A Seed Saver's Garden

[heirloomgal]

@Pulsegleaner my butterfly pea has a bloom on it! It also has some signs of spider mites (no!!!!), but it's growing climbing vines too! Probably about 2 feet long. It ain't much, but at least it's doin' something!

 

[ducks4you]

@flowerbug ,
Really, I just don't want to take advantage. I wasn't thinking about selling, just sharing, and SHARING the cost of sharing.

 

[flowerbug]

@flowerbug ,
Really, I just don't want to take advantage. I wasn't thinking about selling, just sharing, and SHARING the cost of sharing.

no, that wasn't what i was worried about at all. i don't have that much to send so you wouldn't make that much anyways. lol enough to get you started with them.

 

[heirloomgal]

The first matured peppers are rolling in. I think I'll wait that teeny extra bit though they are mature to be sure the seeds are done. Nearly all the 'Inca Red Berry' peppers are red but I don't want to risk a too early harvest! Same with the 'Quaking Grass' seeds. Harvested the first 'Victoria Louise' peach poppy seeds tonight. Struggling with the Persian Cornflower seeds, they go from not ready to on the ground really fast. Flowers can be hard seeds to save. Curious how they'll go this year as it's the first time I've actually grown annuals hoping to save seed. Even if they don't all work out some have been such a lovely surprise it'll have been worth it.

Can't believe it's nearly August. Harvested first dried pea pods too. A few bush beans are nearing completion it seems. Jerusalem Cross seeds are nearly ready to harvest. Can't complain about the weather this year overall, lots of sunshine and decent rainfall. The flowers on the cotton plants are extraordinarily beautiful. I can only imagine how beautiful a field of them are.

 

[heirloomgal]

Little harvest of 'Ecuador Lemon' peppers. And a little plate of all the peppers that either did not come true (from The Pepper Merchant) or were knocked of the plants prematurely by a canine, or myself.

I've tried to grow the Wild Boar Farms tomato 'Golden Gates' a few times, and not really gotten anywhere with it. Some of the WB Farms selections seemed to me almost locally adapted and didn't 'wake up' easily so far north of its home. But, looks like I may actually see some of these striped yellow beauties!

Found these when I whippersnipped the back end of my garden. I imagine they are compost pile survivors, since I pulled the original plants out about 3 years ago and tossed them in there. Anyway, they were enjoyed in some pancakes with butter and maple syrup. Haha, it's the biggest harvest I ever had of them.

Lilies finally blooming. Scent of this one is heavenly, the others have no scent.

 

[heirloomgal]

This is the time of year for me when supports will fail if they are not adequate, or if the plants grew bigger and taller than expected. I don't know why I continue to believe pea packets that say 'grows to 5 feet' because I haven't seen it yet. They're either 3 ft or less, or 6 ft plus it seems, at least the ones I've tried. But! this time I only fell for it with 2 varieties. Unfortunately, at this point there isn't much I can do. I can only hope they make it and don't get too damaged by being supported poorly.

The stick broke and several semi runner beans were attached (though I gave others sticks as well). Not much to do, since I can't manually wind the beans on a new stick pole.

T- posts this size were not tall enough, I just hope the peas still mature alright. They're soup peas and are going to need more time for sure.

Harvested my first cherry tomato, which tasted delicious. Not sure if that's because they actually are or because it's been so long since I had a garden tomato! Lol Used some of my dud peppers in a new moong dahl recipe, added a nice bit of spice. And a 'Petch Siam' eggplant turned bright yellow, which seems to mean it is seeds are getting close to full maturity! A few other eggplants are getting bright yellow too, so maybe bright yellow is a common deep maturity indicator, like orange for cucumbers.

Not really a support issue, but this has been a problem with a few plants - stems breaking from the main stem; vigorous growth combined with the deep rains we've gotten, when it does rain, are partly to blame. Same with the Gem marigolds, I lost 1000''s of seeds because big chunks of the plants are breaking off.

My pole bean experiment in part shade is turning out well so far. Whether they will make dry seed I'm not sure but I think I'll get fresh beans from them. (The 2 poles on the end, in right of pic.) Considering I put them in a bit late and as seeds, not transplants, they are comparable to the others. No pods yet though.

On a happier note - a butterfly pea bloom!

And the 'Dead Viking' peas - the oddest and most rare pea I have - are SO tiny! I've never seen anything like them, little mini peas! Probably just over an inch.

 

[heirloomgal]

Pics from today.

Kingfisher daisies

Salpiglossis blooming

Rosa Bianca

Scarlet Flax

Farewell to Spring a.k.a Godetia

Bijou Sweet Pea

Finally a wee watermelon!

 

[digitS']

Godetia a very pretty, underused plant.

I wonder if it is because they reseed. I didn't have any problems with that but this climate is probably not the best for them. Really easy and I wanted them for a shady location. The afternoon shade helped the flowers to survive longer.

Sometime I wonder if I'm not too much oriented towards the very short-range while others use flowers to set-off house and property. Probably best that DW has more control of selection and what looks best from the road .

Steve

 

[ducks4you]

I'm gonna have to remember Kingfisher Daisy.'
I admire chickory that grows as a weed here.
It looks a lot like it, but is a tamer version.
Beautiful pictures!!

 

[heirloomgal]

Godetia a very pretty, underused plant

I agree wholeheartedly. They are such a charming little flower and unlike many annuals there is quite a lot of diversity and colour reversals in the blooms, a quality I really love. It's a mystery to me why it is so seldom grown; I had to order seed from a specialty flower seed shop to get it.