A Seed Saver's Garden

[Pulsegleaner]

The other interesting thing is I definitely have seen 'deadly nightshade' around then - Solanum dulcamara L. I saw it last week on my street in someone's yard, that exact purple flower with the yellow centre. And I've seen the plants with the ripe berries too. I've pulled those out of my perennial garden many times over the years. I always wondered what those were; they looked to me like small potato flowers on familiar looking plants, but I couldn't place it. BUT from what I read it really isn't as deadly as commonly believed. It isn't the true deadly nightshade Atropa belladonna.

No, you are right that one is properly called Enchanter's Nightshade, and it isn't nearly as dangerous as Deadly is.

My big problem one is Solanum opacum, what is called greenberry nightshade. When ripe, the fruit of this is perfectly edible, and actually doesn't taste all that bad, sort of like a tomato (though they are VERY small, like peppercorn size).

The part that makes them a challenge for me is that S. opacum looks a lot like S. americanum , American black nightshade, and that grows wild here as a weed which is freely spread by the birds (who eat the fruit and excrete the seeds.) The berry color is different when ripe (black), but since they berries are green (and poisonous) when they are unripe, it makes it hard to tell if I am looking at something that is or is not safe to eat.

You'd have a comparable problem if black were to get into your Hexentomate since that is another of the really similar looking group (though, of course, there you'd be comparing gold berries to black berries, so you'd be safe no matter what.)

I've HEARD there is a red-fruited version of S. nigrum that exists that is used in Ayurvedic medicine in India. It would be interesting to try that, but I currently know of no seed source.

 

[Pulsegleaner]

One of the corn plants is giving an interesting surprise, two ears of corn, coming out of the SAME joint. They're not conjoined cobs (they'll split apart as soon as they are harvested, the point of connection is all the way at the base) but is is a bit odd (plus, when I work out where each seed I end up re-using came from, I'll at least know seeds from both those ears have the same mother, and so are sibling ears.)

Few new seeds arrived yesterday. As Clitoria ternetata didn't work out so well for me, I'm trying my hand with C. mariana next year. Only thing I noticed that could be a problem is that the seeds seem oddly sticky. Maybe the pods of this species produce a mucilage of some sort. I could TRY and rinse the sticky stuff off, but with seeds, it's always a delicate balance between getting them clear and starting them imbibing and growing. I'll just have to remember that, if some of them are slow to swell and need scarification, I'm going to have to get through a layer of stuck on dirt before I can get to the actual seed coat (hopefully, this won't be as hard as what I had to go through with the unknown Asteraceae weed I came to know as "glue thistle"). So two packs of that (thirteen seeds total) plus a pack of Eve's Necklace (a kind of shrub in the Sophora family, well formerly in that family.)

 

[heirloomgal]

Few new seeds arrived yesterday. As Clitoria ternetata didn't work out so well for me

Did the seeds not germinate for you? This is my 2nd year growing them and I find that they are erratic germinators. It's hard to say if maybe the seeds are old too, I suspect they are, since a few of the flower packets I've bought from Richter's were expired. I want to make some blue rice with the flowers but I'm holding off because the whole flowers are not dropping off like last year and I'm hoping that maybe they got pollinated.

Sticky seeds? They might be sort of like tomato or sunberry seeds, where planting them will do the clean up for you?

 

[Pulsegleaner]

Did the seeds not germinate for you? This is my 2nd year growing them and I find that they are erratic germinators. It's hard to say if maybe the seeds are old too, I suspect they are, since a few of the flower packets I've bought from Richter's were expired. I want to make some blue rice with the flowers but I'm holding off because the whole flowers are not dropping off like last year and I'm hoping that maybe they got pollinated.

Yeah, none came up. Bear in mind a few of mine were somewhat old (the few I actually found while doing my bean searching.) But the rest were fresh.

At minimum they need to be scarified to germinate.

I suppose planting might clean them, but it's hard to tell. Tomatoes don't count, their seed is hairy, not sticky, once it's been properly fermented (assuming it isn't one of the odd ones with short bristly hair, as opposed to long silky hair.) And Sunberry again are only sticky if you leave the seed get on them; cleaned, they pour perfectly fine.

 

[jbosmith]

I use both Gorah and Amplissimo as soup peas, and for hummus. Gorah came from VT DA S in Seed Savers, and a semi-local seed saving friend. I may have spelled it wrong either in my listing or when I sent them to you. I'll track down last year's catalog and figure that out:

The Exchange

<p>Since 1975, Seed Savers Exchange has worked to keep heirloom seeds where they belong, in our gardens and on our tables. </p> <p>We’re a community of gardeners and seed stewards, sharing and swapping rare seeds you might not find anywhere else.</p> <p>The Exchange works to keep biodiversity...

exchange.seedsavers.org

 

[Pulsegleaner]

The lablab flowers are turning into pods, so seed seems likely. Though as yet no other flower clusters than the two I took pictures of (and I actually lost the single bud until it was a developing pod, so it flowered out of my sight.)

Looks like this is a standard shape pod one, which I should have guessed by the seeds I sowed (Just as one can usually tell the seed of a yard long bean from a regular cowpea by its shape, the seeds from very long, types of lablabs are a different shape as well. They're long and thinner than standard ones, and the hilum scar basically goes all the way down to the bottom of it's side of the seed, rather than stopping about 1/2 to 3/4 of the way down (in the pod, they also sit differently, compared to the standard orientation, they're more or less sideways.)

 

[jbosmith]

Phew. I apparently have this spelled wrong in my garden notes, but I'm glad it's there and not in my SSE listing.

 

[heirloomgal]

I use both Gorah and Amplissimo as soup peas, and for hummus. Gorah came from VT DA S in Seed Savers, and a semi-local seed saving friend. I may have spelled it wrong either in my listing or when I sent them to you. I'll track down last year's catalog and figure that out:

The Exchange

<p>Since 1975, Seed Savers Exchange has worked to keep heirloom seeds where they belong, in our gardens and on our tables. </p> <p>We’re a community of gardeners and seed stewards, sharing and swapping rare seeds you might not find anywhere else.</p> <p>The Exchange works to keep biodiversity...

exchange.seedsavers.org

Hey jb! Thank you!

I really need to figure out how to navigate that website. I had a feeling I was not getting to where I needed to go and this indeed confirms that!

 

[heirloomgal]

The many faces of poppy variety 'Amazing Grey'. It's much, much smaller than I had hoped but it might do better in more fertile soil next year. I like the diversity it has.

 

[jbosmith]

Hey jb! Thank you!

I really need to figure out how to navigate that website. I had a feeling I was not getting to where I needed to go and this indeed confirms that!

It's easier for me to find since I can just look at my own listings. Just to be clear, it's supposed to be GorOh instead of GorAh!