A Seed Saver's Garden

[heirloomgal]

I grew it last year. They are very slow to grow, doing not much till it's good and hot out. Then they take off and make up for lost time. The flowers are lovely.
Reviews on the BC site say the seeds are hard to germinate, I soaked 2 overnight and planted and they both germinated..just my limited experience with one grow.
Flavor...kind of very mild bean taste...it absorbs the flavor of whatever you're putting it in. I was on the fence about it until I learned how to make "eggplant bacon" (google it)...I use the recipe to marinate the snake beans and couldn't make it fast enough...it really absorbed the marinade and was really good! I will grow more next year!

Oooh! You like the curious and unusual varieties then @donna13350!

 

[meadow]

It's a lego kit, so there is instructions for assembly for the pot and greenery. Amazingly though, the flowers are totally arrangeable however you like. When she completes the other botanical lego kit Santa got her, a pot of succulents and cacti in various colors, I'll post a pic too. It's incredible the accuracy they are trying to convey with the designs. My son got a Roman Colosseum lego kit, it's pretty neat too.

doh.. I should of known that!

 

[heirloomgal]

To my surpise I may start some lavender from seed this year! DD enjoys all the plants like me and she harvests flowers end of season for drying. I had a wee lavender plant in a small pot and she clipped it for the smelly dried heads but I just noticed inside the baggie there are seeds! Wow!

 

[flowerbug]

To my surpise I may start some lavender from seed this year! DD enjoys all the plants like me and she harvests flowers end of season for drying. I had a wee lavender plant in a small pot and she clipped it for the smelly dried heads but I just noticed inside the baggie there are seeds! Wow!

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we've never officially tried to sprout such seeds that the many hundreds (perhaps over a thousand by now i can't tell) of lavender plants here give off, but we have many gardens surrounded by pathways or mulched areas of crushed rinsed limestone which has aged for over 20 years or more in some locations and there's enough residual dust, dirt, detritus in there that some will sprout and grow and we often use these sprouts for replanting or giving away.

i do not mind the flowers or scent of the plants at all but we pretty much treat them like poison ivy for skin contact for both of us since we can be reactive (but also note that i've used the dried flowers/seeds for ingredients to light shortbread cookies and not noticed horrible reactions but that was many years ago so i can't say for sure that lack of reactions is still present presently (bad sign of punlike construction there this is late night and i have no idea why i'm awake ))... (i almost got a "present presentation present presently" in there but gave up but i'd like to at least give the attempt an honorable mention )...

 

[Zeedman]

The funny thing about using the English language as a whip @flowerbug , is that you don't always know whether you're holding the right end.

 

[Jane23]

I admit to having a lot of seeds left to harvest for flowers next year, but I am not doing it. I have been working a lot (2 jobs) and don't feel inclined to sit there for hours while I rip each pod apart.

It must be the winter getting into my soul. Maybe Monday when I enjoy my only day off.

 

[Zeedman]

I admit to having a lot of seeds left to harvest for flowers next year, but I am not doing it. I have been working a lot (2 jobs) and don't feel inclined to sit there for hours while I rip each pod apart.

You might want to consider getting/finding some screens, to make seed cleaning easier. A good selection of mesh sizes can really save a lot of time (don't know how I'd clean dill seed without them). I've thought about eventually buying a set of professional seed cleaning screens (they're not cheap) but was able to put together a workable assortment of screens & strainers from the local second-hand store.

 

[Branching Out]

You might want to consider getting/finding some screens, to make seed cleaning easier. A good selection of mesh sizes can really save a lot of time (don't know how I'd clean dill seed without them). I've thought about eventually buying a set of professional seed cleaning screens (they're not cheap) but was able to put together a workable assortment of screens & strainers from the local second-hand store.

I second that motion. One of the local libraries hosted a seed cleaning workshop back in October, and I was amazed by the efficiencies gained by using different sized sieves or screens for cleaning seed. In particular lettuce was a snap to clean using a colander to remove most of the chaff.

 

[heirloomgal]

I've only ever used screens for chufa nuts, and that worked pretty great. Without a screen, it would have taken several more hours than it did. I should experiment more with screens! It tool a looong time to clean the lettuce heads. The radish seeds took so long to clean too...I wonder if screens might work for those. Probably not, given how long the pods are.

I admit that I had huge and abundant seed heads of 'Green Tassels' amaranth and had them waiting for processing on a few screens, but in the end I just didn't have the energy to tackle them. The heads were soft and when I rubbed them on the screens these transluscent pinkish 'seeds' fell through the holes. I wasn't sure what amaranth seeds look like when properly mature. So I just dumped the screens over the rhubarb plants. I may regret that decision come spring. I kinda did that with the last of my 'Lemon Gem' marigolds. I had so many and the last few planters I just didn't harvest the seeds. I collected a lot already and wasn't sure I needed more, so I left them in the greenhouse to freeze. I'll see in June if they're viable. They were the later maturing seed heads so they never seem to mature quite the same as the first flush.

 

[Alasgun]

For what little seed saving i do; i either use a plastic gold pan or a large pot bottom tray, like a gold pan. It’s not perfect but good enough!