Branching Out's Seeds and Sprouts

[Branching Out]

I am trying to grow an outcross of Rio Zape beans from last summer, however the plants have really struggled through our hot, dry summer. Yesterday I was very pleased to see a few plump purple pods that will be ready to harvest soon. Growing to their right are Anasazi Tepary beans, which seem to appeal to stink bungs.

 

[Branching Out]

Late season sunflowers always seem to be short and cute! These ones are only 1-2' tall; the same variety planted in May or June would grow to be 4-5' tall.

 

[Branching Out]

For some reason I do not have a record of which collard variety this is (at least I think they are collards; please let me know if I am wrong on this one!), which is frustrating because these plants have weathered the long hot summer pest-free and are still looking beautiful. I had started seeds from the Collard Coalition and also Champion Collards, and these three are the only plants left standing. Given that the colour and form is slightly different on each one I am inclined to think that they are from the coalition packet. And the Red Baltic Kale growing alongside it has also had a great season too, with not so much as an aphid on it. Growing them side by side was definitely a winning combination.

 

[digitS']

The collard plant in our backyard garden is huge and now, completely in the shade, except in early AM. It is also several years old! I'm not sure of its age but when it tries to bloom, the stalks are cut . Those come into the house for dinner . It's all a surprise.

stink bungs.

Good Grief. Insect Defamation!

Steve
if you want to edit, i can too.

 

[flowerbug]

@Branching Out if you are worried about those particular pods being ok, once the seeds are fully formed you can pick them and finish drying them inside. i do leave them in the pod until the pod is dry and i do keep an eye on them and rotate them once in a while just in case they do start to get some fungus on them. normally i don't have to worry too much here but sometimes it's just too wet to leave them out there in the gardens and i do want to be sure to get some seeds from them before they can be spoiled by the rains.

 

[Branching Out]

@Branching Out if you are worried about those particular pods being ok, once the seeds are fully formed you can pick them and finish drying them inside. i do leave them in the pod until the pod is dry and i do keep an eye on them and rotate them once in a while just in case they do start to get some fungus on them. normally i don't have to worry too much here but sometimes it's just too wet to leave them out there in the gardens and i do want to be sure to get some seeds from them before they can be spoiled by the rains.

This sounds like good advice flowerbug. I am noticing massive deterioration of the pods on some varieties after just a couple of days of cool, wet weather-- and other types are not phased by the rain one bit. Fortunately for us we had a couple of crazy windy days, which dried everything up nicely. Then starting Friday we will have four sunny days in the forecast, so I will likely leave them until Sunday and then grab them. I am running out of room to store my trays of bean, tomato, lettuce, mustard, chard and flower seeds. Zeedman's method of using a box fan to blow air across the trays to speed things up may be necessary if I am to get through the next couple of weeks without a palace revolt from the other inhabitants of my house. If I use mesh nursery trays in alternating stacks I will be able to fit in a lot more seeds, and there should still be ample air flow. We also have ceiling fans in all of our bedrooms, so during the day I move some of the seeds there and turn on the fan for better air circulation. Then I have to move them by 2pm or so, because my husband likes to have a short nap mid-afternoon. Isn't this fun?

 

[Branching Out]

I was so surprised to see a massive pod set on the network White Coco beans that I have been trying to grow this summer. One week of cool, wet weather and voila-- bean pods all over the place. We still have several weeks of moderate temperatures ahead, so I think there is a good chance that I will be able to harvest some of these beans for seed.

 

[Branching Out]

I started seeds of a few tomato varieties really late (on May 25th, which is 6-8 weeks later that when I would typically start my tomato seeds indoors), and so far this little experiment has worked out well. While my other tomatoes are looking sad, these plants are fresh, green, and loaded with fruit that is just starting to ripen. This photo shows a massive cluster of 'Kron-Prince' tomatoes, grown from seeds from Solstice Seeds. Apparently clusters of twenty 3 oz fruits is not unusual.

 

[Branching Out]

Saw these two foraging at the side of the road yesterday afternoon.

 

[Phaedra]

Saw these two foraging at the side of the road yesterday afternoon.

It looks like that they eat pretty well.