes too!! Great video ❤
Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! I've made notes of everything you said. I really appreciate you sharing your experiences with me.
Have you ever grown Blue Butterfly Pea? It's an expensive herb to buy, but has amazing benefits for hair and skin and turns tea the most beautiful blue colour.
Oh i stopped growing yellow pear because they split too!
Other's have also told me this too. I wonder if the seeds have changed over the years.
I crew yellow pears one time and it was a terrible mistake. It was by far the most prolifically growing tomato plant in my tomato bed that wanted to take over the whole bed. It had very large numbers of fruit, but they were all tasteless and very dry, not juicy at all. I gave a couple of yellow pear seedlings to my mom and sister, and they had the exact same results. My sister was less diligent in pruning back her yellow pears, and it basically clogged out several other plants, effectively killing them.
Years ago, they were much better. They were a staple in my garden. I’m tired of the disappointment with them.
Are you north or south of toronto? I’m about 4 hours north and we are zone 4B (I think lol)
Hello! We are 2 hours east of Toronto and then a bit north.
@@GardeningintheNorth awesome. We are just west of North Bay. I will definitely follow you. It’s nice to see how your garden is coming when it’s pretty close to my area and I have chickens too….
I'm in the same zone as you, I'm in the Ottawa Valley. I'm looking forward to getting to seed starting and getting the garden going! It is my second year :)
@@CanadianTriumph very cool! Seed starting becomes addicting lol. Just pay attention to when to start your seeds. I’m getting better but I usually start lots to early and have to pot up more than I’d like and then I have more seedlings to take care of for longer.
You learn lots every year and each year is different.
Finding fellow Canadian gardeners is amazing!! Seed buying is the addictive part for me. I feel the need to have all the seeds, lol. I use to start tomatoes March 15th, but I have found that my grow set up is too cozy for seedlings and they grow too fast and also needed to pot up and then find supports…. So I plan on starting tomato seeds April 1st.
I have found that the darker colored tomatoes are all fairly gimmicky or finicky and I’ve given up on growing them. The old heirlooms have good flavor, but bad resistance to disease, and not very good productivity. The new more intensely colored ones have little flavor, take forever to ripen, and are simply not worth growing.
I’ve also found that while generally quite a reliable seed company that I order from several times a year (love the free shipping for when I only want a few packets), Baker Creek’s marketing department Photoshops the heck out of the photos of their more brightly appearing fruits and vegetables, including some of those tomato ones that you purchased, and they will never be as colorful in real life as in their catalog.
The very best tasting grape-size tomatoes are Sungolds. I eat a lot of them straight off the plant as I’m wandering around my garden for a lunch break. They are incredibly sweet and flavorful, very early, and among the most productive of any small tomato. However, if you are not able to water very evenly and consistently, they are pretty susceptible to cracking.
A close relative of the Sungold is the Sunsugar tomato,
another hybrid orange grape tomato that I believe uses the Sunbold as a parent. It is not quite as sweet, but has significantly better resistance to cracking. In 2024 I am going to plant four Sunsugars and only one Sungold, because last year I got a little better results in terms of usable fruit production from the Sunsugars because they crack less.
You may just be into something there… the darker tomatoes are very finicky and do not produce well. When I order from baker creek, it $12 American for shipping, so I usually take a few days to make sure I have everything and place a big order. I usually forget what I ordered and it’s like Christmas when the order arrives 🤣
I will definitely need to look for sunsugers! Thank you!
Where do you get chocolate mint seeds?
Hello, I've never bought chocolate mint seeds before. Do you mean the chocolate cherry seeds? Over the years, I have bought them from Vessey's seeds, Westcoast seeds and Baker Creek. I hope this helps!
@GardeningintheNorth nope, I mean mint, that tastes of mint and chocolate. I saw this plant displayed at the domes once in Milwaukee in the seasonal dome. (Smells divine)
A few years back I bought a chocolate mint plant from my local nursery, but I’ve never seen seeds for it. You absolutely right, it smells so good. I definitely would be interested in seeds if you find them!
I am in 5b also in SW NYS USA. BUT really ,keep that mint in a big pot. It will take over your WHOLE garden and it is impossible to pull out!!!! I have 3ft high apple mint all over my garden. It is beautiful ,but not where I want it now. Just a heads up
Great point. I did just order a few big pots that will work for mint and lemon balm. Thank you 🙂