Your seedlings will win with Worm Power... and so could you!!!

If you're like many of our home garden customers, you're looking for ways to raise seedlings using sustainable products and methods. We - along with growers nationwide - have found improved germination and seedling vigor using certified organic Worm Power when starting seeds. The method is simple, the fertilizer is safe, and the results are impressive. We wanted to share this information about how to use Worm Power to give your seedlings a great start. This article originally appeared in the February issue of our email newsletter. If you’d like to subscribe to our e-newsletter, you can do so here.

And as part of her super-duper give-away week, garden blogger Genevieve Schmidt (www.NorthCoastGardening.com) will be awarding a variety of Worm Power products to four lucky winners who post comments about Worm Power on her blog! The Worm Power give away will start on April 13th – so check out her blog, make a comment, and you could be the winner!

Worm Power is a professional-grade, certified organic fertilizer made by millions of earthworms in a state-of-the-art facility in the Finger Lakes region of New York. It supplies plants with balanced nutrients, and it helps facilitate nutrient absorption through the action of its abundant beneficial microbes. In addition, university laboratory tests using cucumber seeds show Worm Power to be effective in suppressing the soil pathogen that causes damping off. The rich, black, crumbly earthworm compost is odorless and safe to use around kids and pets. Although we didn't doubt the professional growers and gardeners who reported increased germination and plant vigor when starting seeds with Worm Power, we decided to test it for ourselves. We chose untreated Scarlet Red tomato seed, and we planted two trials. The trial on the left was planted into standard seed starting mix, while the trial on the right was sown into the same seed starting mix, blended with 10% Worm Power. The seeds started with Worm Power show markedly greener leaves, thicker stems, and faster leaf development.

Our trial with salad greens showed similar, impressive results.

Starting seeds with Worm Power is easy. First, choose a natural seed starting mix (without fungicide), and measure approximately the amount you'll need for your seeding flats or pots. Then, blend Worm Power evenly into the seed starting mix at a rate of 10% for vegetables, or 5% for flowers. At those rates, a 1 Lb Bag of Worm Power makes 2.5 Gallons of seed starting mix for vegetables, or 5 Gallons for flowers. A little goes a long way!

Water as you normally would, keeping seeds and seedlings moist but not wet. Supply bottom heat and plenty of light, and watch your plants take off! Every 2-4 weeks, continue your organic fertility program with liquid Worm Power Shower or by top dressing with granular Worm Power. Check out our Worm Power Starter Kit for all you'll need to give your seeds a powerful, natural start this spring.

For more Worm Power information, including application rates, university research, videos, news features, and gardener testimonials, visit our newly-launched Worm Power Home Garden page, or click the Worm Power tab on our Facebook page.

Worm Power is ready to go…

We have busted our butts this fall to get our new OMRI approved earthworm fertilizer ready for shipment for the first of January. Although it was an uphill battle at times, the effort has been more than worth it. All sizes are now on the shelf and ready for shipment.

The Harris Seeds company has been very fortunate to work with a group as innovative and forward-thinking as the team at Worm Power. We are even more fortunate to be participating on the ground floor of Worm Power’s introduction to the national marketplace. We believe that home gardeners, professional bedding plant growers, and professional vegetable growers will find this product to be exceptional for plant growth and vigor. Conventional growers can use it as an alternative to conventional synthetic fertilizers, while organic growers will find Worm Power to be a highly effective component of their plant care system.

Greenhouse growers and vegetable growers alike are seeking sustainability in their operations, and they are widely using Worm Power as a high performing seed-starting and transplant fertilizer. University laboratory research has also proved that Worm Power is effective in suppressing Pythium “damping off” in cucumber. Ongoing research is exploring these natural disease-suppressive properties further, and we are truly excited to see the results.

Surveys tell us that most home gardeners prefer to use organic methods, and Worm Power is a perfect fit. It is odorless and certified organic, looks and feels like ground coffee, and is safe to use around kids and pets. Worm Power may be used on indoor house plants, in potting mixes, for transplanting, and for general application in containers and garden beds.

When all is said and done, Worm Power not only produces stronger, healthier, organically grown flowers and vegetables, but it also ultimately improves your soil. University tested and grower approved, Worm Power is a truly exciting introduction for growers and gardeners nationwide.

We encourage you to try Worm Power this season…we think you’ll be impressed!

The Harris Seeds Professional Vegetable & Cut Flower Growers’ Catalog

Three down and one to go…this is our busy season in marketing as we have a relatively short window to complete 4 Harris Seeds catalogs. We just finished our 2011 Professional Vegetable & Cut Flower Growers’ Catalog, and to be honest, we think it may be our very best. We hope you do as well. Here is why:

• We have added over 50 new varieties to our 2011 catalog. You will want to take a close look at 5 new augmented supersweets from the Abbott & Cobb plant breeders. We believe these new augmented shrunkens put the whole package together for our customers. Eating quality is absolutely superb. For those growers that prefer the se types, do not pass up two new synergistic se varieties from the Mesa Maize plant breeders.
• Vanguard, a new hybrid green to red bell pepper from Harris Moran, was very impressive in our trials. Big size and yields with a great disease package. The plant breeders at Harris Moran have also established themselves as market leaders with a terrific fresh market bean, pepper, pumpkin, squash and tomato program.
• Organic and sustainable growers will be pleased to know that our offerings of high quality seeds for this marketplace have grown again this year.
• Perhaps the single most exciting product in our new catalog for this upcoming season is Worm Power. It is an OMRI approved organic solution for your plants and soil. University tests have determined that it is the very best product available, and for good reason. Watch for it or for more information, e-mail us at: growers@harrisseeds.com

The Harris Seeds Professional Vegetable & Cut Growers Catalog will be in the mail on November 8^th. If you would like a free copy, call us toll-free 800-544-7938 or request one on our web site… www.harrisseeds.com.