A Seed Saver's Garden

[Alasgun]

I cant think of a more valuable addition to a pot of Chili than a Tomato fed Raccoon!!
Coon meat belongs in chili just like beans and the other things, it’s just that most would be repulsed about eating one.

Once you’ve taken that plunge you’ll think about “coon chili” every time you eat chili after that!

 

[heirloomgal]

End of season blooms.

Next season blooms. Hopefully.

 

[heirloomgal]

My raided Monk peas, from a few posts ago, dried their remaining, salvaged pods. I had forgotten how huge those seeds are. I counted them, and they come to almost exactly 30, very close to what I started with. So........I can't be too upset because I can try again. I had put them on the wrong size trellis too, so next time they'll be better placed.

I'm on episode 4 of 'I'm almost done tomato seeds' and I find myself again finding more of them to do. I think I keep rushing to the 'I'm done after this' conclusion because of wishful thinking syndrome. I'm going to stop saying it now, because given how many seeds I rinsed today I feel I may never be done...

Rinsing seeds tonight, which has become almost like driving it's so mindlessly automatic, a couple thoughts occurred to me about this smelly process. For any tomato seed savers who read this thread, these are for you.

1. Jars work really well, and stop bugs from laying stuff in your tomato goop - which they WILL do without a cover. Super gross to find the offspring, so better to avoid it. Jars can be cleaned in the dishwasher. After years of using plastic red Costco ups and Saran, + handwashing them after every use, jars and a dishwasher are next level. I don't tighten the lids, just barely a turn to keep them on. And burp them daily.

2. Err on the side of rinsing too early instead of too late. A strong jet of water will remove any remaining gel even if it didn't ferment right off. You may lose a little bit of seeds this way because they're sticking to intact pulp, but it's better than risking sprouting. The seeds can sprout too without being really noticeable.

3. Some people recommend waiting up to 3-5 minutes each time you fill the bowl as you decant, to let the seeds settle. I find the quicker you pour the faster you get the job done and get rid of most crud. Some of the crud will definitely settle with the seeds if you don't quick pour. The good seeds fall really fast in the water anyway.

4. Food processors are great for big batches& small tomatoes, cutting open every fruit if there's lots of them is nuts. It's more rinsing work in the end stage, but it still saves tons of time. You gotta really chop up the skins though, if left in too big of pieces they'll sink every time and become impossible to separate from the seeds. They should be small enough to float.

5. I like to make 'seed patties' with the rinsed seed. Flop 'em onto the paper with your mesh strainer and then scrape the stray seeds in to the center, and pat with the bottom of the strainer to make a disc shape. Thinner you can get it the better. I find this a major advantage when it comes to removing the seeds from the paper. If you scrape scattered seeds off paper with a knife they tend to get flicked around. The patty comes off as a single piece and there is zero risk for a seed mix ups.

6. Oven range fans left on overnight do a GREAT job of sucking the moisture from the drying seeds. I usually prop the seeds up on cake racks resting on top of big buckets on the stove. Sometimes they're totally dry by morning. The quicker they dry the better.

*7. I've never remembered to do it, but I've thought this a few times and will try it. Fermenting tomato pulp is wildly unpleasant smelling, so I'm thinking a dab of some potent essential oil, maybe tea tree, right under my nose might help shield me from the reality.

 

[Pulsegleaner]

Looks like the kernels are well formed. I can see the stippling on the front facing kernel too!

Make that FIVE kernels. I cleared some more this morning and found two more ears with one kernel each (the yellow one was so deep in that I wasn't sure until I got the last husk layer off if I was feeling a kernel or a node in the stem).

At least it looks like I still have the mangenta in the mix (most of the stuff was just white/yellow base with purple stipple, so any other colors are a welcome addition).

Plus, I do have a small number of stippled SWEETCORN kernels I can add. They're not this prime "tight" stipple (they the secondary form I call "cow" stippling, fewer, wider spots) but I may be able to use them to flesh this out.

 

[heirloomgal]

LOVE LOVE LOVE that color.

 

[heirloomgal]

I finally was able to sample fruits from the 'Schoenbrunn' ground cherry plants. I don't think ground cherries have actually undergone much breeding efforts and are pretty much still in a semi-wild state. Not much difference between the so-called 'cultivars'. Wrong! I'm totally off the mark, and those last two sentences are absolutely incorrect. These ground cherries are nothing short of INCREDIBLE. And that's no hyperbole. These are so different from anything I've grown before I'm staggered. And I quite love the ordinary little Aunt Molly's ground cherries, but these are ground cherry *caviar*. First off they are HUGE, as in 5x the size of Aunt Molly's at least. They're more like the size of small apricots or tomatoes. The husks are totally different; way drier, more like paper and quite stiff. Aunt Molly's husks are soft and fuzzy and there is room in them, whereas the Schoenbrunn's fruits barely fit inside that paper husk.

Then there's the taste - SUPERB. I mean, eye popping good. The mango quality is much more pronounced in these along with an almost mandarin orange/tangelo flavor. Wow, wow, wow. I hoped for quality over quantity since the plants don't produce thousands of fruits like Aunt Molly's, and while these are turning out to be WAY more productive than I though they'd be, (they do produce less individual fruits) the quality is actually off the charts. And I've had some variations of this family tree from the grocery store and not liked them. I'm so impressed I may never grow Aunt Molly's again! AND THEY DON'T FALL TO THE GROUND LIKE AUNT MOLLY'S!
I'm in love! Big big thanks to the Yellow Deli folks who sent me these.

And on the topic of love, the purple kale (forget which variety it is) is looking darker and darker as the season goes along. I just look at the plants and feel healthier! The kales did so well this year and I'm ready for it!