204. White Harvest Seed Co. | Heirloom Seeds | Mike Knocks | Kansas City, Missouri

Mike Knocks

White Harvest Seed Company Heirloom SeedsWebsite Page

My featured guest today Mike Knocks from White Harvest Seed Company is here to tell us about heirloom seeds. was recommended by Jill McShehy from Journey with Jill

Tell us a little about yourself.

I’m a 53 year old man married to a wonderful wife

gardening for many years

felt the lord leading us a few years back to start an heirloom

since 2010 had our own store

expos throughout the US gardening

preping

helping them

How’d you get started?

well to be honest

my wife and I have been married 30+ years

lived in the Kasnsa city missouri area

40 acre farm

through the years, we lived a normal suburbanite

Normal life up around Kansas City

The Lord just led us to go simple

We moved here to south Missouri to the Ozarks

Living Off Grid

We are living as much off the grid as we can

only thing is our store and cell phone

all solar house

own water supply

amish windmill

grow as much produce as we can for ourselves

labor of love

Through the years we got into the prepper side of things and learn more abouthow to be more self-sufficient under god’s control

still working on

wish I had started 20-25-30 years ago

waited till I was 40-45 cause it’s a lot tougher.

Well I love that because a lot of my listeners are millennials so you’ll inspire them to start now!

Tell me about your first gardening experience?

I hated it. I was a 12 year old. One of those young kids, play  sports

I was the only child and I had to go weed the garden

go bury the kitchen scraps

I hated the gardening

I loved eating the fresh produce but I hated the labor!

my first job was a 

My mom probably rolls her eyes thinking how did my daughter get a gardening show she hated the garden, of course I don’t do a lot still, Mike does most of it!

How did you learn how to garden organically?

my parents

back in the 70s early 80s they were learning too

subscribers to Mother Earth News back then

did a lot of things

when I garden more and more

when we first started we werent’ organic

now that were in the heirloom

self educated

talking to the old timers

unfortunatley

my grandparents were super good at gardening

I didn’t care, so I wasted that resource

if you have listeners who have those resources

Family

I have to back up. What are some of these places you go speak at?

We go to the Lawn and Garden shows in early winter, spring time.

most big cities have a lawn and garden show where vendors come in show all the fancy sites to look at.

set up landscapes

different ones that fit in

don’t go too much to the east coast

generally south..

  • Tennesse
  • Georgia
  • Carolinas
  • Colorado
  • Kansas
  • Illinois
  • Ohio

distance we can travel

prepper side, survivalists

  • we go there to sell
  • people be able to provide their own food sources
  • how to grow
  • how to save seeds

save seeds you have a food source if things go bad in the world you’ll have something to feed people

kitpichomepage

whiteharvestseed.com

If any Arkansas, listeners well be in Conway Arkansas.

So people that go to these shows want to learn about seeds?

that’s just one aspect

on the prepper side of things

what are you gonna do if your power goes out

  • water
  • food

grocery stores gonna be out of food.

things

those type of shows

water filter systems

pro-pure

learning how to

  • start fires without matches
  • medical issues

if people

  • fall down and break a leg
  • get a big cut
  • hospital or emergency room

fix it on site

long term storage

sense

freezer is out how you gonna have long term food to eat

wide range

concerned about that

so many things going on in the world… good to be prepared!

Millennials Rock

I love the millennials who are gonna bring peace in the world, I’m really optimistic. But Mike and I lived off grid for 6 years when we started out, we still use our outhouse, the only reason we put in power was because our neighbor brought in power when we put the well and plumbing in and the cost dropped form $10k to $2k. My mom laughs because at the turn of the century in 2000 we got power, cell phones and computers and satelitte etc.

I can’t stand the thought of doing it again without a fridge but as long as I have that I could go again with water on the property. 

I love hearing people stories

Im more optimistic

God told Noah,

prepare

when

storm

I can hear you there… a couple of times when the water went out I’m like how did we do this, because we’re not as set up as we were…

Tell us about something that grew well this year.

We had a rough year hear in Missouri, last couple of years have been tough for us

  • pests
  • critters

IDK if they know something weather wise

know something coming

  • birds
  • gophers
  • deer
  • squirrels
  • groundhogs

everything possible has been attacking us

  • japanese long cucumbers
  • winter squash
  • zukes

looking well

Got any tips for listeners?

of course the best thing

is a well rounded fertilizer program whether your using natural compost or synthetic stuff

fertilizer eliment is key

multiple plantings

refertilize after you harvested that first batch

biggest thing is

trace minerals

are key

getting the flavors

health and production

  • sulfur
  • boron
  • magical

good source of trace minerals

if your plants are healthy from all the trace minerals they will be less susceptible

will fight off the bugs naturally

make sure your soil is nice and rich

don’t just try to skip by

How do you know what to do?

They have those little soil test you can buy that will give you a basic but to get a really good test take a sample and take it to your local convservation agency

here in Missouri they usually do it for free

sometimes they charge you $25

will show you what your missing 

they’ll give you the big 3 but they also give you the trace minerals that you may be lacking

What I tell people at shows and stuff don’t just take one sample at the middle of the garden

what is in the

soil rich take multiple samples if

That’s been recommended and we’ve never done it. People talk about boron or gypson. Was it Eliot Coleman found out that boron was missing? I’ve been wanting mike to do it. You’re not making all different samples you’re putting it in one container right?

That’s something to ask your conservation department

if you’re doing huge garden for example if you’re 

20×50 feet

you want to do more then one out of the center

small backyard garden 10×20

depends on if they charge you but if it’s free

some places do that

if you have to do it just depends state to state.

That’s awesome. If you can just take it in, I’m gonna check the conservation office, is that the extension office? Because that’s been one of the reasons I haven’t done it because you have to get the jar and mail it in… if I can just drop it off that sounds easier.

huge garden 10 samples

it really depends on what

Is there something you would do different next year or want to try/new?

This year’s been a year with the disappointments of pest and rodents and animals and stuff

  • more isolation
  • fences garden areas
  • weeding regular maintenance
  • business and traveling

condense down and make it more applicable to take care of on a smaller basis or put more fences up to keep the buggers out.

  • prevention of destruction
  • fertilize more

tell your listeners

tell you about a product that works super to supply trace minerals

NeptuneHarvestFishFertilizer

Neptune Harvest Fish  and Seaweed Spray

fish and seaweed

concentrated

spray that on your garden once every 2-3 weeks.

trace minerals

low fertilizers

spray that on

  • onion sprouts they almost grow overnight….
  • garlic

any of that family

good quality ingredients

NeptuneHarvestFishFertilizer

Neptune Harvest Fish  and Seaweed Spray

 We’re having the same problem. Mike planted more brocolli then ever and they pooped all over, they take like 2 bites and eat the next one the next one… 

cold process keeps

Are you having any kind of droughts?

big drought

I ask that is because talking with old timers.

squirrels

that when the weather gets dry

they’re looking for a water source

  • will attack
  • moisture
  • one way that will help is give them a water source
  • put them out something to drink.
  • shallow container in an area where they see
  • one old timer’s tip
  • deer

deer are a totally different deal

thing with them

mess with their head

smell orientated area

if it smells really good

mess with the smell

  • predator urines
  • blood meal
  • garlic sprays
  • some people use human hair
  • irish spring soap

switch it up every week

so your not using the same thing

mix it up

they will tend to go somewhere else that’s not environmentally changing…

old fashioned way

extreme hunter

rifle

  • fence
  • mix up the smells

will definitely deter them…

Our place is like a sanctuary and just the other day I had a neighbor shooting in the afternoon and were in the middle of fire season… but the old timers around here definitely agree the fence for the deer.

I always tell Mike it’s better the fence was open in the beginning of the year then the middle of summer but it’s still hard. What did mike tell me the other day about blood meal, we’re worried about attracting something. Something got our duck, and Mike’s cat the other day so we’ve actually put the water up…

Tell me about something that didn’t work so well this season.

Like I said the animals and the pests

last year we had a groundhog

sneakiest thing

we just couldn’t get rid of him, he finally moved on after he ate our garden

Pests have been worse in the last two years

not just bugs

just animals too

been kind of weird the last two years they are on a mission to destroy

We’re pretty far from the creek. We’re thinking it might be a badger. Someone saw a badger by the creek the other day. So sad about the cat and duck… 

growing had a decent season in sense of weather.

bugs

on the bug side

organic growers listeners

pesticides controls

DiatemaceousEarthFood

diatemaceous earth and neem oil

Garden Essentials neem Oil

100% neem that

heat processed that kills all the good stuff

cold mixture

cold processed

food grade DE

product on neem

company in California

Garden Essentials Neem Oil

Before we get to the Root of things we want to thank our sponsors and affiliate links

simply josepine (1)Enter code OGP15 at check out for 15% off your order today!

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Let’s Get To the Root of Things!

Which activity is your least favorite activity to do in the garden.

Hands down weeding

absolutely despise

Rogue Scuffle Hoe Tool

 Rogue Scuffle Hoe

scuffle hoe

tremendous tool to use

for weeding and planting

garden hoes

firefighting tools

just down the road from us

distributer in our area

listeners

  • made of recycled parts
  • old farm implements
  • quarter inch thick
  • solid handles

15 years

will never go back

  • scrape it
  • triangle sharpened on all 3 sides
  • scuffle it back and forth

Then when you have your dirt all tilled up and ready to use.

Slicker then hot butter!

Weeding is definitely one of those activities people struggle with, where when it gets so overwhelming this thing is gonna come in perfect!

Screen Shot 2017-12-17 at 5.00.37 PM.png

What is your favorite activity to do in the garden?

Snack on cherry tomatoes

Matt’s Wild Cherry size of a dime

make it inside my favorite activity is eating cherry tomatoes.

Tell us about your seed store. I have a lot of new listeners if they are new to gardening what’s an heirloom seed and abut your store.

White Harvest Seed Company Heirloom Seeds

Our store is White Harvest Seed Company and we’re strictly and heirloom seeds company and what that means is:

There’s 3 types of seeds

  • heirlooms
  • hybrids
  • GMOs

grow your seeds

save the seed

year after year it will constantly be that seed.

hybrid – they take one variety

  • get some benefit
  • bug resistance
  • shelf life
  • whatever

If you take a hyrbid sterile not

plant reverts back one of its granddaddy

beefsteak heirloom tomato year after year

GMO’s

corn is the most popular and they cross with roundup resistance 

totally not natural and it never reproduces true to type

Heirlooms are tended to be noted to have better taste

old fashioned flavors our grandparents fell in love with

Ozarks of Missouri

Internet

mailorder and phone

White Harvest Seed Company

how we got our name

here to help

call and question about things

glad to talk

I’ve asked a lot I haven’t really understood, but the fact that it reverts back, that finally makes sense. You have all sorts of things on your website.

What is the best gardening advice you have  ever received?

Fertilizer thing!

NPK

the big three and had good results

news to me

the trace mineral side of things

  • adding those trace elements
  • quality of the plants
  • replenish
  • frequently
  • add fertilizer elements
  • compost
  • biggest thing that I learned through the years
  • Old timers used to just throw some cow manure
  • find when you focus

How big is your place?

We have 30 acres that we live on

our gardens that we use

one is probably 30×100 the one by our house

is probably 50×50

  • we hope to expand
  • by condensing it to be more efficient

running like chickens whiteout our heads

Tarheal Heriloom Beans

Tarheel Beans

Is that what’s growing there? The seeds?

We kind of specialize in things that are rare

One of the beans that we sell, is called a Tarheel bean one of 2 companies that sell that

heirlooms have to have isolation distances between things.

cucumbers

japanese long cucumbers

if you have 2 different cukes within a mile of each other since they are insect pollinated they won’t be true-to-seed

partner with other growers that grow seed for us

  • according to our spects
  • germination
  • few companies that are wholesale seed companies

most important question for us, and most of our customers “Are you tied to any GMO?”

even foreign companies

If they give me the right answer which is of course no.

at the present time

we deal with 4-5 companies

3-4 certified organic

our selection of seed is very well rounded

Very confident that it is genetically modified exempt and we test every 10 months

status of all our seeds

nothing more frustrating then to order seed and get it in and have it not grow 

your entrusting your good money

Not only your money, but your time as well, if you put seeds in the ground and they don’t grow where we are there’s just that one window. A lot of my listeners are interested in becoming a seed farmer what would you tell them to do to start? 

One of the things

different parts of the country

different growing zones and

looking into becoming a seed grower they should just contact us.

send the proper info

what’s their growing practices

We don’t like using seed that’s grown with gobs and gobs of pesticides on them. 

Just have them contact us

call us or send us an email

grow@whiteharvestseed.com

phone (866) 424-3185

  • not a big money maker
  • big additional
  • how big of items
  • seeds
  • grow or buy

just because you grow 100lbs

people that want to grow vegetables

market is ripe

definite need

people are looking for quality grown fresh produce

Amish growers

sitting at the farmer’s markets their stuff looks pretty nice.

I just want to back up a little. Is there anything that you do different to grow for seed then you do for vegetables? Is there a different process?

That questions has a multi-answer.

All vegetables have their own mannerisms

grow them with

Have to learn how their pollinated

  • wind
  • insect or
  • self pollinators

how far apart they have to grow to save true to type seed

for example

corn is a wind pollinated vegetable

if you have corn and you have your patch growing and you have someone else growing any other type of corn within 2-3 miles you’re most likely to get a cross especially if you’re down wind and they tassel at the same time

save the seed from it

whatever it cross-pollinated youre gonna have an issue next year. If it crosses with a GMO variety

Another example, carrots

Anyone growing queen annes lace – it’s pretty but some people call it a weed

that is in the same family as a carrot if you have it growing near anything.

going to seed

biggest thing you have to think about as a grower is learning how to keep herilooms from cross pollinating. Rough rule of thumb? you need 1/4 mile of separation

how can that be done then?

techniques

bagging and succession planning.

Need to learn proper procedures

grow for us

carrots out there

2 things

It takes 2 years carrot seed

how are you gonna keep it 

following through properly.

One thing spinning in people’s heads. Where are you putting your property if you don’t have property yet. 

Especially if youre growing for yourself.

most frustrating

saved it

crossed

look like a carrot all season till it starts forming it’s fruit gonna be a weird thing that you thought was gonna be a food source and you’ve spent 3 months, planning this growing this

learning those techniques

resource internet is live

get a resource you can have in your hand

Complete Guide to Saving Seeds- 322 Vegetables, Herbs, Fruits, Flowers, Trees, and Shrubs.jpg

The Complete Guide to Saving Seeds: 322 Vegetables, Herbs, Fruits, Flowers, Trees, and Shrubs

Seed to Seed

doesn’t just take about vegetables

herbs are vey important

grow your own medicine cabinet in your own backyard

get that

have that as

A favorite tool that you like to use? If you had to move and could only take one tool with you what would it be?

For gardening stuff

Rogue Scuffle Hoe Tool

 Rogue Scuffle Hoe

grab as many of mine as

Here in the Ozarks we have some tough winters

Chain saw

hatchet

A favorite recipe you like to cook from the garden?

Besides the fresh stuff

fried zuchini

Me and my wife’s nemesis! We can sit and  pig out on that all day

cut the zucchini like french fries

like our crunchy

batter

  • milk and flour
  • bisquick
  • temperua

good bowl of ranch dipping recipe

Sweet corn is Awesome too!

A favorite internet resource?

Dave’s Garden

My Folia Website

My Folia

  • herbal side
  • resource
  • encyclopedia

White Harvest Seed Company Heirloom SeedsWebsite Page

Our website  information under resources that tie into links and websites

friends of our businesses!

A favorite reading material-book, mag, blog/website etc you can recommend?

Vegetable Gardener's Bible by Edward C. Smith

yes one of my number one resources is the Vegetables Gardener’s Bible

back 1/3 of it in the same way

people have broken down each individual variety

  • greek oregano
  • vegetable
  • what it needs
  • water,
  • fertilizer
  • soil temp

that’s what I love

you don’t have to know everything on every products

your not gonna grow everything…

If you have a business to you have any advice for our listeners about how to sell extra produce or get started in the industry?

realize it’s not simple

take your time

educate yourself

wide open topic

you might think you’re an expert

well rounded

every years’ different

  • no bugs and everything
  • drought
  • rainy
  • educate yourself on how to adjust

Business Side

do your due dilligence

  • effort
  • resources
  • time

rewards are so much rewarding!

  • get to be your own boss

even though you have your other boss

something you can do!

Not limited to rich people or college education folks

I had to learn and I’m always learning

someone will introduce as an expert and I cringe. I learn every year and I’m different…

EXPERTS

The guy who taught me how to podcast John Lee Dumas went to law school for one year and he said, in a court of law, an expert is someone who knows more then everyone else in the room so you probably are an expert most of the time!

Final question-

if there was one change you would like to see to create a greener world what would it be? For example is there a charity or organization your passionate about or a project you would like to see put into action. What do you feel is the most crucial issue facing our planet in regards to the environment either in your local area or on a national or global scale?

Not to be too political

from our point of view as a seed company

GMO

so many negatives about that just for the human health part of it. So many terrible results on a health basis. On that side on the growing and the gardening side I’d say that. 

What I’d like to see more and I am seeing more

seed saving

organizing a seed bank in your local area

People come together and grow their seed properly

  • pass that on
  • your neighbor grows something else and give it back to your neighbor
  • communities will be able to help each other

Seed Saving

To be honest with you. I’m not a big government fan

There were some seed saving communities building seed banks and the government went in and were calling them terrorist organizations and that’s got to stop!

as human beings and citizens we need to be able to grow on our own farms

Some people close to me started a local Seed Library. 

Have them to contact us before the next seed swap and we should be able to donate. Remind them that I talked to you.

Well people are interested. I was there the first year, they expected 350 people and 1500 people showed up. There were 500 flyers and they were gone before it even started at 10 oclock in the morning!

contact us before our seed swap! Will donate some

Do u have an inspiration tip or quote to help motivate our listeners to reach into that dirt and start their own garden?

I said earlier the lord led us to do this business we try to honor him

Scripture Verse From 

Isaiah 61:11

“For as the earth bringeth forth her bud, and as the garden causeth the things that are sown in it to spring forth; so the Lord GOD will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations.”

How do we connect with you?

www.whiteharvestseed.com

grow@whiteharvestseed.com

866-424-3185

White Harvest Seed Company Heirloom Seed Facebook Page

were on Facebook under

twitter @whseeds

pinterest

Rogue Hoeyoutube channel on rogue hoe 

and the Rogue Scuffle Hoe

duster

availableAtAmazon

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About the author, Jackie Marie

I'm an artist and educator. I live at the "Organic Oasis" with my husband Mike where we practice earth friendly techniques in our garden nestled in the mountains of Montana.

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