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My Biggest Mistake Saving Seeds
I was about to host a #supersowsunday discussion session on Clubhouse, and as thumbed through my seed binder, it became glaringly evident that I made a major mistake saving garden seeds. I need to backtrack and share what started me off on the wrong foot. Back when I first started vegetable gardening at this house, I remember buying a pack of tomato seeds from Burpee that was labeled “Rainbow Mix.” I believe it was in 2010 because my oldest son was old enough to be blasting his face with the water hose. This pack of seeds produced some of the most delicious tomatoes I’d ever tasted. Inside the packet were…
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Glass Gem Corn
Glass Gem Corn, original photo from nativeseeds.org Browsing Pinterest, sometimes I come across photos of plants that I think simply can’t be real, as was the case with Glass Gem corn. However the picture above is real corn that has only recently been reintroduced to the public. Seed collecting is a fun hobby, but there are people who make it their mission to preserve native seeds for posterity as a way of preserving biodiversity and culture, which, with the influx of GMO seeds and domination of crops by major corporations, is an important and worthy cause. I first read about the preservation of Glass Gem corn here: THE STORY OF GLASS…
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Basil Has Sprouted!
I was slow this year, but I finally started seeds indoors. The off and on spring weather outside has been such a tease, and I’m checking my sprouts daily to see what pops up. So far I’ve started tomatoes, peppers, tomatillos, lavender, basil, and zinnias inside. The very first to sprout were … drum roll, please…. Basil, “Italian Genovese” Heirloom – Certified Organic Seeds See those tiny little sprouts? It only took a week. My most used herb each summer is basil. I make large batches of pesto and freeze what I can’t use. This selection from Renee’s Garden, along with Basil, “Italian Genovese” Heirloom – Certified Organic Seeds have been my…
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Bolted, Pulled and Planted again!
Yesterday afternoon, Scooby and I were pulling weeds out of the gravel at the crawl space access, when I noticed there was a bed of baby arugula. I didn’t plant it there, but back in the spring when I relocated a bed to add the gravel, there was an arugula plant that had already gone to seed. It turns out that all those seeds were dropped in the gravel. It’s somewhat of a dream of mine to have a self-planting garden at least when it comes to annual herbs and lettuces. I always leave several heads of lettuce to bolt and flower so that I don’t have to purchase new…
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Simple Technique for Saving Seeds from Tomatoes
Saving seeds from tomatoes is super easy. Last year I had a friend give me tomatoes from her garden that were delicious. I didn’t know what kind they were, so instead of asking and worrying about finding them this spring, I just saved the seeds and planted them this year! In the long run, saving seeds translates to saving cash and acclimating tomatoes to your land and climate. 1. Pick a healthy, vine ripe tomato. While you are slicing up that delicious tomato, scrape some of the seeds and pulp into a small ramekin. If you are saving cherry tomatoes, just squeeze the whole thing right into the ramekin. 2.…
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Okra Seed Saving
Saving okra seeds is as simple as letting an okra pod grow until it has dried on the plant, breaking it open and pouring out the seeds. Seeds that are ready are greenish-black and hard. Seeds that are not ready are soft and white. However, if you are growing more than one kind or have neighbors that are growing a different breed, cross-pollination is very likely. Cross-pollination can lead to pods whose seeds won’t be the same as the parent plant. So if you have a fun variety like my red okra that you want keep true, you must keep the bugs out. I was reading that the minimum distance…
