Sand Hill Preservation

[carolyn137]

So you like an assertive taste Tom?

Please consider the following which have such as t5aste, at least for me/

Russian Queen, which I just offered in my seed offer and so noted as assertive

Herman's Special

Sandpoint

Jean's Prize

Silvery Fir Tree, assertive for me

Aunt Gertie's Gold, remarkable flavor for me, not sweet, perhaps on the assertive side for some, but great depth of flavor.

Ludmilla's Red Plum, which I love, not all that assertive, but certainly not mild, with outstanding taste for me.

........to name a few off the top of my head.

[Fusion_power]

Orangina and Orawalo would probably be good oranges for you Tom.

DarJones

[roper2008]

I know it's a busy time for them. I mailed them a check Jan 26th. Hopefully
I'll get my seed soon.

[ScottinAtlanta]

Just got my Sandhill mailing - I love the Civil War package - full of old timey varieties, including that Southern favorite, Granny Franklin okra, and melons that I can't wait to try. What a great idea to hark back to the 1860s when putting together a seed package. I live in an Antebellum home here in Atlanta - the Union artillery lines ran across my front yard - and it is a sacred idea to plant the varieties that were here in 1864 when the Yankees destroyed everything around me. With all due respect to Yankees!

[Fusion_power]

You will like Granny Franklin. It is the best pickling okra I've yet found and it is outstanding battered in corn meal and fried.

Here are some tips to grow it.

Okra should be planted into moderately fertile soil about 2 weeks after the local frost free date. The soil can be prepared with an application of rabbit or cow manure well tilled into the soil. Plant okra in hills with 5 to 8 seed very closely clumped together per hill and each hill about 18 inches apart in rows at least 36 inches wide. Cover the seed no more than 3/4 of an inch with soil. If the soil happens to crust, having several seed in one spot will permit them to break through. Once the okra plants reach about 6 inches tall, cull the plants to 2 or 3 per hill leaving more plants for shorter and less vigorous varieties and less plants for more vigorous types. When the plants are about 1 foot tall, side dress with a balanced fertilizer with a moderate amount of nitrogen. (Chicken manure would be a bit too high for nitrogen. Composted rabbit or cow manure would be just about right.) Spray with neem a couple of times to discourage pests. If you would like to save seed, harvest the okra for the first 3 weeks, then stop harvesting and let the plants set a seed crop. If you only need a small amount of seed, wait until 3 weeks before frost and stop harvesting so the okra can mature.

DarJones

[jennifer28]

I live in an Antebellum home here in Atlanta - the Union artillery lines ran across my front yard - and it is a sacred idea to plant the varieties that were here in 1864 when the Yankees destroyed everything around me. With all due respect to Yankees!

Scott,
Does your home have the kind of "window doors" that are long windows that open on to a front porch? I believe this was done for tax reasons, to avoid some kind of tax on the number of doors the home had... I learned about it when I was studying architecture and I thought it was the coolest thing. That architectural feature isn't common here where I live.

[roper2008]

Well, I't's been 1 month since I mailed my check. Didn't think they would be that slow.
I'm going to see if my check cleared.

[carolyn137]

Originally Posted by roper2008

Well, I't's been 1 month since I mailed my check. Didn't think they would be that slow.
I'm going to see if my check cleared.

Glenn just called me about an hour ago to catch up. He had no idea that I'd fallen twice and all that's in the thread my brother started in the GEneral Discussion area.

After talking helath issues he said that they're about two weeks behind right now and have been in inundated with orders, so all I can say is to try and be patient.

I asked how many new varieties he wanted me to send for trial this summer and it was many more than I expected he would say. So I'll have to think about that b'c I have other places I send seeds to for trial, am still packing up seeds for SSE requests and am almost out of many varieties right now.

And then there's always personal friends to whom I send seeds, so fingers crossed I'll have enough of some of them to get out where the general public has access to them.

[roper2008]

Ya, I finally got my seeds!. I'm going to start some Gail's Sweet Plum right
away, and Cherokee Potato Leaf. They sent me some free La Fayette tomato
and Purple Top Globe turnips (I like turnips).

[wmontanez]

I got my seeds today. I sent the check 2/12, they cashed it 2/24 and got them 3/8 so it is about 1 month from door-to-door... I think is reasonable since they are preservationists not a seed company. I am so excited! I got my papago cowpeas and black peanuts! I got carried away with corn, kolhrabi, kale and some greens etc and always they throw some freebies.

[jennifer28]

I just think the world of Glenn and Linda. I am biased because I think Glenn is a teacher, and you know teachers stick together. I did get worried about the seeds, and I emailed Linda not because I was annoyed with them but because I was worried someone in my neighborhood got the seeds. Fortunately they didn't and I got the seeds two days later. But they really are great folks. I also admire their involvement with 4-H, I really had a good time in 4H when I was a kid.

[sdzejachok]

Country Gentleman is my favorite OP sweet corn. We used to get it at roadside stands.

[Sodak]

I have ordered from them for a couple of years and wish I had found them sooner. Sandhill was the only source I could find for "victor", an AllAmerican selection from the 1930s. Sandhill and SSE are great Iowan organizations.

[kevinrs]

I've ordered from them for 3 years in a row, but I do think they would make their own lives easier if they modernized their sales setup some. Inventory levels could feed into the catalog pages automatically instead of having to hand edit the pages, and a basic shopping cart could be set up to feed into an order form to print out, if they still don't want to take orders online.
Taking orders online, cost of processing fees should be balanced against time costs of hand processing mailed orders and handling checks.

[carolyn137]

Originally Posted by kevinrs

I've ordered from them for 3 years in a row, but I do think they would make their own lives easier if they modernized their sales setup some. Inventory levels could feed into the catalog pages automatically instead of having to hand edit the pages, and a basic shopping cart could be set up to feed into an order form to print out, if they still don't want to take orders online.
Taking orders online, cost of processing fees should be balanced against time costs of hand processing mailed orders and handling checks.

What you see is what Glenn and Linda want, as you know from reading the catalog and/or the website.

Glenn gets up at about 4 AM each morning to feed and water his heirloom poultry that includes about 400 breeds, then drives to his full time job teaching.

They do hire some local ladies to help with filling orders at peak times/

Summers he also has extra help, some from his students, in planting and caring for all that he grows and then it's up to him alone to process all the tomatoes, for instance, for sale. and since he sends out tomato seed no more than 2 years old, the summer growouts are huge.

He bought a camera and was going to try to take pictures, but just has not had time.

To know Glenn, as I do, and for many years, his main goal is preservation of varieties of all kinds and I don't think you'll ever see any online ordering of any kind.

As he's said for many years, when his baby chicks can be e-mailed, , he might consider doing things differently.

He's also very honest when he says that his operation is not a fast food kind of place, and even suggests that folks go elewhere for their seeds

To know Glenn and Linda as I have since maybe the late 80's, is to know that you are dealing with two of the most honest folks I've ever known.

If only I could convince Linda to coat seeds of the variety Sandpoint with chocolate, since that variety is a spitter for me, but when I found out that Glenn went to Sandpoint HS, I withdrew that request.

I've helped in any way I can by sending seeds for trial each year of some of my best tomato varieties and have also helped with editing the tomato section from time to time.

And as thanks, they usually send me something to eat that Linda has processed and this year it was a jar of canteloupe jam, who ever thought one could make jam from melons, as well as a jar of cherry jam.

When Glenn gets nearer to retirement I don't know what they will do.

Carolyn, who was so glad to meet and talk with Glenn when she was asked to do a presentation on heirloom tomatoes at SSE and Glenn was also there as well, but that's in the past now.