[Marcella]

I have pinged the people who spoke to me on another thread. We spoke about JRandomFreeper, Johnny, who died in January, 2016. They all miss Johnny and I know those of you who knew him on the gardening thread, loved him.

I just bought seeds for storage in case of an extended emergency. Most can be grown in containers and certainly in the ground. I tried to cover almost all foods one would need to have a decent diet.

Add to these seeds, the actual plants: Egyptian Walking Onions Heirloom - only need to plant them once, and Jerusalem Artichokes Heirloom - Norton Naturals has them – only plant them once and use as potatoes. And, greeneyes, don’t forget Tromboncino Squash Seed, grow them in containers, and they will produce long squash without getting killed by murderer squash eaters getting into their trunks because this squash doesn’t have hollow trunks like other squash.

I keep seeds in a large, file type, totally enclosed, air proof plastic box, in the dark in a temperature of about 73 degrees. I have written in my book the years various seeds will stay viable this way. Note a number listed are hybrid. Why are hybrid seeds developed? Because of these attributes: they are less disease prone, grow stronger, maybe produce more, maybe have a longer growing season to keep getting product, start growing earlier in the spring, etc. They were grown to be better than their aged relatives.

I know the “principled” grower with scoff at storing hybrid seed, but I will have food growing when their heirlooms get sick and die and I don’t have to salvage seeds and dry them and hope they grow. Think about this before you kick hybrids to the curb for storage and only grow heirlooms now so you can save seed and have you ever actually saved seed from a growing plant? At least store hybrids along with heirloom so you have the option of using them in an emergency situation.

These new seeds are from Burpee: You can read about their qualities, their ability to grow strong, productive plants:

Bean Cannelino Heirloom Organic
Broccoli Sun King Hybrid
Cauliflower Attribute Hybrid
Corn on Deck Hybrid
Cucumber Spacemaster
Cucumber Sugar Crunch Hybrid
Eggplant Meatball Hybrid
Lettuce Black Seeded Simpson
Lettuce All Season Romaine Blend
Onion Parade Bunching
Pea Peagoda
Tomato Burpee’s Early Pick VF Hybrid (new one)
Tomato Cherry Punch Hybrid – remember this one has more Vit. C than any tomato
Tomato Bushsteak Hybrid
Onion Sturon Organic
Pepper Sweet Candy Apple Hybrid
Bean Beananza Bush
Bean Bush Blue Lake 47
Cauliflower Fioretto 60
Carrot Caracas Hybrid

I didn’t get radishes because they cause me stomach trouble.

Here are the other tomato seeds I already had in the storage box for, now four years old:

Burpee’s Long Keeper Tomato
Fourth of July Hybrid
Better Boy Hybrid
Tomato Mortgage Lifter Red
Volkov Red Cosmonaut
Sabre Tomato
Red Icicle Tomato
Sweet Million Hybrid

I will replenish some heirloom tomatoes because it’s easy to do – just check them, hit “CART” and buy them. I already had other food seed, heirloom and hybrid, but you know what? I’ve forgotten what they are. They are in the box and four years old. Do you do that? Do you actually know the names of the seeds you have without looking?

I wanted to get fresh seed and it hit me, I really needed hybrid seed to better my chances of growing food plants in an emergency situation, just buy enough to last years so I would have the seed.

I will make another post, listing the Table of Contents of the Gardening Chapter of “EMERGENIES HAPPEN! BE PREPARED”. If you want the Table of Contents for the whole book, you can contact me. It’s too long to put on here. The book is with book agents, waiting to be accepted by one of them. Full book is about 370 pages when the Index gets added. I wrote the book in four months, sitting every day at the computer, and falling in bed at night worn out and doing it again the next day and every day after that. I wrote the book to save lives.

I thought of this gardening thread as I wrote the gardening chapter. We had so much fun on here when Johnny was alive – oh, and the laughs you gave me as I learned to grow plants and screwed up over and over. Remember, I dumped ground to grow plants, and went to containers. Then, the second year, I started the seeds inside the house, then had over 100 containers outside all growing food.

[Marcella]

Here are the Table of Contents for the Gardening Chapter:

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
GARDENING

Introduction
Murderers of Plants
The Solution to Defeat Plant Murderers
Making Seeds Grow – Seed Germination
Germinating Seed Indoors Without a Grow Lamp
Germinating Seed Indoors with a Grow Lamp
Equipment
Transferring Plants
Pollination
Veggies Using Wind to Pollinate or Use No Outside Pollinator
Veggies Pollinated by Human Hand Plus Wind Plus Insects
Veggies That Need Pollinators
Bees, Butterflies, Perennial Flower Plants to Attract Them
Types of Flowers
Fertilizer for Containers, Ground
Re-use Potting Soil Mix from Season to Season
Types of Final Containers
Container Size
Seeds to Choose
Storing Seed
Storage Life of Seeds
Hybrid Seed
Heirloom Seed
Tomatoes
Saving, Storing Tomato Seed
Fruits
Other Seeds
For the Apartment Dweller – and Others
Foods and Fruits to Grow Inside

Do contact me if you want the huge Table of Contents for the whole book: “EMERGENCIES HAPPEN! BE PREPARED”
Subtitle: “Live Well in an Emergency – You Can Do It”

[Marcella]

See my post 20,21.
Glad to see you are still here. I remember, you are one fine gardener.

[MileHi]

Thanks for this. Yeah, I miss JRs posts/wisdom/humor. Glad you posted again.

[greeneyes]

Please keep us updated with respect to your book, and any other interesting things you are doing. We have missed you and Johnny a lot.

With respect to hybrids, I do have some. You can save those seeds, and you will get something, but it will not necessarily be the one you planted the first time. It might be the same as one of the “parent” plants.

So I concentrate on heirlooms to see which ones are strongest in my area, and I also save them so that I don’t have to spend money every year buying seeds. I sometimes buy the seed packages at the end of season at half price-those have some heirlooms, but often some hybrids.

Then I plant those the following spring. I am currently studying the long range weather patterns. Still working toward becoming more self sufficient and growing food year round. I keep my seed in a similar box, but sorted by year and placed in zip bag.

I have a running list of my seeds on the computer. Most recent purchase at the top, and drop off the oldest after 5 years. I print that page and fold it and put it on top of the box, so that I don’t have to open it to see what I have.

Great to hear from you. Please visit again and don’t be gone so long. LOL

[boxlunch]

Yes please come back often. And ping to let us know when your book is published. It sounds like a treasure.

[piroque]

Marcella,,,thank you for the ping, welcome back looking forward too seeing your book in print.

Broke ,plowed, ground for the garden today, smelled so good .Getting ready to plant a few short rows of English peas and Irish potatoes,

[Neoliberalnot]

I have a sizeable baggy of Silver hull peas purchased in Mississippi in 1998. We had a tremendous crop last year and it seemed every seed I planted produced a thriving plant. How can humans not see God’s hand?

[thecodont]

Cucumber Sugar Crunch Hybrid

Have tried this one. It's nice!