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Weekly Gardening Thread (Seeds) Vol. 2, January 13, 2012
January 13, 2012 | JustaDumbBlonde

Posted on 01/13/2012 8:25:57 AM PST by JustaDumbBlonde

Good morning everybody! It is cold and clear here in NE Louisiana, zone 8a, we should reach 50° today under sunny skies. We've received several inches of rain in the past 3 weeks, so there will be no garden prep for a while yet, but the sunny sky has a way of getting me in the mood.

In last week's thread we discussed our seed and supply catalogs. This week I intended to discuss saving seeds from our own harvests, and starting seeds indoors. In preparing, I actually found a couple of articles that are very informative and give good information in very plain, easy to understand language.

Both of these articles are from GRIT magazine online. It is my hope that you will benefit from this information. The pages seem to load very slowly, but you may find it time well invested.

Vegetable Seed Saving: What You Need to Know

Preparing to Start Seeds

If you have any links with good information along these lines, please feel free to share them with the group!


TOPICS: Agriculture; Food; Gardening; Hobbies
KEYWORDS: gardening
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To: JustaDumbBlonde

Thanks for the seed saving links.


61 posted on 01/13/2012 3:40:52 PM PST by TASMANIANRED (We kneel to no prince but the Prince of Peace)
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To: Darth Reardon

Your okra picture is good. But they will grow like wild fire when transplanted and get some nice hot weather. Those small seedlings will turn into trees almost over night! Watch out.


62 posted on 01/13/2012 3:41:18 PM PST by Red_Devil 232 (VietVet - USMC All Ready On The Right? All Ready On The Left? All Ready On The Firing Line!)
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To: who knows what evil?

I’m on year 3 with home made earth boxes.

Other than the one my dog demolished...they are still very servicable.


63 posted on 01/13/2012 3:46:57 PM PST by TASMANIANRED (We kneel to no prince but the Prince of Peace)
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To: TASMANIANRED

There are some people out there who put together nice home-made ‘Earth Tainers’...there is a gentleman at the ‘TomatoVille’ forum who uses them in an INDOOR setting, with great success.


64 posted on 01/13/2012 4:02:35 PM PST by who knows what evil? (G-d saved more animals than people on the ark...www.siameserescue.org.)
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To: Free Vulcan; JustaDumbBlonde
They’re good. I just got my order from them about an hour ago and wanted to order about everything they have.

My neighbor had downloaded their catalog and wanted to show me all the stuff they had for people to buy. I can see a fly on the wall at 50 yards but need glasses to read a computer screen. He had no clue where it was, so I asked him to go to his I'net history. He was like "WHAT"? I finally found it and now he has it in his personal folder.

65 posted on 01/13/2012 4:29:55 PM PST by Arrowhead1952 (Dear God, thanks for the rain, but please let it rain more in Texas. Amen.)
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To: Red_Devil 232

I have never had tomato seeds ferment. I lay out the seeds with whatever gel is attached on a paper towel until they are dry. Then, I just carefully wash them off with plain water and place in a shallow dish on another, clean paper towel. If any seeds stick together, I just separate them. I then store them in the plastic containers that straight pins come in, because I have a lot of those. I do wrap the dry seeds in yet another piece of paper toweling inside the plastic container to protect from the light.

Last year I started 35 seeds from a Campari tomato from the grocery store. All of them germinated and grew. I planted a dozen in the garden and one in a container on the deck. I must have given away a couple of dozen. All the reports I got back were positive. They bred true, as well.


66 posted on 01/13/2012 4:41:47 PM PST by reformedliberal
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To: SumProVita

Are your Raspberries a upright variety or the trailing type like Blackberries which will require a trellis? We just pruned our upright Raspberries yesterday and I believe they are called Heritage. We got them from our neighbor 20 years ago.


67 posted on 01/13/2012 4:47:06 PM PST by tubebender (I always wanted to be somebody, but now I realize I should have been more specific.)
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To: Arrowhead1952

I just got back from my sister’s off Boggy Ford and there were coyotes howling within 200 yards at sunset. Never had a problem with ‘em the years I lived there. Can’t yall get a trapping program going?


68 posted on 01/13/2012 5:32:17 PM PST by txhurl (EVERYONE is losing their virginity in this election. -Marty60)
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To: tubebender

#55 was just for you, and you didn’t notice :(


69 posted on 01/13/2012 5:35:45 PM PST by afraidfortherepublic
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To: afraidfortherepublic

Let’s be series here AFTR... half the Blue Haired ladies(?)in our Church are Cheeze Heads...


70 posted on 01/13/2012 6:41:05 PM PST by tubebender (I always wanted to be somebody, but now I realize I should have been more specific.)
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To: tubebender

Well I hope they all came from Dane County. Far left voters will make no difference to the outcome of CA elections, and we would love to rid ourselves of the more liberal element here!

But, one of the characteristics of Wisconsin people who leave for more moderate climes is that they all complain incessently about “missing the seasons”. Doesn’t that drive you nuts?


71 posted on 01/13/2012 6:58:36 PM PST by afraidfortherepublic
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To: afraidfortherepublic

Doesn’t bother me as much as their liberal minds...


72 posted on 01/13/2012 8:12:43 PM PST by tubebender (I always wanted to be somebody, but now I realize I should have been more specific.)
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To: afraidfortherepublic
My 2012 Garlic crop and some of it on the right is struggling a bit. I've never had weeds come up through the Rice Hull mulch like this year..


73 posted on 01/13/2012 8:20:46 PM PST by tubebender (I always wanted to be somebody, but now I realize I should have been more specific.)
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To: tubebender

Very nice. What do you do with all that garlic? Do you sell it? Surely you can’t consume it all.


74 posted on 01/13/2012 8:24:39 PM PST by afraidfortherepublic
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To: afraidfortherepublic

I share it with family and FRiends after we peel some and freeze so it will last. I grow so much because it is grows through the winter and gives me hope for another spring...


75 posted on 01/13/2012 8:40:45 PM PST by tubebender (I always wanted to be somebody, but now I realize I should have been more specific.)
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To: tubebender

Is your soild quite sandy? I’m asking because it looks like quite a bit of sand in the raised bed.


76 posted on 01/13/2012 10:32:03 PM PST by tillacum
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To: JustaDumbBlonde

Winter has been just as weird as Summer was: 45 one day, 25 the next; 65 the day after...then start over.

Thanks to last weeks thread, I now have an Heirloom Acres catalog in hand.

Only thing to report garden-wise is that the pot of “cat grass” I started last weekend is up & growing nicely; it’ll be ready for the crew to mow in a few more days.

Also had a new litter of bunnies arrive since yesterday’s feeding. Haven’t counted them yet, but it is her second litter; her first was 8, all survived to freezer age. The other doe should be due again in 2 weeks. If this keeps up, I may just have a set of rabbit fur long-johns this time next winter.

Down side of the day was the rear tire breaking loose from the hub, tearing up the fender well & quarter panel. No injuries; no ancillary property damage. Luckily, it waited until we were on the gravel doing about 25, rather than earlier while coming down the pavement at 60-65. Got a ride home with a neighbor, then had it towed to the shop. We’ll see if our Comprehensive coverage takes care of the body damage. Had to transfer the cat, chicken, rabbit, and people feed into our pickup before it was towed.


77 posted on 01/13/2012 11:06:11 PM PST by ApplegateRanch (I prefer Crony Capitalism to Crony Judicialism...unless it's MY crony on the bench)
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To: tubebender
We now have 26 seed/plant catalogs but that’s my wife’s fault...

Her fault? You mean she didn't catch you in time?

78 posted on 01/13/2012 11:08:57 PM PST by ApplegateRanch (I prefer Crony Capitalism to Crony Judicialism...unless it's MY crony on the bench)
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To: JustaDumbBlonde

Has that map been adjusted for Global Warming? LOL

We’re on the line between 4A & 4B winter temp-wise; but many of the catalogs & Arbor Day insist we are now Zone-5.

Practical side means we don’t order it unless A) it says Zone-3; OR B) we already know it grows here; or C) we have asked the local Extension office about it.


79 posted on 01/13/2012 11:17:18 PM PST by ApplegateRanch (I prefer Crony Capitalism to Crony Judicialism...unless it's MY crony on the bench)
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To: JustaDumbBlonde; tubebender; greeneyes; rightly_dividing; fanfan; Gabz; Daisyjane69; Black Agnes; ..
JustadumbBlonde might want to ping the list to this article and VIDEO Innovative Rooftop Farming Methods Sprout up in the Big Apple

According to the Agriculture Department, the average food item travels at least 1,500 miles before it hits supermarket shelves and studies have indicated transportation can account for up to half the price of a head of lettuce or a pound of tomatoes.

Hoping to minimize their carbon footprints and get the goods closer to customers in large metropolitan areas, some entrepreneurs are deploying innovative methods of production.

In the Big Apple, for example, two urban farmers are capitalizing on the wide open "plains" atop New York City skyscrapers and as producer Laurel Bower Burgmaier discovered last year, the unlikely agrarians are shouting their success from the rooftops.

Ben Flanner is head farmer and co-founder of Brooklyn Grange Farm, a 40,000 square foot, soil-based rooftop farm –that’s one acre --located above a former manufacturing plant in Long Island City. Developed in 2010, Brooklyn Grange is considered to be the largest rooftop farm in the world.

Ben Flanner, Brooklyn Grange Farm: “It just makes sense to do something practical on these rooftop spaces. We have all these empty roofs that have the sun bearing down on them all day long. It makes something with them that is productive.” [snip]

More text PLUS a video at link. This was a fascinating Market to Market repot I saw on Public TV this AM. They cover 2 methods of farming -- soil and hydroponic. Brooklyn Grange arm uses soil, while Bright Star Farms is hydroponic. Both operations supply resturants and individuals with fresh vegetables. This was an excellent report, and I thought you folks would enjoy it.

80 posted on 01/14/2012 4:55:55 AM PST by afraidfortherepublic
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