2022 Garden Thread
- Thread starter WhiteWolf
- Start date
In probably my most ridiculous move yet, I've ordered 20 Saffron Crocus bulbs. I had 50 in the cart, but reality hit me and I changed it to 20. Early next summer when I'm out in the flower bed with tweezers harvesting crocus stamens, remind me I'm an idiot.
Anyone ever raise kholrabi? I've ordered seeds, it's still a couple of weeks away from planting time for them so I'll get them in time, but I've never eaten one so I'm not sure I'll be happy with the use of space for them, we'll see.
I now have enough seeds to plant the entire plot of land here... for multiple seasons. My answer to instability is ordering more seeds. I guess it's better than shopping for shoes as far as hobbies go, but... at this point, I'm not sure how much better.
Anyone ever raise kholrabi? I've ordered seeds, it's still a couple of weeks away from planting time for them so I'll get them in time, but I've never eaten one so I'm not sure I'll be happy with the use of space for them, we'll see.
I now have enough seeds to plant the entire plot of land here... for multiple seasons. My answer to instability is ordering more seeds. I guess it's better than shopping for shoes as far as hobbies go, but... at this point, I'm not sure how much better.
Seed saving question, lookin' at you @Mel's Cookin'
Last year was out first year saving anything for seed, though we've always bought heirloom so that saving them was an option. Last year, the only thing we saved was green bean seeds. We left what we though would be the last harvest, they turned yellow/brown and dried out, and we saved them. Came up great this year, yay, we did it right!
This year, we stopped picking maybe two weeks ago when it started getting in to the low 50s at night, figured they'd stopped producing. Now, the beans that are on there are getting HUGE, like 8" long and 1/2" around, and still green. Should I just leave them on and let them do their thing, or pick them, shell them, and let them dry?
Last year was out first year saving anything for seed, though we've always bought heirloom so that saving them was an option. Last year, the only thing we saved was green bean seeds. We left what we though would be the last harvest, they turned yellow/brown and dried out, and we saved them. Came up great this year, yay, we did it right!
This year, we stopped picking maybe two weeks ago when it started getting in to the low 50s at night, figured they'd stopped producing. Now, the beans that are on there are getting HUGE, like 8" long and 1/2" around, and still green. Should I just leave them on and let them do their thing, or pick them, shell them, and let them dry?
If the bean pods are still green, then they aren't mature enough or dry enough to harvest for seed. Shelling them before they start drying out can result in immature beans which won't be reliable producers next year.
If it looks like it might freeze or get a hard frost at night, then pull the whole plant up by the root and hang it upside down (by the root end) somewhere it can continue to dry. They'll even mature for a few more days that way. But depending on when your first freeze or hard frost date is, I'd leave them out there as long as possible until they start to turn color. Hanging them in a barn or shed or garage is plenty of protection. They won't need to be hung in the middle of your living room near the stove or anything.
ETA: If your plants are as vining and sprangley as mine are, pulling the whole plant may not be possible. Then just cut off as much of the vine portion where your potential bean seeds are growing, and hang that.
If it looks like it might freeze or get a hard frost at night, then pull the whole plant up by the root and hang it upside down (by the root end) somewhere it can continue to dry. They'll even mature for a few more days that way. But depending on when your first freeze or hard frost date is, I'd leave them out there as long as possible until they start to turn color. Hanging them in a barn or shed or garage is plenty of protection. They won't need to be hung in the middle of your living room near the stove or anything.
ETA: If your plants are as vining and sprangley as mine are, pulling the whole plant may not be possible. Then just cut off as much of the vine portion where your potential bean seeds are growing, and hang that.
Seeds can't be reused from hybrids. Other than that...
Tomato seeds need to be harvested from really, really ripe fruit. The seeds we see in most of the tomatoes we eat are immature so they can't produce a new plant. But if you have a really, really ripe tomato and want to harvest the seeds for next year, there are a lot of different methods but the easiest I've found (and I'm all about easy) is:
1. cut the tomato in half, scoop out the seeds into a bowl, including whatever of the pulpy stuff around the seeds comes with them, don't bother trying to wash them off. (At this point, you have a seedless tomato, feel free to stop and make your sandwich at this time and then return to the tomato project afterwards.)
2. Add enough water to cover the seeds and their attendant gunk by about an inch. Don't cover it, just set it aside for about a week. Mold will start to form on the surface of the water. That's ok. That mold will actually help break down the part of the slimy seed coating on the tomato seed and it will germinate easier next spring.
3. After about a week, scoop off the mold and throw it away, then put the seeds in a sieve and rinse them really well with cool running water. Lay them out on a clean dishtowel or a few layers of paper towels and let them dry completely. I usually leave them a day or two. Put the dried seeds in an envelope and remember to write what kind they are so next years tomatoes aren't three rows of tomato surprise and you're ready for next spring!
Tomato seeds need to be harvested from really, really ripe fruit. The seeds we see in most of the tomatoes we eat are immature so they can't produce a new plant. But if you have a really, really ripe tomato and want to harvest the seeds for next year, there are a lot of different methods but the easiest I've found (and I'm all about easy) is:
1. cut the tomato in half, scoop out the seeds into a bowl, including whatever of the pulpy stuff around the seeds comes with them, don't bother trying to wash them off. (At this point, you have a seedless tomato, feel free to stop and make your sandwich at this time and then return to the tomato project afterwards.)
2. Add enough water to cover the seeds and their attendant gunk by about an inch. Don't cover it, just set it aside for about a week. Mold will start to form on the surface of the water. That's ok. That mold will actually help break down the part of the slimy seed coating on the tomato seed and it will germinate easier next spring.
3. After about a week, scoop off the mold and throw it away, then put the seeds in a sieve and rinse them really well with cool running water. Lay them out on a clean dishtowel or a few layers of paper towels and let them dry completely. I usually leave them a day or two. Put the dried seeds in an envelope and remember to write what kind they are so next years tomatoes aren't three rows of tomato surprise and you're ready for next spring!
Summer squashes - zucchini, yellow, patty-pan, all the soft squashes and cucumbers are done the same way with the exception you only need to leave them in the water 3 - 5 days.
To get seeds from a squash or cucumber, it needs to be left on the vine until it is way past edible. Cucumbers will get huge and turn yellow or sickly yellow-white, depending on the cultivar. Squash will get huge and get a really dark version of whatever color they are normally.
When you cut either of those open, you'll see the center where the seeds are has started to shrink some and the seeds are larger and harder than in one you are going to eat.
Once a cucumber or squash has brought one to seed stage and you've harvested your seed fruit, go ahead and pull that plant and use the space for something else. The plant will go into decline anyway, its job is done.
To get seeds from a squash or cucumber, it needs to be left on the vine until it is way past edible. Cucumbers will get huge and turn yellow or sickly yellow-white, depending on the cultivar. Squash will get huge and get a really dark version of whatever color they are normally.
When you cut either of those open, you'll see the center where the seeds are has started to shrink some and the seeds are larger and harder than in one you are going to eat.
Once a cucumber or squash has brought one to seed stage and you've harvested your seed fruit, go ahead and pull that plant and use the space for something else. The plant will go into decline anyway, its job is done.
Okra you save seeds by letting a pod get really large and hard and start to brown. Then hang it dry, cut it open and remove the seeds. As with beans, there's no other work to be done. I try to pick one okra plant and let three or four on that plant go to seed because it will not keep producing okra after that.
Dug up my potatoes last weekend. Certainly not my worst haul ever, nor the best by any stretch. My potato patch soil probably could use some sort of revitalizing, but haven't decided what that'll look like yet. Container gardening with the previous fall's leaves wasn't the big win I had hoped for - just no consistency from plant to plant - but the leaves themselves stayed extremely wet despite drainage holes, and started breaking down to the point that they might work as compost mixed into the garden soil. Otherwise, I have to get some manure or . . . something.
We got snow this morning, but not actually below freezing, so I'm going to hold off with the carrots. They're in raised beds, which has me thinking I can't leave them much longer, but it's supposed to warm back up over the coming days.
We have a couple of dwarf apple trees that I'd like to move. Ideally, I'd put them in large pots or some plastic quarter-barrels, but not so sure that they'd last the winter in those.
We got snow this morning, but not actually below freezing, so I'm going to hold off with the carrots. They're in raised beds, which has me thinking I can't leave them much longer, but it's supposed to warm back up over the coming days.
We have a couple of dwarf apple trees that I'd like to move. Ideally, I'd put them in large pots or some plastic quarter-barrels, but not so sure that they'd last the winter in those.
Big surprise in the flower bed this afternoon! About half of saffron crocuses that I planted about 3 weeks ago are up, blooming and had little harvestable stamens. The other half are up but are still growing, haven't bloomed yet.
My tweezers and I harvested about 3/4 teaspoon's worth. That's enough to make saffron rice 1 1/2 times, long as I don't use more than 2 cups of dry rice.
But with the other flowers growing, there should be another 3/4 teaspoons worth within a week or so, and 5 of the bulbs are putting up a second plant, so the bulbs are multiplying. By 2031, we should be having saffron chicken and rice up to 6 times a year.
Admittedly, not the most practical thing I've ever grown, but I won't pay $12. for .07 ounces of saffron either, so its this or nothing.
On a more practical note...
Fall garden is being planted in beds about 4 feet x 8 feet instead of rows.
About 100 turnip green plants are up, those will be thinned several times as they grow and the thinnings eaten, until they finally get enough space to develop the bulbs.
Bok Choy is up, probably a hundred plants, but they will be used in stir fries as I thin them and then succession planted to last the winter.
Carrots... if anyone hasn't grown carrots before, the seeds are tiny. I've gotten pelleted seeds before and that works well for me, but pelleted seeds were hard to find this year in the assorted varieties I wanted. So.... the carrot seedlings look like a green carpet right now. If they all had room to grow, I've got about a quarter-acre worth of carrot seedlings out there. I'm seeing carrot green pesto in my future while I thin these things out so they have room to carrot.
Swiss chard is coming along a little slower, just now seeing some popping through the soil.
Another couple of weeks and we'll be able to plant the spinach, which will start coming along about the time those carrot tops are ready to be used. Takes spinach and carrot tops to make garden pesto.
My tweezers and I harvested about 3/4 teaspoon's worth. That's enough to make saffron rice 1 1/2 times, long as I don't use more than 2 cups of dry rice.
But with the other flowers growing, there should be another 3/4 teaspoons worth within a week or so, and 5 of the bulbs are putting up a second plant, so the bulbs are multiplying. By 2031, we should be having saffron chicken and rice up to 6 times a year.
Admittedly, not the most practical thing I've ever grown, but I won't pay $12. for .07 ounces of saffron either, so its this or nothing.
On a more practical note...
Fall garden is being planted in beds about 4 feet x 8 feet instead of rows.
About 100 turnip green plants are up, those will be thinned several times as they grow and the thinnings eaten, until they finally get enough space to develop the bulbs.
Bok Choy is up, probably a hundred plants, but they will be used in stir fries as I thin them and then succession planted to last the winter.
Carrots... if anyone hasn't grown carrots before, the seeds are tiny. I've gotten pelleted seeds before and that works well for me, but pelleted seeds were hard to find this year in the assorted varieties I wanted. So.... the carrot seedlings look like a green carpet right now. If they all had room to grow, I've got about a quarter-acre worth of carrot seedlings out there. I'm seeing carrot green pesto in my future while I thin these things out so they have room to carrot.
Swiss chard is coming along a little slower, just now seeing some popping through the soil.
Another couple of weeks and we'll be able to plant the spinach, which will start coming along about the time those carrot tops are ready to be used. Takes spinach and carrot tops to make garden pesto.
Big surprise in the flower bed this afternoon! About half of saffron crocuses that I planted about 3 weeks ago are up, blooming and had little harvestable stamens. The other half are up but are still growing, haven't bloomed yet.
My tweezers and I harvested about 3/4 teaspoon's worth. That's enough to make saffron rice 1 1/2 times, long as I don't use more than 2 cups of dry rice.
But with the other flowers growing, there should be another 3/4 teaspoons worth within a week or so, and 5 of the bulbs are putting up a second plant, so the bulbs are multiplying. By 2031, we should be having saffron chicken and rice up to 6 times a year.
Admittedly, not the most practical thing I've ever grown, but I won't pay $12. for .07 ounces of saffron either, so its this or nothing.
On a more practical note...
Fall garden is being planted in beds about 4 feet x 8 feet instead of rows.
About 100 turnip green plants are up, those will be thinned several times as they grow and the thinnings eaten, until they finally get enough space to develop the bulbs.
Bok Choy is up, probably a hundred plants, but they will be used in stir fries as I thin them and then succession planted to last the winter.
Carrots... if anyone hasn't grown carrots before, the seeds are tiny. I've gotten pelleted seeds before and that works well for me, but pelleted seeds were hard to find this year in the assorted varieties I wanted. So.... the carrot seedlings look like a green carpet right now. If they all had room to grow, I've got about a quarter-acre worth of carrot seedlings out there. I'm seeing carrot green pesto in my future while I thin these things out so they have room to carrot.
Swiss chard is coming along a little slower, just now seeing some popping through the soil.
Another couple of weeks and we'll be able to plant the spinach, which will start coming along about the time those carrot tops are ready to be used. Takes spinach and carrot tops to make garden pesto.
My tweezers and I harvested about 3/4 teaspoon's worth. That's enough to make saffron rice 1 1/2 times, long as I don't use more than 2 cups of dry rice.
But with the other flowers growing, there should be another 3/4 teaspoons worth within a week or so, and 5 of the bulbs are putting up a second plant, so the bulbs are multiplying. By 2031, we should be having saffron chicken and rice up to 6 times a year.
Admittedly, not the most practical thing I've ever grown, but I won't pay $12. for .07 ounces of saffron either, so its this or nothing.
On a more practical note...
Fall garden is being planted in beds about 4 feet x 8 feet instead of rows.
About 100 turnip green plants are up, those will be thinned several times as they grow and the thinnings eaten, until they finally get enough space to develop the bulbs.
Bok Choy is up, probably a hundred plants, but they will be used in stir fries as I thin them and then succession planted to last the winter.
Carrots... if anyone hasn't grown carrots before, the seeds are tiny. I've gotten pelleted seeds before and that works well for me, but pelleted seeds were hard to find this year in the assorted varieties I wanted. So.... the carrot seedlings look like a green carpet right now. If they all had room to grow, I've got about a quarter-acre worth of carrot seedlings out there. I'm seeing carrot green pesto in my future while I thin these things out so they have room to carrot.
Swiss chard is coming along a little slower, just now seeing some popping through the soil.
Another couple of weeks and we'll be able to plant the spinach, which will start coming along about the time those carrot tops are ready to be used. Takes spinach and carrot tops to make garden pesto.
Supposed to have 4 days in a row of temps lower than freezing and about 30 hours where it doesn't get above freezing at all.
So...
buried the strawberries in straw, told the carrots, spinach and swiss chard goodbye, and harvested all of the turnip greens and bok choy. Will harvest all the herbs tomorrow. Freezing temps will be here early Friday morning. The camellias are blooming, some of the azaleas are blooming and all of those that aren't blooming are loaded with buds. We'll lose this year's blossoms completely.
Good news is bug pressure on the gardens should be way down next year. A good freeze like this is always helpful.
May wait until mid-January to start replanting but we've still got time to get in another winter harvest before spring hits. Probably won't replant carrots, the window is gone for those this year. I'll spend the down time getting ready to plant the pomegranate trees to be delivered in January, and get the muscadine vines pruned.
So...
buried the strawberries in straw, told the carrots, spinach and swiss chard goodbye, and harvested all of the turnip greens and bok choy. Will harvest all the herbs tomorrow. Freezing temps will be here early Friday morning. The camellias are blooming, some of the azaleas are blooming and all of those that aren't blooming are loaded with buds. We'll lose this year's blossoms completely.
Good news is bug pressure on the gardens should be way down next year. A good freeze like this is always helpful.
May wait until mid-January to start replanting but we've still got time to get in another winter harvest before spring hits. Probably won't replant carrots, the window is gone for those this year. I'll spend the down time getting ready to plant the pomegranate trees to be delivered in January, and get the muscadine vines pruned.
