About Us

Since 1900 Farmers Seed & Supply Co. Inc. has been the destination for farmers and gardeners in the central Virginia area.  We have been located at 1306 Main Street in Lynchburg, Virginia for over 100 years, selling garden seed, bulbs, vegetable plants, fertilizer,  potting soil, pesticides, hardware, tools, animal and bird feed, greenhouse supplies, lawn seed ,  and  thousands of other garden-related products.

We package and sell our own money saving no-frills label garden seeds and carry a complete line of Burpee, Weeks, Crossman, and Cooks Garden packaged seed.   We have Heirloom and Organic seeds including vegetable, ornamental and flower seeds.  We carry hybrid seeds but not GMO seeds. We stock organic fertilizers and pesticides that are  OMRI listed.

We are located just 2 blocks off Business 29 exit 1 (head north), or just one block from the Lynchburg Community Market.   

Keep up with our ever changing inventory on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/Farmersseed/

Know Your Beans

Kathy Woolsey

   Is Green Bean Casserole on the menu this Thanksgiving at your house? My family serves green beans with a little pork for Thanksgiving and for just about every holiday.  I doubt green bean casserole was on the first Thanksgiving menu; French fried onions were hard to come by back then.  November would have been too late in the season for green beans anyway, but shelled beans were most likely served.  The Wampanoag’s grew many cultivars of Phaseolus vulgaris the common bean and shared them with the Pilgrims.  Kidney, Pinto, Navy, Black Turtle, and green beans are just a few of the hundreds of varieties of grown by Native Americans.   Today, the Seed Savers Exchange lists over 4000 cultivars of Phaseolus vulgaris from around the Americas.

     Common Beans can be bush, half-runner, or pole.  They can be eaten young as green beans or fresh shelled or dried.  These beans originated in Central America and quickly spread north and south. The Spanish took them east and west.   Eastern Native Peoples planted corn and beans together on the same mound so the beans could climb the corn stalks.

There are other species of beans native to the Americas, Phaseolus coccineus the Scarlet Runner bean, Phaseolus lunatus the Lima bean and Phaseolus acutifolius, the Tepary bean.

The Tepary bean thrives in the dry Southwestern US. They are rarely grown or seen around here. They are usually eaten fresh shelled or dried very much like the common bean.

The Scarlet Runner bean prefers a cooler climate. It is grown as an ornamental in many gardens for its bright red flowers. The beans can be black or purple. It can be eaten as a green bean and a shelled bean. I have never had much luck growing them around here. 

There has always been a debate about Lima Beans and Butterbeans. The truth is they are both Phaseolus lunatus. Some folks call the big ones Limas and the small ones Butterbeans. They are called Limas because Europeans first saw them in Lima Peru.  ‘Carolina Sieva Pole’ bean is an heirloom variety that thrives in the heat and produces small white butterbeans. ‘Thorogreen’ Bush Lima is the most popular variety in the South, with a good yield of light green colored beans that are wonderful in Okra soup.    

At Farmers Seed we sell about 20 different varieties of green beans Phaseolus vulgaris.  Our favorite is ‘Roma II’, a flat pod with a white bean. The pods are flavorful and always tender and never a string even when the pods were mature. We called them snaps. Every Sunday mother would fill the bottom of a big pressure cooker with snaps and a piece of side meat and place peeled white potatoes on top. This she would cook until the potatoes were soft and the snaps would melt in your mouth.  #beans, #Garden

Sowing Seeds and Saving

   

Adding plants to your garden does not have to be expensive.  Planting seeds is the most economical way to add flowers and vegetables to your garden.   There are two methods – direct sowing in the ground and starting seeds indoors. 

The advantage to starting inside is getting a little head start on spring. This can be a little tricky if you do not have a greenhouse.  The air in most houses is too dry for successful seed germination. Covering seed trays with a plastic cover or mini greenhouse will help, but this creates a second problem--poor air circulation. In commercial greenhouses, there are always fans running. Air movement prevents fungal diseases, so turn on your ceiling fan. Be sure to take off the plastic cover after the seeds have sprouted.

     If the weather is nice, one of the best places to start seeds is on a porch. The roof will keep the rain from washing away your seeds.  There will be plenty of fresh air and sunlight but bring the seed trays in at night to keep them warm.   Use a professional potting mix for seed starting. This should contain plenty of sphagnum peat moss and a little vermiculite.  One mistake beginner gardeners often make is planting seeds to deep.  Most seeds barely need covering, check the directions on the seed package. Some seeds require no covering of soil.  I like to use a plastic sand sifter (sold as a beach toy) to cover seeds with a light dusting of soil.

    Small seeds are best started indoors and larger seeds can be safely started in the ground.  Petunias, impatients, vinca, portulaca, salvia, alyssum and celosia are some flowers that can be started indoors.  Small seeded vegetables like peppers, tomatoes and basil should also be started indoors. 

When the soil has warmed up, seeds can be started directly in the garden.  Flowers with large seeds like marigolds, sunflowers and zinnias can easily be planted directly in the soil. Zinnias are surprisingly easy. If the soil is warm, they will germinate in 3 days. Large seeded vegetables and herbs like cucumbers, squash, dill and parsley can be sown directly outside.  The old rule of thumb is to plant a seed no deeper than the width of the seed. 

    When buying vegetable seeds select for disease resistance. ‘Big Beef’ is one of the most disease resistant tomatoes on the market.  ‘Spacemaster’ cucumber is great choice for small gardens or large containers.  Almost all types of peppers do well on James Island. My picks for flowers are any of the small types of sunflowers. Giant sunflowers typically produce only one flower and the cardinals love the seeds. ‘Lady in Red’ Salvia is an easy to grow flowers that will draw hummingbirds and butterflies to your garden.  

    Perennials and wildflowers do better is started in the fall. Buy the seeds now and store them in a plastic bag in the refrigerator.  If you wait till fall to buy them, they could be sold out. 

Part of the fun of gardening is trying something new and growing from seed is a great way to do just that.  

Merry Christmas

We will close early December 23, at 2 p.m. Have a good Christmas! See you on Monday December  27.
With all the snow on the ground we know you will be thinking of your spring garden. Our 2011 Seed racks are coming  in and some have already arrived. Remember to feed the birds.