Frequently Asked Questions

If you’ve never experienced the joy of gardening, now is the perfect time to start. Gardening is not only a great way to relax and enjoy the outdoors, but it also offers gentle exercise and a rewarding sense of accomplishment. Click Here for our in depth article on: Gardening for Beginners: Learn the Basics of Growing an Awesome Garden

When choosing the right seeds for your garden, the terms “Heirloom” and “Non-GMO” often come up. Understanding these terms is essential for gardeners who want to ensure they’re using natural, high-quality seeds that can be saved for future plantings. At St. Clare Heirloom Seeds, all of our seeds are Non-GMO and open-pollinated, making them a reliable choice for home gardeners who care about the origins and purity of their plants. Read More…

We use ziploc bags inside of our paper seed envelopes. This setup protects seeds from moisture and makes them easy to access, use, and reseal. However, small seeds can sometimes cling to the sides of the plastic bags due to static. Here are some handy tips to release seeds stuck by static cling. Read More

First up, should be what will grow in your region/climate. If you have a shorter season, look carefully at the “days to maturity”, if a plant will take too long to grow, your work will be in vain, and your setting yourself up for disappointment, so plant things with the shortest “days to maturity” listed. If you live where it’s hot and humid, look for heat and humidity resistant varieties. If you live where it’s hot and dry, choose heat and drought tolerant varieties… Read More

One of the great benefits of growing heirloom / open-pollinated seeds is that they come back “true to type”. In other words, when you save seeds from the mature plants of this year, when you plant them next year the resulting plants will produce fruits that tase like, look like, smell like their parent plant’s fruits. Hybrid plants do not have this feature. Hybrid plants will most often revert to a distorted version of one of their parent plants, and will not be the plant you so liked this year, that is if the seeds aren’t plain sterile…. Read More

The length of viability of heirloom vegetable garden seeds depends upon the variety, some will only keep a high germination rate for one or two years, others will keep well for ten years, but for either case length of viability and preservation of germination rate can be achieved the longest by freezing seeds (Note: garden seeds must be 8% moisture or below to freeze them)… Read More

Yes, if you are unable to use all of your seeds purchased in a given year you can certainly store them. How to store unused seeds is an essential skill for gardeners who want to maximize the value of their seed packets and ensure a thriving garden year after year. Whether you’re saving seeds for next year’s garden or looking for strategies for long term seed storage, proper techniques are crucial to maintaining seed viability. Read More

Being from Northern Wisconsin it is hard to know exactly what to tell you on which garden seed varieties will do best for you. From what we’ve heard most varieties will do well in Florida if planted at the right time. Read More

Seeds are living organisms that require proper care and attention to remain healthy and viable until it’s time to plant them. Even when seeds are dormant, they are still actively maintaining life processes, making it crucial to store them in the right conditions to preserve their viability. Understanding the heirloom vegetable seed lifespan is key to ensuring that your seeds stay healthy for as long as possible. Read More…

As to our reasons for not being organic, we do grow our seeds naturally / organically, but the monetary cost of organic certification and the cost in time of the paperwork are not feasible to a small-time operation. Read More

Raising vegetables in such extreme heat as this year has brought us more of a challenge than gardening in typical summer weather — both for the gardener and for the vegetables. Apart from planting heat-resistant varieties, there are methods you can take action with, even as temperatures reach the triple digits, to prevent hot-weather problems like wilting, sunscald and blossom drop. Read More

Cucumbers can turn bitter and radishes get hotter when they don’t receive enough water. Sweet corn and lettuce have more shallow root systems, so they are more sensitive to drought or lack of watering. Celery, artichokes, and asparagus are a few crops that need a lot of water. Beets, peppers, squash, tomatoes and melons all appreciate moderate watering. Then there’s herbs like garlic, marjoram, oregano, and thyme which all can survive on very little water. Read More

How often and how much you water depends upon how long ago you planted, what kind of soil you have, the season, the type of plant, and how much rain you have been getting. When a plant is first planted, you want to water well, just after planting, and daily for the next few days. Then you can water more like every 3-5 days. With sandy soil, we find watering really needs to be more frequent, every 2-3 days. Clay soil retains the water more, so you may find you need to water a little less often than the above guidelines. Read More

We do not offer heirloom sweet potatoes or any heirloom seed potatoes at this time as we are a small family-owned operation, and are in the stages of growth. We choose our products carefully to offer as much variety as possible and yet at the same time be able to keep up with serving our customers in a timely manner. We expand our line in time to offer what we find our customers are looking for, and will look into carrying potatoes / sweet potatoes in the future now that you have mentioned it. Read More

For the worm castings the best way to store them will be in the bag we send them in, tightly sealed to help retain moisture, and in a weather-proof environment(garage, basement, etc.). They will be fine for a year and even longer, the only thing that may happen over time is a slow loss of nutrient value.

No we do not sell marijuana seeds!