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
If you have any links with good information along these lines, please feel free to share them with the group!
Thanks for the seed saving links.
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.
I’m on year 3 with home made earth boxes.
Other than the one my dog demolished...they are still very servicable.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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?
#55 was just for you, and you didn’t notice :(
Let’s be series here AFTR... half the Blue Haired ladies(?)in our Church are Cheeze Heads...
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?
Doesn’t bother me as much as their liberal minds...
Very nice. What do you do with all that garlic? Do you sell it? Surely you can’t consume it all.
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...
Is your soild quite sandy? I’m asking because it looks like quite a bit of sand in the raised bed.
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.
Her fault? You mean she didn't catch you in time?
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.
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.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.