Plants
September 2, 2010
How to save your seed and keep it safe How about a spice rack?
If you're growing heirloom vegetables and want to save the seed, this article from the University of Illinois is a great help. Not all seed should be saved and doing it properly insures next year's seeds viability. So it pays to do it right.
"Not every plant's seeds are worth keeping. Hybrid plants are developed by crossing specific parent plants. Hybrids are wonderful plants but the seed is often sterile or does not reproduce true to the parent plant. Therefore, never save the seed from hybrids. Another major problem is some plants' flowers are open pollinated by insects, wind or people. These plants include squash, cucumbers, melon, parsley, cabbage, chard, broccoli, mustard greens, celery, spinach, cauliflower, kale, radish, beets, onion, and basil. These plants cross with others within their family. The only way to maintain the original variety is to isolate by large distances. Isolation is often impossible or impractical in a home garden.
Some seeds may transmit certain diseases. A disease that infected a crop at the end of the growing season may do little damage to that crop. However, if the seed is saved and planted the following year, the disease may severely injure or even kill the young plants.
What can you save? Standard or heirloom varieties that are not cross-pollinated by nearby plants are good candidates. Many gardeners successfully keep beans, tomatoes, lettuce, and peppers. Plants you know are heirloom varieties are easy to save. Ask the person or organization you obtained the seed from how they did it. Some people like to experiment, but make sure you don't bet the whole garden on saved seed.
When saving seed, always harvest from the best. Choose disease-free plants with qualities you desire. Look for the most flavorful vegetables or beautiful flowers. Consider size, harvest time and other characteristics.
Always harvest mature seed. For example, cucumber seeds at the eating stage are not ripe and will not germinate if saved. You must allow the fruit and seed to fully mature. Because seed set reduces the vigor of the plant and discourages further fruit production, wait until near the end of the season to save fruit for seed.
Seeds are mature or ripe when flowers are faded and dry or have puffy tops. Plants with pods, like beans, are ready when the pods are brown and dry. When seeds are ripe they usually turn from white to cream colored or light brown to dark brown. Collect the seed or fruits when most of the seed is ripe. Do not wait for everything to mature because you may lose most of the seed to birds or animals.
Beans, peas, onions, carrots, corn, most flowers and herb seeds are prepared by a dry method. Allow the seed to mature and dry as long as possible on the plant. Complete the drying process by spreading on a screen in a single layer in a well-ventilated dry location. As the seed dries the chaff or pods can be removed or blown gently away. An alternative method for extremely small or lightweight seed is putting the dry seed heads into paper bags that will catch the seed as it falls out.
Seed contained in fleshy fruits should be cleaned using the wet method. Tomatoes, melons, squash, cucumber and roses are prepared this way. Scoop the seed masses out of the fruit or lightly crush fruits. Put the seed mass and a small amount of warm water in a bucket or jar. Let the mix ferment for two to four days. Stir daily. The fermentation process kills viruses and separates the good seed from the bad seed and fruit pulp. After two to four days, the good viable seeds will sink to the bottom of the container while the pulp and bad seed float. Pour off the pulp, water, bad seed and mold. Spread the good seed on a screen or paper towel to dry.
Seeds must be stored dry. Place in glass jar or envelopes. Make sure you label all the containers or packages with the seed type or variety, and date. Put in the freezer for two days to kill pests. Then store in a cool dry location like a refrigerator. Seed that molds was not sufficiently dry before storage.
Seed viability decreases over time. Parsley, onion, and sweet corn must be used the next year. Most seed should be used within three years.
Seed saving is essential for maintaining unusual or heritage vegetables and flowers. It is a great way to propagate many native plants too. There are numerous seed saver exchanges, clubs, and listings in magazines like Organic Gardening. Although you shouldn't base your entire garden on saved seed you may want to give seed saving a try."
Small zip lock bags are good seed storers, but this spice rack looks like it would work just as well and be more managable.
At Prodyne A-845 Acrylic 20 Bottle Spice Rack
August 30, 2010
The dilemna of the fall cover crop is finally solved
I usually plant a fall cover crop in September and spent some time trying to decide which plant to use. I planted Berseem Clover several years in a row and had good luck with it. It puts a lot of nitrogen in the ground when tilled under and doesnt grow so high as to be unmanagable. However, one winter the temperature dipped down to ten degrees and it all died out, leaving the ground bare and vulnerable to leaching and erosion.
Fava beans are very good ground cover. The fix nitrogen also and are hardy down to 10 degrees. Another plus is that they break up nicely when you till them under. However, they sometimes grow as high as six feet tall which makes them difficult to till unless you weed eat them first.
Vetches are legumes and excellent nitrogen fixers. They should be innoculated before sowing. The one reason I stopped using them was the diffuculty in tilling in the spring. They grow tall, sometimes five feet tall and twine around the prongs of the tiller, making it bind up. So much time is spent stopping and unraveling the vines before continuing the work. I think weedeating first would help, and then letting the crop dry and wilt before beginning to till.
That has been my experience with cover crops. This year I'm taking a chance and using Territorial Seeds fall mix which includes vetch, rye, Australian peas, and clover. I'm hoping that some of negatives will balance each other out like the the difference in cold tolerance, and so I will end up with a good crop to till in in the spring. Territorial Seed has a good selection of different cover crops and a great fall catalogue.
At Fall cover crop
August 18, 2010
Purslane--it's annoying and it's edible
The main summer weed in my garden is purslane. It starts so innocently as a tiny purple tinted sprout and soon grows into a spreading, whorl of succulent leaves on a reddish stem and a tiny yellow flower whose seed pod soon opens to drops tiny seeds for next year. The first year I gardened, I discovered it was edible and suggested to my visiting father that we could eat it. His reaction was typical for someone raised in the depression who had to eat "weeds". We tried it pickled and as a salad green and were mostly unimpressed. A friend of mine ordered purslane seeds from a catalogue with her other garden vegetables, not realizing until it grew that she had it in abundance all over her garden.
The following years of gardening, I mostly pulled it out. You have to get it out of the garden because it lives on after being pulled from the ground and wills till drop seeds for the next year for you to pull again. One plant can produce over 50,000 seeds. One gardener who should know said that it provides tons of nitrogen for the garden if you till it in and I sometimes do that also, although it is warm weather crop and the nitrogen is leached out here by the winter rains.
Purslane originated in India and was supposedly it was Ghandi's favorite plant. Since I have the usual abundance this year, I'm going to try it in the green bean salad. Supposedly it can be used as a substitute for spinach in lasagnas and pasta dishes. It has very high nutritional values being full or omega 3's, and very low in calories,
At Organic Golden Purslane - 500 Seeds - Veggie
August 11, 2010
Things going to seed in your garden?
August is a great month. You can enjoy the fruits of the garden that you've worked so hard to produce. It's a month when you kind of coast a little. But it's good to remember to harvest more than the ripe tomatoes and corn. My corn just started coming in and, man, is it delicious!
Lots of plants are now making seed and it is a fairly easy task to harvest the seed also. I just cut the seeds off my Russian Kale. It is so easy to do. I just clipped the tips of the seeded stalks and put them in a paper bag. Since the stalk and seed pods are bulky, I break them up inside the bag with my hand and throw the husks away. Then the seeds can be stored in a plastic bag and labeled. The labeling is really necessary because although you think you might remember, the seeds of all the cabbage family look exactly alike. So be careful you know which is which.
The cilantro is also going to seed. The seed of cilantro is the spice coriander. So the seed can be used to replinish your spice rack as well as stored for more cilantro. Try planting the seed now and to get in a last crop of cilantro. It is a quick growing plant and can provide tasty additions to salads and salsas up until the first frost.
August 10, 2010
Hot weather gardening tips
We found this rather interesting set of tips from Scott Richter on hot weather gardening. We have to agree with all of them, but we really always hate the extra mulching when it's hot.
Garden Maintenance Tips
1) Keep plants mulched. You probably already know of the many benefits of mulch. Keep the mulch replenished in the heat. Look for free sources of organic mulches in your area such as neighborhood leaves or grass clippings. Apply a thin layer of fresh clippings and let dry for a few days before adding more.
2) Keep Weeding. Here's a fast, easy way to recapture weed infested areas of your garden. Wet the soil thoroughly. Tall weeds may need to be mowed before wetting. Place a 4 sheet thick layer of newspaper over the weeds covering the entire row up around your garden plants. Wet the newspaper to hold it in place and cover with leaves or hay.
I have even come back a few weeks later and planted transplants or larger seeds like okra through holes in the newspaper. Sprinkle a handful of soil or compost over the seeds and then water. You'll be amazed how well they grow.
3) Keep Yourself Watered. Drink plenty of water when working outdoors. The hot humid weather can be dangerous if you work outdoors during midday. Use sunscreen with at least a SPF 15 rating and avoid extended time out in the sun during the heat of the day.
4) Add Manure. Vegetable gardens not in production can benefit from an addition of manure and other organic matter this month. This material will decompose rapidly and be ready for fall planting in late summer. Southern peas such as blackeye, purplehull, cream and crowders make a great, edible summer cover crop for building the soil and providing food. The pea vines can be mowed and rototilled under while still green for extra soil building benefits or allowed to produce peas and then tilled under.
Let the hot sun work for you by tilling unused areas of the garden and expose the soil to the heat. This will kill nematodes and young weeds. After a couple of weeks repeat tilling to bring more weed seeds and nematodes to the surface.
5) Water Deeply. Irrigate the soil deeply and infrequently rather than giving plants a light sprinkling each day. Apply enough water to wet a sandy soil 1 foot deep and a clay soil 6 to 8 inches deep. This requires about 1 inch of rain or sprinkler irrigation.
August 9, 2010
This Summertime salad just keeps on giving
Now that the Sungold tomatoes are ripening and the cucumbers and beans are ready to be picked I can begin to make my favorite summertime green bean salad. The Sungold tomatoes are cherry type and are the sweetest of all the tomatoes. I usually plant a six pack of them to make sure I get enough for all the summertime salads.
The green bean salad I make is very simple. Steam the green beans for about 10 minutes and add them with whatever tomatoes are on hand. Slice cucumbers and a red onion, add olive oil and balsamic vinegar and salt to taste. It's sooooo simple. I always keep the leftover salad and the next day add more ingredients and serve it again. You can add broccoli and some sweet corn for variety. Potatoes can also be used for a potato salad without mayonnaise.
So enjoy the bounty of the garden in mid summer. These are the months we have been working for all year long.
At Sun Gold Tomato 20 Seeds - Golden Orange Cherry - Sweet
August 6, 2010
The Winter Garden needs some planning
I've planted late beans and put in a winter planting of beets. I think the broccoli, kale and cabbage will have to be started indoors and transplanted as the weather is too hot right now for good germination. Fall planted vegetables take about two weeks longer to mature because the daylight is getting shorter and all plants respond to that. So it's a good idea to get a jump on fall plantings by prespourting seeds.
To presprout seeds, place them between two layers of damp paper towels. Place the towels in a plastic bag and keep them in a warm place until the seeds germinate. Another method is to soak seeds for 4 hours. Allow the seedlings to reach a length of up to 1 inch. Be careful not to break the roots when planting. You can plant sprouted seeds more deeply than normal to help prevent drying out. Water well until the plants break the soil surface.
If it's hot and sunny when you plant, young plants will need extra care. Water transplants daily at first. You might need to sprinkle seeds and newly germinated seedlings twice a day. To keep the soil moist and protect young plants from the sun, temporarily shade them. Boards and umbrellas make good shade structures and a mulch of straw or hay helps.
At Renee's Greens Crispy Winter Seeds 900 Seeds
August 5, 2010
Territorial Seed fall catalog reminds me to think about fall
i got my Territorial Fall Seed catalogue. The good thing about this is it reminds me that fall plantings are due and gives me a chance to sit and ponder what ground cover to use. I need to put in more broccoli as it winters over nicely and provides greens all year long. The Russian red leaf kale also over winters and self sows so I have to check to make sure I have some seedlings and replant them if necessary to a place in the garden easy to get to in the winter.
I'm going to plant fava beans to overwinter also. They usually ripen in very early spring and so provide much needed vegetable while everything else is just been sown. Late Cabbage will overwinter where I am and some cauliflower will be good. The weather right now is really hot and I'm sitting inside, thinking about fall and winter, before I head to the river to cool off. Very sweet counterpoint.
At Territorial Seeds
August 4, 2010
How to replant a fading flower bed
Flower beds past their prime and overrun with weeds can be a common sight in late-summer landscape. The intense heat makes me reluctant to do much work outside, it's not reasonable to expect all the plants you carefully tended to hold up from the beginning of the summer growing season in early May until its end several months later. Fortunately, nurseries are still well-stocked with colorful, heat-tolerant bedding plants that will grow vigorously from now through late October. You can still plant seeds of many flowers and expect to see their color before the frost.
To replant your beds, first remove the old plants and put them in your compost pile. But try to avoid putting any weeds that have set seeds in the compost. Just dig those out and throw them away.
Next, spread a 1-inch to 2-inch layer of organic matter, such as compost, bagged or aged manure, landscape soil conditioner, grass clippings or peat moss, over the bed. Sprinkle a light application of high nitrogen fertilizer over the organic matter and then thoroughly incorporate everything into the soil of the bed. Rake it smooth, and the bed is ready to plant.
When planting late in the growing season, choose well-established plants in 4-inch pots or larger. Make sure the plants you purchase are healthy and vigorous and have been properly cared for. Avoid plants that look wilted or leggy, have poor color or show signs of insect or disease problems. This is not the time of year to nurse struggling plants back to health. Start off with the highest quality plants you can find.
If you're planting from seed, this mix below has some lovely old fashioned flowers not often seen in nurserys. They provide surprising variety and beautiful color and often self sow.
At Grandmother's Cut Flower Garden Seed Mix 15 Grams 22 Varieties
July 22, 2010
Hot, hot, hot, and more mulch, please!
So now the temperatures are soaring to 106 today and I've got all the drippers and soaker hoses going and some plants are still wilting in the heat. Tonight in the evening, I'll put more mulch on the strawberries and around corn after first feeding them again. All the hot weather vegies are growing fast and keeping them moist is a chore.
The hot weather has made it impossible to plant broccoli out in the garden. I"m getting two flats ready and will keep them indoors until the plants have some roots developed. Then they should transplant into the garden for late fall and winter eating. Broccoli is one of my staple crops. Once the main head is picked, it puts out spouts all winter and again in the spring. This is what is now sold in stores as broccolini ever since the broccoli growers figured out they could market it.
My plan is to do short double rows of broccoli, cabbage and cauliflower near the garden gate where I won't have to wade into muck and mud in the winter to harvest a vegie for supper. I have to order seeds and I'm going to try the Fall Broccoli blend.
At Fall Broccoli
July 20, 2010
Harvesting Basil multiple times is possible with the right cuttings
The basil is ready to harvest in my garden! I'm looking forward to some fresh pesto on pasta with vegetables, one of the great summer treats. I used to pull up the plants and pick off the leaves to make pesto. It's easy to freeze and it's wonderful to bring it out on a cold winter day for a taste of summer. And I don't use a recipe. I just add olive oil, parmasan and pine nuts to taste. Too sharp, use more pine nuts; too oily, use more basil and add more parmasan. Very easy. Salt to taste.
But recently someone told me that I can harvest the bottom leaves that grow along the stem before they get too large when they loose their potency. The best time to harvest is when the plant is four or five inches tall and you leave the top small leaves so that the plant continues to grow and more harvesting can be done. You have to take care not to damage the stem when you do this so you don't kill the plant. With this method you can harvest basil for seasonings and salads all summer long. I pick off the flowers when they start blooming and add nitrogen to produce more leafy growth.
There are at least 60 varieties of Basil. The most common are the Sweet basils:
- Sweet, Genovese, Large-leaf, Mammoth
- Purple foliage basils: Dark Opal, Purple Ruffles
- Lemon basils: Lemon-Scented, Lemon, Sweet Dani
- Others: Cinnamon basil, Spicy Bush, Camphor, Anise, Licorice
They vary in color and have amazing nuances of scent. What you buy in the store can't compare to picking basil fresh. It takes only 60 days to havest so you have time to get a planting in before a September frost or buy some seedlings!
At Sweet Large Leaf Italian Basil - 8 Plants - Herb
July 16, 2010
Now Cucumbers can solve all our problems!!!
The Amazing Cucumber
This information was in The New York Times several weeks ago as part of their "Spotlight on the Home" series that highlighted creative and fanciful ways to solve common problems.
1. Cucumbers contain most of the vitamins you need every day, just one cucumber contains Vitamin B1, Vitamin B2, Vitamin B3, Vitamin B5, Vitamin B6, Folic Acid, Vitamin C, Calcium, Iron, Magnesium, Phosphorus, Potassium and Zinc.
2. Feeling tired in the afternoon, put down the caffeinated soda and pick up a cucumber. Cucumbers are a good source of B Vitamins and Carbohydrates that can provide that quick pick-me-up that can last for hours.
3. Tired of your bathroom mirror fogging up after a shower? Try rubbing a cucumber slice along the mirror, it will eliminate the fog and provide a soothing, spa-like fragrance.
4. Are grubs and slugs ruining your planting beds? Place a few slices in a small pie tin and your garden will be free of pests all season long. The chemicals in the cucumber react with the aluminum to give off a scent undetectable to humans but drive garden pests crazy and make them flee the area. (WOW)
5. Looking for a fast and easy way to remove cellulite before going out or to the pool? Try rubbing a slice or two of cucumbers along your problem area for a few minutes, the phytochemicals in the cucumber cause the collagen in your skin to tighten, firming up the outer layer and reducing the visibility of cellulite. Works great on wrinkles too!!! (DOUBLE WOW)
6. Want to avoid a hangover or terrible headache? Eat a few cucumber slices before going to bed and wake up refreshed and headache free. Cucumbers contain enough sugar, B vitamins and electrolytes to replenish essential nutrients the body lost, keeping everything in equilibrium, avoiding both a hangover and headache!!
7. Looking to fight off that afternoon or evening snacking binge? Cucumbers have been used for centuries and often used by European trappers, traders and explores for quick meals to thwart off starvation.
8. Have an important meeting or job interview and you realize that you don't have enough time to polish your shoes? Rub a freshly cut cucumber over the shoe, its chemicals will provide a quick and durable shine that not only looks great but also repels water.
9. Out of WD 40 and need to fix a squeaky hinge? Take a cucumber sliced rub it along the problematic hinge, and voila, the squeak is gone!
10. Stressed out and don't have time for massage, facial or visit to the spa? Cut up an entire cucumber and place it in a boiling pot of water, the chemicals and nutrients from the cucumber with react with the boiling water and be released in the steam, creating a soothing, relaxing aroma that has been shown the reduce stress in new mothers and college students during final exams.
11. Just finish a business lunch and realize you don't have gum or mints? Take a slice of cucumber and press it to the roof of your mouth with your tongue for 30 seconds to eliminate bad breath, the phytochemcials will kill the bacteria in your mouth responsible for causing bad breath.
12. Looking for a 'green' way to clean your faucets, sinks or stainless steel? Take a slice of cucumber and rub it on the surface you want to clean, not only will it remove years of tarnish and bring back the shine, but is won't leave streaks and won't harm you fingers or fingernails while you clean.
13. Using a pen and made a mistake? Take the outside of the cucumber and slowly use it to erase the pen writing, also works great on crayons and markers that the kids have used to decorate the walls!!
June 30, 2010
Why we should all eat more strawberries
Of course strawberries are sweet and we love to eat them, but they also have a very important nutritious value. There are a lot of health benefits from eating strawberries.
Strawberries are good for your health because they contains minerals and vitamins that are important to boost the immune system. Some of the vitamins that people can get from this fruit are vitamin C, vitamin B2, vitamin B5, vitamin B6 and vitamin K. Aside from these, strawberry is also rich in manganese, dietary fiber as well as iodine. If you need potassium and folate, you can get these from eating strawberries.
If you want to eliminate the harmful toxins in your blood, one of the best things to do is to eat strawberries because these have antioxidants, much like blueberries, that are important to combat free radicals. Eliminating free radicals prevents the development of cancer cells. Aside from having anti-aging properties, people can also benefit from strawberries since these have properties that can improve brain health.
If you want to store the berries, you need to keep the fruits in a cool and dry place. You can store the fruits for not more than two days since the nutritional components of strawberries are decreased when stored for a long time. If you have harvested more than you need, you can stem them, sprinkle sugar over them, and pop them in the freezer. Then some cold dreary winter day, you can open the pack and enjoy the taste of spring!
May 21, 2010
My lilacs are blooming!
"In the dooryard fronting an old farm-house near the white-washed palings,
Stands the lilac-bush tall-growing with heart-shaped leaves of rich green,
With many a pointed blossom rising delicate, with the perfume strong I love,
With every leaf a miracle -and from this bush in the dooryard,
With delicate-coloured blossoms and heart-shaped leaves of rich green,
A sprig with its flower I break."
Walt Whitman was mourning the death of Abraham Lincoln in this poem, and he uses the lilac as a metaphor for his love and respect of Lincoln. I'm so happy I have a blooming lilac bush. It's taken several years to nurture it as it was planted in hard rocky soil by the tool shed. My mother had lilacs by the back door and my grandmother had them in her yard. They were a part of my childhood and their color and fragrance bring back memories of past springs.
Lilacs originated in Asia and came to Europe from Turkey and were brought with settlers to the US around 1750. There are many(about 500) varieties of lilacs and some are hybrids with double flowers. I prefer the old fashioned kind. They are the perfect harbinger of the beginning of spring and a joy to the eye and the nose!
At 2 Purple Lilac Trees 15 to 25 Inches Tall
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