A Seed Saver's Garden

[heirloomgal]

I've been going through the new Baker Creek catalogue. It is such a beautiful publication; the photography is just so good. They are so creative in the way they come up with their shots. Lots of neat things in there this year. Those pure yellow watermelons look pretty neat, with a yellow rind to boot. That huge 'Snake Bean' is initriguing, though given that a packet has 5 seeds, I'm thinking they are not a very prolific or seedy crop. I found the Albino Bullnose pepper locally and the 'Criolla de Cocina', so I'm going to try those in 2023. There is one pepper in there called 'Rain Forest' which looks nearly identical to one I've grown called 'Piazinho'. It is slightly more ridged though.

You know, there is very famous and oft quoted National Geograaphic article that talks about how a really high percentage of our heirloom vegetables are gone and our global food plant diversity is dwindling, but with all the breeding going on and with all of the seeds being brought out from their native areas by places like Baker Creek (and therefore grown more widely on a global level) it's hard for me to imagine that. There seems to me plenty of seed diversity out there! I imagine for certain carbohydrate groups like rice/wheat/corn, grown on a commerical or commodity scale, there are very prevalent varieties that are grown to the exclusion of most older ones. That seems likely to be a place where the older varieties are at risk of falling away, especially because people are no longer growing much of thier own carb staples.

 

[baymule]

I have to agree that so much diversity is being lost. Only a few generations ago, almost every family, even in town, had a kitchen garden. With that many gardens, then those seed savers gone, there had to be varieties lost that we don’t even know existed.

 

[Zeedman]

That huge 'Snake Bean' is initriguing, though given that a packet has 5 seeds, I'm thinking they are not a very prolific or seedy crop.

There is a thread about those on another forum, and because I was interested, I made some inquiries. BC is taking a lot of creative license calling that a bean, because it is a gourd. Apparently a long-season one too. Doesn't mean it's not possible (I'm encouraged by my success with luffa this year) but consider the cost of the seed & the room it will require,. Perhaps not worth trying if space is limited, or could best be used for something more productive.

I gotta admit that I'm still tempted to try growing it; but unless I can find culinary advice, not sure how I'd use it (or if I should). Even the luffas were not very productive; but my Filipino friends treated them like gold. There is a particular soup for which no other gourd will do. Me, I really like the sponges.

 

[ducks4you]

I am glad that I ordered one this year. I am not as educated on the vegetables in their catalog as I would like to be, and, being a picture book, it helps me.
I don't see any reason for me to order next year's catalog. Don't see that much will have changed.
I ordered from them bc they grow in pretty much the same zone/conditions as where I live and I have studied that by saving your seeds, the next year's crop will be more acclimated to my garden beds.
Next year it is more acclimated and can become "native" after years of growing in my back yard.
When I wrote that I wanted to grow a Magnolia, my next door neighbor Has one, about 35 ft tall.
I wanted a smaller one, so I did my research, and even found it at a WM on clearance.
It looks like it has stopped growing tall at about 12 ft., and, it probably helps that it grows 12ish ft east of the house, therefore the house shields it somewhat from the worst winter winds.
This winter it is Loaded with flower buds for next Spring.
I am losing patience growing failures.
I have studied up on when the squash vine borer wasps move on and charted it, so that my pumpkins and squashes will not die from them--which happens fast and who has time for surgery?!?!?
There are too many online articles that tell you pumpkins and zucchini are SOOOOO easy to grow, but not everywhere
I would not recommend that Alasgun buy from Baker Creek. Different zone, shorter growing season.
Your local AG University extension can help you to buy seeds that have already acclimated to your climate bc they live here, too.
I can't remember one of our newbies who wrote that "Christmas Cacti" grow wild like a weed in the southwest.
They won't do that in MY yard!!
Baker Creek got me bc they ran a YouTube video last year about Fall Gardening.
It isn't as easy as they said for all Fall crops, but the beans were a Great success. Since I wanted to eat/can them all I wanted was bean pods, and that's what I got. Part of my success was growing pole beans on existing from 2021 fencing, which may stay up for YEARS!
I discovered that I loved yard beans. Only 1/6 of the yard long beans (old seeds) sprouted for me and I loved the taste, and I ordered 2 kinds from Baker's Creek recently, stored for next year's planting.
I also loved Kentucky Wonder pole beans and I will grow them, again, too.
Guess that makes two plants that grow well in my yard, the beans and the purple Columbine, both from Kentucky.
So, I agree with @heirloomgal .
It is a fun catalog that is sitting on my my sewing repair kit, a short stool, in between our tv chairs, for wintertime reference.

 

[heirloomgal]

This fall I did what I told myself I wouldn't do. Try and hang on to some of the plants that were still in good condition. For the most part I succeeded, but I did fail on 2 counts; the Count Dracula pepper (in a pot) was in such excellent health and condition it seemed a pity to let it just freeze. So I brought it in and held my breath that no nasty bugs would show up. It's losing a bit of leaves now, but considering we're mid December it's still doing awesome.

The other plant I brought in was Ocimum selloi, 'Green Pepper Basil'.

The small number of seeds that actually germinated this Spring did not ultimately recieve proper care. I grew too many things, as usual, and when it seemed like this was a floundering species (it is rather uncommon) I just never paid attention to it. It stayed in a shallow starter tray and I barely even gave it water as the surrounding plants grew into monsters, hiding it. It stayed at exactly one and a half inches, all summer. So as fall came round and I was closing down the greenhouse, I was amazed that the wee plant was still alive. I decided to take a pot, scoop some garden dirt into it and plunk the little plant in. I didn't even try to acclimatize it to being indoors. And still it was fine. After some fish emulsion, and some doses of sweet potato water, it has really started to grow! I think there may even be some flower buds starting!

I haven't tasted the leaves yet, since there aren't many. But I can tell that they are more stiff than regular basil, and this is a much tougher plant. In researching this species recently, I learned it must be grown in part shade as the leaves become leathery in full sun. This is also a perennial basil, and articles say it can be grown indoors all year long. It is slower growing than Ocimum basilicum, so I guess that's why something seemed off with it initially. Apparently this is a basil that actually originates in the Americas and thus has some serious cold tolerance as well.

I hope I can keep it going this winter to grow it outdoors this summer!

 

[Branching Out]

There are too many online articles that tell you pumpkins and zucchini are SOOOOO easy to grow, but not everywhere

I have a hard time growing zucchini too, which is frustrating. Someone told me they don't like wet feet, or too much irrigation so I try not to coddle them too much. I only got one plant this year and it only sprouted in August, at which point it took off it turned in to a beast. The one fruit I got off of it sat on my counter until last week; I was going to compost this zucchini, but be darned if it wasn't still just fine so I turned it into soup instead (and in fairness to the zucchini, there were other fruit but I kept missing the harvest window so all of the rest got away from me). And this year Red Kuri squash did poorly in my garden and in the gardens of two friends who grew them miles away from me. Sunshine squash did just fine under the same summer sun. Sometimes there is no rhyme or reason.

 

[meadow]

it only sprouted in August

Starting them indoors might help. We're pretty wet here, so our garden beds are mounded a little bit (just loosening the soil raises them up, plus major walkways are dug out a bit and their soil thrown on the bed).

Summer squash can be direct seeded here, but the soil needs to warm and I like to start harvesting as soon as possible. If I do direct seed, it is under a cloche to give it that extra boost from warm soil.

 

[Branching Out]

Starting them indoors might help. We're pretty wet here, so our garden beds are mounded a little bit (just loosening the soil raises them up, plus major walkways are dug out a bit and their soil thrown on the bed).

Summer squash can be direct seeded here, but the soil needs to warm and I like to start harvesting as soon as possible. If I do direct seed, it is under a cloche to give it that extra boost from warm soil.

I have never used cloches before but I may have to start trying that with some of my dud crops like zucchini. Do you make one from a milk jug with the bottom cut out, or do you have actual glass cloches that you place over top?

 

[meadow]

I have never used cloches before but I may have to start trying that with some of my dud crops like zucchini. Do you make one from a milk jug with the bottom cut out, or do you have actual glass cloches that you place over top?

I've used plastic water jugs with the bottom cut out; removal of the cap provides ventilation during the day (but of course that is kept on until after sprouting).

This year for beans I'm planning to do a low tunnel of plastic sheeting over hoops; same principle but on a larger scale.

 

[Zeedman]

There are too many online articles that tell you pumpkins and zucchini are SOOOOO easy to grow, but not everywhere

Here (and for many of us East of the Rockies) either SVB or squash bugs can kill them. The SVB are the biggest problem here; there is a strong population, and unless protective measures are taken, they usually kill most C. pepo summer squash and C. maxima winter squash. What those squashes have in common are soft, hollow stems, which the larvae can easily penetrate & destroy.

C. moschata squashes & some C. pepo squashes have harder stems. The moschata (butternut & tromboncino) are almost completely resistant to SVB here. The few times I've lost a plant, they were just beginning to vine; established plants seem to be fully capable of their own defense. The "Little Greenseed" pumpkins we are breeding on this forum (C. pepo) seem to be resistant also. I've seen the adult SVB moths hovering over the plants, but there were no later signs of infestation. Some of those stems are HARD.

Unfortunately, no squashes appear to be resistant to squash bugs, which can - and do - kill any species if their population gets out of control. They killed my entire squash grow out, of all three species, in 2020... and even migrated to my cucumbers when I killed the infected squash plants.

For many areas (including mine) you can grow zucchini & other summer squash just by planting late, after the SVB egg-laying period has passed. Those squash bear so quickly that you will still get a good harvest before frost. That was what I did with zucchini last summer; planted in late June & transplanted a week after July 4th, I was able to harvest for about a month before frost - with zero plant losses. For vining squashes which root at the nodes, burying parts of the vines frequently can enable the infected plants to survive long enough for winter squash to ripen; I've done this successfully with Buttercup squash.

But IMO the best way to grow winter squashes & vulnerable summer squashes, is to start them in pots, and cover them with row cover as soon as transplanted. Ideally, the cover should remain in place until the SVB egg-laying period has passed - without the plants outgrowing the cover. IMO there is a narrow planting window between the start of egg laying & the vines getting too large for the cover, so finding the best planting date can involve a little trial & error. For me, seeding in pots about June 1st seems to work. AND just coincidentally, covering the squash plants during the SVB egg laying period also seems to avoid the Spring hatch of both squash bugs & cucumber beetles... so it can be a win X 3. This is the only way I can reliably grow C. maxima winter squash.