When to Plant Cucumber SeedsWondering when to plant cucumber seeds? Well, it's mid-June and it is the perfect time to plant cucumber seeds! You can plant cucumbers seeds after all chance of frost has past, for many areas in the United States that is from May to June, depending on your growing region. As they are fast growing, you could also plant cucumber seeds in June and early July and still have time for a harvest in late summer and fall. We find that they do best when planted directly in the ground. But, if you ...
How to store cucumbers until you have enough to pickle?Customer question: I finally have cucumbers coming in, with lots more to come this week. What is the best way to store them until Sunday (over 4 days away) when I can pickle them so they stay as crisp/fresh as possible? Thanks for any advice! Here's our advice for storing cucumbers for a few days so they are as fresh as possible when you pickle them: Wash and dry: After you harvest your cucumbers, rinse them gently under cold water and remove any dirt. Pat them dry with a clean towel. M...
What is eating my cucumber seedlings?If you've had the problem of direct seeding cucumber seeds in your garden, and they germinate and look great, but then before they even grow true leaves their heads get eaten, leaving just a stem behind? Well, you're not alone. There are a lot of insects and creatures that enjoy cucumber sprouts. They must be tasty! The culprit we think in this case was a cutworm, as we found one curled up nearby in the leaf mulch. To get around this issue, there are a few techniques: Sow seeds i...
Pepper Plant CompanionsWondering what to plant with your chile peppers to help them thrive? Flowers, chives, carrots, radishes, squash, basil, parsley, dill, marjoram, oregano, rosemary, cucumbers, eggplant, and onions all do well when grown in close proximity to peppers. But don't plant them too close that they will shade your pepper plants: Squash and cucumbers, for example, need ample space so we plant them at least 3-4' away from our pepper patch. You can also use trellises for your cucumbers to grow th...
Best Tomato CagesWhat are the Best Tomato Cages?Sturdy ones. We like using the sturdier thick cages, but they're a little harder to find. If you grow tomatoes, they're probably one of your favorite crops, like ours, and you want to ensure that the plants are healthy and supported so you get a great harvest. What kind of Tomato supports do you use?Those darned flimsy wire "tomato cages" that are sold at hardware stores are useless once a tomato plant gets large, as you can see in these photo...
Harvest vegetables at the right timeKnowing when to harvest vegetables will help you get the best quality vegetables from your garden. Many gardeners allow produce to pass their prime when vegetables are less tender and more fibrous. Below is a guideline to help you determine the best time to harvest vegetables. Pepper and tomatoes are listed first with the Get Real Vegetables information below that. Peppers (bell and chile) can be harvested in three stages. Mature green: Pepper is firm and fully sized. The fruit color is...
Spicy Pickles RecipeGrow and make your own spicy pickles! Here's a couple recipes: Spicy Refrigerator Dill Pickle Recipe » Jalapeno Pickles Recipe » Spicy pickles are one of the easiest ways to preserve your cucumber harvest for year-round enjoyment. You can make spears or slices so you can use them on sandwiches, burgers, or just as a snack anytime. Of course, we think spicy pickles are the best, and we like to experiment with using different chiles to flavor them. Try adding Hatch Chiles for a Ne...
Succession PlantingIt is smart to succession plant seeds for lettuce, radishes, beets, carrots, cucumbers, nasturtium, green onions, and peas all season long to keep the harvests coming. Our Little Gem Lettuce is a Chef's favorite! A cross between butterhead and romaine, Little Gem has the unique trait of having romaine’s crunch with the sweetness and small size of a butterhead. It grows 8" high producing a sweet and compact heart that is the perfect size for interplanting with your other veggies! We r...
Wholesale SeedsSandia Seed offers Wholesale Seeds to anyone who wants to resell seeds in online stores, garden centers, hardware stores, gift shops or other local stores. Sandia Seed offers Wholesale Seeds for all of our 100+ pepper seeds and our top favorite 44+ tomato seeds including lots of heirloom and Vegetable Seeds from around the world. It's easy to become a Sandia Seed seller! We offer new wholesale customers receive 50% off your first order over $300 and then all future reorders with no mini...
Salad Garden KitHere's the best Salad Garden Kit! This Organic Seed Starter Kit comes bundled with 20 of the easiest-to-grow vegetable seeds so you can have a huge garden to eat from all year-round! We have picked the fastest and easiest-to-grow vegetable seeds so that you can grow plenty for daily salads and beyond! Grow our Little Gem Lettuce Seeds for a very crispy and tasty cross between butterhead and romaine lettuce. Chef's love it! Also in our Salad Garden Kit are our Nasturtiums which are...
Gardening Gift BasketsLooking for unusual gardening gifts for your Mom, Dad or other family and gardener friends? This organic food garden seed collection is the perfect unusual gift that is sure to please any gardener in your life! It's not exactly a gardening gift basket, but it's even better! It comes with a garden tote that is perfect for collecting veggies in the garden or sharing the harvest, or shopping! The Organic Food Garden Seed Collection is designed as the perfect gift for gardeners! A one...
Fast Growing VegetablesLooking for vegetables that grow quickly and easily? Check out our new lineup of organic Vegetable Seeds – we picked these easy-to-grow veggie seeds so that everyone can have a successful, fast growing harvest! Growing fast growing vegetables in your yard is the easiest way to have a productive garden. Our easy-to-grow vegetables are perfect for first-time gardeners and expert gardeners alike as these varieties are tried-and-true! We picked these special varieties because they are the easiest...
Wholesale SeedsWholesale Seeds for Retailers Are you a local plant nursery, garden center, gift shop or local hardware store and you're looking for wholesale seeds for resale? WE OFFER WHOLESALE SEEDS WITH NO CONTRACTS! Your store, garden center or nursery can buy from our seed catalog at discounted rates anytime you need to restock seeds. Our beautiful Seed display racks look great in your shop, and we'll feature you on our seed store locator map. Sandia Seed offers Wholesale Seeds for all of ou...
Jalapeño Pickles RecipeThese simple pickles are spicy and delicious! We always love adding lots of fresh sliced Jalapeños from the garden to transform cucumbers into spicy pickles! Jalapeño Pickles Recipe 10-20 Cucumbers (about 6 pounds) 6+ Jalapenos, sliced (or any hot peppers!) 6 cups (500 mL) white vinegar 6 cups (500 mL) water 5 tablespoons (25 mL) pickling salt 6 heads fresh dill or 8 teaspoons dill seeds (20 mL) 6+ small cloves garlic Several fresh leaves from Grape, Raspberry, Blackberry or Horseradish lea...
Easy Refrigerator Pickled PeppersThe photo above is of a jar that we filled also with some white cucumbers as the pepper harvest is just now coming in, so we didn't have quiet enough banana peppers to fill the jar. Easy Refrigerator Pickled Peppers • Mason Jars (One 24 oz jar or a couple 12 oz Jars)• 2-3 cups sliced Banana Peppers, Jalapeños, Hot Hungarian Wax Peppers, Sweet Hungarian Wax peppers or any pepper!• 3/4 cup white vinegar• 3/4 cup water• 1/2 tablespoon sea salt• 2-4+ cloves of garlic, peeled, chopped or who...
Gazpacho Recipe with PeppersThis is a great Gazpacho recipe for using up some of your fresh peppers and tomatoes! Gazpacho Recipe 2 cucumbers, halved & seeded, unpeeled4-8 peppers, cored and seeded (mix sweet pepper varieties such as Purple Bell Peppers, Giant Marconis, or even some roasted green chiles are delicious!)1 Jalapeño, seeded, finely diced (if spice is desired)8 tomatoes (plum, or any tomatoes you have)1 red or white onion4+ garlic cloves, minced23 ounces tomato juice (3 cups)Fresh Juice of 1 Lemon + ...
How Tomatoes Should Really Taste!'Good News' #3 April 2017 from Sandia Seed Company Signup for our Good News emails » There is nothing quite like a Real Tomato... a tomato as it was meant to be grown and eaten. What is a Real Tomato? A ripe tomato should have a fragile skin that is under pressure to contain the juice and seeds within, splitting open easily and explosively. It should almost dissolve as you eat it, filling your mouth with intensely refreshing flavor. Unfortunately, there is the abundant fake t...
Green Chile Gazpacho with TomatillosYou have to try this delicious variation of gazpatcho, made with green chiles and tomatillos: 4-6 HATCH GREEN CHILES, ROASTED, PEELED 2 POUNDS TOMATILLOS – REMOVE HUSK & RINSE (or you can use Heirloom Tomatoes for a classic Tomato gazpatcho!) 1/2 ONION, FINELY CHOPPED, SOAK IN COLD WATER FOR 15 MINUTES 1 STALK CELERY 1 CUCUMBER 1 JALAPEÑO FRESH, SEEDED 1/3 CUP RED WINE VINEGAR 1/4 CUP EXTRA VIRGIN OLIVE OIL 1/3 TEASPOON GROUND CUMIN 2 TABLESPOONS OF MAPLE SYRUP OR HONEY SA...
Is it Too Late to Start Seeds? No, it’s not too late to plant seeds! You can start seeds year-round. It depends on what you would like to accomplish after planting your seeds. There is short-season gardening, hydroponic growing, indoor gardening, jump-start growing to have huge plants to transplant in spring, etc. Short-Season GardeningBesides peppers and tomatoes, you can start lots of vegetable seeds year-round, depending on your climate, and if you have any winter protection such as cold frames or hoop houses. You ...
What Seeds to Plant in AugustWondering what to plant in August? In the West, we start seeds for the following vegetables in August:Lettuces, spinach, beets, carrots, green onions, cilantro, basil, bok choy, mizuna, kale, peas, green beans, broccoli, sugar snap peas, radishes and cabbage. Now is a great time to fill in bare spots in your garden or to start seeds to plant into places where cucumbers, basil or other summer veggies are at the end of their production. Vegetables to Plant in August-SeptemberSome of the cool w...
When to Plant Cucumber Seeds
Wondering when to plant cucumber seeds? Well, it's mid-June and it is the perfect time to plant cucumber seeds! You can plant cucumbers seeds after all chance of frost has past, for many areas in the United States that is from May to June, depending on your growing region. As they are fast growing, you could also plant cucumber seeds in June and early July and still have time for a harvest in late summer and fall. We find that they do best when planted directly in the ground. But, if you ...
How to store cucumbers until you have enough to pickle?
Customer question: I finally have cucumbers coming in, with lots more to come this week. What is the best way to store them until Sunday (over 4 days away) when I can pickle them so they stay as crisp/fresh as possible? Thanks for any advice! Here's our advice for storing cucumbers for a few days so they are as fresh as possible when you pickle them: Wash and dry: After you harvest your cucumbers, rinse them gently under cold water and remove any dirt. Pat them dry with a clean towel. M...
What is eating my cucumber seedlings?
If you've had the problem of direct seeding cucumber seeds in your garden, and they germinate and look great, but then before they even grow true leaves their heads get eaten, leaving just a stem behind? Well, you're not alone. There are a lot of insects and creatures that enjoy cucumber sprouts. They must be tasty! The culprit we think in this case was a cutworm, as we found one curled up nearby in the leaf mulch. To get around this issue, there are a few techniques: Sow seeds i...
Pepper Plant Companions
Wondering what to plant with your chile peppers to help them thrive? Flowers, chives, carrots, radishes, squash, basil, parsley, dill, marjoram, oregano, rosemary, cucumbers, eggplant, and onions all do well when grown in close proximity to peppers. But don't plant them too close that they will shade your pepper plants: Squash and cucumbers, for example, need ample space so we plant them at least 3-4' away from our pepper patch. You can also use trellises for your cucumbers to grow th...
Best Tomato Cages
What are the Best Tomato Cages?Sturdy ones. We like using the sturdier thick cages, but they're a little harder to find. If you grow tomatoes, they're probably one of your favorite crops, like ours, and you want to ensure that the plants are healthy and supported so you get a great harvest. What kind of Tomato supports do you use?Those darned flimsy wire "tomato cages" that are sold at hardware stores are useless once a tomato plant gets large, as you can see in these photo...
Harvest vegetables at the right time
Knowing when to harvest vegetables will help you get the best quality vegetables from your garden. Many gardeners allow produce to pass their prime when vegetables are less tender and more fibrous. Below is a guideline to help you determine the best time to harvest vegetables. Pepper and tomatoes are listed first with the Get Real Vegetables information below that. Peppers (bell and chile) can be harvested in three stages. Mature green: Pepper is firm and fully sized. The fruit color is...
Spicy Pickles Recipe
Grow and make your own spicy pickles! Here's a couple recipes: Spicy Refrigerator Dill Pickle Recipe » Jalapeno Pickles Recipe » Spicy pickles are one of the easiest ways to preserve your cucumber harvest for year-round enjoyment. You can make spears or slices so you can use them on sandwiches, burgers, or just as a snack anytime. Of course, we think spicy pickles are the best, and we like to experiment with using different chiles to flavor them. Try adding Hatch Chiles for a Ne...
Succession Planting
It is smart to succession plant seeds for lettuce, radishes, beets, carrots, cucumbers, nasturtium, green onions, and peas all season long to keep the harvests coming. Our Little Gem Lettuce is a Chef's favorite! A cross between butterhead and romaine, Little Gem has the unique trait of having romaine’s crunch with the sweetness and small size of a butterhead. It grows 8" high producing a sweet and compact heart that is the perfect size for interplanting with your other veggies! We r...
Wholesale Seeds
Sandia Seed offers Wholesale Seeds to anyone who wants to resell seeds in online stores, garden centers, hardware stores, gift shops or other local stores. Sandia Seed offers Wholesale Seeds for all of our 100+ pepper seeds and our top favorite 44+ tomato seeds including lots of heirloom and Vegetable Seeds from around the world. It's easy to become a Sandia Seed seller! We offer new wholesale customers receive 50% off your first order over $300 and then all future reorders with no mini...
Salad Garden Kit
Here's the best Salad Garden Kit! This Organic Seed Starter Kit comes bundled with 20 of the easiest-to-grow vegetable seeds so you can have a huge garden to eat from all year-round! We have picked the fastest and easiest-to-grow vegetable seeds so that you can grow plenty for daily salads and beyond! Grow our Little Gem Lettuce Seeds for a very crispy and tasty cross between butterhead and romaine lettuce. Chef's love it! Also in our Salad Garden Kit are our Nasturtiums which are...
Gardening Gift Baskets
Looking for unusual gardening gifts for your Mom, Dad or other family and gardener friends? This organic food garden seed collection is the perfect unusual gift that is sure to please any gardener in your life! It's not exactly a gardening gift basket, but it's even better! It comes with a garden tote that is perfect for collecting veggies in the garden or sharing the harvest, or shopping! The Organic Food Garden Seed Collection is designed as the perfect gift for gardeners! A one...
Fast Growing Vegetables
Looking for vegetables that grow quickly and easily? Check out our new lineup of organic Vegetable Seeds – we picked these easy-to-grow veggie seeds so that everyone can have a successful, fast growing harvest! Growing fast growing vegetables in your yard is the easiest way to have a productive garden. Our easy-to-grow vegetables are perfect for first-time gardeners and expert gardeners alike as these varieties are tried-and-true! We picked these special varieties because they are the easiest...
Wholesale Seeds
Wholesale Seeds for Retailers Are you a local plant nursery, garden center, gift shop or local hardware store and you're looking for wholesale seeds for resale? WE OFFER WHOLESALE SEEDS WITH NO CONTRACTS! Your store, garden center or nursery can buy from our seed catalog at discounted rates anytime you need to restock seeds. Our beautiful Seed display racks look great in your shop, and we'll feature you on our seed store locator map. Sandia Seed offers Wholesale Seeds for all of ou...
Jalapeño Pickles Recipe
These simple pickles are spicy and delicious! We always love adding lots of fresh sliced Jalapeños from the garden to transform cucumbers into spicy pickles! Jalapeño Pickles Recipe 10-20 Cucumbers (about 6 pounds) 6+ Jalapenos, sliced (or any hot peppers!) 6 cups (500 mL) white vinegar 6 cups (500 mL) water 5 tablespoons (25 mL) pickling salt 6 heads fresh dill or 8 teaspoons dill seeds (20 mL) 6+ small cloves garlic Several fresh leaves from Grape, Raspberry, Blackberry or Horseradish lea...
Easy Refrigerator Pickled Peppers
The photo above is of a jar that we filled also with some white cucumbers as the pepper harvest is just now coming in, so we didn't have quiet enough banana peppers to fill the jar. Easy Refrigerator Pickled Peppers • Mason Jars (One 24 oz jar or a couple 12 oz Jars)• 2-3 cups sliced Banana Peppers, Jalapeños, Hot Hungarian Wax Peppers, Sweet Hungarian Wax peppers or any pepper!• 3/4 cup white vinegar• 3/4 cup water• 1/2 tablespoon sea salt• 2-4+ cloves of garlic, peeled, chopped or who...
Gazpacho Recipe with Peppers
This is a great Gazpacho recipe for using up some of your fresh peppers and tomatoes! Gazpacho Recipe 2 cucumbers, halved & seeded, unpeeled4-8 peppers, cored and seeded (mix sweet pepper varieties such as Purple Bell Peppers, Giant Marconis, or even some roasted green chiles are delicious!)1 Jalapeño, seeded, finely diced (if spice is desired)8 tomatoes (plum, or any tomatoes you have)1 red or white onion4+ garlic cloves, minced23 ounces tomato juice (3 cups)Fresh Juice of 1 Lemon + ...
Green Chile Gazpacho with Tomatillos
You have to try this delicious variation of gazpatcho, made with green chiles and tomatillos: 4-6 HATCH GREEN CHILES, ROASTED, PEELED 2 POUNDS TOMATILLOS – REMOVE HUSK & RINSE (or you can use Heirloom Tomatoes for a classic Tomato gazpatcho!) 1/2 ONION, FINELY CHOPPED, SOAK IN COLD WATER FOR 15 MINUTES 1 STALK CELERY 1 CUCUMBER 1 JALAPEÑO FRESH, SEEDED 1/3 CUP RED WINE VINEGAR 1/4 CUP EXTRA VIRGIN OLIVE OIL 1/3 TEASPOON GROUND CUMIN 2 TABLESPOONS OF MAPLE SYRUP OR HONEY SA...
Is it Too Late to Start Seeds?
No, it’s not too late to plant seeds! You can start seeds year-round. It depends on what you would like to accomplish after planting your seeds. There is short-season gardening, hydroponic growing, indoor gardening, jump-start growing to have huge plants to transplant in spring, etc. Short-Season GardeningBesides peppers and tomatoes, you can start lots of vegetable seeds year-round, depending on your climate, and if you have any winter protection such as cold frames or hoop houses. You ...
What Seeds to Plant in August
Wondering what to plant in August? In the West, we start seeds for the following vegetables in August:Lettuces, spinach, beets, carrots, green onions, cilantro, basil, bok choy, mizuna, kale, peas, green beans, broccoli, sugar snap peas, radishes and cabbage. Now is a great time to fill in bare spots in your garden or to start seeds to plant into places where cucumbers, basil or other summer veggies are at the end of their production. Vegetables to Plant in August-SeptemberSome of the cool w...
