399 Understanding Seed Packets

Show Transcript

399 Seed Packets TRANSCRIPT

Farmer Fred

If you’re not planting flowers and vegetables from seed, you’re missing out on one of the most fun things you can do as a gardener. Today, America’s favorite retired college horticultural professor, Debbie Flower, demystifies the confusing language you might find on seed packets. What do terms like days to harvest or bolting mean? What is stratification or scarification? We revisit this chat originally aired back in 2020, because…we’re on summer vacation!  It’s Episode 399 of the Garden Basics with Farmer Fred podcast. We’re podcasting from Barking Dog Studios here in the beautiful Abutilon Jungle in Suburban Purgatory. Let’s go!  

UNDERSTANDING SEED PACKETS, Pt. 1

Farmer Fred  

So recently I bought a packet of seeds, it was a packet of nasturtium seeds. It's a flower, it tends to bloom here in the cool season and it's a great way to attract pollinators and beneficials. beautiful little ground cover with big flowers. And on the instructions on the back of the packet for sowing the seeds, it says recommended one to two weeks after your average last frost date, which around here that would probably be in March or there abouts. But it says for mild climates. So in fall for winter bloom well we're in a mild Climate and it always blooms in the cool season here. So I guess we must be in a mild climate. But then I went on the website for this particular seed manufacturer botanical interest. And it had a very different definition for mild climate than what I thought their definition for a mild climate says. It's those without freezing temperatures generally USDA zones 10 and warmer. Here in the Sacramento Valley, we are USDA zone nine. And I always thought we were kind of mild, but I guess we're not mild. I guess only the southern tip of Florida and Southern California are considered mild climates. But this is news to me because I've never had a problem growing this during the cool season. And that raises up a whole fleet of questions about what do all these terms on the back of a seed packet really mean? For that we bring in our official translator, retired college horticulture Professor Debbie Flower. And Debbie, if you look at seed packets, they're full of all sorts of terms that a lot of new gardeners may be totally unfamiliar with.

Debbie Flower 

Yeah, there are certainly lots of words. It depends on what company you get the seed from some say almost nothing on the packet, and others have practically a novel. I like the novel ones. Yes. So yes, there's lots of information, lots of words, lots of terminology. horticulture, like any science or group of sciences, which horticulture really is, has its own language and definitions. So it's good to know what those words mean.

Farmer Fred   

And what adds to the confusion especially for new gardeners. I mean, local nurseries can help you out a lot when it comes to buying plants because your local independent nursery usually only carries outdoor plants for the season when they are meant to be planted in terms of flowers and vegetables.

Debbie Flower  

So it is a quality nursery is it is a nursery that is tailored to To location which independent nursery certainly. our big box stores are not always

Farmer Fred  

correct. And that brings up one anomaly to that though, and that is the seed rack at the independent nursery. They may have seeds for any old time of the year in that rack.

Debbie Flower 

Yeah, they're, they're stocked by the seed companies or, you know, there's obviously a relationship between the nursery and the seed companies, but, and they will turn their seeds over when the seasons change. But it doesn't always mean that what's on that rack will grow at that moment.

Farmer Fred   

Exactly. They're usually just going through the rack to take out the expired seed and put in fresh seed, but the varieties that they may be putting in may have very specific timeframes for planting.

Debbie Flower  

Right. And of course, there are gardeners who like to push the envelope and grow things in their yard that aren't necessarily Known to survive in that environment. So they want to cater to those people as well. So there can be some different stuff in the seed rack.

Farmer Fred    

Exactly. We're gonna try to make this as easy as possible, we are going to go through a glossary of common terms that you might see on a seed packet or in a plant description, and give them definitions you can understand. And you could refer back to this episode, whenever you have a question because I think we're going to cover most of the terms that you might see on a seed packet or on a plant. Let's start with the letter A. Let's start with annuals. Maybe we should include all the variances of that. So that would be annuals, biennials and perennials.

Debbie Flower   

Okay 

Farmer Fred   

Be my guest. 

Debbie Flower    

Annual refers to one year. if you have your annual checkup at the dentist you go once a year. So annual is a plant that completes its life in one year. But you have to understand what completing its life means. That means it grows from a seed into a plant. It flowers, it has fruit and produces seed and dies. It's important. The dying part is important for an annual. Many plants we have in the yard can produce flower and fruit and seed but they don't die. Those would be perennials. perennials live more than two years and they grow from seed. They typically have a juvenile period, just like humans have a juvenile period, meaning they're unable to make offspring for several years. fruit trees are notorious for that. You won't get fruit on a fruit tree for five years or more in some cases. So that's something breeders work on they try to shorten that amount of time. But a brand new fruit plant out of the seed will not have fruits on it. Even your tomatoes will not flower and fruit the first day they come out of the seed They have to go through their juvenile period and become an adult. Once they're an adult, they can flower and fruit. And in the case of a perennial, something that was more than two years before it dies, they can produce flower and fruit for many years before that death process occurs. And yes, plants do have a lifespan, they have a time in which they will die eventually, often environmental things get in the way and kill them before that lifespan is up. But many plants, I'm thinking again, a fruit trees, something like 30 years is a lifespan for a producing fruit tree. And that's not unusual. Then there are others like the plants in the Rockies, the trees in the Rockies that live for thousands of years. So perennials live two or more years and they can produce fruit and seed and flowers many years in a row. Then there's the biennial by means two and Greek and any refers to The annual part the year so biennial can complete this life in two years. The first year grows from seed. And it tends to have only leaves only green parts, leaves and stems doesn't flower doesn't fruit. Then the second year, they sort of seem to leap out of the ground. They're much bigger usually than the first year. And they do produce their flower and fruit and seed, and then they die from that. So annuals one year, biennials two years, perennials more than two years,

Farmer Fred  

one of my favorite biennials, and that's a rather unusual category of plants. And one of my favorite biennials is the Tower of jewels. The Echium wildprettyi, I think, is the species on that. Yes. And it really is it's just this green little blob that looks like cousin Itt from The Addams Family. And then in its second year, it produces literally a tower. They Have jewel-like flowers, and this tower is like four or five feet tall.

Debbie Flower  

It is a really spectacular plant. It is so much fun to grow. I've had people stop at the end of my driveway and point at my, my tower of jewels in the yard.

Farmer Fred    

and hummingbirds love it. Yes they do. On a related note also on a seed packet, you will see especially on vegetables, "days to harvest". Mm hmm. And that's usually right next to "days to emerge". And the emerge refers to how long it takes for that seed to come out of the ground

Debbie Flower  

days to harvest plants from the seed that there's a plant inside every seed, a baby plant and so it's the plant that's coming out of the ground,

Farmer Fred    

as opposed to a tomato warm

Debbie Flower   

to a seed.

Farmer Fred   

All right. days to harvest I always find it amazing that they can actually pinpoint that it will take that tomato 60 days. From the time you plant it to the time it will produce fruit I find that hard to believe.

Debbie Flower  

Have you ever checked them on that?

Farmer Fred   

No, I never have. That's Yeah, that would be a good experiment.

Debbie Flower  

I always find that term days to harvest rather vague, because the definition that I've read says the number of days from sowing meaning planting in the ground or transplanting until you can harvest fruit from that plant. And so, sowing is when the seed goes in the ground. transplanting is when you take a baby plant, let's say you bought it at the nursery in a little six pack or a four inch the plant back in the ground. There's time between the days you the seed is planted in the days that plant has taken to grow into a plant that you buy at the nursery, but they seem not to take those days into consideration. So I I also have not tested them on days to harvest If they're accurate on the seed packet, I look at it as a relative term. If this tomato is going to produce in 60 days, and this tomato is going to produce a 90, I can expect fruit off of one before the other. But I don't know that they truly can pinpoint it to the day,

Farmer Fred 

you would have to be planted at exactly the right time of the year to in order to agree with their parameters.

Debbie Flower  

Yes, and weather would have to be perfect. Yes.

Farmer Fred  

 it's interesting in this one definition on Botanical Interests webpage, about days to harvest, they say it's number of days from sowing or transplant to harvest. Well, which is right, you're selling seeds, would it be sowing,

Debbie Flower   

right, exactly. But if you sow it indoors, let's say as many people do, or if you happen to have a greenhouse in your greenhouse, and then transplanted into the garden, there will be some back what we commonly refer to as transplant shock. There will be some setback in the growth of that plant. When you put it from the container into the ground. but I really don't think it's as many days as as it takes for that plant to grow from a seed into the plant we're putting in the ground. So I agree it's a very vague definition and a vague term, right?

Farmer Fred   

It'll just give you a ballpark idea of how long it's going to take. Yes, I mean, we can tell you that cherry tomatoes are going to ripen before a full sized heirloom tomato.

Debbie Flower 

Correct.

Farmer Fred   

That's all we can tell you though.

Farmer Fred   

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Farmer Fred    

Now, another term you may come across, especially when planting vegetables, you might see the term "bolting" on it. And in reference to a stage that the plant is going to go through what is bolting.

Debbie Flower  

Bolting is when an edible crop produces flowers and and they refer to the edible crops like the greens, lettuce, spinach, chard, kale, Here's where we eat the leaves could also refer to root crops, beets, radishes, carrots, and bolting is when they they say on the definition premature, I don't think it's premature. It's, it's what the plant is going to do next. It's typically in response to warm temperatures, and changes and day length. But what we noticed the most is warm temperatures. And those plants have finished doing their green growth and now they're going to flower and so they're just doing what comes naturally to them. But it's a point where the chemistry inside of the plant changes the hormones inside the plant change. And the cabbage or the lettuce or the spinach or or the chard typically then tastes bitter. A lot of different chemicals accumulate in the leaves and they are not as nice to eat not as tender and sweet. And then often, these are annuals and often they will seed in flower and die.

Farmer Fred  

If you stare at a bolted plant long enough, you may notice a lot of insect activity around the flowers. And that's a good thing. And it's one reason to have a big garden to where you can leave the bolted plants in the garden, letting them flower, attracting all sorts of beneficial insects that can help you control the bad bugs.

Debbie Flower  

Absolutely, yes, yes, those are great flowers for attracting the beneficial insects. It's a great insect control strategy for the vegetable garden. 

Farmer Fred  

In some seed packets, you might see what are called special germination instructions, it might say to soak the seed in water for 12 to 24 hours and that darkness can aid germination. So you want to sow at the recommended depth, and instead of being in Simple English like that, it may say something along the lines of the seed needs stratification or scarification. What do those terms mean?

Debbie Flower  

scarification is the easy one to remember, I think, because it has the word scar in it. And scarification is breaking the seed coat so that the seed can absorb water to grow. So you scar that seed coat. It is is not it maybe sounds more violent than the process really is. Sometimes with let's say, peas or sweet peas, will suggest you soak the seed in warm water for 24 hours before planting that's a method of scarification Believe it or not.

Debbie Flower    

He can take the water can take chemicals out of the seeds that prevented from germinating. plants don't want their seeds to germinate as soon as they fall off of the plant. Often that's the wrong season for that plant. And if they fell off the ball fell off the plant and grew they would be growing right next to each other. And so it's become an adaptation for plants to figure out a way To get something to eat them, or to attach to an animal's fur, or blow in the wind in some way, move away from the parent plant sow seeds of plants typically will not germinate as soon as they come off the plant. That's a bad strategy for the plant's ultimate survival over decades. So they put something in the seed that prevents it from from germinating. Sometimes it's the fruit around the outside. Sometimes it's chemicals in the seed coat, which can come out with a soaking of water soaking, which is a type of scarification. Sometimes it's a very hard seed. And that needs to be worked on over time, maybe by stomach acid. If an animal were to eat it, maybe by freezing enzyme, which can can work on breaking open the seed coat, or we humans can take things like sandpaper or nail clippers, and just rub into the seed coat. Typically the seed coat and those plants that need to be scarified by rubbing by breaking physically breaking the seed coat or dark in color. And so you just want to to sand them or clip them until you see a lighter color underneath. You don't want to go too far in because that will kill the baby plant that's inside or has the potential to kill the baby plant that's inside. So scarification is breaking of the seed coat. In commercial production. They might use acid to break seed coats and there are many recipes that you will find if you delve into scarification of seeds, many different recipes listed to break that seed coat of different species of plants, stratification, it a little harder to remember in my book anyway, it's giving the plant a moist cold treatment so that it will be ready to germinate. So another strategy that plants use So that the seed does not germinate at the wrong time of year is to produce their seed with a not quite mature baby plant inside or a mature baby plant that is in dormancy. dormancy is a state where the plant the seed will not grow or the plant part will not grow, even if it's given good growing conditions, moisture, temperature, air, all those things that seeds need, or plant parts need to grow. And so what you need to do is mimic the winter. Winter satisfies dormancy cold satisfies dormancy. So you want to preserve the seed so it doesn't die, and you want to give it a cold treatment. And so typically, the way that's done is to take the seed, put it in a jar or a plastic bag with some sterile media. I like to use peat moss because it's got a very low pH it's very acidic, which prevents fungus from growing but I've seen people use other things like sand, or perlite. The advantage of those is that you often see the seed. Brown seeds kind of disappear in peat moss, but they're visible in perlite and sand, and a little bit of moisture just like a wrung out sponge. you don't see puddles of water in the jar or bag, you just want to the whole thing to be moist and you put it in a cold place, the refrigerator works as cold place and leave it there for if no if I if the seed pack it doesn't say I would say leave it there for six weeks or leave it there until you see roots begin to grow, which is the first thing that comes out of a seed. This is done with acorns. That's a nice one to do it with because they're nice and big. And you can check them periodically and see if the root tip has come out of that seed and if it has and you have to very gently plant them. I say gently because that's that root tip will be very brittle. It If the six weeks has gone by, and the roots have not shown and the media is still moist, then I would plant some of them, half of them maybe they probably will germinate anyway, I would give the other half of a couple more weeks of that chilling, moist chilling to three minutes important, they stay moist. And so you can check your bag or jar periodically to make sure the media is moist, not wet, just moist, then plant those others. I've done it many times with many different kinds of seeds. The cold treatment really helps that plant completed storm dormancy and grow.

Farmer Fred   

But I would imagine one should not store seeds in the refrigerator.

Debbie Flower  

One can store seeds in the refrigerator if they're in dry and in their seed packets. But you wouldn't want to store seeds in the refrigerator in a moist condition. Once a seed gets wet that it start to grow and if it dries out after it starts to grow it is dead.

Farmer Fred 

If you did want to store your seeds in the refrigerator, then they should be in their original packet. And then I would think maybe include a silica packet somewhere in the bag where you've got your seed packages, and then keep it in like the vegetable crisper.

Debbie Flower   

The location I think, is pretty irrelevant. However, the back of the refrigerator stays more evenly Cool. coolest fine. It's the dryness that the refrigerator provides refrigerators these days. I remember defrosting refrigerators and defrost increases, but we don't have to do that anymore. Because they dry themselves out. They don't build up moisture and an ice inside of the refrigerator like they used to. So it's a very dry environment. So the cool dry environment is is what allows the seed to last a long time. So I put my seeds in a plastic bag that By seal, plastic bags are not impermeable to air so they won't, you know kill the seeds from certifications if that's a thing. And I've seen jars suggested like canning jars we put the lid on, and they're in their original seed pack that in there in the refrigerator, but any part of the refrigerator is fine. The crisper drawer is where I put seeds that I am stratifying of course.

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UNDERSTANDING SEED PACKETS, Pt. 2

Farmer Fred   

I'm looking at two different seed packets here, that's the packet of nasturtiums and a packet of Snapdragon seeds and on the nasturtium seeds. It says darkness age germination. So at the recommended depth, and on the Snapdragon seeds, it says requires light for germination, press seed into the surface. Mm hmm. that's confusing.

Debbie Flower  

Yeah, it's different. Seeds need different environments, most of them. We cover, we cover them with two to three times depth of media as the narrowest part of the seed. Basically, very small seeds, like lettuce don't get covered very deeply big seeds, like let's say beans, they covered more deeply. But there are the exceptions and those are the ones that need light to germinate. And so it's just again part of their evolutions. They, when they were produced in nature, they would land On the surface, and that would help them germinate. So it is worth definitely looking at the either depth of planting surface might be one of those choices or a comment on the packet that says need light to germinate. If I have something that needs like to germinate, I worry a little bit about it drying out because seeds sitting on the surface of anything, especially if they're outside in the garden are exposed to air and heat and may rent and birds. So if they need light to germinate and I will put a layer of vermiculite on top of them. vermiculite is expanded mica, it looks like sort of gold foil. It's very shiny, and it has the ability to hold moisture because it's sort of accordion like in its structure, in that there are layers of the rock and then open layers and layers of the rock and open layers and so the water gets trapped in There, but it's so shiny that light will shine down on the seed. So you can cover if you have a seed was your Snapdragon, I believe, right? Yeah. So if you have Snapdragon seeds that say plant on the surface, you can lay them on the surface of the soil and put a layer of vermiculite on top and that will allow the light to get to the seed as needed. And it will also keep moisture on the seed which is absolutely needed for the seed to germinate. If birds are an issue, then you need some netting wire, strawberry basket, something flat, maybe upside down over that area of the garden where you've put the seeds so that the birds can't get into the seed and eat them. Or squirrels, big pot plants or I've had that happen a lot around here.

Farmer Fred   

Looking at a packet for lettuce seed. It says keep soil evenly moist for better growth and sin regularly please explain evenly moist and thinning.

Debbie Flower   

well evenly moist means it's not going to dry out ever. And that can be a challenge, especially if you live in a dry environment. Again, that's where I would employ a covering on the soil surface like vermiculite. I also might use a sheet of newspaper over the top, just one sheet and and when that starts to dry out you need to to wet it again. It can be difficult, I would personally living in the dry environment I live in, I would start those seeds indoors and put the seeds in the in a container put the container either in a plastic bag or under a plastic dome which you can get with a seed starting kit so that it becomes very humid in there. And you can see water maybe dripping down the sides of the plastic bag or the sides of the dome and then you know that the air has A lot of moisture in it and that will help keep it evenly moist so it never dries out.

Farmer Fred   

And something that gardeners are loath to do and that's thinning.

Debbie Flower   

Yes, that's true. That was one of the most difficult things for me to get students to do. But I've got all these seeds, they all germinated. I want to grow them all. There are ways that you don't have to thin. If you started things in containers, you have lots of dexterity, yes. Then you can work very gently with the root ball in water and try to separate them and you can save more plants that way more baby plants, but it's a lot of work and typically if they need thinning then we've planted more than we have room for anyway. So thinning is done to give the plant room to grow and if you do not give the plant enough room to grow it will never produce it will be crowded up against the other plants. You will have increased disease problems, increased insect problems, and you will not get a satisfying crop. So you need to space the baby plants out so that they can grow and become mature plants. The beauty in in some of the vegetable crops life, even carrots and lettuces any of the greens is that you can eat, the ones that you take out of that you send. But thinning typically should be done by cutting the plant off at the soil line, not yanked, and not yanking because if they're very close to the next plant roots could be entwined in each other and you don't want to hurt the roots of the plant that you're going to keep.

Farmer Fred 

Also on seed packets, you will generally see how far apart to space the plants for their eventual growth. In the case of this lettuce, it says 12 inches, but then we'll have a number for spacing of rows and it's always different from spacing of plants. For instance, this is 12 inch plant spacing, but 15 inch row spacing, why can't it all just be 12 inches?

Debbie Flower   

Well, that's true  and lettuce, I probably would, but 12 inches, because lettuce can be harvested from the outside in, meaning I can, as the plant matures, the leaves on the outer side outside of the plant can be taken off and eaten, it will continue to make leaves in the center. In another kind of plant, I might say I would do it to 16 by 16. I always find that so confusing. I find two things confusing in the spacing of the plants. The one is they say plant them with like two inches apart. And then they say thin them to 12 inches apart was wonder what's the point of that? If I'm using fresh seed packed for the year that I am planting in.  By law germination has to be very high. I don't know the number off the top of my head or they have to put it on the packet. I think it's In the 90%, so I would expect that nearly every seed I put in the ground, assuming I planted at the correct depth at the right season, and keep it moist, evenly moist, will germinate. So why am I planting them every two inches if I've got to thin them to every foot, I'm a rebel in that department, I won't do it. I will plant them every 12 inches, but I might put two or three seeds fairly close together at that 12 inch spacing. And then my thinning is in that one location. Sending that down to just one plant.

Farmer Fred   

Well, as long as you make the Seed Company happy and keep buying their seed, they'd probably agree with you on that.

Debbie Flower   

Another point is that seed packets typically have way more seeds in them than we're going to use. Unless your whole yard, Fred, is a garden. Yeah, but for for those of us who are just planting For our regular consumption as a hobby, we typically are only going to use a few things. So we can share seeds with other people. There are actually places, they might be libraries that are seed libraries. Basically, that's a formal setup, but talk to your neighbors and see what they might want to grow and go in together and buy the seeds together. Or you save seeds from year to year. And in that case, you need to store them correctly, which is in that in a dry cool place, which we were talking about in the refrigerator.

Farmer Fred   

And generally speaking seeds will keep it really depends on the seed but I think a ballpark figure might be three to five years.

Debbie Flower   

Right. And typically, the smaller the seed the shorter it lives, the bigger the seeds, the longer it lives, for subsequent years. I would choose to plant the bigger seeds and as you pour them out, let's say squash seeds, into your hand and some are bigger and some are smaller. So we're using older seed I would always use the bigger seed because it's got a better chance of having lived longer and I would plant more I would up the density of what I'm planting. Assuming that some may not have survived from year to year. I used to do a seed germination experiment with my students. When we took a paper towel, just a plain white paper towel, folded it in half, then unfolded it put 10 seeds along that central crease, folded it in half again, and roll it up like a cigar so that the seeds are all at the top end of the cigar. moisten the whole thing. Put it in a plastic bag and and try to stand it up so that the seats at the fold are up in the air. And, and the rest of the paper towel is down below in a jar let's say and and then cap it somehow. You can just put another class put a plastic bag over the whole thing or put the lid on the jar. If it's a Big enough jar, and then wait. And it says on the package that days to emerge, so we would check it periodically. And if it was seven days, take that paper towel cigar out, unroll it, unfold it and count the number of seeds that have germinated. And I had a whole collection of old seeds. And I had some bean seeds that were more than 10 years old, and they continued to germinate at very high rates. So different seeds, other seeds, students would get no results at all. So very much depends on the different species.

Farmer Fred   

Here's a pro tip for you if you are germinating seeds and there are a lot of recommendations about germinating seeds ahead of time to make sure of doing exactly what you're suggesting is to determine the viability of a seed. Let's say you find this old seed packet. You take a portion of the seeds in that packet, you put it on a moist paper towel, you close it up, you keep it moist, and you see how many seeds germinate.  the problem with paper towels is it's a fibrous material and that new root that has developed could easily get tangled in those fibers. And so your choices are trying to remove it carefully or plant it, paper towel and all. The other option would be to use a non fibrous substance to germinate seeds and a perfect example would be a coffee filter.

Debbie Flower   

Hmm, good advice. Yes, we did have some we had those sort of industrial paper towels at school that were somewhat less fibrous than the bumpy ones that we use at home. But students would often want to try to grow on the ones that had germinated and so if they were stuck to the paper towel, we would just  cut the ones out  that had germinated and stick the paper towel and all into the medium, but nice to know that a coffee filter makes that much easier.

Farmer Fred   

I would like to reassure beginning gardeners when you have that new full seed packet and you start planting the entire packet. That's a habit that you never lose, that no matter how many years you garden you're going to be trying to plant an entire packet of seeds. I just did that yesterday with a packet of snow peas. So I just went around looking for new places to plant snow pea seeds.

Debbie Flower    

Well and the other thing is that many gardeners do and I'm one of those is buy way more packets of seeds than than they ever get around to planting. They're small, they're not really expensive and they contain so much hope. It seems like such a positive thing to do. So I'm guilty of that one.

Farmer Fred    

We all are. We all have packets of seed, but I think the lesson is, if you are a seed hoarder, hoard them properly in that cool dry place it could be under your bed is a cool, dry place. For example, just be sure to label the package of what's there and put notes around to remind you that they're seeds under the bed. Don't store them in the garage.

Debbie Flower   

Right and don't store them  on a window sill where light comes in and heats up whatever's nearby. Exactly. Yes. Seeds are fun. Oh, peas are wonderful.

Farmer Fred   

Yes, we sound like gardeners. 

Farmer Fred    

I think, you know, of course we have just scratched the surface of planting glossary terms. We'll probably revisit this again with more glossary terms. But I think we've learned a lot in our little diatribes here, trying to explain seed packets and hope it helps out people.

Debbie Flower  

 Me too, have fun. seeds are so much fun.

Farmer Fred   

Yeah. And once you get bit by the bug, you'll never go back.

Debbie Flower    

True. That's right.

Farmer Fred   

 It's Debbie Flower. Thanks for a few minutes of your time, Debbie.

Debbie Flower   

Oh, it's a pleasure, Fred. Thank you.

Farmer Fred

Garden Basics with Farmer Fred comes out every Friday. Garden Basics is available wherever podcasts are handed out. For more information about the podcast, as well as an accurate transcript of the podcast, visit our website, GardenBasics.net. And thank you so much for listening and your support.