A Seed Saver's Garden

[heirloomgal]

Well, my conscience is eased somewhat now. As I was pulling out my dead clematis vine this evening I took one last look around the mulched base to see if I could see rot, which I had assumed was the cause of death via too much love inspired watering. And voila, there it was. A vole tunnel right into the root ball. So it wasn't me afterall. Darn vermin. Seems like there is always some animal/pest issue to be contended with in the garden game. I usually accept mild irritations as par for the course, but this year I've really had it with bothersome creatures.

I'm vicariously living through a gardening friend today, who has been having the worst groundhog problem I've ever heard of. There is so many at her plot that they make a symphony of clicking noises as she works, she sees them as she drives in. They have been eating tons of her stuff, and even though she's a vegan she's had it. She found some gas sticks today and that was that. If only things were always so simple.

 

[Triffid]

OK this celery discussion has piqued my interest. I wonder though if everyone is having an easy time getting seed crops from it because your climates are milder and summers are longer than mine? I've always felt that celery seed was out of reach to me for that reason, but maybe I made assumptions about it that I shouldn't have.

I'm not sure about their winter hardiness, which could be an issue, but I don't recall the seed being late to harvest. Celery is prone to bolting in its first year if the seedlings experience a bout of cold. Could be a way to get them to flower for pest/pollinator benefits without worrying about winter survivial

 

[digitS']

a bout of cold. Could be a way to get them to flower

So, potted and started indoors very early – move them out too early? My experience with celeriac suggests a very,  very early seed starting if some maturity is required.

Darn vermin

My experience with groundhogs, or our "Hoary Marmot" version, is that I can torment them to the point of their moving by blocking the entrances to their dwellings. Or, those digging creatures might actually be dying underground, not being able to dig out from under 4 or 5 large rocks pounded into place.

Voles have been trapped with snap traps and flooded out using a couple of hours of water trickling down their burrows. Also, the coyote has been of help. Sometimes, I haven't even realized that there were voles under sprawling tomato plants until the evidence of a coyote digging them out. The canines has been of assistance with little damage to the plants.

Steve

 

[heirloomgal]

I'm not sure about their winter hardiness, which could be an issue, but I don't recall the seed being late to harvest. Celery is prone to bolting in its first year if the seedlings experience a bout of cold. Could be a way to get them to flower for pest/pollinator benefits without worrying about winter survivial

So they are more or less biennials? If they need to be overwintered, I suspect they wouldn't make it here. Parsley and even 'soup celery' (Zwolsche Krul) can't make it through winter to make seed for me. Darn! I would love to grow that pink celery and collect it's seed! I may leave the Hamburg parsley in this winter and see how it does.

 

[heirloomgal]

Everything hurts! But it's glorious aches because garden season is in full swing! Thank goodness I'm not a squatting weeder, but a standing up and hoeing type gardener, because the hours of squatting would be somewhat tortuous to this body.

The last couple days of squatting/leaning on the ground while doing carrot thinning has left me sore in the morning. I seeded a lot of carrot rows, I think about 15 longish ones, and some of those packets seemed to have 100% germination - so LOTS of carrot sprouts need to be pulled. I feel like I need to get my face right down there to do a good job, thus more extended discomfort, lol. Another layer to the carrot thinning is a tiny amount of bubbling pride, because I have always been such a terribly neglectful carrot grower. I never thinned, and if I did it was a terrible job. But as these things evolve, I'm actually feeling just fine with pulling out all those thousands of sprouts and realize how essential it is. I wrestled with thinning plants of all kinds for YEARS! It seldom happens, but I'm actually a bit grateful to the packets whose germination were less than ideal!

Second big accomplishment of the day - 14 new wire cages made for the tomato rows! The cost of the fencing roll has REALLY gone up, 15 yrs ago it was $50 for 100 ft, now it's 100$ for 50 ft. One roll can make about 7 or 8 cages, so it was costly, but I have been being a fool fiddling every year with tomato supports that are not sufficient, or using none at all to my detriment (like the potted tomatoes), and paying the price. So it feels GREAT to know I don't need to prop, tie, drive stakes, or other such things with ANY of the tomato rows! AND my longkeepers, which need to be kept pristine, will be perfectly protected with no risk of bruising or wounds.

 

[Branching Out]

Sounds like you're working hard and having fun at the same time Heirloomgal-- fantastic.

 

[Decoy1]

Second big accomplishment of the day - 14 new wire cages made for the tomato rows! The cost of the fencing roll has REALLY gone up, 15 yrs ago it was $50 for 100 ft, now it's 100$ for 50 ft. One roll can make about 7 or 8 cages, so it was costly, but I have been being a fool fiddling every year with tomato supports that are not sufficient, or using none at all to my detriment (like the potted tomatoes), and paying the price. So it feels GREAT to know I don't need to prop, tie, drive stakes, or other such things with ANY of the tomato rows! AND my longkeepers, which need to be kept pristine, will be perfectly protected with no risk of bruising or wounds.

I don’t really understand how tomato cages work. Do you reach into them from above to prune your tomatoes and then to pick them? How do you stop the cages falling over when the plants get heavy?

As far as I know it’s unusual in UK to grow tomatoes in cages. Under cover mine grow up strings, which is quite a common practice here, and out of doors up a cane supported by a bit of a wooden structure. I do much prefer growing indeterminates though and never quite know what to do with determinate varieties which sprawl everywhere and take up a lot of space. I can imagine cages being useful for those.

 

[Pulsegleaner]

Miner's Lettuce now in flower.

I'm also noticing something odd about the newest holy basil plants. They don't look quite like the originals (which are still there; basil is perennial if you take it in over the winter,) they don't smell like them, and they don't ACT like them (they handle heat and drying out much better.) But they HAVE to be descendants; I've planted no other basil for at least two or three years.

I suppose insects could have brought pollen from regular basil plants in the neighborhood, but I could have SWORN these popped up while the plants were in for the winter, where there were no insects to do that, (and, probably, no regular basil pollen to do it with). Hmmm.......

 

[flowerbug]

i use a ground pillow to kneel on or sit on, it saves the knees and legs. i don't always use it, but when i have to do a lot of close up work that will keep me around one spot for a while it's better for me.

 

[ducks4you]

With my new knee and about to be new knee, I will be using HD knee pads. It doesn't hurt to kneel on the right knee, just feels WEIRD.
DD has her knee pads from HS Volleyball and she still uses them for things like climbing in the bed of the truck to pack/unpack things, even though there is a rubber mat there.