We do not offer any GMO based seed products and all of our stock originates from open pollinated plants.
We steer clear of companies such as Monsanto.
The vast majority of our products are heirloom, aside from a couple of hybrid varieties.
Please do not confuse hybrids with GMO's.
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May 23, 2019
Put down that chemical pesticide. You can create a non-toxic garden that supports its own defense system if you go all in and rely on biological warfare for natural garden pest control. Here's how to provide habitat and sustenance to beneficial critters, from single-celled fungi to furry flying mammals.
If you have a garden pond or live near a slow-moving body of water, you probably have plenty of bug-eating frogs. But how about land-loving toads? All native amphibians will eat pretty much anything they can stuff into their faces. Here's some insight from the Cooperative Extension "Ask an Expert" service.
Set up a "toad abode" in a shady, out-of-the-way spot: An upturned pot with a toad-sized doorway, either home-made or bought online, set firmly in damp, diggable soil works beautifully. Another approach is to hollow out a sloping burrow in the soil, place an untreated board or flat stone across the top, and pile on moss or groundcover plants. Wet down the surrounding area on hot days to keep the humidity up. If there isn't a good water source nearby, place (and refill daily) a large baking dish filled with clean water halfway into the soil. Toads don't drink water—they soak it up through their skin.
We suggest you set up a few toad houses around your garden to give them some options, and to create their own little neighborhood.
North America is home to four bat families, further divided into more than 75 species of winged furballs. Some bats are pollinating specialists, while others devour crop-damaging and disease-spreading insect pests. The ubiquitous little brown bat, for example, can eat one insect every seven seconds while it's in hunting mode, and it loves cutworm and borer moths, flying termites and ants, and leafhoppers...not to mention mosquitoes. Larger bats will eat flying beetles, crickets and grasshoppers. A single bat can eat thousands of bugs each night.
Build a bat house with your kids, or buy one from a bat-savvy source. Bat Conservation & Management and Bat Conservation International are excellent resources for kits, plans, and ready-to-hang bat roosts, and keep these tips in mind as you scout out locations:
Check out these mugshots of the most common bats patrolling US airspace and try to deny that they're adorable. Just wait until you notice how few skeeters you have to slap each evening, and how incredibly healthy your garden looks—especially once you have a decent supply of high-phosphorus bat guano.
You've probably tried trapping snails and slugs in beer-filled containers. Maybe you caught a few, but not enough to make a dent in the population. Maybe you didn't know you have to set the traps no more than six feet apart; they attract slimers within a three-foot radius.
Instead of beer traps, use them as lures.
The yeast and sugar in beer draw in snails and slugs, so unless you're on a Natty Lite budget, it's cheaper to make your own brew. After dark, wet down an area near ideal slimer hangouts, which include low-growing, shady plants, debris piles, stone overhangs, and under flower pot dishes. Set out saucers filled with your homemade mixture, and go drink real beer for a couple of hours. When the temperatures cool off, the snails will gravitate towards the bait. Grab a flashlight and gloves, and go pluck 'em up.
You'll note that most of this article focuses on using live organisms to defeat garden pests. We're totally justifying this method by pointing out that yeast is, indeed, a living organism.
"Ground beetle" is a generic name assigned to members of the Carabidae family, and they're excellent biological weapons in the war against insect pests. They specialize in assassinating ground-dwelling invertebrates and can eat the equivalent of their body weight in a single day. Here's some of their favorite food:
The vast majority of ground beetles are carnivores, but some eat weed seeds. In fact, research indicates ground beetles have an untapped potential for weed control, and Penn State University suggests there are far more weed-destroying ground beetles than we think.
When home gardeners or commercial growers create beetle-friendly habitats among their row crops and ornamentals, they're building beetle banks. The idea is to create an area that doesn't get soggy, has plenty of cover under which to hide, and provides access to the plants you want them to protect. These can be mounded earth or small, two-foot by four-foot raised beds planted with low-growing perennials.
Carabids lay their eggs just beneath the soil surface, or in the leaf litter and plant residues just above. They remain in the patch during their larval and pupal stages, the former spent entirely underground. So, it's essential to leave your beetle banks undisturbed and to cover them with plenty of leaves or straw mulch.
We'll bet you've already met a few ground beetles in your garden. Check out the above link to Penn State's page if you haven't already—you might recognize one or two of their featured species.
Trichogramma wasps are classified as egg parasitoids. Most of them are quite small—some as tiny as the dot on this i—but their size makes them deadly to their prey. They lay their eggs inside those laid by pest species, and as the wasp eggs hatch, the larvae devour the developing "host" larvae.
If that thought freaks you out, just wait: Trichogramma isn't a single species. It's the name we use to refer to members of the Trichogrammatidae family, which contains roughly 800 species among 90 genera. They're everywhere. They're evil. And they're on our side.
Trichogramma wasps will do serious damage to about 200 pest species, most notably these:
If you want to boost your beneficial wasp population, you can purchase parasitized moth eggs. These come glued to a square of card stock, which you suspend in a protected area in mid- to late spring (be sure there are at least a few plants in bloom). But why go through the hassle? You can grow some of their favorite blooming plants from seed to draw in adult Trichogramma wasps:
North Carolina State's Cooperative Extension places these wasps far, far above European honeybees and bumblebees in terms of pollination efficiency, and encourage gardeners to create consistent food sources to support their populations: "If you want to attract pollinating wasps to your garden, consider adding plants that flower year-round." Easy for you to say, North Carolina. You're so smug, down there with your 210+ day growing season.
As with ground beetles and Trichogramma wasps, green lacewings are a generic term applied to a large insect family, in this case, it's Chrysopidae. Adult lacewings are pale to medium green (some are brown) with bronze-colored eyes. Their long oval wings, which are about 130% of their entire body length (half to one inch), are transparent with delicate, lacy veins.
Some species will eat insects, but they mostly live off pollen, nectar, and aphid honeydew. In spite of their impressive wings, they don't fly very far from home base or fly much at all. That's probably a good thing if you have bats on the prowl—lacewings are nocturnal.
A single adult lacewing female will find substantial aphid populations and deposit 300 to 500 eggs nearby. The tiny white oval eggs hang from long threadlike stalks, very much resembling downsized and slightly bendy sewing pins.
Lacewings' peak performance happens during their two- to three-week larval stage when they're reverently called "aphid lions." Lacewing larvae are about a half-inch long and camouflaged in rusty brown, usually with cream bands and spots. This is to protect them from the ants that guard their aphid "milk cows," and from birds and other predators.
Lacewing larvae refine their Special Forces cred by decorating themselves with bits of leaves, dirt, and dandelion fluff. They think they look so hardcore! Even if we think they look like itty bitty Bichon Frise puppies, they truly are badass: Aphid lions can eat about 200 aphids during their larval stage, and they'll eagerly devour any other insect in its path. For some great lacewing close-ups, visit Insect Identification for the Casual Observer.
You can purchase lacewing eggs, larvae, and adults and release them according to instructions specific to the stage of life, but if you're happy to hold onto your money, entice lacewings by growing nectar-rich flowering plants, including those favored by beneficial wasps. Have aphids? You'll soon have aphid lions. Don't knock down minor infestations, since the adults will leave without a food source. Plants grown from healthy genetics should tolerate a few aphids now and again.
What about them?
Nah, they're great. At least, they're cute. But neither is as effective as the species featured above nor are they as economical for natural garden pest control. We're more interested in naturally attracting pest predators than taping dollar bills to their backs and waving "buh-bye."
But we're we, and you're you. If you want more info on ladybugs and praying mantids, then who are we to deny our lovely readers? Check out this great article about releasing ladybugs for aphid control from the wonderful University of California agriculture nerds. As for praying mantids, the University of Wisconsin-Madison doesn't consider them to be worthy of the beneficial insect or biological control organism titles.
September 19, 2019
September 12, 2019
September 05, 2019
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Seed Packet Favors are the perfect gift for any event! They are most popularly used in weddings, bridal showers, memorials and baby showers, but are also utilized as a promotional handout with businesses, fundraisers and charity events.
Seed Needs offers stock packets to choose from, as well as customized packets. If you are a do-it-yourselfer, then check out our blank seed envelopes section.
Blog Content coming Soon. Sorry Folks!
Blog Content coming Soon. Sorry Folks!
Blog Content coming Soon. Sorry Folks!
Blog Content coming Soon. Sorry Folks!
Blog Content coming Soon. Sorry Folks!
Blog Content coming Soon. Sorry Folks!
- Seed Needs LLC is a small, family owned and operated seed shop that is committed to providing all of it’s customers with the highest quality seed products on the market.
- The owner (James) started selling seeds at just 15 years of age. He has continued to grow the business over the past several years and happily works with his family.
- Seed Needs LLC is located in the mitten state of Michigan, and operates out of a single office space, that is less than 3,000 square feet. But don’t let the size of our office fool you, because we send out hundreds of thousands of seed packets to happy customers every year.
- All of our seeds are kept in optimal conditions that are free of moisture and are exposed to virtually no sunlight. Our facility is temperature controlled, which means our inventory stays fresh year round.
- Through the continued success of our business we are able to generously donate to 25 kids all over the world who are in need of basic necessities, such as food, clean drinking water and medical attention. We are blessed to be able to sponsor these children through organizations such as Childfund.org and Compassion International.
Thank you for allowing us to serve you for years to come!
Question: Are your seeds heirloom?
Answer: In short yes, a vast majority of the plant varieties we carry are heirloom. Heirlooms are varieties that have been passed down for generations.
Question: Are your seeds GMO?
Answer: No, we promise to never knowingly carry or supply any GMO based seed products and steer clear of seed producers from major GMO companies, such as Monsanto.
Question: Are your seeds Organic?
Answer: No, at this time we do not sell organic seeds.
Question: What is the difference between a hybrid variety and a GMO based seed product.
Answer: Hybrids are a NATURAL process of cross pollinating two species, thus producing a first generation hybrid (F1.) For example: Mixing a red, double blooming, single stem sunflower, with a yellow, multi branching sunflower might result in a orange-red, double blooming, multibranching plant.
GMO based seed products are a completely different and unatural process of gene splicing in a laboratory. The process entails the introduction of a separate biological kingdom, such as a bacteria, or a pesticide. This bacteria or pesticide is then eaten directly by the consumer when the crops reach maturity. (BAD NEWS)
Question: Do the packages have sowing instructions on them?
Answer: Yes, all of our seed packets have detailed sowing information on the reverse side as well as a QR code that leads to the original product page here on our website.
Question: Why is there no expiration date on your seed packages?
Answer: Our seeds are contained within a temperature controlled facility in airtight containers. When we ship our seed products to customers, we fill a small portion of packets that sell on a weekly basis. We do not print an expiration date on the packets since the large majority of seeds technically do not expire for long periods of time, IF they are stored in the proper conditions. If you plan to store or save your seeds for the following year, we suggest placing them in a ziplock bag, later storing them in a dark, cool and dry area of the home.
Question: Can I receive a catalog in the mail?
Answer: At this time, we are focused on remaining solely online. We do not send paper catalogs in an effort to save more trees, as well as keep our prices low.
Question: I did not receive an invoice for my order.
Answer: We do not send paper invoices with our orders since the invoice can be viewed online with your Seed Needs account. You will also receive an invoice / order confirmation through email.
Question: What if my seeds don't grow?
Answer: If you experience any problems with our seed products, contact us within 180 days of your purchase date for a resolution.
Question: Can you ship these seeds overseas?
Answer: At this time we only ship within the United States and Canada.
Question: How long will shipping take?
Answer: This can sometimes depend on the size of your order, however 95% of our orders will ship within 24 to 48 hours. All orders ship First Class by default and can take 2 - 5 business days to arrive. Orders placed on a Friday may not ship until the following Monday.
If the Questions & Answers displayed here do not prove helpful, please contact us for additional assistance.
We normally respond within 12 to 24 hours after your email has been received.