A Seed Saver's Garden

[heirloomgal]

It was actually HOT today, so hot that I decided to plant some carrot seeds. This is about 35-40 days earlier than I would normally put them in but I have double packs of most of them anyway. It was soooo deeply satisfying getting that fork in the sandy carrot soil and working the beds. The entire day was spent in the gardens. It was heavenly being out there again.

I realized in planting the carrot beds that I have acquired a number of red varieties; Red Elephant, Atomic Red, Kyoto Red and Rouge Sange Violette (which may actually be bi-colored, not pure red, but I'm not sure). I'm particularly interested in the Yellowstone variety, I've been wanting to try it for years. And I so loved Chantenay Red and Kuroda last year that I'm really looking forward to those again. And there are 3 purples and 1 white to try too.

Feels great to have all the perennial debris cut down and raked up, as well as the lawn all done. Plenty of sand, paper bits, sticks and leaf debris making it all look quite shabby. Most of my neighbours still have fairly deep snow bank islands on the lawn, so I'm grateful that ours has melted and we could get to work.

The magic of the season begins!

 

[heirloomgal]

I savored my first meal of sunchokes this evening from freshly dug tubers. They were absolutely delicious, I felt almost dizzy with enjoyment. DD had some with me and just as we were finishing our plates she said she still can't believe how utterly addictive these nuggets are. I wondered if being a spring dug crop would make any difference in digesting them, as so far, DD & I have not had issues with fall dug tubers. But nothing, no blip on the screen.

Spent most of today with DD painting the jumbo bean trellis in the front yard. I'd rather have been planting carrots but it had to be done and I'd like it to cure well before anything climbs it, so the earlier the better. The orangey glow of the fresh wood has worn off and it's starting to look aged, and in only 2 years. So, we used an ancient drum of alkyd stain my dad gave us last year, it was nearly the perfect color. Maybe a wee bit more intensely pigmented than I might have picked, but I know the sun will fade it too so it's probably a good thing. The smell of it was pretty awful though, I was happy for the breeze. Still not quite finished, but close.

Still debating what I'll grow on it this year along with runner beans. I'm contemplating some little Asian melons like maybe Sakata Sweet or Kiku Chrysanthemum. I've always loved the look of melons hanging down from above.

 

[heirloomgal]

Wouldn't you know it, I woke up this morning to a perfectly round, golf ball sized hole right smack in my Kintoki carrot row! I stuck my finger in it but it didn't seem to lead anywhere? Odd.

DH & DS finished staining the bean trellis and my new cedar long planter that was made last year. I'm super grateful for their help too, since I did not want to climb all the way up there to paint those slats on top. I'm rather uncomfortable with heights. That whole ordeal was an interruption to my planting so I'm glad I can now get back to it!

My alliums are s l o w l y popping up. 2 species sprouted, 3 more to go for onions. Garlic is another story. I've now learned cloves *need* 2 months of vernalization to trigger sprouting. I hope bulbils are different, because they won't be receiving that. They'll be lucky to get 2 weeks of cold nights altogether. I guess I'll get to test how far I can bend the rules with them. Hoping/guessing that bulbils are not as fussy as cloves. The Blue Fiore and Black Salsify are sprouting like mad, I'm over the moon completely about that. These perennial veg seeds are not for the faint of heart!

Putting in sweet pea flower seeds next! I was tempted to start my eating peas in flats but the weather is going to be a bit chilly for the next 2 weeks. Not sure yet what to do. We had a hot spell the last couple days, but it looks like rain and chill up ahead for awhile. I hope the weather nerds are wrong!

 

[heirloomgal]

Oh goodie goodie the nicandra all came up! The last time I planted seeds for it I bombed, and got nothing but a single plant pop up in a golden berry planting 2 months later because I had reused the soil thinking the seeds were dead. I realize they might be a weedy flower, but I do have a fondness for blue flowers. I'm off to a good start so far. Lots of seedlings.

The Chichiquelite, Miltomato Valista fruit & 'Kew Blue' Salpiglossis flower seeds have all sprouted, yay! Wasn't certain about any of those. Salpiglossis is proving to indeed be sensitive to dampening off - did not know that. My 'Siam Queen' poofy basil variety is germinating so strangely, I think the big purple blossoms have something to do with it genetically. The 'Limoncello' & 'Maui Lime' germinated seemingly overnight, but SQ has been slowly coming up over the course of nearly 4 weeks. Almost like it's wild, but it isn't. And its fresh seed too. Strange.

Also exciting - the 'Liliput Blue Moon' annual asters are sprouting! They should look something like this.

No luck yet with Purple Epazote sprouting. But still waiting not-patiently, it's wild-ish so may need more time. Never tried it before so am curious. It'll cure me of any worms if I have any, apparently. Who couldn't benefit from that? Lol

Have not got my sweet pea flower seeds in yet, we had dog class graduation tonight, so no time this evening. But tomorrow the fun begins. I'm thinking I may sow some of the funky lettuce seeds I've been acquiring too. And I plan to re-visit the lovely Kenikir flower, this time a dwarf red version. Need to plant those tomorrow too. I think I'm gonna need a bigger yard!

 

[flowerbug]

... Garlic is another story. I've now learned cloves *need* 2 months of vernalization to trigger sprouting. I hope bulbils are different, because they won't be receiving that. They'll be lucky to get 2 weeks of cold nights altogether. I guess I'll get to test how far I can bend the rules with them. Hoping/guessing that bulbils are not as fussy as cloves.

...

different varieties/types of garlic are going to be different... the garlic i grow here doesn't care at all about how cold it gets and it will grow even if i leave it sitting here in my room (which doesn't usually get below 55F at all) right now i have several hundred bulbules sprouting and they've not touched the ground at all. likely i'll bury them deeply enough that they can't regrow as i have so many garlic plants around already... worm food is valuable and worms do like the onion and garlic scraps...eventually...

 

[heirloomgal]

...

different varieties/types of garlic are going to be different... the garlic i grow here doesn't care at all about how cold it gets and it will grow even if i leave it sitting here in my room (which doesn't usually get below 55F at all) right now i have several hundred bulbules sprouting and they've not touched the ground at all. likely i'll bury them deeply enough that they can't regrow as i have so many garlic plants around already... worm food is valuable and worms do like the onion and garlic scraps...eventually...

I hope you're right @flowerbug, it makes sense with what I've seen with garlic too. It sprouts in its bamboo box under my counter. It's some garlic mega growers that sorta filled my head with vernalization of necessity thoughts, but really I wonder if planting in cold weather is more about stopping sprouting than causing it. ETA: I just checked that, and actually the cold period is more about forming proper bulbs, which garlic won't do without vernalization. Ok, that makes sense. So my guess is for bulbils, which aren't forming proper cloves anyway the first year, that I didn't give them that cold treatment doesn't matter. Fewf, what a relief. I have all these wonderful varieties and I didn't want to see them wrecked.