A Seed Saver's Garden

[Zeedman]

I think I am experiencing favoritism. Of all the peppers, there is one standing out because it is so well behaved, so stocky in nature, so delicate and refined. It was another one that fooled me with the first 4 seeds and so I planted the rest of the packet and whamo a whole little forest. No room for failure here either! 'Goronong', Baker Creek is offering it this year. I like it already! Despite the major crowding, it isn't straining up at all.

It should mature to look like-

Hopefully that's 'knot' what your stomach looks like after you eat one. Looks interesting though.

 

[heirloomgal]

Hopefully that's 'knot' what your stomach looks like after you eat one. Looks interesting though.

It shall be an experience of complete sinus cavity clarity.

 

[Pulsegleaner]

Hopefully that's 'knot' what your stomach looks like after you eat one. Looks interesting though.

When I grew out Dave Simcox's Amazonian pepper, I never figured out why he described it as being "muskmelon" shaped, since what I got look NOTHING like a muskmelon (he also was wrong about it not being a hot pepper, though. since the heat is extremely mild (roughly like a pepperoncini), it's possible that, under the conditions he grew it under, the amount in his were so low he couldn't detect them.)

 

[heirloomgal]

I'm positively thrilled that my Morelle de Balbis seeds sprouted. They lagged behind the ground cherries, which was a shocker since it's usually the other way around. I tried the oldest lot of them too, which was a risk, I could have used fresher seed but I wanted to see what the results would be. I'm happy that I'll get to renew this seed variety, it isn't especially common, and if I lose it, finding it again in Canada might take some effort.

Discovered this week that either not all heating mats are created equal, or that they can age and lose effectiveness. I have 4, 2 new to 2 older, and without a doubt the newer mats sprout seeds in 1/4 the time. Any lagging pots I plunked on the newer mats with little baggie hats, and within 24 hours - action. I remember when DH said 'you should get some of those' about the mats and I said, nah, that's a waste. So he bought me some as a present that Christmas and now I'm fully addicted to them.

Almost all my tomatoes have sprouted minus 'Mark Twain' and 'Sweet Apperitif' ( I think I planted 50 varieties). I'm still holding out some hope, it hasn't been too too long. Thought I'd post my 'Dream Book' tomato reference pics which inspired some of this years choices. Amy Goldman's book is a masterpiece of photography. I wish she'd do one about beans!

Lutescent, the tomato that matures in multicolors, white, orange and red

Aunt Ginny's Purple

Chili Verde, I can't resist a green tomato that looks like a pepper

Amish Paste, I got a hold of a version that is supposed to be good eaten fresh, we'll see

Hungarian Heart, huge mamas, been missing this one

I had 2 packets of seed from a now defunct tomato vendor, they were grown in 2013 (she had labelled the packets with date grown). I'd never gotten around to trying them and thought I should get to it and not risk losing them permanently since she got them from her contact in Russia and they are nowhere else that I know of. I made the mistake of planting both meagre packets, and again, every seed came up. So now, I'm on the hook to both grow them and succeed. I don't know why I always put so many seeds in!

 

[Pulsegleaner]

I'll only repeat the advice I have mentioned before, if Chili Verde is a paste/roma tomato (which, based on the shape, it very well could be) reserve it for things like salsa and bruschetta that are served raw. You will NOT find the color a green tomato with yellow in it turns when it is cooked appetizing.)

 

[heirloomgal]

I'll only repeat the advice I have mentioned before, if Chili Verde is a paste/roma tomato (which, based on the shape, it very well could be) reserve it for things like salsa and bruschetta that are served raw. You will NOT find the color a green tomato with yellow in it turns when it is cooked appetizing.)

It is a paste tomato, so good to know....thankfully, bruschetta is one of me fave summer tomato treats.

In a word, what color would you describe the cooked result?

 

[Pulsegleaner]

It is a paste tomato, so good to know....thankfully, bruschetta is one of me fave summer tomato treats.

In a word, what color would you describe the cooked result?

Somewhere between dull olive green and khaki. Yellow Xanthophylls get redder when the are heated, so you start getting into browner shades.

Actually, when heated, pretty much ALL tomatoes start moving towards the orangey-red we think of as "tomato sauce" color. Whites become yellow, yellows become orange, pinks, reds and purples become the standard "tomato sauce color". I've never had enough browns at once to test, but I imagine they also would be orange red, maybe with a slightly darker tone.

The one I HAVEN'T tested is a "deceptor" green tomato, one that does not HAVE any yellow orange etc in the background, be it in the flesh or the skin. I imagine that might look a little like a dark spinach/pesto green when cooked down.

Likewise, it might be interesting to experiment with a "pure" white that had no secondary yellow as well, except I'm not sure if I know of any (most "whites" are really more cream or very pale yellow, both of which have some yellow in them.)

 

[Pulsegleaner]

I was at my "special" supermarket today, and, as happened last year, at this season, their flower section had some potted orchids available that are NOT Phalaenopsis . (they don't mark them) but maybe a bit of online research will help (the plant structure looks like my Dendrobium, but those are NOT Dendrobium flowers). The fact that the flowers are "upside down" should narrow the search a bit (I used quotes because, botanically, if an orchid flower looks "upside down" to us, it's actually right side up, since upside down is the NORMAL position for most species.)

 

[Zeedman]

Somewhere between dull olive green and khaki. Yellow Xanthophylls get redder when the are heated, so you start getting into browner shades.

So somewhere between khaki & kaka?

 

[Pulsegleaner]

So somewhere between khaki & kaka?

sort of, especially if one was talking about baby/sick person caca that has a low bilirubin content (that's often green)