Feed 'n Seed

Take me to the local Feed & Seed store and I am in as close as nirvana that I ever will be. The first thing I love is the smell: Grains, salt licks, hay, straw, and the sweet tang of molasses tying it altogether.


Now it wasn’t always that way. When I was 10 my friend Judy gave me a guinea pig. When Mom took me to the feed store it took all my being not to gag and vomit. I couldn’t stand the smell. I told her to buy five pounds of rabbit feed and a small bale of alfalfa, and then I rushed out of the store.

I could hear Mom and the store owner laughing over my rush and my order. Seems five pounds of feed would feed a guinea pig for a life-time and then some. The store owner kept an alfalfa bale for small farm animals. He would just pull off some for kids, no charge.

Then, one day I walked into a feed store and fell in love. All the little goodies for rabbits, I have owned six, the whatnots for dogs and cats, doohingees for cattle, baby poultry in the spring, and the seeds. Oh, the seeds. In the 100 pound bag, bulk by the scoopful, in packets; it is a Horticulturist’s dream come true. I can plant acreage, lawns, flower borders. There’s organic fertilizers and petro-chemical as well. I steer clear of the petro-chemical pesticides, allergies you know.

I love the selection of seeds. Organic and treated, which ever you wish. I love buying my bean seeds at the feed store. I can get the 1 pound bulk of Blue Lake pole beans we prefer far cheaper than those in the packets. (We prefer the good ol’ Kentucky Blue and Kentucky pole beans but the strings are a real pain.)

Last year I found starts and full sized plants for way less expensive than the garden centers or gigantic home center/hardware/lumber/garden center places. I am going to the Feed and Seed this year for my plants. I don’t do my own starts. Every time I do, one of the cats either eats them or uses the tray for a litter pan. It’s just not worth the work.

If the current winter weather has you down, stop by a feed and seed to dream a little dream of spring.