A Seed Saver's Garden

Physalis minima. My goodness the plants produce by the hundreds! Smaller than the average ground cherry, a bit sweeter with purple speckles. A nice perk is the fruits don't fall. It's a wonder that this type of ground cherry is so uncommon. Prettier, sweeter, more productive. I do miss the sour twang that a slightly unripe Aunt Molly's has though!

This is attractive indeed with the speckles. And the not dropping trait is a bonus, but do you have to open each husk to see whether the fruit is ripe with this one?

heirloomgal said:

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The bear flipped the enclosure she was in, and broke some of the pine boards to get to her. He had to work that cage for awhile, it's astonishing the strength they have. It is very unusual for such a thing to happen, we've used that enclosure for 10 years without ever having a problem and innumerable bears walk through here regularly every season.

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wow! so sorry for that happening.

they are very strong and get a lot of nourishment from tearing apart rotting logs looking for grubs/worms/beetles...

flowerbug said:

wow! so sorry for that happening.

they are very strong and get a lot of nourishment from tearing apart rotting logs looking for grubs/worms/beetles...

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Thanks @flowerbug , yes I see that daily in spring on the bush trails we walk, the torn apart stumps and rotting trees when they're after bugs. They don't seem to do that as much mid summer and fall, not here anyway. The blueberry crop this year was huge so I'm sure was a help to them. Ever since the spring bear hunt was banned their numbers are increasing significantly, and I'm sure that puts pressure on what food is available for them.

P Suckling said:

This is attractive indeed with the speckles. And the not dropping trait is a bonus, but do you have to open each husk to see whether the fruit is ripe with this one?

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No, you can tell by the husk color how mature it is. And I'd say these tend to mature really fast, way faster than the other species. Probably 85% - 90% of what is out there is dead ripe right now, just because they tend to ripen en masse it seems.

heirloomgal said:

No, you can tell by the husk color how mature it is. And I'd say these tend to mature really fast, way faster than the other species. Probably 85% - 90% of what is out there is dead ripe right now, just because they tend to ripen en masse it seems.

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Then there are really no drawbacks here. Sounds and looks good.

heirloomgal said:

I think sunflowers may be a permanent annual here in the front. I spoke with a fellow seed saver about them and he tells me they're very prone to inbreeding depression, so I don't think I have enough plants to save my own seeds. The 'Lemon Sorbet' is developing its seeds and already they're disappearing, so I doubt the seeds would survive the birds anyway. It would be nice though to have my own supply.

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In my experience sunflowers have been one of the trickier seeds to save because the plant tissue on the back of the seed head holds a lot of water, and can be difficult to dry down. If you decide to try saving sunflower seeds take measures to quickly move the moisture out of the spongy white fleshy backing, as it is so very prone to moulding. I'm wondering if cutting slits in the back of the sunflower head and placing it on a rack face down might help (in nature the heads bend and face down as the seed ripens). Maybe placing it in a nice warm location might speed things up, and have a fan blowing over it could help wick away humidity as well.

P Suckling said:

Then there are really no drawbacks here. Sounds and looks good.

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Yes, so true. This species has a lot of advantages, the only catch I think is that the berries seem to be missing the sourness that Aunt Molly's have when slightly underripe. There is just sweetness and not a lot of tang, so I admittedly prefer slightly more the Aunt Molly's flavor. Dead ripe though they taste basically the same.

Tomato season is here in full swing.

My 'earlies' this year didn't turn out as early as my 'earlies' last year, but then again, many of this years trials turned out to be larger tomatoes. 2024 was lots of cocktail sized varieties, so it makes sense they were quicker to mature. Lots of plants still have only green fruits, so I'm enjoying this first big flush.

'Marmalade Orange' aka Marmaled Oranzhevyi


'Katja'. These are quite large, and the chipmunks have been crazy for them so I've lost a few. Adaptive Seeds offers it and that's where my seed source got it from I believe. Originates in the city of Slyudyanka, on the shores of Lake Baikal in Siberia where they grow it outdoors. I can see why because despite it's size they were one of the first tomatoes to ripen.


'Irish Liqueur' a really superb green beefsteak whose seeds were sent to me as a gift from a lovely, generous gardener in Germany who also grows heirloom seeds for preservation purposes. I love this tomato, it glows.


'Karma Apricot', a tomato I've wanted to grow for a couple years. A little bi-color cocktail, quite sweet with a nice meaty texture. It's bred by Karen Olivier in BC who has a lot of nice tomatoes under her belt.

'Northern Delight' - now this tomato is yielding impressively, this is one plate of tomatoes but I've harvested 2 plates like this from the plant and there is one more on the plant in green. That's a lot of tomatoes, and the cage is barely holding them up, the branches are getting cut on the cage wires from the weight.


'Tatar of Mongolistan'. Seen this variety around for awhile and it wasn't until it started disappearing from seed sellers lists that I thought maybe I should grow it. I found one last person offering it in Canada, and finally got it planted. Such a nice tomato. Really good size too.


This tomato came to me labeled 'Praleska' but clearly it is either a seed mix up or a crossed variety because the foliage is carrot like, not characteristic of that variety.


The fruits of 'Koroleva' are huge!

I made some bruschetta breads tonight with the Irish Liqueur tomatoes, Katya and Supergonets, a really nice Russian tomato. Oh my gosh - they were soooo delicious. Just perfect meatiness and sweetness in there with the garlic and basil and olive oil. Might be one of my favorite ways to eat fresh garden tomatoes. I wish I took a picture, because they looked sorta funny with the green and red tomatoes in there together, white mozza on top, as if they were a Christmastime thing!