A Seed Saver's Garden

[heirloomgal]

@Rillowen here is an interesting website where I've learned quite a lot about perennial vegetables. She amazes me with her dedication to growing perennial veg and finding creative ways to use them, as so many have fallen out of favor. I got some alliums from her once and a few others things. It was so funny, I thought she'd send seeds and when I opened the bubble envelope there were actually growing onions with little bulbs attached wrapped in moist paper towel, lol. They grew excellent too!

Welcome to The Backyard Larder - The Backyard Larder

Welcome. I created The Backyard Larder to share my discoveries about how to grow perennial vegetables and how to cook them too. What are perennial vegetables? Perennial vegetables are vegetables that don’t need replanting every year. Perfect edible plants for a busy lifestyle! They are so much...

backyardlarder.co.uk

 

[heirloomgal]

With all the stuff I want to grow each year I feel like I'm always forgetting something(s), and I do. Bluejay sent me these favas 2 seasons ago and I've really wanted to grow them, but they kept slipping from my mind. Somehow, I remembered this year! I believe these were from Joseph Simcox's collection, can't quite remember the exact details. I hope something sprouts!!! It would be so marvelous to have such a rare fava bean!! I have found the germination of old beans & peas to generally be amazing, but I don't have much experience with favas. The packages date to 2015 & 2014, so, over a decade, I'm not sure what to expect so I sowed almost everything in a long shallow tray that I poked holes in. I guess I'll see. There is a lot of seed so I'm thinking that even if the germ rates are low to non-existent I have good odds with such large amount to try with. And at the very least, I can say that I tried!!

 

[Decoy1]

Now I know what horseradish sprouts look like in spring. I'm surprised that it looks so spikey and serrated, I don't recall it looking like that last year.

Some amazing loveliness in prospect for your edible landscape but your horseradish has surely been chewed, hence the serrated and spiky look.
In my garden that would say rabbits to me but I don’t know what visitors might be most likely in your garden.

 

[Rillowen]

@Rillowen here is an interesting website where I've learned quite a lot about perennial vegetables. She amazes me with how dedicated she is to growing perennial veg and finding creative ways to use them, as so many have fallen out of favor. I got some alliums from her once and a few others things. It was so funny, I thought she's send seeds and when I opened the bubble envelope there were actually growing onions with little bulbs attached wrapped in moist paper towel, lol. They grew excellent too!

Welcome to The Backyard Larder - The Backyard Larder

Welcome. I created The Backyard Larder to share my discoveries about how to grow perennial vegetables and how to cook them too. What are perennial vegetables? Perennial vegetables are vegetables that don’t need replanting every year. Perfect edible plants for a busy lifestyle! They are so much...

backyardlarder.co.uk

Ooh! Thank you! I will be raiding this cites soon I think, teeheehee... my birthday is coming....

Edit: Nooooooooo they only sell within Britain. Sad. BUT they do still off ideas and recipes ect. Several they have for sale i have found growing wild in our yard recently for instance.

 

[Rillowen]

To my astonishment, I believe I've killed 2 of the clematis. I know exactly how I did it too. I loved them to death. Feeling so eager to have them flourish, I suspect I overdid everything. I'm used to being so neglectful of perennials that treating them with care is new to me. Well, learning curve and I have replacements elsewhere in the garden luckily.

So, the time is now here to begin weeding in earnest. I've been spending most of my time doing a fair bit of manual watering because it's been so windy and there hasn't been any rain in awhile but I can see the weeds starting up. DH sharpened my hoes tonight, well enough that one can nearly shave with them, so it was a pleasure to do the first few passes. Carrots gotta be thinned too... The tasks are piling up!

First plants that seem to be really shining - collards! I am SO glad I planted them, oh my gosh they are pretty in an edible landscape. I knew I'd regret not planting more! We'll see how well I can keep the cabbage moths off them, but so far pretty good. Sunflowers are looking good too, growing quickly. And the tomatoes never cease to impress with how quickly they start growing once outdoors & in ground. My transplants never look amazing by planting time, the plants are usually past due to go in; very leggy and starting to yellow a little, but they really pick up fast. This year I stripped all the bottom leaves and planted everything sideways, I've always found that helps the plants grow even more quickly.

It begins!

The pervious owners had clematis next to the porch, it was tearing the roof down! I keep chopping it out, but it keeps coming back!

 

[Rillowen]

Some amazing loveliness in prospect for your edible landscape but your horseradish has surely been chewed, hence the serrated and spiky look.
In my garden that would say rabbits to me but I don’t know what visitors might be most likely in your garden.

This is my horseradish

 

[heirloomgal]

Some amazing loveliness in prospect for your edible landscape but your horseradish has surely been chewed, hence the serrated and spiky look.
In my garden that would say rabbits to me but I don’t know what visitors might be most likely in your garden.

Oh my gosh!! And I just saw a groundhog yesterday not 5 feet from where it's planted!! Well, that explains it. Thank heavens you told me this @Decoy1 because it never would have grown otherwise, I had no idea that horseradish (of all things!) would be interesting to critters. I'm glad its early yet and there is time for it to recover, I will slip a cage over it now. What luck that I even posted that, because I almost didn't. Many thanks for saving my horseradish!

 

[heirloomgal]

Ooh! Thank you! I will be raiding this cites soon I think, teeheehee... my birthday is coming....

Edit: Nooooooooo they only sell within Britain. Sad. BUT they do still off ideas and recipes ect. Several they have for sale i have found growing wild in our yard recently for instance.

Oh no! My apologies @Rillowen, I didn't realize that. Her & I did a trade so I guess that's why she made an exception with the shipping. But you're totally right, there are probably lots of places in the US that specialize in perennial vegetables. I'd recommend some here in CA, but I know the tariffs has caused most of them to temporarily suspend shipping for now to the US. There is so much to learn about perennial food plants, I've only just begun. One of my garden besties specializes in perennial food plants and she has gotten me into them in the last 2 years.

Have you ever tried chufa nuts? That is one of my favorites, though I can't winter them outdoors here. So nutty and delicious!

 

[ducks4you]

@Rillowen , I suggest that you dig the horseradish up and pot it. They can grow a root 15 ft long.

 

[Rillowen]

@Rillowen , I suggest that you dig the horseradish up and pot it. They can grow a root 15 ft long.

*Wince* wow. I knew it was big, but that is a bit bigger than I expected. In 1 year? Will it survive the cold in a pot? Even the garage gets quite a bit below freezing.