A Seed Saver's Garden

[Pulsegleaner]

Beautiful morning glories, @heirloomgal . And if you like volunteers, just wait until you see all of the tomatillos you will probably have next year! Ground cherries & tomatillos may start off as garden visitors, but they tend to become permanent residents if any fruit hits the ground. I still had volunteers in the rural garden this year, from tomatillos that were grown 3 years ago. Really fast-growing too, tomatillo volunteers might even self-seed in your climate.

I have the same sort of thing with the Senna (and to a lesser extent the rice beans). Neither actually reseeds itself (well, the Senna doesn't and if the rice beans do I notice it and collect the seeds). But both can stay in the ground for a LONG time, so a few always pop up each year.

And one of my comparatively few positive outcomes of planting seeds I have found in other seeds is having a great display of Japanese Morning Glories last year (or maybe it was two years ago) . Blues, Pinks Purples and even (I think a near true black)*

*That is, I KNOW there was a near black flower then, but whether it made seed or not I don't know (with the vines so snarled, separating one color from another was impossible)

 

[heirloomgal]

having a great display of Japanese Morning Glories last year (or maybe it was two years ago) . Blues, Pinks Purples and even (I think a near true black)*

🥰 Lucky for you @Pulsegleaner, wish I could get some of those and grow them. I tried these -

along with their pink version & Carnivale de Venezia, Early Call, Grandpa Ott's, Heavenly Blue, Crimson Rambler, Scarlet O'Hara, Flying Saucers, Moonflowers. While the largest blooms were magnificent, there were many less of those. Three years later the 2 above are the only two still self seeding. But I've seen photos @ Baker Creek of Japanese morning glories and think they are otherworldy.

 

[jbosmith]

I have morning glories that follow my bean trellis around my community garden plot. They were problematic when I first took over the plot and I still pull them when I see them, but they blend in well enough with the beans that I generally don't notice them until either they blossom or insects kill they beans and I'm like, "hey! How'd you get in there!"

 

[Pulsegleaner]

🥰 Lucky for you @Pulsegleaner, wish I could get some of those and grow them. I tried these -
View attachment 44481

along with their pink version & Carnivale de Venezia, Early Call, Grandpa Ott's, Heavenly Blue, Crimson Rambler, Scarlet O'Hara, Flying Saucers, Moonflowers. While the largest blooms were magnificent, there were many less of those. Three years later the 2 above are the only two still self seeding. But I've seen photos @ Baker Creek of Japanese morning glories and think they are otherworldy.

Those are fancy, bred Japanese morning glories. What I had were basic wild type ones. Apart from the different leaves (as you can see on your packet, Japanese morning glories have a lobed leaf, as opposed to a heart shaped one) and pointier petals, they looked more or less like the regular kind, no fancy white border do double blooms.

Oh and I realized the name is out of date, it's now known as Calystegia pubescens.

 

[heirloomgal]

Leaves are nearly off many of the trees at this point. Won't be long now 'til freeze up.

The main garden is officially undone - no more terraces, no more poles, no more plants. Just some bulbs underground.

Radish pods are stubborn to finish, I possibly selected a too late maturing variety for me. So I dug them up today and will hang them in the greenhouse and see if I can get them to dry up. Surprised the roots stayed so compact.

Dug up the last of the wee, not thinned well enough carrots. We ate alot of what was in there as I don't store them over the winter. One window box planter full.

A plant I'll miss - lemon balm. Smells so wonderful. It'll be a while until can enjoy the scent again - about 7 months.

Corn is all dry, ready to be stored. Thank you to those who helped me out with harvesting advice, I would have missed my chance! It was so sweet and tender fresh, even if it was a on the small side.

Here is a summer tool that DH and I have been wanting for a long time, and finally got. (Well, him more than me.) We've been wanting a mulcher/shredder/woodchipper so he made one. With an old compost top, an old lawnmower, and some old ductwork he built one. He spend a number of hours on this, over the course of about 2 months. It worked amazingly well! For ten minutes we had it shredding and chopping like gangbusters, until a seal went, the oil leaked out and the engine seized.

 

[baymule]

And your season is winding down, tucking the garden in for the winter. So what do you do all winter? I know you work hard during the garden season, what keeps you busy in the winter?

 

[heirloomgal]

And your season is winding down, tucking the garden in for the winter. So what do you do all winter? I know you work hard during the garden season, what keeps you busy in the winter?

The days are really busy, especially now with homeschooling, but I make time every day to take the kids outdoors, which in winter means daily sledding or nature trails. We ski and skate a bit too. We are big into games around here, DS went through a 'casino' phase not long ago. 🤣 DD practised Vegas card dealer moves. Plus, we're super close with my parents, and we spend a lot of time together. It's been a long time since we've had them here in winter since they're usually in Texas!

But I do have a winter goal for 2021/22. Having not had internet really (no wifi), until my son started on line school, I am going to spend some late evenings this winter learning about a favourite topic, economics! There isn't much time at the end of any given day, but I'd really like to listen to all the Milton Friedman speeches and lectures online. I have a textbook written by one of his former students that is very thick, and between the lectures and completing the book, I'd like to become more savvy in understanding this subject. It totally fascinates me. A film I watched about the 2008 bubble really sparked my curiosity. 😍

 

[ducks4you]

Thomas Sowell?!?!?!?

 

[ducks4you]

I need some help. I fermented, cleaned and set out to dry my cantaloupe seeds. They have been drying on the lid of my bucket, on top of my porch 7 cu ft freezer, in the sun in the morning for several days. LAST year I thought that I had dried out pumpkin seeds, only to see them spoil in a jar bc they weren't really dry.
What do you suggest?

 

[flowerbug]

I need some help. I fermented, cleaned and set out to dry my cantaloupe seeds. They have been drying on the lid of my bucket, on top of my porch 7 cu ft freezer, in the sun in the morning for several days. LAST year I thought that I had dried out pumpkin seeds, only to see them spoil in a jar bc they weren't really dry.
What do you suggest?
View attachment 44563

it won't hurt to let them dry for a while longer. any hollow seeds will still be filled with water. i had an initial problem with the melon seeds i dried last year but i caught it and was able to rinse them with some mild bleach water and then i let them dry for a few months before putting into a sealed container. they sprouted just fine this past spring.