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Across the Fence:  So many seeds! So little knowledge!!!  |
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bybiddie
True Blue Farmgirl
267 Posts
susan
upstate
ny
USA
267 Posts |
 Posted - Sep 22 2006 : 10:44:33 AM
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Dear Farmgirls - I need your collective help! At the top of my "to-do" list lies "save seeds for next year's garden". And now the time has come and I don't know the best way to dry, keep, collect - can you recommend a good book or two? With last night's temperature dropping below 40 degrees, I'm starting to panic!
Thanks for your help - you are the best!
Susan
Lovin' my life |
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DaisyFarm
True Blue Farmgirl
1646 Posts
Diane
Victoria
BC
Canada
1646 Posts |
Posted - Sep 22 2006 : 10:49:26 AM
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I take little bowls out to the garden (and put little slips of paper in each so I remember what is what) and shake or clip off collected seeds. I then just let it sit on the counter for a week to make sure the seed is completely dried out. I then store them in film cannisters and pill bottles that people give me for that very purpose. Just keep them in a cool, dark place for the winter and they should do just fine.
Diane |
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bybiddie
True Blue Farmgirl
267 Posts
susan
upstate
ny
USA
267 Posts |
Posted - Sep 22 2006 : 10:55:22 AM
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Thanks a bunch, Diane! How do you handle beans? I had a wonderful bush bean crop this year and would like to perpetuate it next year. I let the bean pods stay on and grow big, but do I shell them and dry the bean seeds or dry them in the pods?
Susan
Lovin' my life |
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sunshine
True Blue Farmgirl
4877 Posts
Wendy
Utah
USA
4877 Posts |
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DaisyFarm
True Blue Farmgirl
1646 Posts
Diane
Victoria
BC
Canada
1646 Posts |
Posted - Sep 22 2006 : 12:27:33 PM
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For beans, I usually leave them in the ground until the weather turns wet. Then I pull the whole plant and hang them in a warm, dry place until they're brittle dry. Then just shell them and store them in a jar in a cool, dark place. One thought though Susan, make sure that you're beans (and all seeds for that matter) are not hybrids. Hybrid varieties do not breed true, meaning that the seed will revert back to one of the original parent plants that were cross pollinated to produce the hybrid seed. (I probably could have explained that better, but I think you get the idea!)
Happy seed saving, it's all part of the harvest!
Diane
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bybiddie
True Blue Farmgirl
267 Posts
susan
upstate
ny
USA
267 Posts |
Posted - Sep 22 2006 : 12:39:26 PM
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Thank you, Sunshine & Diane! I believe these are heirloom beans, but I may have blown the opportunity because I already picked the pods off of the plant...ah, well. I will try and dry them in the pods and see what happens in the spring. And I do keep forgetting the search tool for archived topics (it's just fun to be in the moment, if you know what I mean...)
Lovin' my life |
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DaisyFarm
True Blue Farmgirl
1646 Posts
Diane
Victoria
BC
Canada
1646 Posts |
Posted - Sep 22 2006 : 12:41:41 PM
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Oh that doesn't matter Susan, you can dry them in the pods. I just found it easier to hang them up out of the way if they were on the plant. Just spread them out so they don't mold and dry out well. Same only different :)
Di |
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newheart
True Blue Farmgirl
471 Posts
Margie
Owings Mills
Maryland
USA
471 Posts |
Posted - Sep 22 2006 : 12:54:34 PM
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My Favorite summer flower is a large Sunflower outside my kitchen window.....but every year when I plant them or buy plants or raise them with care in kitchen window..the day I put them out no matter how tall,the squirrels and rabbits eat them off but I can get back in the house...is there something to do to keep animals away next year....short of making squirrel or rabbit potpie.......
margie |
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Across the Fence: So many seeds! So little knowledge!!! |
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So many seeds! So little knowledge!!!
