Looking for heirloom veg. plants in Pittsburgh

19 years ago

My former green thumb has gone dingy. All of the seedlings from my favorite heirlooms are withering away at 1 inch tall due to too much chlorine bleach in the water when I cleaned the pots I used from last year. My best guess is that the chlorine bleach, which I could smell in the pots even after the final rinse and drying, has leached into the soil stunting the seedlings.

Does anybody know of a nursery around Pittsburgh that sells heirloom tomatoes and other vegetables? I found one source who is selling plants at the Union Project in East Liberty this evening. They are a little expensive at $2.50 per plant. Any help would be appreciated.

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (8)

wolfe15136
18 years ago
I got some at Brenckles last weekend. They had quite a selection, but I've forgotten the prices.
0
miss_chanterelle
18 years ago
they were 1.50 per plant at brenckles in butler....didn't have very many left this week though. We live very close to the greenhouse so were able to get them the first day..got german Johnson, Amana orange, Mortgage lifter,Purple Prudhom and Mr. stripey . They had Brandywine and Old German too on Sunday but they were going fast! I'd probably call before you drive up
to see if they have any left...724-482-2353
0
Related Discussions
Low Maintenance Veg: Plants, Practices, Tips
Q
Comments (8)
You didn't mention how many people you are feeding or if you plan to do food preservation. For two people, I think two 25 foot rows of beans may be too much (I plant one yellow, one green) if 2 people are just eating fresh. I think beets are low maintenance. You can enjoy thinnings as green and harvest the beets from small to large. I also think a variety of broccoli that makes side shoots might also be considered low maintenance. I think I might even include swiss chard on the list. I agree with corn, potatoes, winter squash and peppers. We anticipate our pepper crop with joy, frugally harvesting when they get just big enough and crossing our fingers for a nice crop of sweet red peppers. I grow a variety of heirlooms. My list might be biased toward rainy New England summers. Except for seeding, I don't think I've needed to water much. I also started my big beds as lasagna beds topped in the spring with nicely aged compost. If it weren't for the nasty creeping jenny and witch grass reaching into the garden from the field, I wouldn't have much weeding to do. Last year I planted carrots in the row of sugar snap peas. By the time the peas were done, the carrots had a good start. I might not have gotten great germination because of planting like that but I didn't have to do any thinning.
...See More
Looking for info for vegs in the hot dry desert.
Q
Comments (8)
Buckster, Heirloom varieties from GrowItalian.com do well for me because they are naturally adapted to our Mediterranean climate. You can also find many varieties of heirloom vegetables at Seed Savers Exchange (seedsavers.org) and the folks at the Heirloom forum on GardenWeb can give you information about other sources. The easiest way to deal with poor soil is to build lasagna beds. A search of GW will give you all the information you need about them. Because of our vole problem I grow mostly in containers and raised beds set on a base of hardware cloth. AS Dave says, we have two primary growing seasons for most things, although they grow melons and corn in the Imperial Valley all summer long. In the spring season you have to deal with cold soil and late frosts. Cover the soil with clear plastic for a couple of days before you plant and that will help to warm it up, then keep a sheet handy to throw over your plants when frost is expected and they'll be fine. As for specifics about vegetables, eggplants and okra can take a lot of heat and Cabrita liked amaranth as a hot weather green after the spring crops pooped out. Sweet peppers(such as Marconi) produce like gangbusters and are much easier (for me) to grow from seed than bell peppers. Tomato-wise, if you search the Tomato forum for "desert", you'll find several recommended varieties that perform in hot weather. Personally, Super Sioux was a champ for me, all summer long, but I kept it in dappled shade for the three hottest months. Seed packets that recommend "full sun" mean 6 hours of sun in an ordinary location, or 3 hours of our highly concentrated light. Almost everything does better under light shade in July, August, and September. And, finally, we Southwestern gardeners sort of bounce all over GW. Depending on our Sunset Zone, you may find us in the Arizona, California, and Southwestern forums as well as here. If you locate your zone on the map linked below, we will be able to give you much more location-specific advice. jan Here is a link that might be useful: Sunset Climate Zones
...See More
Looking for heirloom veg seeds, trade for postage?
Q
Comments (3)
No problem! This web site can be a little confusing to navigate through. If you have any questions on how to get set-up for the seed exchange, send me a PM. At the Seed Exchange Forum, people are trading all kinds of seeds, not just flowers. I received some spinach, peppers, radishes, and squash in my first trade. It's a great community, I like it because, like you mentioned above, it gets a little tiresome to have to buy all these new packs of seeds every year. I only plant a few of them, and I end up with all this extra.
...See More
Best place to buy veg plants near Boulder?
Q
Comments (8)
What an incredibly generous offer! I appreciate it greatly, but I'm not sure what I need at this point. Going to be planting a small raised bed and probably a few pots at my niece's house...going over there in April to get a look at what there is to work with. Don't know soil or light conditions, so hard to say what is possible yet. I do go the Monarch/285 route sometimes, depending on weather and if I-70 is closed or not! I often have my cats with me and they are not big fans of winding roads....or roads in general, for that matter. hoping the spring swap date works for me to be able to attend. It would be great to meet some of you very nice gardeners.
...See More
tomforlife
Original Author
18 years ago
Thanks for responding. I'll have to take a ride up north to Benckle's next year.

I did a google search in the meantime and found a small greenhouse/nursery 15 mins NorthEast of my home. If you're familiar with Monroeveille, follow 286 out of Plum to 380. Take 380 past Beaver Run Resevoir. Turn onto Perrysville Road on the left, and follow the signs to Susan's Greenhouse.

Very nice proprieter--trying to make it on her own after a number of jobs with local nurseries. Still has many, many heirloom tomatoes and other vegetables. As a price comparison, I was going to pay $2.50 per plant for the Rosa Bianca eggplant at the East Liberty market. At Susan's, they were $1.50 per flat of six. Heirlooms and hybrid tomatoes in 4" pots were $.75. Check out the website.

Here is a link that might be useful: All about Susan's Greenhouse
0
miss_chanterelle
18 years ago
susans sounds great! we'll have to check it out next year..put our last plants in today ( Brandywine tomato and serrano pepper) about 3 minutes before the hailstorm! Fortunately they all look ok...now comes the hard part..WAITING!!!!!
0
tomforlife
Original Author
18 years ago
Miss chanterelle--
And weeding, and watering and keeping watchful vigil of the critters who want them as bad as we do!! But its worth it. I've got one of almost every color tomato. Come August they'll look and taste great on that platter of basil and homemade mozarella drizzled with olive oil.
0
mjw15618
18 years ago
Hey Tom, thanks for the info about Susan's! I live about a mile from her off of Route 819 and have never ventured over to see what she has. I plan on stopping by this weekend. There are a few nurseries out my way that have heirlooms - Cornerstone Gardens on Route 286 just outside of Saltsburg has Mr. Stripey and Brandywine and Kiski Garden Center on Route 56 in Leechburg always has a huge selection. Last year I bought White Wonders and Garden Peaches. I haven't been there yet this year, but I assume they have stuff along those same lines. They also have an awsome selection of perennials and shrubs. Good luck!
0
Nur_Misur
18 years ago
If you ever decide to take a ride south, check out Shields Herbs and Flowers. It's an awesome greenhouse with a massive variety of...well.. everything! They are located just south of Waynesburg on Route 218. And extremely reasonable on their prices. Four packs $1.00 1 1/2" pots $1.50 and so on. Most all their gallon pots of perennials are $3.00 and all organically grown!
0
chriscyr
16 years ago
I am new to posting anything but I figured I would pass along a message. Susan's Greenhouse opens May 1. Even though her business isn't open yet right now I have already called ahead to have her set some things aside. I am hoping this will make life easier this planting season. I like giving my planting money to small businesses rather than huge ones that don't really respect us, they only want our money. Their plants more expensive and they aren't cared like a private business can. Good luck this year now that the snow has left us, or has it...

Here is a link that might be useful: Link of interest
0

Looking for heirloom veg. plants in Pittsburgh

Comments (8)

wolfe15136

miss_chanterelle

Related Discussions

tomforlife
Original Author

miss_chanterelle

tomforlife
Original Author

mjw15618

Nur_Misur

chriscyr

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

Looking for heirloom veg. plants in Pittsburgh

Comments (8)

wolfe15136

miss_chanterelle

Related Discussions

tomforlifeOriginal Author

miss_chanterelle

tomforlifeOriginal Author

mjw15618

Nur_Misur

chriscyr

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

tomforlife
Original Author

tomforlife
Original Author