21 Aug 2012 2 Comments

Black Leaves

It’s a depressing sight when your plant leaves are covered with black mold–sooty mold to be more specific.  It’s nasty stuff and comes from the secretion of tiny bugs (think aphids, white flies, mealy, scale).  Makes you think your entire plant is about to die.

But fear not.  The stuff just looks gross.  Okay, it IS gross but it won’t kill your plant, unless of course you allow these beasts free rein and they suck every last drop of sap from the leaves.  Remember, plants need leaves to make their food from the sun and air so don’t let it go too long.  The cure?  Simple.  Wash both bugs and leaves off with soapy water.  Yep, simply suds those puppies up, rinse and you’re good to go.

Now I have a dog and outdoor washing is no easy business.  It’s hot, it’s sticky, and not the place I want to be during the summer months.  So I’ve found an easier fix–because in my book, gardening should be easy and fun–and it only requires a spray bottle.  Use the insecticidal soap you buy at the store, or you can make your own by mixing a teaspoon of liquid dishwashing soap and water in a spray bottle, and drench the leaves with the soapy solution.  I mean, really soak them good and the mold will literally slide right off your leaves.

If you’re the impatient type, you can help the process along by wiping the leaves, but since this resembles washing way too closely, I prefer to apply before rain is expected.  That way, Mother Nature can do the washing for me!  A heavy squirt from a hose will work wonders, too, but either way, bugs and mold will disappear.  And if it doesn’t look perfectly clean after the first application, relax.  The effects will eventually become visible.  These are my gardenia leaves after treatment without any extra effort from me.

As to prevention, full sun and plenty of wind will help keep this mold off your plants.  I know–doesn’t make sense if it’s caused by bugs.  However, both my gardenia and viburnum are mold-free on their sunny side and mold-filled on their shady, non-breeze side.  I’m no master horticulturist, but I can be logical (when I’m not knee-deep in my fictional world, that is!)  Anyhoo, you can see the difference and decide for yourself.  Viburnum on sunny side:

Viburnum on shade side (albeit I took this photo capturing as much morning sun as possible):

It’s that simple.  My gardenia are actually located in a sunny spot with plenty of breeze, but they’re a bit crowded making it hard for the wind to dig in, hence their mold issues.  On the bright side, most look like this one:

And yes, I realize my babies could use a bit of greening, but it’s been a busy summer.  :(   Now back to the mold–you can always invest in some ladybugs.  They’ll take care of the varmints secreting the nasty black mold, or try spraying a mix of stale coffee on your leaves.  White flies hate the stuff. 

Now until next time, let me leave you with more “happy” thoughts.

I do love Gerbera daisies and this sunny little gal beckoned me over this morning.  Isn’t she a beauty?

by gardenfrisk in Garden skinny - my personal scoop on gardening Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

17 Aug 2012 No Comments

Tami’s Last Hurrah

After a long summer of vacay and summer rain, Tami’s garden has survived, albeit her tomatoes and compost have succumbed to neglect.  What can she say?  She’s busy.  It’s hot.  You get my drift.  It was a valiant first effort that will blossom anew this fall, with more tolerable temps and a fresh new attitude.  But not all is lost.  Her green peppers look great.

Turning to red as they mature.  While it doesn’t look as pretty, it will taste sweet and delicious.

Don’t even ask about mine.  Talk about succumb!  I’m not sure who was harder on them—me, or Mother Nature.  But we won’t go there.  We’re talking about Tami’s garden at the moment.  The basil is blooming up a storm.  Needs pinched, but it’s still producing, still thriving.

Her aloe is gorgeous and full and the perfect remedy for an oven burn.  Slice off a piece of one thick, juicy leaf and smear the oozing liquid over the burn and voíla!  No scar, quick healing.  Careful:  the stuff is stinky and it will stain.  So take care when using.

The blueberry looks lost but not forgotten (entirely).  A little weed pulling and this baby is back in action! 

Now for all you tomato lovers, take note:  this is what hornworms can do to your plants.  In a matter of hours. 

Yep.  It’s ugly—and the main reason you want to make daily visits to your garden, for the sake of vigilance.  Beyond the garden is the compost pile.

Or two.  The overgrown pile in the foreground can easily be remedied with a weed whacker and transferred/mixed in to the second pile.  No big deal, giving the dirt time to “ferment” and turn rich and organic.  I do love nature when it proves low maintenance, don’t you?

Now, for my next project….  Who will it be?

by gardenfrisk in Garden coaching - watch how easy you TOO can have your very own garden! Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,

15 Aug 2012 2 Comments

Going Back to School

Kids head back to school next week which means I as garden coordinator head back with them.  While we didn’t spend a lot of time in the garden over the summer (peanuts are fairly low-maintenance), we have BIG plans for the year ahead, beginning with our pumpkin patch.  As you may recall, last year our pumpkins hit a rough patch of fungus and did not produce the orange beauties we were expecting.  Why not?

Well, we could chalk it up to ambitious gardeners, seed crowding, Florida humidity, the normal stuff–but this year we’re doing things a bit differently.  We have moved locations, giving the pumpkins ample space to stretch out and spread their vines.  We also plan to put mulch beneath them to ward off grass growth.  Kinda hard to cut the lawn around the pumpkins and vines which caused some of the problems.  But no worries.  We will master the art of pumpkin growth this year!  We’ll also harvest our peanuts and generally prepare the garden for our fall crop. 

As to our lessons, we will coordinate garden and classroom for a seamless and common sense approach to education.  Translated:  what they’re learning in class will correspond to what they’re learning in the garden.  Easy enough when it comes to botany and chemistry.  It’s life science in middle school that will prove a bit more, “challenging” shall we say?  Oh yes, we’ll be talking reproduction in the garden, 101. :)

If anyone has any suggestions for curriculum or craft ideas, I’m all ears!  On the current agenda we have:   art in the garden to express their creative side, journaling to practice their power of observation and writing skills, science projects with our attempt at building a solar oven, measuring and graphing for a slice of math among the beds, the power of self-sustainability beginning from seed to harvest, then learning to save their seeds for next season, and of course cooking.  We eat what we grow which makes everything taste better.  For added fun, we’re incorporating Spanish into our garden, with bilingual plant signs to vocabulary lists.  Sounds fun, doesn’t it?  Oh–and don’t forget the field trip to the worm fun.  Talk about a good time, worms are it.

So follow along with us as we share our garden lessons and crafts and by all means–share some of yours.  We’ll consider it a coop garden of sorts, albeit virtual in nature.

by gardenfrisk in School Garden - follow the kids as they grow! Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,

09 Aug 2012 6 Comments

Sydney’s Sangría

To celebrate the release of my new novel, WHISPER PRIVILEGES, I’ve decided to share this recipe for Sangría.  Why?  Number one, Sangría makes for a great celebration tool and number two, it’s one of my character’s favorite drinks. 

 Miami is hosting the Special Olympics and Clay Rutledge’s son is competing in the games.  He’s a sure bet to win the gold—until an unexpected turn of events jeopardizes everything. Lured by Clay’s sexy confidence, event planner Sydney Flores is tempted to mix business with pleasure, but is he worth risking her job?  Read full blurb here.

It’s the assignment of a lifetime, only not the one she’s expecting.  Part romance, part women’s fiction, this book is a passionate chase and part of the fun? 

Yep.  Sangría.  And I have the perfect recipe for this Spanish punch, but let me forewarn you:  it’s potent stuff.  Delicious, but powerful, especially if you get a little liberal with the brandy.  You probably don’t want your husband coming home for lunch the day you whip up a batch, either.  I can hear it now…

Hubby walks in the door and spies you whisking fruit through a pitcher of Sangría and checks his watch.  “Everything okay?”

“Yes, honey, why would you ask?”  When his eyes drop to the pitcher, you realize the misunderstanding.   “I’m making Sangría for my blog.” 

He raises a wary brow.  “You have a garden blog.  I don’t see the connection.”

“Yes, but this is for my novel.”

He holds up a quick hand.  “Never mind.  Forget I asked.”

“What?”

But I know what—it  was the same reaction my daughter gave me when she discovered dumping a bottle of soda into a pitcher full of wine.  “Are you getting drunk?” the teeny-bopper asked in disbelief.

I laughed.  While I do like my wine, I don’t like it before 5:00pm.  After reassuring her I was okay, I returned to my concoction.  And this recipe is easy.  All you need is some leftover red wine (if you have that at your house), or maybe that wine gift you received from your non-wine-drinking friend.  Yes, you get the picture.  Any red wine will do.

Next up becomes a matter of preference.  For basic Sangría, you add fruit juice and whole fruit.  For mine, I use orange juice.  For added pizzazz, I like to add a splash of brandy, too.  One of my most memorable experiences with this drink was during a trip to Spain with my brother.  It was years ago, but memorable for so many reasons.  One of the most noted was his claim to a mastery of the language to which I replied, “Just because you live in Miami, doesn’t mean you speak Spanish.”

“Don’t worry (dude), I speak Spanish.  I’ll get us around.”

Or lost, forcing us to walk miles out of our way, our sole human sighting an elderly couple walking along the winding country road with a basket on their heads.  They didn’t speak his Spanish, either.

But I digress.  Once we arrived at our intended destination, the restaurant served a Sangría that was absolutely wonderful.  Ever since, I’ve compared Sangrías and come to realize that I prefer the brandy version.  And to sweeten the mix, many folks add sugar, but I use a can of ginger-ale soda, instead.  Bubbles make for a nice addition, too. :)

And that’s it.  Red wine, orange juice, soda and brandy.  Some of the variations I’ve seen include rum instead of brandy, club soda instead of ginger-ale.  Same goes for the chopped fruit.  I used orange and apple, but you can use lemon, limes, mango, peaches—you name it!  Let your taste buds be your guide.

Above all, enjoy.  Sangría is a sumptuous indulgence.  Check my recipe section for full details.

Visit my author website for a complete listing of my books.

by gardenfrisk in Romantic Fiction - dig into my fertile plots and romance novels Tags: , , , , , , ,

07 Aug 2012 6 Comments

Do You Know the Secret?

If you’re a follower of my blog, you do.  It’s time to start my tomato sprouts and the secret to beautiful, healthy, blossom-end rot free tomatoes is the combination of Epsom salts and eggshells.  Yep, just mix some crumbled eggshells together and Epsom salts into your potting mix and you’re good to go!

This disease is the result of a lack of calcium.  Calcium’s most important function during the crop fruiting stage is its role in cell wall/cell membrane stability.  If Ca is deficient in developing fruits, an irreversible condition known as blossom-end rot will develop. Blossom-end rot occurs when cell wall calcium “concrete” is deficient during early fruit development, and results in cell wall membrane collapse and the appearance of dark, sunken pits at the blossom end of fruit so this blend does wonders to give your plants a head start.  The magnesium helps plants grow bigger, heartier tomatoes but go easy.  Too much Mg can cause trouble, too.

I start my tomato sprouts now because it’s too hot to put them in the ground outside.  For those of you unfamiliar with the Florida heat, we call these the ”Dogs Days of August” which has to refer to the fact this weather is unsuitable for man or beast.  Not that my pumpkin dog is a beast, mind you, but he wants nothing to do with the outdoors right now–unless he’s in a lake.  Or pool.  He’s not fussy and either works, but my tender tomato sprouts?

The tiny green shoots would fry the minute they poked through the surface.  So now is when I set out my seedling trays and start my seeds.  I mix up the Epsom salts and eggshells with my compost and this seems to do the trick.  Come September, I’ll transplant into the garden and once again, add my secret blend of ingredients to ward off blossom-end rot.

by gardenfrisk in Garden skinny - my personal scoop on gardening Tags: , , , , , , , ,

31 Jul 2012 6 Comments

Peanuts! Peanuts! Get Your Peanuts!

It’s that time again when peanut blossoms take center stage.  Gorgeous and delicate, these sweet yellow beauties are the sign of good things to come.  Below the bright green leaves are spindly legs—better known as “pegs”—bend down in search of soft dirt.  Once found, they bury themselves for the process of forming peanuts.  Like carrots, they prefer loose soil (makes it easier to reach down and form nice full shells).  At this point, you may want to mulch around their base, much like you do for your potatoes.

Memories from last year’s crop drift into the forefront of my mind.  I love peanuts.  Not only because they’re easy to grow, low maintenance—what, we’re growing peanuts?—partial toFlorida’s heat and practically pest resistant, but because they remind me of my childhood.

Football season is right around the corner and my mom used to treat us to pots full of boiled peanuts.  She’d add salt, despite my suggestion to the contrary (her mother was from South Georgia and I don’t believe these folks ever met a dish with too much salt) and let him soak stove top for hours.  Me?  I like a bit of Cajun spice in mine.  Salt only makes me retain water and that I can do without!

If you’ve never grown peanuts for yourself, you should.  Kids love peanut butter and it’s a recipe they’ll enjoy making at home, not to mention hubby may appreciate the boiled or roasted version—as they mix quite well with a frosty mug of sudsy beer. 

When planting your peanuts, be sure to include rich organic compost and/or composted manure.  And throw in a hand-full of crushed eggshells.  These nuts really like the calcium kick!  Here in Florida, we grow Valencia peanuts which take about 3-4 months until harvest. 

If you remember, we simply cracked open the shell and buried the peanut.  About two months after bloom, when your leaves begin to yellow, you’ll want to lightly dig down around one of your plants to check their progress—easy to use a fork to lift the pegs from the dirt.  A ripe peanut will feel firm, its outer shell somewhat dry and “papery.” 

Once ready, gently pull entire plant from the soil, shake off the excess dirt and lay on a screen in the sun for 2-3 days before shelling to cure.  This is for the purpose of longer storage.  If you’re boiling your peanuts, you want them green.  Do not attempt to boil roasted peanuts.  They’ve already been cooked!

But don’t worry—if your peanuts have already dried out and you get a craving for boiled peanuts, you’re in luck!  By soaking dried nuts for 24 hours you can “re-hydrate” them prior to the boiling process.  Check my recipe section for details.

Aflatoxin is listed as a concern with raw peanuts, mostly when there’s too much moisture.  Most sources I read suggest this risk is reduced by drying and more so by roasting.  Boiling may eliminate this problem altogether! 

Hey…   Maybe that’s why it started?  Peanuts are also healthier when cooked—something about the heating process releases their nutrients for easier absorption. Either way, peanuts are a great crop.  They’re easy to grow, easy to harvest and make for a great fall season snack—roasted, boiled or even eaten raw (with caution, of course).

by gardenfrisk in Garden skinny - my personal scoop on gardening Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

25 Jul 2012 4 Comments

Compost 101

What is compost?  It’s the mixture of decomposed remnants of organic matter (those with plants and animal origins) used to improve soil structure and provide nutrients. 

How do you create compost?   

Air + Water + Carbon + Nitrogen = Compost

Like most living things, the bacteria that decompose organic matter, and the other creatures that make up the compost ecosystem, need air.  These microbes also need the right amount of water; think “wrung out” sponge.  If too wet or too dry, optimum conditions for bacteria activity will not be met and decomposition will be slowed or halted.  This is the reason some folks “turn” their pile.  It improves air flow!

Me?  I’d rather put Mother Nature to work.  I’ve learned my compost pile works fine without a single turn from me.  (LA-zy!)  Basically, I pile plants, lawn clippings, kitchen scraps and the like and let nature takes its course.  The materials break down and become black gold in our garden.  Composted soil provides nutrition for vigorous plant growth, improves soil structure by creating aeration, increases the ability of soil to retain water, moderates soil pH, and encourages microorganisms whose activities contribute to the overall health of plants.  LOVE it!

What not to compost?  Diseased plants, weeds gone to seed, coal ashes, dog/cat manure, lawn clippings that may contain herbicides. 

Once you’ve established a location for your compost pile, it’s important to know how much carbon versus how much nitrogen to include.  Too much nitrogen and your pile will smell, because excess nitrogen converts to ammonia gas.  Too much carbon and the pile breaks down too slow, because microbes need nitrogen to increase their population.  The ideal is a 30:1 C/N ratio. 

 Carbon is used for energy by the microbes and comes in the form of leaves, straw, hay, sawdust, etc.  These are the “browns” of composting.  Microbes also need nitrogen for the proteins that makeup their tiny bodies.  Matter high in nitrogen are the “greens” of composting (though not always the color green) and consist of “fresh” plants, grass clippings, kitchen scraps, and the byproduct of animals such as manure and worm castings.

There are two types of composting:  hot and cold.  Hot composting is accomplished more quickly and best done within a bin.  Made up all at one time, it’s allowed to compost without further addition of material, although it does require frequent turning and proper moisture control.  Bacteria give off heat as they digest the material.  The enclosed pile will insulate the heat raising the internal temperature to 120 – 190 degrees.  This attracts more bacteria whose breakdown continues more rapidly. Hot compost is good because it kills pathogens and many weed seeds.

A cold pile (70 – 90 degrees) takes longer though it manages a steady stream of material additions; perfect for the family backyard pile (as in mine).  Simply begin your pile with the organic material of your choice, i.e. leaves, kitchen scraps, etc. and continually add to the top of the pile.  Within 6 – 24 months (depending on climate conditions) the material will break down—though turning the pile will speed up this process.  The bottom of the pile composts first (higher heat due to insulation).

When your compost is ready, you’ll know it.  Your material will be unrecognizable from its original form and look like gorgeous black dirt.  Like I said, around these parts we call it “black gold” for the garden!

by gardenfrisk in Garden skinny - my personal scoop on gardening Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,

20 Jul 2012 2 Comments

Food Inflation

Now there’s a great way to ruin my day–tell me we’re facing a steep rise in food inflation and my grocery bill is going to hit the roof.  Wheat, soy, corn, milk, meat, it’s all going up.  Up, up, up.  Add this to the fact that our economy isn’t in the greatest of shape and I’d say someone needs a spanking.

Yes, Mother Nature is being a very bad girl this year, though I will give her credit for showering my state of Florida with rain (and won’t mention that she chose to do so while I was on vacation in the sunny–not!–Florida Keys), she is killing the middle of the country with her drought conditions.  In fact, it’s going have a global impact.  Even the price of eggs is expected to shoot up–aagh!

Now my kids won’t miss things like chicken nuggets and cheeseburgers (yes, it’s all going to be affected), but they will miss their eggs and toast.  Make that French toast for my daughter.  On the positive, I think this drought provides an excellent incentive to go grain-free.  Just think of it, you’ll be healthy, your joints will be happy and your moods will please everyone around you. :)   It’ll be great!  Except for one small problem:  we have no rain and the price of fresh vegetables is sky-rocketing.

Hmph.  Well, that brings me back to the garden, I guess.  Now I’m not suggesting you folks in the southern half of the country head outdoors and start tilling dirt (please don’t–you might keel over from heat stroke) but it would be a good idea to start planning for your fall garden.  You gardeners in the northern half start adding rows while you can.  And while you’re planning and adding, make sure you have a good rain collection system nearby.  It will help save on the cost of water.  Check out how one homeowner managed the task of homemade cistern.  Easy! 

Another good idea is to go hydropnic;  the method of growing plants using mineral nutrient solutions, in water, without soil.  And the water is recycled through the system for added efficiency.  Perfect!  And completely out of Mother Nature’s hands.  Fast, too.  Need salad in a week?  Grow hydroponically!  You can use towers or buckets–your choice.

No matter which way you choose to garden, now is as good a time as any to consider the prospect.  The food you grow is a lot cheaper than the food you buy.  It’s fresher and healthier, provided you go 100% organic.  But I heard cheaper and THAT’S the bottom line when it comes to food inflation.

by gardenfrisk in Garden skinny - my personal scoop on gardening Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

17 Jul 2012 5 Comments

Homemade Sun-dried Tomatoes, Peppers and More!

Ever wondered how to sun dry a tomato? I mean, the flavor of sun-dried tomatoes is exquisitely intense, wonderfully versatile–and I learned–the perfect addition to any raw diet.  It makes an awesome base for uncooked tomato sauce.

But I digress. Personally I never wondered about sun-dried tomatoes and how they were created. I figured the name said it all, right?  I imagined them splayed out across specialty terra-cotta baking stones in Italy or California, sunning until they reached crispy, crunchy chewy perfection (depending on how you like them!).

It wasn’t until I witnessed Mother Nature’s first sun-dried tomatoes in my garden last spring that it dawned on me.  Actually, it was the scorch of summer and my lack of attention that did it, not to mention the horrid red paper experiment, but who’s keeping tabs?  These gorgeous Romas dried on the vine last spring and did so again this spring, all by themselves.  Don’t you love an independent vegetable?

Nothing I like better than a vegetable that will grow itself or a child that will do his or her own laundry. It’s heaven!  But seriously, are these not feats to be coveted? At least respected, admired?  In my house they are and when my tomatoes began to sun dry themselves well, I celebrated.  Hip-hip-hooray!  We have sun-dried tomatoes!

For all of you cringing right now thinking, please no, tell me you didn’t actually eat those rotten things.  Rest assured, I didn’t. Who knows what may have tainted those shriveled beauties? Not me and I don’t eat anything from my garden without full certainty of its “wholesome goodness” prior to ingestion.  I have kids watching my every move.  Never know which “moves” they may wish to emulate and trust me–rushing them to the ER is not on my list of things to do!

So how does one sun-dry tomatoes?

Easy. Same way you dry those herbs in your garden–set the oven to low (150-200) and bake them for about 4-5 hours, depending on the size of your tomatoes and the heat strength of your oven.  Cut them into quarters and push the seeds out (or not).

These are a mix of Roma style and regular.  (Is there such a thing as regular tomatoes?)  Next, spread them across a baking sheet.  I used this vented one for more even “drying.”

At this point, your best course of action is to monitor them throughout the process, turning when necessary. If this seems like too much work, you can always lay them out in the sunshine for a hot couple of days.  Mother Nature does know what she’s doing!

After about 4 hours, my small batch was ready; crispy-crunchy-ready. 

I imagine if I immerse these in olive oil they’ll return to a more palatable texture (I like mine chewy), but these would still be great as a salad sprinkle.  The raw diet recipes we used during our challenge called for soaking the sun-dried tomatoes in water prior to use.  Good idea.  Tasty, toasty and easy, you won’t want to stop here.  Why not “sun-dry” green peppers?  Would make for a nice intense flavor addition to any salad. 

And you can use this same process for making red pepper flakes, the kind you love to sprinkle over pizza.  Oh yes, simply lay them out whole (I used parchment paper so as not to lose any of the spicy seeds) and then slide them into the oven.

Once dry and crispy, pull them out, break off the stems, then gently crush until you have a pile of…

Your very own flakes of red pepper!  Drying herbs works much the same way so get moving and put those babies to work in the kitchen!  (In my house, that means the kids. :) )

by gardenfrisk in Garden skinny - my personal scoop on gardening Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

13 Jul 2012 No Comments

Save Those Seeds!

 

Saving seeds is one of the keys to organic gardening. Not only do you know where they came from, you know what went into producing them—important in this day and age of hybrid seeds, synthetic fertilizers and toxic pesticides.

Seed saving is all about purity; a concept you must keep front and center in your mind, because if you’re not careful, you can create some hybrids of your own! For example, I’m not sure how it happened, but I have some Pantano variety tomatoes growing in my San Marzano tomato row.  Did I mix up my seedlings or did they cross-pollinate last season?

Hmph.  Not sure. What I do know is that one must be conscious of which seeds go where. To help keep things straight, I’ve created some seed packets to store my seeds, complete with section to keep notes. You can find easy how-to instructions on my website in the Kid Buzz section.

So what is the first step to seed saving? Keep your seeds separate, organized by harvest and variety and learn the recommended “shelf life” for each. Trust me—planting old seeds doesn’t work. Not only will the not germinate, but they take up valuable planting space before you discover the error!

Step two: dry them before storing.  No worse disappointment (other than your Italian red sauce won’t cling to the noodles) than to have saved moldy seeds. Yep.  It happened to my beans one year. I thought you could go straight from pod to packet but oh no, not unless that pod dried on the vine can you do so.  They must be dry, dry, dry.

If you harvest your beans—shell or bush—when they’re perfect and gorgeous, allow them to dry out for a day or so before packing them away for next season. They’ll keep longer.

Easier yet, allow them to dry on the vine. However, be aware that if you don’t harvest them in time, you may find some have already “popped” open and settled into the surrounding soil which means they’ll germinate in place next season.

Peppers are similar in that you remove the seeds and set them out to dry before storing. With the squash family (and okra) you’ll want to remove the “film” coating before storing.  Simply wipe clean and set out to dry. 

But all seeds are not treated the same when it comes to storing. Tomatoes require a bit more effort. Once you remove them, you need to put them in a glass (or bowl as shown above) and fill with water (at least an inch or two above the seeds).  Allow to sit undisturbed for a few days. When a white mold begins to form over the seeds, scoop it out and any seeds that go with it.  The seeds left on the bottom of your glass are the ones you want—floating seeds are duds. 

Drain water from glass through a fine sieve so you don’t lose any of your precious gems and then rinse with cold water.  Place seeds on a paper plate (paper towel over regular plate will work) and allow to dry completely; a process that may take a few days.  Then slip them into your seed saving packet and you’re good to go!

If you leave your lettuce and broccoli in the ground long enough, seed pods will begin to form and then collection becomes a simple matter of split and save! Find details here.

Carrots and onions are a tad more complicated. Okay, that’s a lie. They’re tough and out of my competency range. But if you’re the adventurous type I’d give it a whirl. (I did!)  And why not? All you have to do is allow the plant to go to flower whereby it will produce seeds. Tiny seeds, yes, but seeds nonetheless. If you can collect them from the flower before they blow away, you’re golden! If not, you’ll be back at your local garden shop.

So this year as harvest approaches think “seed saving” as well as “seed harvesting.” And next season make a point to buy heirloom seeds.  Hybrids won’t reproduce for you—at least not the same gorgeous fruit they produced on the first go-round!—but heirlooms will.  And as always, choose organic!  Happy gardening!

by gardenfrisk in Garden skinny - my personal scoop on gardening Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

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