Weekly Gardening Thread -- It's ALMOST April!

Garden Girl | 3/27/08 | Garden Girl

[Gabz]

Wow! February was sure a weather rollercoaster. Not just for us, but for most of the country, and indeed the world, with record snows and cold temperatures recorded in many places. So much for glo-bull warming!

Face it, scientists-who-think-you-know-everything!

Weather is weather, and mankind has no control over it, no influence on it whatsoever. We can record it, and complain about it, compare this year to that year. Bottom line is—the weather and the climate cycle as they will, hotter sometimes, colder sometimes. Wetter sometimes, dryer sometimes. All the hype, whichever way it goes, sounds suspiciously like a retelling of the old Chicken Little story.

While much of the world remains blanketed in snow, we’re not! February gave us a peek of spring with a few hardy daffodils popping up and camellias showing off. The old red standby, Professor Sergeant, with it’s dark red blooms and glossy green foliage is such a showy camellia. Then there’s the dark, clear pink, and Peppermint, with it’s red and white mottled blooms. Another variety, a light pink so translucent it’s almost white, and the really white ones. Simply beautiful!

Remember to keep the blooms that shed off raked up and you’ll have a lot less problem with diseases on your camellias. Camellias can be started from cuttings or from seed. Cuttings will always be the same as the mother plant. Seeds may or may not be, but that’s how new cultivars get discovered! Camellia seeds are hard, and look like a small nut. It may take them awhile to germinate, so have patience!

Seeds are truly a miracle. We take them for granted, plunking them in the ground and blithely assuming that what we sowed will be what we wanted, that it will sprout and grow and do it’s thing. Seeds come in all shapes and sizes and encapsulated in each seed is everything it needs to know. Whether it’s a mustard seed or the seed of a giant Redwood, all the information that seed needs is inside the casing, no matter what shape or size.

Seeds come in a mind-boggling array of sizes and shapes. Some we’re familiar with—pretty much everyone can identify a watermelon seed, or a sunflower seed, or a sandspur, or Beggar’s Lice, or cockleburrs, or a peach pit. Brassica seeds, or cole crops, such as mustard, broccoli, cabbage, collards, turnips, and kale to mention a few, all look alike. Beet seeds and zinnia seeds and marigold seeds are definitely recognizable by their unique shapes.

Of course, when you plant a tomato seed or a pepper seed, you might recognize them for what they are. Unless you know the specific variety, you won’t know whether you’re planting a cherry tomato or a beefsteak, a bell pepper or a hot pepper. When you plant a sunflower seed or a zinnia seed or a marigold you know you’re planting flowers. Whether it becomes a giant or remains a dwarf, or what color it will be remains to be seen. You might not have a clue until the seed fulfills it’s potential, but the seed knows!

Some of the information contained in that seed includes when to germinate, the size of the mature plant, whether it’s a bush or a vine, whether it’s annual or perennial or biennial. The shape of the leaves, the color of the flowers, the size and quantity of the fruit or vegetable that will be produced. Hard to believe all that and more can be stored in such a small container!

Planting a seed and watching it grow aren’t the only things we take for granted about seeds. People used to save their own seeds. We depend on huge seed companies to do that for us now. We just assume that we can go to the store and buy whatever seeds we need, and most of the time we can—unless the seed company had crop failure due to drought or flood or pestilence. Most people no longer save seeds, indeed most don’t know how. Seeds saved for next year’s crops have to be handled differently than the hybrids we’ve come to depend on. Because hybrids are not, in most cases, savable, we pay no attention to where we plant things. For instance—if you wanted to save a certain type of bean seed, or a special collard seed, you would need to plant those far away from any other types of beans or collards, or even anything in the same family that might cross with what you are trying to save. If you planted them too close, the pollen would mingle and what you got when you planted seeds next year might not resemble the parent plants at all.

As an example, if you plant warty looking gourds and crookneck squash close to each other and save the seeds of the squash for next year, what you get next year will be something that resembles crookneck squash—with warts all over them. Edible? Yes. What you wanted? No. Saving seeds is more complicated than you think. Besides remembering to keep distance between similar types of plants so they don’t cross pollinate, seeds require specific conditions in order not to lose their germination. Heat, humidity, and moisture will reduce the viability considerably. Seeds in cold or arid climates can last virtually indefinitely. If you intend to save seeds, keep that in mind. The freezer is a great place to store seeds.

The freezer, you say? Seeds kept in cold climates won’t germinate until the weather is right, and seeds have no idea whether they’ve been in the cold for ten minutes, or ten years, or a hundred years.

Speaking of saving seeds, there are seed banks set up all over the world to do just that. There’s one on a remote island near the Arctic Circle—sort of a last resort for humanity’s agricultural heritage. It’s a vault sunk deep in the permafrost of a mountainside. Theoretically, it should preserve the seeds for thousands of years. Not sure how anyone is supposed to reach it in case of an apocalypse, and we can only hope whoever does reach it knows how to garden. Maybe they won’t just scatter the seeds to the four winds and hope for the best, or eat them!

Seed banks in various countries preserve seeds so in case of widespread natural disasters—hurricanes, tsunamis, drought—whatever, there is at least a chance of replenishing certain crops. Seed banks exchange seeds with other seed banks as well.

There are also places like Seed Savers Exchange, right here in America. Regular people who make it their mission in life to preserve heirloom seeds for future generations. So the next time you plant a seed, enjoy the miracle!

[Gabz]

Here we go folks!!!!

I'm going to be out of pocket for a few days starting tomorrow, so if I don't respond right away please do not take offense!

[Just another Joe]

While much of the world remains blanketed in snow, we’re not! February gave us a peek of spring with a few hardy daffodils popping up and camellias showing off.

Yeh, but you live where the moderating effect of the ocean is felt. :^P

[Gabz]

Howdy all!!!!

As I mentioned in my first post after today/tonight I'm going to be pretty scarce until the middle of next week. But I wanted everyone to read Garden Girl's latest informative musings.

I also want those who have missed it to check out the thread started by nw_arizona_granny:

Home gardening offers ways to trim grocery costs [Survival Today, an on going thread]

[Westlander]

Snow... will become heavy at times this evening... causing a reduction in visibilities. Total accumulations will range from 3 to 6 inches for locations south of and including I 69... with 2 to 4 inches near the Ohio border.

http://www.wunderground.com/cgi-bin/findweather/getForecast?query=48186

[Gabz]

I didn’t write the article, JaJ!!!!!! My field finally got tilled last week, but I still haven’t planted anything.....

[trisham]

I'm looking forward to receiving my heirloom tomato plants in a few weeks. If they arrive too soon I'll have to put them in front of the slider for a while.

[Gabz]

Yikes..........don’t blame me, I just do the posting, not the writing :)

We finally have decent weather, for today at least. Hubby hauled in a bunch more wood because we’re gonna need the wood stove going over the weekend.

[Just another Joe]

I didn’t write the article, JaJ!!!!!!

I know, but it still applies, just the same.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

http://www.seedsavers.org

I worked for these people for seven of the happiest years of my life (so far!) Check them out. A VERY wonderful group of people.

Thanks for the mention, GG! :)

As for my seed starting escapades...listen to this one!

I started my flats of tomatoes, peppers, basil and marigold this past Friday. I had a ‘Snow Day’ and got half the day off, so I made the best of it.

Turns out that a mouse must’ve been using the “slightly split open on one side” bag of soil mix in the garage as his hiding place throughout the winter for pilfered sunflower seeds dropped from the bird feeder, because EVERY flat I planted ended up germinating at least six or more sunflower seedlings, LOL! (I just snipped them off with a scissors; no muss, no fuss.)

It took a little sleuthing, but I finally figured it out. I DO know the difference between a sunflower seed and a basil seed! :)

[Gabz]

Too funny, Diana!!!!

[nw_arizona_granny]

Thanks Gabz, an excellent article on gardening.

Thank you for sharing the link to our thread, all are welcome to come and share your questions and knowledge with us.

I will also post your link.

Happy and fruitful gardening to all.

[Red_Devil 232]

Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday	Monday
77° F | 56° F 25° C | 13° C	81° F | 58° F 27° C | 14° C	74° F | 56° F 23° C | 13° C	76° F | 56° F 24° C | 13° C	76° F | 56° F 24° C | 13° C
Partly Cloudy	Partly Cloudy	T-storms 70% chance of precipitation	Chance of T-storms 20% chance of precipitation	Mostly Cloudy

Spring has arrived big time here in Central Miss.

We had a couple of mornings of below freezing last week. If AlGore will just stay away from our area we will not see anything below the mid 40's till next Nov.

Put my Sugar Baby watermelon seeds in their bed yesterday and fenced it in with some rabbit fencing.

Used my new toy, mini-tiller, to mix in some more of my compost in my raised beds and my new garden area also added some composted manure a couple of days ago.

Just finished fencing in all the garden area. My dogs did not bother my raised garden last year but they sure do like that composted manure I added! My tomatoes and bell peppers go in tomorrow, they are more than ready!

Still no life from my figs! :(

[nw_arizona_granny]

It took a little sleuthing, but I finally figured it out. I DO know the difference between a sunflower seed and a basil seed! :)
<<<

Good for you.

Thanks for making me laugh.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Those darn mice! I’ve never seen a more busy, destructive critter in all of my life.

I need a new Barn Cat or two. My two current ones have gotten used to The Lush Life indoors this winter. (My own fault for being an old softie!)

[Gabz]

Have I told you recently how much I hate you????????

Just kidding :)

I won’t have those kind of steady temps for at least another month and a half, if nnot more.

[Gabz]

I need a new Barn Cat or two.

I just may be able to help you --- my oldest barn kittie is about ready to pop!!!!

Of course getting them from Virginia to Wisconsin might prove to be a bit of a problem :)

[Red_Devil 232]

Yeah but come August when I am complaining about the darn heat and what it is doing to my tomatoes you will be gloating! LOL

[Gabz]

LOL!!!

I never gloat about that kind of stuff my FRiend. I wind up with the same kind of problems.

[trisham]

We’re still using our fireplace as well. It was in the fifties here today, though.

[tubebender]

It's going to be cold on Humboldt Bay tomorrow. It is snowing down to 1500 feet in Ore and Wash with temps dropping to the low 40s and nite temps just around FReezing . Very unusual as it should be warming into the high 50s or low 60s.

My wife transplanted Marigold seedlings in the greenhouse this morning into 10 flats of 72 cells each and has about 15 to go for home, Church and FRiends and 10 yards of top soil. He had a Bob Cat operator help him with that.

I went over to the Church this morning and cleaned up around the compost piles and uncovered one for our FRiend Susie to use for planting 30 Dahlias. The construction on the new Fellowship Hall is complete and Dennis has completed a new raised bed using Key Stones and 10 yards of top soil all with the help of a gardening service...