A Seed Saver's Garden

[Decoy1]

I'm thinking sowing is the putting of seeds in soil and planting as transferring seedlings into the outdoor garden? I'm not 100% sure. I'm not even certain the last 2 days were ideal for potting up into bigger containers, or what that's called on the calendar? I guess I'm pretty loosey goosey when it comes to everything but 'rest' days when you aren't supposed to sow seeds. I have tried to align planting carrots in the 'root vegetable' sowing window too. I guess it's a bit of a juggle between fitting things in those lunar windows and seasonal time constraints.

Yes, I definitely reckon to use the two words in that way - sowing for seeds and planting for plants. I find it difficult when I hear the word ‘plant’ used for what I think of as sowing. Quite useful to have a clear distinction between the two I think.

I’ve always sown and planted as and when time, opportunity and nature allow. For me, introducing a further constraint would just be too much of a handicap. One day, I’ll perhaps monitor and see whether no sowing days create poor results but until then I’ll just muddle on!

 

[heirloomgal]

Yes, I definitely reckon to use the two words in that way - sowing for seeds and planting for plants. I find it difficult when I hear the word ‘plant’ used for what I think of as sowing. Quite useful to have a clear distinction between the two I think.

I’ve always sown and planted as and when time, opportunity and nature allow. For me, introducing a further constraint would just be too much of a handicap. One day, I’ll perhaps monitor and see whether no sowing days create poor results but until then I’ll just muddle on!

Me too, I always hesitated to consider the lunar calendar in my sowing plans because I usually feel like my plate is full as it is, without yet another consideration to have to factor in. It was when I was planting some ground cherries a few years ago & noticed a big shift in germination rates when planted in one window and then another that I started to be willing to think about it. And physalis can be a stubborn family to germinate, so I was impressed. It went from about 20% to 100%. I was shocked that perfectly fresh seeds from just the year before germinated so differently when planted inside vs outside the 'appropriate' window.

It also leads me to the conclusion that the less domesticated a species is, the more sensitivity it will have to the lunar calendar though. This is (I think) why people do so well generally planting without thinking about the moon phases. My guess is that when you get into wilder crop seeds like perennial allium seeds, hablitzia etc it's probably more important than say tomatoes, which germinate at the drop of a hat. Domestication likely reduced the impact of lunar influence, since we select ease of germination as a trait.

Another strange factor in all this has been - strangely - my dog. A beagle with nose to the ground so much, he inhales microscopic parasites easily. I've had to stay on top of that, and rely on homeopathic medicines, which work in conjunction with moon cycles. I have to treat him based on the lunar calendar, as the parasites reproduce by it. The medicine is ineffective if I don't capture the right window beginning to end, and it's been enough years with this treatment that I can tell the moon phase we're in just by how my dog's behaving. How much overlap there is between those two things (seeds & microscopic organisms) though is the question I suppose.

 

[heirloomgal]

I ordered some iris's online last night, now that is a first for me! I've come by the only 2 iris varieties I've ever grown by a neighbour giving me some, and I saw a nice one at a greenhouse 2 years ago. I only have one left now. So, seeing as I've been so happy with the remaining one (now that it bloomed so nicely last year) I decided to get some more. I love that iris are so hardy, and the blooms can be pillowy.

I'm really hoping the photos on the website are somewhat based in reality; I did my due diligence and researched each one independently. After much himming an hawing over the course of a couple evenings I made the final decision on what to get (not easy!). I don't think they'll ship until July, so there will be no blooms this year, but hopefully next.

Clearly, people are most enthusiastic about the smallest iris varieties because those were almost totally sold out, the biggest being the least sold out. So I probably got a few that will grow to the full 45 inches. Exciting!

Captain's Choice

Absolute Treasure

Entitled

Honky Tonk Blues

Cherry Blossom Song

 

[heirloomgal]

A new plant I'm growing for 2026 - Jaltomato Aguaymato. Growing info is a bit elusive, I'm going on a wing and prayer with this one.

 

[heirloomgal]

The seed sowing continues, even though today and tomorrow are not the best days for planting anything but leaf crops according to the lunar calendar. I felt the seeds needed to go in from a time perspective though. Luckily the danger in the next 2 days is rot, from water energy being heightened in this period, but most of what I planted today was surface sown seeds with little to no soil covering - so not the riskiest for rot regardless. They were all wild plants though so...

Jaltomate Aguaymato, Miltomate Vallisto, Mr's B's Solanum scabrum & Chichiquelite all got planted too. The last batch of chufa nuts all went in soil as well. I planted some Night Scented Stocks & Nicandra. Also put in seeds for a really neat variety of skirret that is bubble gum pink. I really hope it germinates, all those darn perennial veg are so finicky. Put in Fiore Blue salsify as well as Black Salsify, though they had different Latin names so they musn't both be true salsify. Never grew either so I have no idea.

None of my perennial onions have sprouted yet, but it's probably a bit early for that. I'm just really, really wanting them all to sprout! Tomorrow I start the garlic bulbils in pots. I've got Georgian Crystal, Continental, Malpasse and one other I can't recall. I'm also growing a rare allium called Kurrat, an ancient leek from Egypt. I know the seeds are fresh from last year as my friend grew them so I'm hopeful they'll sprout fairly easily. All these wild crop seeds give me heart palpitations!

Pink skirret

 

[heirloomgal]

Happy belated birthday to Rome!

Rome celebrates its 2,779th birthday April 21st marking the legendary founding of the city by Romulus on this day in 753 BC. I didn't know until this year that it's also called the 'Eternal City'. Every year on April 21st, at precisely 12:00 PM, a beam of sunlight passes through the oculus (the 9-meter open circle at the top of the dome) of the Pantheon.

 

[digitS']

So is that,

.. daylight saving time!?

Italy switches to Central European Summer Time on the last Sunday of March and the last Sunday of October, the country goes back Central European Time?

Steve

 

[heirloomgal]

Picked these tomatoes this year for their names, 'Great Scott' (an expression I've always found so cute) and 'Cinnamon Girl'. Cinnamon Girl was bred by a Canadian woman with a rather popular line of tomatoes called KARMA. This one is a cinnamon colored cherry tomato, resistant to cracking apparently. I appreciate that because the KARMA series of tomatoes is a bit prone to cracking.

Pepper line up!


This pepper variety 'Between the Lines' I bought on a whim because it was on sale for a really cheap price online, I didn't even know what it was really. It just seemed quirky. I've since realized that its a truly gorgeous variety with purple and variegation on multi colored fruits, a sweet pepper I think. I was surprised to see variegation showing on a cotyledon leaf. I'm rather excited about this one. https://www.fruitionseeds.com/shop/...ganic-collage-between-the-lines-sweet-pepper/

I can't put words to what my soul felt when I saw this sprout. I have failed miserably time and time again with perennial vegetable seeds. I loathe even planting then because it just seems so hopeless to me really. But one of my garden besties is really into perennial veg, and succeeds, so I soldiered on this year and tried yet again. These kinds of seeds cause me such stress. And they show me what a terrible and impatient gardener I am. My thinking has always been 'if it doesn't sprout in 4 days, chuck it.' But I am slowly accepting the reality that there are times to be patient. A few SUPER pokey peppers sprouted on me this week after almost a full month of NOTHING. So, I just breathe.


More soul thrills. Man, I almost feel nervous they sprouted so quickly. More calming breaths needed. Now if only the garlic and onions will sprout for me.


All the oddball tomatoes act strange indoors. Last year it was 'Ojo de Venado' that limped along and seemed to nearly die and then sprang to life when we got heat. This year it's that feral little 'Berry' tomato given to me at Seedy Saturday, It's storing white carb lumps in its leaves, clearly does not like the temp of the house I'm sure, all wildish plants seem to pout below 80-85 degrees. But they sprouted really quick, and all 6 seeds too. Now that is mindbending for a wild tomato. She said the size of a green pea. We'll see. Quite curious!


SO happy the quinquilla sprouted well enough. The pepicha is not however looking promising thus far. But I just need to keep breathing. It got planted a week later than these. More wild plant stress.


As insignificant as this photo is, its a picture of real evolution. 2 years ago I think it was I sowed Chinese Pink Celery (which is not the same as regular celery) and it came up so thick and fast. I tried thinning it and just gave up eventually threw it all out. I didn't give it the attention it needed, nor did I sow the seeds patiently or properly. I dumped a whole packet in, in a hurry. This year I forced myself to slow down and think carefully about not over sowing again. I picked the proper container, took my time distributing the miniscule seeds. Doesn't sound like much, but for me, that's a new language. And then they didn't sprout in what seemed like forever. I fought the urge to replant the cell pack many times, but forced myself to do what was unnatural. Wait. And now they're sprouting!



Outdoor torture chamber of perennial alliums. I'm not even certain this is enough cold exposure. But my fridge isn't big enough for it all.