A Seed Saver's Garden

[heirloomgal]

Fermenting my first batch of tomato seeds, Honey Nail. So it begins! Also harvested my first dried pea pods of several varieties, though Dead Viking, Sutton's Harbinger, Bolero and Spring Blush take the prize for earliest. Finally harvesting cucumbers in earnest; I did lose track of one so I've allotted it the role of seed maker since it's almost brown now. It's surprisingly huge. Several eggplants are nearly ready to have the seeds harvested, Listeria de Gandia & Casper being the first 2.

Has two days of rain which the beans did NOT like and it occurred to me that the vegetable which is my favourite to grow and collect seeds from is probably the most difficult for me too. I find getting bean seeds to maturity in perfect condition is often met with several challenges, at least in some seasons. Between cold spells, rodents, excessive heat and moisture, early frosts and mould, it's a tight rope. But I think they are such a beautiful vegetable plant, and I do love their bounty in the pot. I think peas have got to be the most unfussy vegetable from sprout to dried pod! Powdery mildew can be a problem occasionally, but I often go years without seeing it.

Some pics.

This white echinacea came up on its own this year. I must have planted it years ago, had it die back and conditions occurred for it to re-emerge. Not sure why the background is black, weird angle to the sun I guess.

Brazilian peas are nearly dry. Purple zippers!

Retrija soup pea STILL making flowers! This one may not make it, we'll see. SO LATE. Awesome heat tolerance though.

A study in contrast. The peas are like "I'm so done." The beans: "party on dudes!"

Pheasant''s Eye. First flower, first time growing it. Pretty.

Flamme tomato. Yummy.

Little lady just hangin'.

YAHOO! Looks like Zeedman's awesome soybean is going to produce for me after all! I'm having a bit of trouble with stems breaking from the plant.

I should be home weeding...... but decided to come here instead.

 

[Blue-Jay]

Flamme tomato. Yummy

Have you ever grown Orange Santa. Slightly elongated cherry type tomato, orange in color and very sweet. I'll send you some seed next spring with your Network beans. I looked it up on the internet. It's supposed to be a hybrid, but I saved seed of it last year and planted it this year from saved seed and it is turning out the same as last year.

 

[Alasgun]

I always enjoy your little “mini garden shows” @heirloomgal. Nice work.

 

[heirloomgal]

Have you ever grown Orange Santa. Slightly elongated cherry type tomato, orange in color and very sweet. I'll send you some seed next spring with your Network beans. I looked it up on the internet. It's supposed to be a hybrid, but I saved seed of it last year and planted it this year from saved seed and it is turning out the same as last year.

Never even heard of it @bluejay! Sound like a great little tomato, I love the sweet cherries.

 

[Zeedman]

YAHOO! Looks like Zeedman's awesome soybean is going to produce for me after all! I'm having a bit of trouble with stems breaking from the plant.

I was a little worried about that one, because it has a longer DTM. Sometimes they need to be tied up; especially the taller varieties, or in windy areas. DV-2371 is a tall variety. I too had some trouble with the long lower branches breaking. Because rodents are a persistent problem in my home gardens, I try to grow only taller varieties there... if I let wind knock them down, mice will move in & destroy the entire crop. I just drive in a few short stakes in the row, and run a loop or two around the plants. Helpful hint: much easier done before the wind knocks them down (as I found out the hard way).

All 8 of my soybeans are blooming & setting pods, despite their late planting. It is especially reassuring to see a good set on the two soybean rescues (which had dropped below 5% germination) because those are two of my favorite varieties.

 

[heirloomgal]

I was a little worried about that one, because it has a longer DTM. Sometimes they need to be tied up; especially the taller varieties, or in windy areas. DV-2371 is a tall variety. I too had some trouble with the long lower branches breaking. Because rodents are a persistent problem in my home gardens, I try to grow only taller varieties there... if I let wind knock them down, mice will move in & destroy the entire crop. I just drive in a few short stakes in the row, and run a loop or two around the plants. Helpful hint: much easier done before the wind knocks them down (as I found out the hard way).

All 8 of my soybeans are blooming & setting pods, despite their late planting. It is especially reassuring to see a good set on the two soybean rescues (which had dropped below 5% germination) because those are two of my favorite varieties.

Thank goodness I learned about soybean transplants from you @Zeedman ! At least three is some hope for me and the marbled beans now!

 

[heirloomgal]

Pics from today.

Floragold Basket cherry tomatoes. Taste is quite good for a mini dwarf, but I spit the skins out. Too tough for me. I like it anyway!

Red Inca Berry hot peppers.
Gotta love these kinds of peppers, indestructible plants, huge producers even in tiny pots and TONS of seeds! Seed harvesting is a bit painful though..

Kenikir blossom. Plants are nearly up to 5 feet. A huge annual flower!

Seedhead.

First wild sunflowers are blooming. Smells strongly of chocolate.

Purple and green pods on pole beans that are all supposed to be the same!

I'm so tempted to check these cobs to see how close to dry they are. But I would wreck a cob to do it so I'm holding myself back! I keep telling myself, they're too green, too green!!!! But for popcorn I can't believe the cob size. All the corn I've grown is only 6 inches long! So much for a 'dwarf'.

 

[Pulsegleaner]

First cuke (Russian Brown) is on the verge of being ready to pick.

And now, all (or nearly all) of the other cukes have confirmed flowers, as do the horned melons.

I'm so tempted to check these cobs to see how close to dry they are. But I would wreck a cob to do it so I'm holding myself back! I keep telling myself, they're too green, too green!!!! But for popcorn I can't believe the cob size. All the corn I've grown is only 6 inches long! So much for a 'dwarf'.
View attachment 51312

Isn't that length sort of normal for a "miniature" type popcorn? That sounds more or less like the length I usually see in minis (with short stubby minis, like Strawberry and a couple of others, a bit shorter). They can even get smaller; the type I used to have I called "Kachina's Basket" (since that is what I got it from) had ears that couldn't have been any longer than 3 inches! And Chire's Baby ears, if you let them grow to maturity, usually don't get much beyond 6 inches either (though they are a lot thinner than a standard miniature corn ear.)

 

[heirloomgal]

First cuke (Russian Brown) is on the verge of being ready to pick.

And now, all (or nearly all) of the other cukes have confirmed flowers, as do the horned melons.


Isn't that length sort of normal for a "miniature" type popcorn? That sounds more or less like the length I usually see in minis (with short stubby minis, like Strawberry and a couple of others, a bit shorter). They can even get smaller; the type I used to have I called "Kachina's Basket" (since that is what I got it from) had ears that couldn't have been any longer than 3 inches! And Chire's Baby ears, if you let them grow to maturity, usually don't get much beyond 6 inches either (though they are a lot thinner than a standard miniature corn ear.)

Yes, 6 inches is about right for Tom Thumb and Dwarf Blue Jade - the other 2 I grow. These ones are much longer and the girth much bigger too. I know the seeds were pink, so I'm sure it's 'Pink Popcorn' but the size seems way off. It's almost like a grew the wrong corn?

 

[Pulsegleaner]

Yes, 6 inches is about right for Tom Thumb and Dwarf Blue Jade - the other 2 I grow. These ones are much longer and the girth much bigger too. I know the seeds were pink, so I'm sure it's 'Pink Popcorn' but the size seems way off. It's almost like a grew the wrong corn?

Not necessarily. Nearly all miniature corns are popcorns*, but not all popcorns are miniature corns. there are plenty that are more "standard" sizes (including most of the ones grown professionally, since they want bigger kernels to make bigger popcorn.)

Though I have noticed that corn doesn't appear to have all of that smooth of a spectrum with regards to ear size. You get a cluster down at the "mini" level of about 6 inches and a cluster at the "standard" end at around 9-12 inches, but you don't find all that much in the middle (except when a standard ear comes out a bit undersized due to stress).

In the ornamental corn market (where most of the colorful corns have their major economic niche outside of specialist growers like us) I think this may be on purpose. They want all of the corn to be more or less the same length, so that, when they bind them into the standard groups of three ears for doors, the ends line up (I know that one of the major impediments I have in putting the ears I don't want kernels from back together to hang on the door is trying to find three that are the same length. That and trying to get the rubber band/wire back on correctly.)

*Well, except mine.