A Seed Saver's Garden

[digitS']

@Ridgerunner , I thought that you would be giving your advice on handling dry peppers, outdoors. Yes. And, with gloves.

My seed-saving is on a very modest scale compared to your efforts, @heirloomgal . I'm reluctant to mention my casual technique for tomatoes. It probably wouldn't work well for locations with higher humidity. More aggressive approaches must need to be taken to clean the seed.

HeirloomGal is your greenhouse of considerable size and does it also hold the tomatoes? Does cooling require fans through the summer?

Steve

 

[digitS']

Me responding often to kale comments strikes me as a little silly but …

I'm not a fan of frizzy, curled kale; I tend toward more flat leafed kale.

My daughter-in-law tried Red Russian for the first time this year and said it was the sweetest kale she'd ever had. I think that was because it was the freshest she'd ever had but I'm not going to argue. I grow it over the winter down here.

Here’s a little something from North Carolina.

If alternative kale types and uses interest you, stay on the site and search . Some folks at NCSU have fun with kale.

Steve

 

[heirloomgal]

It's probably from you being so far north compared to me but my Red Russian kale has much redder stems. The leaves are a darker green too, some with red in them. Maybe yours will change as it gets older. My daughter-in-law tried Red Russian for the first time this year and said it was the sweetest kale she'd ever had. I think that was because it was the freshest she'd ever had but I'm not going to argue. I grow it over the winter down here.

The reason I grow Red Russian instead of a curly kale is not because of taste or productivity but because it is flat. It's easier for me to find bugs on it. The same caterpillars that attack cabbage love it. Once they show up I used to strip it down to a bud, treat it with BT, and get a serving from it. Then I'd strip it again and go through another cycle. That was in Arkansas where I had plenty of land and lots of cabbage moths. Down here space is a lot tighter so I pull it and plant something else for warm weather.

That's something I haven't seen, red stems. My plants always have pinkish-purplish stems, even when snow covered. I had no idea kale plants might host bugs, I haven't seen that except I guess the odd little holes here and there when I grow them closer to the forest end of the yard. But I also don't grow much cabbage; I noticed when I did, those little green caterpillars would appear. The kale though has been very bug free for me.

 

[heirloomgal]

Me responding often to kale comments strikes me as a little silly but …



Here’s a little something from North Carolina.

If alternative kale types and uses interest you, stay on the site and search . Some folks at NCSU have fun with kale.

Steve

Wow, can't believe how many problems are listed as possible afflictions for that kale! I guess I've been lucky! I thought kale was pretty much bullet proof as far as insects go...

 

[heirloomgal]

@Ridgerunner , I thought that you would be giving your advice on handling dry peppers, outdoors. Yes. And, with gloves.

My seed-saving is on a very modest scale compared to your efforts, @heirloomgal . I'm reluctant to mention my casual technique for tomatoes. It probably wouldn't work well for locations with higher humidity. More aggressive approaches must need to be taken to clean the seed.

HeirloomGal is your greenhouse of considerable size and does it also hold the tomatoes? Does cooling require fans through the summer?

Steve

Only a tiny one, 12 X 8. It's mostly a pepper greenhouse, and it solves the problem of isolation distances. The tomatoes I grow outside, they do well out there but the peppers not as much. We've set the fan up to kick on at 90 degrees this year though I've usually kept it much hotter. We also put in two dangling fans from the hanging bars not so much for a cooling effect but to increase air flow, and CO2. Making that change has been almost as though we've doubled up on fertiliser. I read a trick a few weeks ago to put some jam in a jar, add water and yeast then leave it sit inside the greenhouse and replenish it when needed. I think I might even try that , it will likely increase production too.

@Ridgerunner If you have some special tips for not getting hot pepper burns, I'd be happy to hear. I've tried everything it seems, even hospital gloves, and the burn seems to go right through nearly anything I put over my hands. Dish washing gloves have worked the best, but are so awkward to work in when it comes to extracting tiny seed...

@digitS' How do you save your seed?

 

[flowerbug]

... We also put in two dangling fans from the hanging bars not so much for a cooling effect but to increase air flow, and CO2. Making that change has been almost as though we've doubled up on fertiliser. I read a trick a few weeks ago to put some jam in a jar, add water and yeast then leave it sit inside the greenhouse and replenish it when needed. I think I might even try that if it, it will likely increase production too.

if you are looking for CO2 production you can use vinegar and baking soda... be careful... i suppose if you use baking soda and water mixed you can adjust the amount of CO2 produced by how much you drip into your container of vinegar. when the vinegar no longer bubbles then change it out. probably much cheaper than sugar and yeast based. hmm, haven't actually looked at prices, so perhaps that's wrong...

 

[heirloomgal]

Had a TON of fun with my daughter today, making bouquets from some of the pollinator 'distraction' gardens and some wild plants in the back of the property. She just loves anything domestic, cooking, flower arranging, fabrics. It never ceases to amaze me how our interests overlap. Sorry, the pictures are quite terrible as I took them all inside the house, where my device doesn't get adequate lighting.


The peonies have gone past there peak outside, but indoors they still can scent the room in a vase.

By the end we were running out of tables to put the vases on, but what fun it was! One of the most fun parts of the flowers is getting to play with flower arranging!

 

[heirloomgal]

if you are looking for CO2 production you can use vinegar and baking soda... be careful... i suppose if you use baking soda and water mixed you can adjust the amount of CO2 produced by how much you drip into your container of vinegar. when the vinegar no longer bubbles then change it out. probably much cheaper than sugar and yeast based. hmm, haven't actually looked at prices, so perhaps that's wrong...

Prices, yes that would be much cheaper...but I think part of the reason for the yeast was it's slow acting and can feed on the jam for days, maybe even weeks. I think the vinegar and soda would go 'poof' and then the action is over? But my chemistry is very rusty....

 

[flowerbug]

Prices, yes that would be much cheaper...but I think part of the reason for the yeast was it's slow acting and can feed on the jam for days, maybe even weeks. I think the vinegar and soda would go 'poof' and then the action is over? But my chemistry is very rusty....

that's why you can use a drip line to regulate how much happens at once. it's actually pretty hard to get a good seal on a room/greenhouse.

 

[heirloomgal]

that's why you can use a drip line to regulate how much happens at once. it's actually pretty hard to get a good seal on a room/greenhouse.

Oh....a drip line for vinegar and soda to combine?