Collecting Seeds

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The tiny but immensely intricate flower of the salad burnett plant reminds me of some sort of glorious extraterrestrial life form. Unlike last year when the majority of the plants seed was destroyed in bad weather this year's salad burnett is putting out copious amounts of successors.


I have been making daily rounds throughout the garden collecting the seed from various plants. Rather then waiting until each of the plants are fully loaded with seed I have learned to try and collect as much as possible as it becomes available. One bad weather front could pummel my whole supply into the earth as was the case last July. This is a project I will spend a few minutes every day at until mid September or October when the weather cools. A special section of our porch that remains warm, dry, and shady until fall has been set aside to finish drying the collected seed. It is a task that I find to be very enjoyable and rewarding.

I carefully remove chive seed by gently brushing the tops with my fingers to release any seeds that are ready to be harvested.

Grandmother's Juneberry Pie

As a wee lad my grandmother used to make pies out of what she called Juneberries. She used little pot pie tins and made my brother and I each pies regularly while the berries were in season. One of my fondest childhood memories, I'm smiling while I write this, was eating those little pies and, unbeknownst to my mother, watching grandma's favorite show, MASH, on a little black and white television in her single wide trailer. In remembrance of those times each summer in early July when the Saskatoon's (Juneberries) are ripe we not only pick many gallons for later use but my wife makes a simple pie out of the almond flavored berries.


The Saskatoon, serviceberry, or Juneberry is a shrub native to some parts of the U.S. and Canada that grows wild all over Northern Idaho. Saskatoon berries contain higher levels of protein, fat, and fiber than most other fruit. They were once used by native people as a key ingredient in pemmican, a nutritious traditional Cree Indian food comprised of dried venison or other wild game, animal fat, bone marrow, and berries.

We use this berry as an indicator of when to begin hunting for huckleberries as the earliest ones ripen around the same time. Many of this year's berries seem a bit small and not nearly as numerous as last year due to the lack of moisture this summer. Hopefully the mountain huckleberries have fared better, we shall soon find out.

Hand Pollination of a Zucchini

Unless your garden is a large multi-acre field or you only grow a few types of cucurbits (squash, zucchini, cucumbers, melons, etc.) saving seed requires a few simple steps. Isolation of these crops that easily cross-pollinate is difficult at best in a small home garden. Growing only one type of each species is the easiest way to save seed from various cucurbits. As long as your close neighbor is not growing different crops of the same species your seeds will pollinate each other true to form and all the seeds you save can be expected to produce pretty much identical crops the following season.

I don't know about you but I would have a hard time growing only zucchini, but not spaghetti, acorn, or my favorite and always abundant papaya pear squash. All four will cross with each other and create interesting, sometimes great, more often not so great vegetables if the seed is saved. You will be hard put to get a close replica of the original plant unless your bug population is very low, and that is usually not the case in an organic garden setting. Cucurbits are pollinated by a wide variety of insects, honey bees and other small bees being the main pollinators.

We love variety, so I grow a nice selection of different squash, many of which are of the same species. In order to save my own seed I must hand pollinate individual non-hybrid cucurbits to assure a pure seed. Keeping in mind that I am at best an amateur when it comes to saving seeds, especially ones that may cross with each other, here is how I hand pollinate a simple zucchini for hopefully pure seed. Most cucurbits can be pollinated in the manner I will show, but certain smaller melons, cucumbers, and gherkins, due to flower size can be a little harder to pollinate this way. So without going into too much mind numbingly boring detail prepare to be, well...mind numbingly bored.

Each zucchini has male and female flowers. The male flower contains the anther which produces pollen. The male structure is usually easily identifiable as the flower sits atop a thin straight stem.

Male flower one day away from opening

Note the male flowers anther situated in the middle of the bloom.


The female flower contains the stigma. It can be identified by its ovary or immature fruit.

The thicker stem (ovary/fruit) of the zucchini is fairly obvious in this specimen that is also approximately a day away from blooming.

The stigma can be seen in the center of this female flower.

When a male and female zucchini bloom appear to be close to opening I hold the flowers shut with masking tape gently attached to the ends of the soon to be opened blooms of both sexes. The male and female flowers do not have to be from the same zucchini plant. Early the next morning, before the insects are active, the male flower is untaped and cut from the plant, then the flower is carefully removed exposing the anther.

This picture shows my lazy assistant and I removing the male flower to expose the anther.

Note the anther is full of pollen

The remaining male anther is then used to brush pollen onto the untaped female flowers stigma, thus pollinating the plant. This should be done as quickly as possible in order to prevent insect contamination. Using more than one anther to pollinate each stigma will further increase the odds of successful fertilization.

Preparing to transfer pollen from the anther to the stigma. In order to take this picture the flower was slit down one side. This eliminates it as a good candidate for pure pollination due to my inability to securely tape the flower afterwords.

Gently brushing pollen onto the stigma

That's it! The female flower is then securely taped shut and marked with a ribbon for later identification. The one drawback to this procedure is that a zucchini must be allowed to fully develop, meaning get really big, for the seeds to be fully mature. This will slow down the production of other fruits on the plant due to the energy needed to support the large seed vegetable. If growing only a couple zucchini plants it may be wise to wait until the end of the season to perform these acts. With a regular squash, like an acorn, this will make no difference since the gourds will not be consumed until they are mature anyways.

Securely taped and pollinated female flower that will dry up and fall off as soon as the fruit begins to mature.

A fruit marked with red ribbon for easy identification at a later date. Loosely marked so as not to inhibit the cucurbits growth.

Even if you are not interested in saving the seeds off various cucurbits it is still good to know how to pollinate them. With the bee population possibly declining, plants that rely on them for fertilization could be faced with greatly diminished yields. Small scale hand pollination is an effective way of guaranteeing a good return on one's crop, especially in the smaller home garden.

There seem to be a limited number of reference books regarding the subject of seed saving. I currently have only three along with the treasure trove of information that can be found online. The first book I would recommend for any one just beginning to undertake this endeavour is "Seed Sowing and Saving" by Carole B. Turner. This book is not only fairly easy to understand but briefly covers a wide array of flowers as well as vegetable seed saving techniques.

"Seed To Seed" by Suzanne Ashworth takes a much more in depth look at seed saving. It is another excellent choice, but in my opinion seems to make seed saving in the home garden appear a bit complicated...it doesn't have to be. Read my first recommendation before tackling this wonderful manual.

I am currently enjoying "Breed Your Own Vegetable Varieties" by Carol Deppe. So far it is a real eye opener on how seeds selection and plant breeding is performed on a more intricate scale.

One other book I really like, and often turn to for guidance is "The New Seed Starters Handbook" by Nancy Bubel. A great reference tool for starting seeds that also briefly deals with seed collection. I'm always looking for more interesting books on seeds saving, what is everyone else reading?

While in no way an expert, I am committed to eventually becoming mostly seed self-sufficient not only for monetary purposes but for the knowledge and immense satisfaction that always seems to follow a subsistence pattern lifestyle.

Update:

I have started using plastic clothes pins instead of tape to hold the squash flowers closed. It seems to be much easier and just as effective. These clips are about worthless for hanging clothes anyway.

I'll have my radish and eat it too!

Mr. H, with a frenzied gleam in his eyes, declared "No matter how hard it is, no matter how long it takes, I will not be denied a radish! Oh, the root maggots might have gotten the best of me in years gone by, but no longer." This year I fought back, I grew the 'podding radish'." He exclaimed amid peals of deranged laughter.

I have tried and failed miserably to grow any sort of a decent radish for years now. I tried different varieties; big radishes, watermelon shaped radishes, black radishes, and white radishes. I even tried French radishes that I assumed must be so foreign to the northern reaches of Idaho the worms would not possibly be able to understand them... all to no avail. I tried growing them individually at the far corners of my garden. I put down ash. I even attempted to grow them through a plastic weed barrier. The maggots soundly defeated me on every front, burrowing into the fruits of my labor just before they could be harvested.

Then, last year I grew podding radishes. Oh yeah, I beat the dirty little buggers at their own game. No juicy little roots for them to tunnel through, no not one. The podding radish gives you all the delicious spicy flavor of a radish without the maggots. The loathsome monstrosities never could figure out how to crawl up the stock, which they would have to do in order to get at the pod.


You see, the podding radish, or rat-tailed radish, produces small inedible roots. The radish quickly bolts to seed and provides one with numerous plump edible pods that are a most delicious addition to salads and stir fries. The pods are best when harvested while still young and tender. As far as I know all radish seed pods can be eaten, but podding radishes were bred for their much larger more flavorful pods. No more maggot ridden radishes for me, no sir none at all.

Here is an informative article on podding radishes. http://www.kitchengardeners.org/rat-tailed_radish.html.

Pass the Peas Please

I was delighted to see our over wintered red Belgium endive has started to flower, seeds should follow shortly. Actually, past experience with saving endive/chicory seed serves as a reminder of just how long it takes for the many flowers to bloom and finally form seeds. Last year I had to wait until September to harvest the seeds off my wild garden chicory, but everything is a good two weeks ahead this year... so far. I briefly discussed this magnificent plant in a previous post. What's Growing On?


A taste test was performed on the four types of peas we are growing this year and all passed with flying colors. From left to right, two blue podded pole peas, Tacoma afila bush, Alaskan bush, and an Alderman pole pea that I have saved seed from for many years now. I was a bit surprised to find the Alderman's not only had the best flavor but were so much larger then the rest. So once again it will remain my faithful standby, even if I do have to help it climb every step of the way.

Alderman

I will definitely be planting the Tacoma pea again as it was one of the best bush peas I have ever grown. Not only did their many tendrils help them clamber up and over a 3' fence with ease but they also put out a decent amount of pods for a bush pea. The Alaska bush is taller then me, so I am not sure what that's all about, it was easily second best in taste. My heirloom blue (they really should be called purple) pole peas grew quickly and are a very colorful addition to this year's garden. It will be interesting to see exactly how many peas they put out as they are still growing up, almost 7' now.

It must be a good year for peas as they have all grown much taller than expected. One of the main reasons I am growing the Tacoma pea is its short stature, the upper echelons of the taller peas can and often are severely damaged by the winds in our area.

Tacoma afila

Blue podded

My heart sank as I awoke to a windy thunder storm late last night. I rushed out this morning to see how much damage was inflicted on the garden, especially the tall plants like peas. Miraculously, everything was in good standing... that makes my day. Maybe this really will be a good garden year, that would be nice for a change. Well, I'm off to slog about in today's much needed rain.

Purple Peacock

We have been picking various broccoli for a few weeks now. Out of the four types I am growing the heirloom Di ciccio seems to be performing the best this season. We rarely have very large heads but always seem to have more then enough smaller ones.


One of the broccoli plants in our garden is called purple peacock. A plant that not only provides us with a nice little head of broccoli followed by numerous smaller ones, but the leaves are most delicious as well. This plant comes from crosses between Green Goliath broccoli and two kale's. I assume from looking at the leaves that the kale's are red and white Russian. We really like this vegetable not only for its culinary versatility but compact and very cold hardy nature as well. I love looking at the ruffled leaves, it is unlike any other broccoli I have seen. There were a few issues with brassicas prematurely bolting this year but none of the peacock broccoli were involved in the dissent. They seem to be slow growing and very reliable thus far.



I first heard about this wonderful plant on http://www.veggiegardeningtips.com/purple-peacock-broccoli/ a few years back and just had to grow my own. I have not been disappointed.

Strawberry Spinach

One of the more interesting plants we grow, or should I say, grows itself is strawberry spinach, also called strawberry blite, beet berry, Indian paint, and a number of other names. The plant is very cold hardy but will thrive in the hottest weather. With a long taproot it can get by on very little water, of course the more water it gets the larger the fruit.


Our strawberry spinach (Chenopodium capitatum) grows two-three feet in both height and width. The serrated triangular leaves are a great substitute for spinach when young but become somewhat tough as they mature. The mature plants develop brilliant red thimble sized berries that when really ripe taste, to me, just like Malt-O-Meal cereal... kind of sweet and nutty. How great is that, not only do you get to eat the greens but little fruit as well. Technically, I think the berry is considered a flower, I'm not really sure.


This plant can also be used to create pink and red dye by simmering the berries in water until the desired color is achieved, though I have never tried this. The seeds germinate rather sporadically but if allowed to reseed, and we allow it, they will come up on their own all over the garden. I have introduced this plant to the the wooded areas of our property and it seems to be taking hold, another great "permaculture" plant for the food forest.

I have no doubt that strawberry spinach has many healthy attributes, but do not know what they might be. I have read that they are possibly high in vitamin A and C. There seems to be very little information regarding this lesser known member of the goosefoot family. As always, I love plants that only need be planted once and then simply tended for many years thereafter.

Delectable Wild Cherries

A trip to the foothills around lake Coeur d'Alene last week not only provided us with a sampling of wild cherries but a place for the boy to burn off some energy.


I am not exactly sure what kind of cherries these are, some of the trees had black cherries and others were red. Mostly I am interested in the stone of this fruit as I have successfully grown a number of these trees from seed in the past. Some of the trees we came across were at least 50 or 60" tall making cherry picking interesting to say the least. The trees grow extremely fast and the one in the below pictures background is four years old and may give us a cherry or two this year.


We simply plant the seeds, mark the spot, and let mother nature take it's course. In the spring, if we are lucky, there will be a few cherry trees popping up. The cherry do not germinate as readily as apple seeds so we made sure to plant enough.