A Seed Saver's Garden

[heirloomgal]

The Four O'Clocks are officially blooming! They smell soooo good too. I plan to save the roots to plant for next year, so maybe I can get them to bloom earlier. I bought a package of seeds that were supposed to be all marbled flowers, but so far some of them are also pure pink. I like them all regardless though, I've always liked this species.

 

[heirloomgal]

The 'Nomad' pepper. Possibly the best pepper I've ever grown. I actually haven't had one in the ground I think since 2021 or 2022. Such good breeding went into this variety! I believe it's selected from 'Gypsy', the hybrid pepper. This one is quite immature, but it was a bit small when it went in, and didn't even get hardened off properly. But you can still see the goodly number of peppers on it, about a dozen so far - for Northern Ontario that's a lot! They're the biggest plants out there among all the sweet pepper varieties. It's a joy to grow again.

The 'Norderaas Busk' tomato. It took me 2 years to finally get this tomato to grow. I don't know why I had such trouble, it seems to be a weak seedling or something. The kind of variety I'm tempted to give up on. But once it went into the ground boy did it go. It's just covered in fruits now, more so than the picture can show. So glad I didn't toss the plant. It's looking promising. Of course, I'm very curious now to see how it tastes.

What a garden design FAIL. Why would I plant white delphinium next to white phlox? Maybe I didn't know the delph would be white. Can't remember. This will have to change, lol. But I give both plants credit as the phlox was put in last October and the delph this June. They really gained in size considering how young they are. This is my favorite phlox of all the ones I've tried. I may even get rid of my two tones pink ones. Time for a change.

'Kent Blue' peas are drying up Thank you so much @Decoy1
This is one of the most thrilling pea growing years I've ever had.

 

[Pulsegleaner]

Finally have a cucumber started.

 

[flowerbug]

The Four O'Clocks are officially blooming! They smell soooo good too.

Four O'Clocks were probably the first plant i became aware of as a very young child. i remember seeing the seeds and thinking they were miniature grenades. my aunt had them along the side of her house and my uncle was a gardener.

I plan to save the roots to plant for next year, so maybe I can get them to bloom earlier. I bought a package of seeds that were supposed to be all marbled flowers, but so far some of them are also pure pink. I like them all regardless though, I've always liked this species.

they're very nice flowers.

 

[Pulsegleaner]

By now, I've harvested 4-5 pods from the cowpea (with plenty to go)

First berry on the red nightshade turning.

In less positive news, there seems to be something wrong with my green cherry tomatoes; they're extremely bitter.

And one of the Hooker's chives plants has a flower spike/scape.

 

[heirloomgal]

The weather has been beautiful all summer, nearly perfect for the flowers and vegetables. The last few weeks got a bit dry, but a deep soaking rain finally came. The pest pressure however has been the worst I've ever seen; between cutworms, voles, a rabbit, squirrels, chipmunks and sparrows I have had to fight all season long. I found today my entire double row of Sugar Lace II peas, hundreds of pods, totally eaten. They worked through the night I guess. It was fenced, but not enough to stop chipmunks.

Worst of all, a rogue bear is wandering in the area. He killed and ate one of our family pets, which was devastating to say the least. It happened in the middle of the day, right under our noses which adds to the grief not to mention guilt. He was so quiet we didn't hear a thing. We've had pets die of natural health related issues, but to have one be tortured and then eaten is a different loss experience. The bear left behind parts of her body that he didn't want, utterly gruesome. At first we thought she was just hiding in the bushes. And he's been back several times since, he snuck up on DH while he was outside working in a wood project two days ago. Again, he was so silent; DH was really surprised that he got so close, right up behind him and he didn't sense of hear a thing until he turned to get something. He's not showing the usual fear, so the bear has hung over the summer like a cloud. I'm extra careful at the back of the garden rows now.

On a happier note, it has been a wonderful year for the sunflowers. I'm not thrilled with the littler ones 'Sonja', but the bigger ones turned out to be as nice as I remember. I especially like 'Taiyo'. The amount of bees on them is startling. 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.

 

[flowerbug]

... It would be nice though to have my own supply.

you will need fences if there are deer around. and chipmunks love raiding the seeds/seedlings. once they know you grow them... just a warning from experience.

 

[heirloomgal]

'Corlis Bolton Haynes' sunchokes are flowering! And WOW are the plants huge at maturity! For planting next year they need to be spaced better. The row turned out to be 5 feet wide. The bottom leaves don't get all ratty either, like so many perennial plants do, but stay deep green and healthy. Aside from the somewhat 'natural' look they have as sunflowers, they are somewhat handsome & stately in a row - if a bit imposing.

These have turned out to be a sanity crop in a bad year. So long as they don't get planted too deep they are a cinch to grow. They need so little. But they for sure need their own space, and I'm going to plant them in a section of the garden in the fall with no friends nearby.

 

[flowerbug]

... I found today my entire double row of Sugar Lace II peas, hundreds of pods, totally eaten. They worked through the night I guess. It was fenced, but not enough to stop chipmunks.

i had that happen several years ago with a large podded edible pea (Green Beauty) where i went out to check the pods for harvest and they were full and drying down so i wanted them to dry fully before i harvested. as i'd not had any problems before with critters eating my peas i left them, went out a few days later to check again and chipmunks had almost cleaned out every pea in that patch. i had enough seeds to replant the next year but not enough to share around as i wanted. it's taken me a few years to get some more seeds back and i do harvest pods early now for seeds and dry the pods indoors.

Worst of all, a rogue bear is wandering in the area. He killed and ate one of our family pets, which was devastating to say the least. It happened in the middle of the day, right under our noses which adds to the grief not to mention guilt. He was so quiet we didn't hear a thing. We've had pets die of natural health related issues, but to have one be tortured and then eaten is a different loss experience. The bear left behind parts of her body that he didn't want, utterly gruesome. At first we thought she was just hiding in the bushes.

i'm wondering if the pet had died and the bear was just coming in to feed on the body? i don't hear often of bears attacking pets. once attracted to an area where they've found food they may come back to see what other goodies might be about. yes, certainly be careful. i'd not want to be out there at all. gladly we do not have bears around here often at all - the woods are far enough away that they'd stand out in the open farm fields.

 

[heirloomgal]

i had that happen several years ago with a large podded edible pea (Green Beauty) where i went out to check the pods for harvest and they were full and drying down so i wanted them to dry fully before i harvested. as i'd not had any problems before with critters eating my peas i left them, went out a few days later to check again and chipmunks had almost cleaned out every pea in that patch. i had enough seeds to replant the next year but not enough to share around as i wanted. it's taken me a few years to get some more seeds back and i do harvest pods early now for seeds and dry the pods indoors.




i'm wondering if the pet had died and the bear was just coming in to feed on the body? i don't hear often of bears attacking pets. once attracted to an area where they've found food they may come back to see what other goodies might be about. yes, certainly be careful. i'd not want to be out there at all. gladly we do not have bears around here often at all - the woods are far enough away that they'd stand out in the open farm fields.

Yes, after that huge row got raided I went and picked the rest of the pea varieties that were far enough along. Tricky to tell but I think I got them late enough in maturity, and the really green ones I had to leave behind and wait. There was only a little chipmunk raiding after that and now most of them are picked. I notice that it's the places where they have cover that are most at risk, the exposed places not so much. The tall trellised peas seem the safest.

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. When DH & DD saw him it made sense, he's young and without a mother. She was probably killed and he doesn't have her to help him find/share food so he's doing some desperate things out of what is probably serious hunger. His lack of fear would be explained by that as well. I'm not normally afraid of bears, but if he begins to suffer from starvation I would feel at risk working out there in the garden. I'm grateful to have a dog as an alert when I'm outside.