Branching Out's Seeds and Sprouts

[digitS']

A friend in Colorado grew Cosmonaut Volkov many years. It appears to me to be an early, large size tomato. I avoid determinates and so haven't grown it altho his climate is very similar to here! Legend is a slicing determinate that I grew and appreciated. The important quality, to my way of thinking, is a determinate maturing at just the right time for when the gardener needs it. That one did and, probably, Cosmonaut Volkov would, also.

I grew Neves Azorean several seasons and it was wonderful but ... it was very late in maturing and I wasn't looking for a variety to harvest green and ripen weeks later. Keepers when ripe - the one that did real well in that regard was Thessaloniki.

Steve

 

[heirloomgal]

I've grown CV 3 times, I quite like it. Yummy & lots of fruit. This was from 2021.

 

[Branching Out]

I grew Neves Azorean several seasons and it was wonderful but ... it was very late in maturing and I wasn't looking for a variety to harvest green and ripen weeks later. Keepers when ripe - the one that did real well in that regard was Thessaloniki.

Steve

I figured I would try Neves alongside my other 'keeper' tomatoes, because of its tendency to ripen late. Should be interesting. And now you have me thinking about Greek tomatoes. When I was young I visited Greece, and the tomatoes were quite amazing. I may have to dig up more lawn next year if I buy any more seeds!

 

[Branching Out]

The weather was dry for a few hours this morning so I was able to sow another round of carrots. I planted Wasco Orange and Mokum, with some seeds that had been kept warm and damp indoors for several days and some seeds that were straight out of the packet. My sowing template is a plastic tray that has holes in it. I put a carrot seed beside each hole and then I carefully carry the tray to where the carrots will grow. It just takes a few seconds to slide one seed through each hole-- and it's easy on the back too.

I covered the seeds with a finely sifted mix of soil, espresso grounds, and peat moss. I recall Pulsegleaner suggesting that birds love to look for bugs in soil that has been disturbed, so once everything was well-watered I covered the patch with a double layer of Reemay so birds don't disturb the seeds.

 

[Branching Out]

Lots of nasturtiums hitting the dirt using my nifty new 1 1/2" soil blocking tool. There is a slight chance that they will germinate with force and shatter the blocks, but I will deal with that when and if it happens. Variety Cappuccino will be new for me this year, and Rhumba and Empress of India are making a return appearance using seeds that I saved last year.

I am also growing Cerinthe for the first time, as well as sunflowers with seeds saved from a hybrid called Vincent's Choice. It will be cool to see what kind of diversity I get with the sunflowers. Lastly I am doing a test germination of a few Oklahoma Carmine zinnia seeds that I saved last year, to how long it takes them to sprout. I get to help do a little flower pot project with one of my young neighbour's Girl Guide troupe, and I will need a couple of dozen each of a few different fast-qrowing annual flowers. Marigold and salvia might work too.

 

[heirloomgal]

Cerinthe is such a special flower. If you figure out how to catch the seeds please share!

eda: what are the plants next to your carrot row?

 

[Branching Out]

Cerinthe is such a special flower. If you figure out how to catch the seeds please share!

eda: what are the plants next to your carrot row?

Thanks for the heads up on the cerinthe seeds-- will try to catch the pods before they shatter. So far I am enjoying watching their leaf development. They were the first seeds to germinate from my winter-sown milk jugs, sprouting in mid-February which was a big surprise for me. I moved them out to the garden with row cover a month ago, and given that they have not put on much top growth I suspect that they are busy putting down roots at the moment.

The photo shows my 'pinches of nine' Winter (Cereal) Rye seeds in behind the carrots. I saw a video that showed how planting in 'pinches' can make it easier for a home gardener to grab a clump of rye for cutting it down for straw or green manure, so I figured I would give it a try rather than broadcast seeding the entire plot. Straw is quite expensive to purchase around here, so I wanted to try to grow my own mulch for summer. This patch is destined to become a bean patch come June, and I am thinking that if I let some of it grow a bit taller the rye could also help keep my row cover aloft to insulate the baby bean seedlings when they go in. When I am tired of it I will cut it really low a few times, which is supposed to terminate it.

Rye is also recommended for improving soil structure and for retaining nitrogen that is in the soil; it rains so much here that those qualities also made rye worthy of planting. Spring rains can turn our soils into heavy, dead soil. A few of the clumps were in the way of my planting, and they were very easy to pull out and replant elsewhere.

 

[digitS']

I have appreciated that Winter rye is easy to pull. Digging a trench and piling it in really improves soil tilth.

If I have some sort of commitment on the distant Big Veggie garden, and now that the tractor guy may be history, I may begin again to incorporate into my gardening .

Steve

 

[Branching Out]

This evening a Wooly Bear caterpillar was sunning itself on the flagstone-- too cute!

 

[Branching Out]

It would appear that each year in April and May I am a little short of room on my small seed starting heat mat, so last year I borrowed my mom's vintage Salton Hotray food warmer, and transformed it into a seed starting station. The lowest setting is still crazy hot, so I use a series of stainless steel and aluminum muffin pans, cookie cooling racks, and recycled food containers to add layers of air to diffuse the heat above the tempered glass surface. A thermometer placed inside the plastic humidity dome allows me to monitor the temperature, so I don't overheat the seeds-- and as a precaution I always unplug it when I leave the house.

The best part is the information manual that came with this little gem of an appliance, that was made in The Bronx, NY in 1972. So hilarious. I was rolling on the floor as I read through it. Things in the kitchen have sure changed since then!

P.S. I see that Salton is still in business, and their warming trays sell for $169.99USD