A Seed Saver's Garden

A shocking discovery. On a whim I bought a bag of 'rainbow' carrots, most of which was whitish ones with one or two oranges and a purple in there. I can't decide if they're actually white ones or not, because peeled they look a wee bit yellow to me. Anyway, these are the finest bagged carrots I've ever eaten in my life. And I've had white ones before, home grown, and thought they were awful. I looked at the bag, they come from Bakersfield, California. A farm called Cal-Organic. Wow, what a wonderful, delicious surprise!

:love
 
Shades-of-Oregon said:
@heirloomgal sounds deliciously yummy. They have a farm here they grow both conventional and organic.,
I found cal farm online and they also have a farm here and from their web site also located the grocery stores they supply.
Will look for their produce next time.
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I can honestly attest that those bagged carrots were as good as any homegrown carrots I've ever had. I would never have believed such a thing could be possible, but they are that good!
 
Tonight's agenda is to - finally - create the tomato list for this year. I've been so swamped with so many things there has not been time for it, and it's so fun! So I'm kinda excited to get to it. I do have all the other plants mapped out and documented, so this is the last grow list for the 2026 garden.

It's time to start making tags too! I can confirm that my new Brother label maker did indeed have labels that lasted not only all summer, but all through the relentless -30C winter. I checked the tags and they are all still in perfect condition, so that is seriously impressive. Oh the gratitude I feel for not having to scrub labels with abrasive cleanser. This is really a new chapter in labelling for me! And I have a crazy ton of labels to make every year, so what a God send. (And a @Decoy1 send too, because it was her suggestion! 💚 Thank you! )

I'm asking myself what criteria will define the choices, and I don't know yet. I've got a few hours left to figure it out. @Blue-Jay's tomato is definitely on the list! That one is going to be so fun to document because everyone knows Bluejay as a bean man, not a tomato guy!

I did a big trade this year with a lady who is SUPER into tomatoes and in lots of trade circles, so those ones feel pretty high priority. She has so many exceptionally rare ones, all the 'hot' ones, it's wild. And a friend of mine sent me 'Dirty Girl' seeds, which is another interesting selection from Early Girl. It's a dry farming variety offered by the Dry Framing Institute. When they dry farmed it in Western Oregon, Dirty Girl yielded 33% more tomatoes than EG and shown lower incidence of blossom end rot. It'll feel weird to have a tomato plant that I'm not watering, maybe I'll need to check PNW precipitation compared to my own. It has been dry farmed in Southern Santa Cruz as well, so there's that. And then there's 'Annarita' which I got from her too, which is also a dry farming variety. Choices, choices!

Good times! 😀
 
New word. 📝

'Thigmomorphogenesis' is a plant’s response to physical touch or mechanical stress—things like wind, rain, brushing, or even repeated handling. The term comes from Greek roots meaning “touch” (thigmo) and “form” (morphogenesis). When plants experience these stimuli, they often grow differently: stems become shorter and thicker, tissues strengthen, and overall structure becomes more compact and resilient. This is why seedlings grown in still indoor air can get tall and weak, while those exposed to gentle airflow (like a fan or outdoor breeze) tend to develop sturdier stems.

Why a little fan might matter! 🌪️

Plants, including very small seedlings, are constantly exchanging gases with the air. During photosynthesis they take in CO₂, and during respiration they release CO₂. In very still air, a thin boundary layer of air forms right at the leaf surface. Within this tiny layer, gas concentrations can differ slightly from the surrounding air.
  • In still conditions, the boundary layer gets thicker
  • CO₂ near the leaf can become depleted during active photosynthesis
  • This can slightly slow photosynthesis because fresh CO₂ isn’t mixing in quickly
  • Seedlings don’t create a meaningful CO₂-rich “bubble” that helps them grow
  • In still indoor air, they’re more likely to be slightly CO₂-limited, not enriched
  • Gentle airflow is beneficial—not just for stem strength but also for gas exchange
 
plants can change the number of stomata they have through time if the CO2 levels are not sufficient for their photosynthesis. they have fossil records of various plants which show this during various periods of the earth's history when the CO2 levels were different.
 
I'm still working on this darn tomato list. But I'm inching closer.

Driving me a bit nuts is these 'Berry' tomato seeds that a woman gave me as a gift at Seedy Saturday. I remember her talking about some fellow they were associated with and their origins, but for the life of me I cannot recall a single detail of that now. Such a busy, hectic day. The only thing that stands out in my memory is she said they are super duper tiny. As small as green peas, smaller than even the smallest currant tomato. I think she said they were maybe more or less garnishes because of the size. I know they were pretty special to her because each of the little packets she made had only 5 seeds, she brought some also for the swap table. For a wild tomato that's a pretty small sample and wild tomatoes are just seed balls with red skin, Lol.

Anyway, even after searching the web I've got no answers. Guess I'll just have to grow it. :hu
 
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Love that squash! How’s it tasting this year?
heirloomgal said:
Seed saving is an essential part of my garden and garden activities. For several years now I have been growing, on a bit of a focus rotation, a number of different vegetables, and flowers, to build a 'seed ark'. Heirloom tomatoes, peppers, beans and peas have been the main crops, but I've also experimented with some unusual plants like morelle de balbis, Job's tears, spilanthes, sorghum, roselle, papalo, ashwaghanda, and cotton. I'm especially curious about unusually coloured vegetables, or those with unique growing habits, like velvet & variegated foliage tomatoes, purple potatoes or golden snow peas. However, I still hold a deep affection and appreciation for the 'old favourites' like Nantes carrots, Blue Lake beans or Bonnie Best tomatoes. New or old, I enjoy delicious and beautiful garden plants and vegetables.

In any summer, I'll choose a few different vegetables or flowers and try many different varieties. I'll grow anywhere from 10 to 100 different varieties of that crop to see the differences in their tastes, performance and productivity. Along with the 4 main seed saving crops I mentioned above, I've done trials of carrots, patty pan squash, pumpkins, zucchini, lettuce varieties, morning glories, basil, swiss chard, spinach, leeks, nigellas, watermelons, sunflowers, wild (er) type eggplants, kale, English sweet pea flowers, potatoes, poppies and beets.

This year I'm focusing mainly on beans for both fresh and dry use, but also peppers and peas.
We're only just beginning the season, but here are a few photos for 2021!

'Livingston's Pie Squash'
View attachment 41178

'Amarillo Armadillo' Tomato (with eggshell fragments on top)
View attachment 41179

'Blue Jade' dwarf corn
View attachment 41180

'Red Emmalie', 'Amarosa', 'Purple Magic'and 'Peruvian Purple' potatoes
View attachment 41181View attachment 41182

'Alba Regia' bell pepper
View attachment 41183

Black sesame seed plants
View attachment 41184

'Bullnose' pepper
View attachment 41185

'Petite Yellow' watermelon
View attachment 41186

"Genovese' sweet basil
View attachment 41187
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