Ducks4you for 2022

[ducks4you]

@Zeedman brings up an interesting point on:

Tomato 2022

I see some weeds in my hay, and I am pretty sure that there isn't any herbicide used on those fields. The presence of some weeds in hay is actually a good indication that the hay is safe to use on the garden. I always look for the presence of some weeds or clover, since I have thus far bought...

www.theeasygarden.com

Post#20
The rising price of seed packages.
Yes, the cheapest of the cheap$ seed packages, 10/$1.00 is not likely to revisit us. Now $.60/package seems like a good deal, although we all know that the cheap seed can be old.
I spent $21 Friday at Rural King on 10/$10.00 Livingston seed packages, which is mostly pretty generous volume/package, and it is packaged for 2022.
(It really means $1.00/package, NOT in multiples of 10.)
I was happy to add to my stash with 3 packages of watermelon radish and herbs I haven't grown in awhile, or ever and some others. I THINK we might consider two things:
1) viable seed is MUCH more valuable that we may have believed.
2) We should learn to save more of our seeds.
I have learned to say "IF" my crop grows, "THEN", just as I say, "If the documents come in, THEN I truly have a loan signing."
Until those two things happen, nothing is certain or written in stone.
Saving tomato seeds is pretty darn easy! I dug out, rinsed off and dried out about 30+ Cherokee Purple tomato seeds this last winter. I took the advice of several brilliant members here, who said that your seeds should be kept dry to dry out for months.
I spread out my tomato seeds on a coffee filter, then stuck it in a cup by the kitchen windows. I only packaged them about a month ago.
The beautiful thing about these seed companies and that they DON'T police us like Monsanto did farmers. If you buy it, the seeds becomes YOURS and you can grow it, save the seeds, grow some more, save Those seeds, ad nauseum.
MY suggestion to @Zeedman , is to buy that package of seeds and start them in late May, when it's warmer. You will get fruit this season, certainly enough to save the seeds for 2023.
Every tomato gives a LOT of seeds.
I have started 35yo tomato seeds, given to me, grandfather's "blend." I was too impatient, didn't know that they would take 7 weeks to sprout, and found them dried out and dead.
Good thing that there are more tomato seeds out there!

 

[ducks4you]

I forgot to add
I BOUGHT TWO MORE GRAPES!
They are seedless Concord in gallon pots, from a local nursey.
I was shopping with DH's new car, so I was happy that I had just purchased a new 70 quart muck bucket
and they could travel home in this, and not mess up the back seat. My new one is red, I had cracked my old red muck bucket this winter and I needed a new one to coil up and safely store my 60 ft red heated hose.

 

[ducks4you]

Considering the price of the two grapes I bought last year This was a good deal!
In 2021 I paid $17.00 per baby grape, with S&H it was $40. They were both the size of our tomato transplants when they arrived, about 5 inches tall with comparable roots. I babied them both through mid summer, bc they both lost their leaves and I thought that they were dead. When they leafed out again I transplanted them to small tree sized pots, that I had bought just for this purpose, made drainage holes and kept them between my the three roses in my small rose bed, full sun and south facing until November, when I brought them inside, and they have plenty of leaves now.
The new ones were $49.00 total, $20/each = tax, and look very nice, both budding and about to put out their leaves.
They came from one of the nursey's greenhouses, and I thought that they could use some hardening before I move them to the porch until about May.
If I believe that they roots are big enough, they will go into the ground in May.
Anyway, I still need to prune the old grapes, remove the old wire supports, remove the two old fence posts, one of which is right next to a grape plant.
I have accepted that THAT plant may need to be replaced, if it dies when I pull out the fencepost.
Putting 18 inch deep cement to hold a wooden or, worse, METAL fencepost is something I will NEVER do.
Nor will I ever pound in a metal fence post right next to a perennial.Like somebody has done at my place, before I got there.
I am hoping to start spray painting my new 8 ft long metal fenceposts soon, in the wild colors of leftover spray paint in the tool shed.
Guess I won't have to divide my time this spring between gardening and spring cleaning my basement!!!!

 

[Zeedman]

I have learned to say "IF" my crop grows, "THEN", just as I say, "If the documents come in, THEN I truly have a loan signing."
Until those two things happen, nothing is certain or written in stone.

Step by step, first things first. Or as they say in the NFL, don't think ahead of the catch (focus on making the catch first).

The persistent specter of food insecurity is certainly causing a lot of people to begin gardening - and for many, the uncertainty of the seed industry hasn't made that an easy transition. I'm not sure if that has led to a commensurate increase in seed saving though. To judge by the number of seed saving questions I'm seeing on garden forums, there are few signs of an above-normal level of interest.

Thd beautiful thing about these seed companies and that they DON'T police us like Monsanto did farmers. If you buy it, the seeds becomes YOURS and you can grow it, save the seeds, grow some more, save Those seeds, ad nauseum.
MY suggestion to @Zeedman , is to buy that package of seeds and start them in late May, when it's warmer. You will get fruit this season, certainly enough to save the seeds for 2023.

If you are referring to that particular tomato, I personally have no interest in adding another variety (especially one so over-priced) to my already-crowded collection. If you are encouraging me to save seeds, you are preaching to the choir. I already have over 100 varieties, of various vegetables, scheduled for seed saving this year (most from previously-saved seed). Historically, I expect success from only 70-80% of those, but I'm doing everything I can this year to increase the odds. As always - especially in recent years - weather is the "big IF"; so I'm praying for a good year.

 

[ducks4you]

@Zeedman , I thought that was a choir robe that you were wearing!
No, what I Meant was, if it's a tomato variety that is pricey, it could be planted later, when it's a little warmer, to ensure growth and not be concerned about getting extra months of fruit, bc you will still Get fruit, and that can be harvested for the seeds.

 

[heirloomgal]

Step by step, first things first. Or as they say in the NFL, don't think ahead of the catch (focus on making the catch first).

The persistent specter of food insecurity is certainly causing a lot of people to begin gardening - and for many, the uncertainty of the seed industry hasn't made that an easy transition. I'm not sure if that has led to a commensurate increase in seed saving though. To judge by the number of seed saving questions I'm seeing on garden forums, there are few signs of an above-normal level of interest.

If you are referring to that particular tomato, I personally have no interest in adding another variety (especially one so over-priced) to my already-crowded collection. If you are encouraging me to save seeds, you are preaching to the choir. I already have over 100 varieties, of various vegetables, scheduled for seed saving this year (most from previously-saved seed). Historically, I expect success from only 70-80% of those, but I'm doing everything I can this year to increase the odds. As always - especially in recent years - weather is the "big IF"; so I'm praying for a good year.

I often pick per season one or two different old vegetable/herb seed collections and mega plant them to check for viability, if they are true to type or just to use them up thinking they might go to waste if I don't. 2018 I planted all the basil seeds in my quite old packets (probably 5 or 6 years), which was probably 20 or 30 packets. I had 100% germination! I had basil coming out my ears and I was sticking plants in every tomato pot, crevice, nook and cranny I could find. 2019 was peppers, same thing, slightly lower germination but still in the high 90's. This year I dug out old packets of eggplants, morelle de balbis (my seed) and cotton (store bought). Truth be told, I had not stored my owneggplant seed very well. They were still in paper envelopes from probably 2016 and had been forgotten about and not converted to jars or ziplocs. I still had 100% germination with all of them (even cotton!), though it took 7 days to sprout so they showed their age that way. But I am just amazed at how long seeds can hold their viability. Peppers can certainly be finicky sometimes, but I think that has more maybe to do with collecting the seed at not the most perfect moment or even a varietal issue. Seeds just amaze me.

The only real germination trouble I've had (from bought packets) was culantro and last years soybeans. I have a feeling soybeans are the seed stickler of them all. Maybe it's the fat in them. Parsely has a bad reputation but it has done pretty well for me. Maybe onions is another that has a short life, though i don't plant those from seed anymore so I don't know.

 

[ducks4you]

FB posted a "memory", but I will again vow same (It's my Avatar.)

 

[ducks4you]

HONESTLY, I think I look more like THIS!

 

[ducks4you]

Picked up sticks at DD's house last week from their 30+ ft tall established trees. Burned in their above ground firepit 2x, then doused with water, to be sure, even though Friday was/had steady rain.

 

[ducks4you]