A Seed Saver's Garden

[heirloomgal]

Most people here have a love/hate relationship with the Himalayan blackberries that pop up. They love them when they are in the wild and the berries are ripe for the picking-- and hate them when they are in their own yard, weedy and prickly. They are an August tradition for us, and the syrup we call Black Gold.

I made cake with them, and some pancakes too. First time ever picking these berries. But 3 out of 4 of us were bleeding as we headed back. Those are the nastiest plants I've ever dealt with. And I grow Morelle de Balbis, which is not friendly either, but they don't grab at you and refuse to let go. I actually got my head stuck in a bush while leaning over and needed by dad and step mum to come and pluck me out.

Is that snowberries in the photo with them?

 

[Pulsegleaner]

Only real updates is that it looks like one of the lablabs has a whole row of bud clusters, so I'll get a decent amount of seed.

The partridge pea also now has pods, so I should get seed from that as well.

In the back, mixed news. The second flush of mung bean pods have (mostly) matured, but it looks like pretty much every plant that got a pod this time is now either leafless or has all of it's leaves totally yellowed out and falling off, So I assume those are done for the year. As they die, I'm removing them, to give some of the understory plants a bit more light in the hopes that that makes THEM set some flowers. Still baffled as to why the two biggest plants (by far) have yet to put forth bud #1.

Oh, one question for anyone else who has or is growing sunflowers. By now the blossom on mind has long since gone and the head has curled in while the seeds develop. I know that, generally, one simply waits for the whole plant to die and dry down before taking it for the seeds. But I'm worried that, if I wait that long, the birds will pick out and steal all of the seeds before I can get to them. Is there some sort of "tell" that the seeds are ready BEFORE the plant dries down, like the head uncurling back (I know the seed heads are more or less flat, so I assume that the bracts do eventually push back the other way to make it so.

 

[Zeedman]

Is there some sort of "tell" that the seeds are ready BEFORE the plant dries down, like the head uncurling back

Yes... just watch the birds & squirrels, they will let you know.

 

[Branching Out]

Is there some sort of "tell" that the seeds are ready BEFORE the plant dries down, like the head uncurling back (I know the seed heads are more or less flat, so I assume that the bracts do eventually push back the other way to make it so.

Can't help you there unfortunately. The birds and squirrels always attack mine well before they are dry. I often do what was suggested on a gardening video that I saw, which is to cut off the head with a good sized stem and one side branch attached, and then use that side branch to hang it upside down from the rafters in a spot where there is good air flow and no birds or squirrels-- like the basement, or a garage. Once I tried placing the heads on the counter facing up, and in just a few days they molded. I probably should have put them on a rack; sunflowers have a high moisture content and seem to mold very easily. My sunflowers are for cut flowers, and not for eating.

 

[Pulsegleaner]

Can't help you there unfortunately. The birds and squirrels always attack mine well before they are dry. I often do what was suggested on a gardening video that I saw, which is to cut off the head with a good sized stem and one side branch attached, and then use that side branch to hang it upside down from the rafters in a spot where there is good air flow and no birds or squirrels-- like the basement, or a garage. Once I tried placing the heads on the counter facing up, and in just a few days they molded. I probably should have put them on a rack; sunflowers have a high moisture content and seem to mold very easily. My sunflowers are for cut flowers, and not for eating.

I'd be more than happy to do it (same as I'm going to do with the corn when it is ready_. But that goes back to the original question, how do I KNOW when it is OK to cut the top off and let it dry?

There is also the fact that while it seems unlikely to do anything, there DOES seem to be what looks like a small side bud on the plant, so theoretically, there could be another flower coming.

 

[heirloomgal]

I'd be more than happy to do it (same as I'm going to do with the corn when it is ready_. But that goes back to the original question, how do I KNOW when it is OK to cut the top off and let it dry?

There is also the fact that while it seems unlikely to do anything, there DOES seem to be what looks like a small side bud on the plant, so theoretically, there could be another flower coming.

Maybe instead of cutting the head you could place a large paper bag over the head and tie it? I've done that with lettuce heads full of seed and it worked perfectly to keep sparrows off. Of course, when it rained I had to go take them off and then tie them back on when things dried, but it would save you from potentially losing your seeds if the heads are harvested too prematurely. I know certain seeds, once you harvest the plant, the seeds cease to develop. Lettuce tends to be like that.

 

[Pulsegleaner]

Going over my seed stores last night, I now have some concerns as to how good the pepper seeds I collected a few years ago actually is. You aren't supposed to be able to bend a pepper seed in half by pressing it with your fingers, right; it's supposed to be a lot stiffer if it's a good seed?

 

[heirloomgal]

Going over my seed stores last night, I now have some concerns as to how good the pepper seeds I collected a few years ago actually is. You aren't supposed to be able to bend a pepper seed in half by pressing it with your fingers, right; it's supposed to be a lot stiffer if it's a good seed?

I would say yes @Pulsegleaner, because that would be the technical answer, but I find the thing with seeds is that they can be FULL of surprises. Sometimes the things that shouldn't sprout do and things that should germinate just fine don't. Coincidentally, I find this to me most often the case with pepper seeds. I would throw a couple seeds in a pot with some soil and try them to see before tossing anything. I'm not a huge fan of germ tests in paper towels because the oxygen level is off and the bacterial presence from the paper etc can alter outcomes.

Are they in glass?

 

[Pulsegleaner]

I would say yes @Pulsegleaner, because that would be the technical answer, but I find the thing with seeds is that they can be FULL of surprises. Sometimes the things that shouldn't sprout do and things that should germinate just fine don't. Coincidentally, I find this to me most often the case with pepper seeds. I would throw a couple seeds in a pot with some soil and try them to see before tossing anything. I'm not a huge fan of germ tests in paper towels because the oxygen level is off and the bacterial presence from the paper etc can alter outcomes.

Well, you'll get no argument from me about surprises. I have seen some plants refuse to grow at a state when they should be fine (lablabs can have this problem badly, even when the seed is 90% fully mature [which, when you are getting it out of overripe pods from a vegetable bin, is about the best you can usually hope for, since by the time they hit 100% the pod is so withered and floppy no one is going to throw it in a vegetable shipment by mistake.] tend to have a 0% germination rate.)

On the flip side, I have had seeds grow after going through things that should have DEFINITELY killed them. I grew a Senna alexandria plant from a seed that had gone through the process of being turned into part of a potpourri (which generally involves being literally boiled in scent,) a Sophora seed of some sort grow after it had been drilled and strung on a necklace as a bead, and something or other I couldn't identify sprout after having been turned into part of a dried flower arrangement accent (i.e., it had been pierced and glued onto a dowel)

Are they in glass?

Not anymore, the reason I took them out again was that their glass vial shattered, and I needed to pick the bits of broken glass out. Whether I put them in a new one I haven't decided yet, I suppose it depends on if I find any in there that DO seem to be still sound.

I should point out the seeds had a problem even BEFORE I put them in. I let the container I was tossing them in as I went (removing the seeds and eating the peppers) sit in the air too long, and the whole think got super moldy (it didn't help that, in my hurry, I'd tossed most of the column tissue the seeds were attached to in there as well.) So it is entirely possible the mold got in and rotted the inside of them before they dried down.

 

[heirloomgal]

Made so many of these bean rings in the last two days, it’s like making paper lanterns.

Warba harvest today.

Pineapple flowers. Smells exactly like ‘em.

Loving geraniums this season. An odd pairing for me since they don’t make seed.

Ocean of wild sunflowers out there.

Clarkia in peach, the best color of them.

Flowers within flowers.