The 2023 seed season is winding down.
I did a more thorough inventory of my tomato losses, which I felt quite guilty about, and was relieved that it wasn't as bad as I imagined it to be. Most of the tomatoes that expired while I was under the weather, I had already saved the lion's share of the seeds and these were some last stragglers. It probably amounts to 2 cookie sheets. I'd have preferred them in the freezer, but it happens. So that was kind of a relief. My rescue mission tomatoes were all wonderfully productive so I got lots of seeds from them, even the paste tomatoes which can be scanty. Feels great.
I've harvested 1/2 the Warba potatoes and realized that I should probably have harvested them before the vines died down, mostly because some of them were much too large. It was supposed to be an early, skinless variety and I guess I missed the early window. That said, I've been making baked French fries with them, soups & stews, and they are plenty tasty even with skins.
The corn is about 3/4 harvested and we're still having really nice weather so they'll have plenty of time to dry right down. I really like this variety, and it has a very fitting name too. It isn't totally uniform cob to cob so far as I can tell, but there has only been about 4 cobs that are way off the mark - mainly yellow and purple mixed kernels. They had mentioned that fact that it was a work in progress as well in the catalogue description. Most of the colors range from espresso, to root beer, to caramel/toffee. It's a very nice mix, I'll take some pictures of all the cobs together when they're ready.
Been a great bean year. I'm holding out hope they will all be able to dry down because the weather has been so good and looks to stay that way for awhile. The only one that I had real trouble with was Sacre Bleu because I planted it on the shady side of a trellis and half of the plants failed within the first month because of some fungal issue once they got growing. Looks like runner beans only do well there, not P. vulgaris, after growing runner beans in that spot with no problems since the trellis was built. Really happy with all my new beans this year, a wonderful diversity of colors and sizes and shapes from all over the place. Can't wait to do an inventory and crunch some totals.
Basils were a success (if I can figure out how to get the seeds from the dried stem columns), the okra not so much. The sunberries and goldenberries overwhelmed the okra plants, so only the potted ones did okay. Eggplants barely skated along, but I will get some seeds from those luckily. Funnily enough, they were the 'test crop' against all the rest and were not given any electric fertilizer. The Morelle de Balbis produced some of the biggest fruits I've seen yet, about 3/4 the size of small Italian plums. 2023 is a year for 'big' it seems. Biggest carrots I've ever grown too.
The Amazing Gray poppies were shockingly pretty, but did not fit with the 'big' theme. They were much smaller than I expected. I'm still trying to save some of the drying poppy heads for next year. Zinnias were fabulous, and I will grow them again for sure. I did much better with the marigold seed saving this year, compared to last. All 3 species are going to seed.
I haven't started on really harvesting the peppers en masse, so I'll need to wait and see how that goes. Looks like things did well enough to offer seeds in 2024 - though I'll have to be clear that they were grown together and not isolated as I usually do.
One things for sure, I need a break from plants!
