How to Grow Cosmos from Seed: Pink Garden Cosmos, Orange Sulphur Cosmos & Cutting
Direct sow cosmos after frost into warm soil, cover lightly, keep fertility modest, and choose the species and height that fit the garden.
Read the full guide
Alliance of Native Seedkeepers
Brewed in Colerain, North Carolina
Growing guides, field notes & living stories
An independent seed journal
Yaupon Tea
Seed growing guides, seasonal planting calendars, seed-saving knowledge, field notes, and stories from a Native-led seed company in rural North Carolina.
Firsthand. Built from work we have actually done.
Useful. Written to help people grow, save, and understand.
Rooted. From a Native-led seed company in rural North Carolina.
Find an article
Search every guide, field note, and seed story
Search the full journal by crop, problem, season, seed-saving question, place, or story. Try tomatoes, fall garden, germination, or seed saving.
Browse the complete journal
Choose the article library you want
These are full archives, not single featured links. Open a section to see every published article in that category, newest first, with pagination.
Browse by subject
Find the kind of growing article you need
Every card opens the complete filtered archive for that subject. You can return here at any time to choose another path.
Today’s pour
How to Grow Calendula from Seed for Cool-Season Color and Cutting
Calendula is a cool-season annual best direct sown around the last frost or started indoors 6 to 8 weeks earlier. Sow 1/4 inch deep, space plants for airflow, cut or deadhead regularly, and use...
Read the full guide
Wood Ash, Coffee Grounds, and Kitchen Scraps: What Belongs in Garden Soil?
Learn where wood ash, spent coffee grounds, and kitchen scraps belong, how to compost them safely, and what should never touch a seed bed.
Read the full guide
Now steeping
How to Grow Cosmos from Seed: Pink Garden Cosmos, Orange Sulphur Cosmos & CuttingHow to Grow Calendula from Seed for Cool-Season Color and CuttingWood Ash, Coffee Grounds, and Kitchen Scraps: What Belongs in Garden Soil?How to Grow Milkweed from Seed for Monarch HabitatSlugs and Snails in the Garden: Identification, Habitat, and Seedling Protection
Answers worth keeping close
Essential seed and growing guides
Start with a direct answer, then go deeper into timing, crop choices, troubleshooting, and seed stewardship.
Growing Guides
How to Grow Cosmos from Seed: Pink Garden Cosmos, Orange Sulphur Cosmos & Cutting
Direct sow cosmos after frost into warm soil, cover lightly, keep fertility modest, and choose the species and height that fit the garden. Read the guide
Essential Seed & Growing Guide
Wood Ash, Coffee Grounds, and Kitchen Scraps: What Belongs in Garden Soil?
Learn where wood ash, spent coffee grounds, and kitchen scraps belong, how to compost them safely, and what should never touch a seed bed. Read the guide
Seed Starting & Germination
Slugs and Snails in the Garden: Identification, Habitat, and Seedling Protection
Use a 48-hour refuge-board test to confirm slug and snail pressure, find the damp source zone, protect vulnerable seedlings, and choose targeted controls without... Read the guide
What to Plant Now
Types of Lettuce: Looseleaf, Butterhead, Romaine, Crisphead & More
Choose lettuce by texture, head form, heat tolerance, harvest rhythm, and the way the crop will be used in the kitchen. Read the guide
Growing Guides
How to Grow Broccoli from Seed: Spring, Fall & Side-Shoot Harvests
Start broccoli young, protect seedlings, time head formation for cool weather, and leave the plant for side-shoot harvests. Read the guide
Growing Guides
Growing Lemon Balm from Seed: Germination, Containers, Harvest, and Keeping It in Bounds
Surface sow lemon balm, grow it in a draining container or managed bed, cut it back for tender leaves, and remove flowers before seed... Read the guide
Growing Guides
Growing Chamomile from Seed: German vs. Roman Chamomile, Harvest, and Seed Saving
Surface sow chamomile, keep the seedbed lightly moist, identify whether you are growing annual German or perennial Roman chamomile, and harvest flower heads repeatedly... Read the guide
What to Plant Now
Onion Seeds, Sets, or Transplants? Choose the Right Start for Your Climate
Choose onion seeds for variety range and transplant control, sets for speed, or purchased transplants for convenience—but first match the onion’s day-length class to... Read the guide
Growing Guides
Types of Garlic and How to Plant It: Hardneck, Softneck, Elephant Garlic, and Climate Fit
Choose garlic by climate, scape production, storage, and bulb structure; plant clean cloves in fall, protect drainage, control weeds early, and cure bulbs completely... Read the guideFresh from the pot
Latest field notes & Alliance stories
New articles and useful knowledge from the Alliance.
-
01 
2025 Restock & a Sneak Peek Inside Our New Store
We’re excited to announce our 2025 restock, with nearly 400 varieties of seeds now available—get them before they’re gone! As we continue to grow, we’re also making a big change: our store will soon...
Read the full story -
02 
How to Grow Yarrow from Seed: Germination, Spacing, Division & Seed Saving
Surface sow yarrow in a fine mix with light and even moisture, then grow mature plants in full sun and lean, well-drained soil.
Read the full guide
Why we keep writing
Seeds are the beginning. The whole story includes land, food, memory, work, and the people carrying them forward.
Published by Alliance of Native Seedkeepers and written from the work behind Bertie County Seeds.
Pull up a chair
There is always another story growing.
Get planting reminders, new seed releases, field notes, and 30% off your first seed order.
One welcome email with your discount, then planting reminders, stories, and seed releases.