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Our American Gardeners Get Going!

Heirloom seeds in packets from lehmans.pro. — Choose from a variety of heirloom seeds at lehmans.pro or Lehman’s in Kidron, Ohio.

Last week, Country Life announced our American Gardens Project, where we sent a selection of heirloom seeds to gardeners all over the country. Each gardener has received his or her seeds, and is, as we say at Lehman’s, “starting their seedlings” in the race to harvest. We’ll track each one, and see how the various seeds do in gardens across the country.

Our Arizona gardener, Glynis, lives in the high desert, and has some big challenges to overcome. She shares her thoughts with us below. Our other gardeners, who are scattered through the South, East and Midwest, will have updates here soon.

Gadening in a dry place is challenging, but Glynis is more than up to the job! She shares her plans and thoughts: “My seeds arrived a few days ago. I’m really honored to be a part of the American Gardens Project. The seed varieties are ones I’ve never planted, and some, I haven’t seen before.

I’ve never grown carrots out here and they will be a first. The horses and donkey are cheering me on! This experience will expand my gardening knowledge and hopefully make a better gardener of me. I’m sure to learn from it.

Because we depend on rain for our water supply, I’ve always started my gardens as close to the monsoon rain period as possible (July), because

Capture rainwater easily with a Downspout Rain Catcher from Lehman’s in Kidron or lehmans.pro.

we don’t have much water during April, May and June. We need our supplies for ourselves and our animals.

This year, I will be using grey water to start my garden in hopes of starting it earlier than last year and extending the growing season.

I will be able to plant some early crops and the carrots will be included.

The weather has been warm and we haven’t had rain or snow since November. Finally, today, March 1, it’s raining. I think the danger of frost here is just about over so I’m going to plant some root crops this week.

If it freezes, it will be a light frost and probably not hurt anything. I do have some plastic covers for my garden if it gets really cold. Based on our weather this year, I doubt it.

So, the experiment begins. First, the carrots. As soon as the rain stops, I’ll get out there and plant them. Fortunately, the ground will be moist for a few days and they will get a good start.”

Interested in starting your own American Garden? Our AG team is using a selection of seeds from our Seed Savers heirloom seeds offering:

Dragon Carrot Seeds
https://www.lehmans.pro/p-88-dragon-carrot-seeds.aspx
Lazy Housewife Beans
https://www.lehmans.pro/p-5033-lazy-housewife-bean-seeds.aspx
Black Cherry Tomatoes
https://www.lehmans.pro/p-5254-black-cherry-tomato-seeds.aspx
Three Hearts Lettuce
https://www.lehmans.pro/p-5249-three-heart-lettuce-seeds.aspx
Little Potato Cucumbers
https://www.lehmans.pro/p-5252-little-potato-cucumber-seeds.aspx

Plant what you love! Choose from the list above, or pick your favorites from here, where you’ll find a range of seeds, including those certified as organic heirloom seeds. Buy 5 or more seed packets; receive the discounted price of $2.99 each packet.