Saving Seeds and More

I went outside today to see what seeds I could save from the flowers and found that I was too late for many of them.

Here are some yellow Columbine.  See all the brown (they look kind of orange) seed pods have opened and the seeds have fallen out.

I found some pods that were not open yet, so I put a bag around those.  The seeds will fall into the bag now.

I don't remember seeing this purple and white Columbine.  There are a few seeds left of this plant.  I put a bag around them and tried to bend the plant down, but broke it.  I'll get a few seeds, probably not as many now.

The front bag is the Columbine from the picture above this one and the back bag is Coreopsis AKA Tick Seed.

There are some of the Tick Seed still blooming and some going to seed.

All those green button looking things are Hollyhock seed pods.  The flowers are Maroon.  If you want them let me know.  Otherwise to the trash they go.

The White flower is Moonflower.  I have been throwing out these seed pods too.  If you want some let me know.

On the way back into the house I scared a lizard and he scared me.  He hit one of the Coreopsis plants and seeds fell on the sidewalk.

Now lets go to the vegetable garden.

Lots of Spinach seeds ready to save.

While I was saving flower seeds and broke the one plant, I came upon this bright idea.  Well time will tell if it is a bright idea.  Put a rock in the bag to help weight it so the seeds will fall to the bottom of the bag and write the seed name inside.

Here is the plant in the bag.  The binder clip is on and the rock is in the bag and sitting on the brick.

The lettuce is starting to flower and will be ready to bag soon.

The Blue Hubbard squash plant is huge.  It has a few flowers near the base of the plant.

Here are the Snow Peas going to seed in front of the Blue Hubbard.  I usually just let the pods dry and start to crack open, then collect them.  Today I decided to put a bag around this plant too.

Here are some dried pods with seeds showing in some of them.  I just dropped them into the bag around the plant.

I had to use a big grocery bag for this plant.

Do you remember in an earlier post where I talked about the cabbage plants needing to have the tule put around each plant to protect them, but I hadn't gotten it done?  I just put screens over the wood frames on the raised bed.  Well the wind keeps blowing the screen off of the bed and this is what I found today.  A cluster of eggs.

One cluster of eggs is no problem.  I'll just go get some Duct tape.  Well I didn't find Duct tape, but I found this blue plastic tape.  That will work to stick the eggs to just fine.

Well I got that bunch of eggs, then found a darker bunch of eggs and a worm.  GROSS!

WELL IT IS ABOUT TO GET MUCH WORSE.  I MEAN REALLY GROSS!

 They are on almost every cabbage.

 Disgusting!  Tape will not be enough now.

I broke off a leaf trying to get them wiped off with a paper towel.  They are in the cracks where the only way to get them out is by breaking the leaf when you try to move it.

I pulled this one off on purpose. Don't finish reading if you have a weak stomach.  I took the paper towels and wiped and wiped and wiped.  The eggs just smashed and smeared.  I felt like I was cleaning up after a baby who had a diaper that leaked and went in every little fat roll.  It seems to just smear and spread and you can't get it all.  After a pile of gross paper towels I did what I could never do to a baby.

I squirted the cabbages with the hose until all the eggs and grossness were gone.

I put bigger screens on the cabbage and rocks to hold them down in the wind.  I hope this stays in place and keeps the bugs away.

Now for a little better story.  Here are the garlic.

 This garlic is the saddest crop of garlic that has ever grown I think.

 I pulled everything that was left.  There is probably just enough to replant for next years crop.

 These four are just a single round ball each.

Cabbage Heads, Spinach Seeds, Garlic, and Potatoes

Five of the six cabbages, I got from my neighbor that started them from seed, are doing great.

Here are two of them.  I planted onions around them, but that isn't keeping the cabbage loopers away.  You can see all the holes in the leaves.  I have been going to put tule around them for 2 weeks and still haven't done it.  Tule is like netting, but has smaller holes, is softer, and used for bridal wear.

For now it just came into my brain that I could cover them with the window screens.  I don't care if the onion tops are bent over.  I hate onions!

Here is the spinach that has gone to seed.  I think it is ready to have a paper bag placed over the seeds to save them.  The lettuce behind it will be going to seed soon.  I am out of seeds from both of these plants, so I let a lot of them go to seed.

The garlic is dying without going to flower.  I noted before that it was going great in the winter and then when we got the hot winter spell it started dying.  The ones I have dug are double bulbs/cloves.  You can see them HERE.  I think I will pull these up and plant lettuce and spinach here.  I will have to go buy some seeds this time.

Here is a garlic from last year that must not have grown and came up this year instead.  Can you see the bulge near the top of the plant?  That is the flower developing.  After it comes out and starts to open I will break it off, so that it puts the energy into the garlic bulb and not the flower.  If it is broken off too soon it will come back.

             

This years garlic is weird.  The red spot in the center of the left picture is something popping out of the stock.  The picture on the right has a bulge at the base of the stock.

The Garden is Started

I took pictures of the tomatoes and tomatillos as I was transplanting them and I cannot find the pictures.  I have a new phone that I was using and I must have deleted them. :(

I had a few leftover pots so I took this picture of them.  I used 1 quart pots that I had saved.  Then I added 2 layers of coffee filters to the bottom so the soil wouldn't run out of the hole in the bottom of the pot.  Then I added about 1 inch of soil-less soil.  I set the bottom of the plant on the soil and covered the stems with soil.  Now they will have a lot of roots and I won't have to lay part of the plant in a trench when planting.

I started the seeds on January 24.  Transplanted them into pots on February 28.  Here they are today, March 22.  The two that look dead are the tomatillos.  I think I over watered.

The seedlings on the left are Calendula flowers planted March 1.  The others are Anise and different types of basil that need to be transplanted last week.  They were planted January 24.  I hope to get them transplanted this week, before they die.

These are gourds and pumpkins.  The little pot is my granddaughters sunflowers.  Everything was planted February 28.  I dug up the seeds in the center front pot.  They are still there and look just like the day they were planted.  I'll give them another week and plant some more.

Two spots of spinach are coming up.  Here is one of them.  I forgot to water them for a week after they were planted.  I'm happy to see they survived me.  They were planted March 7.

Can you see the tiny spots of green?  They look more yellow green.  These are the peas I planted when I planted spinach and forgot to water too.

The last thing planted is the lettuce that is at the other end of the spinach bed.

January 2013 The gardening year has already begun

I started seeds yesterday.  These containers had dead basil plants in them.  I just pulled out the plants and root hairs and planted in them without adding fresh soil.
The back one that shows a lot of white is the lettuce seeds I saved from last year.  There are a lot of leaf and flower pieces in the seeds.  The right 1/3 is spinach.
The front container is all basil.
I spread the seeds on top of the soil in both pots and patted them into the soil. Sprinkled them with water, trying not to let the water move the seeds.

Here are some pictures of my garden today.

Spinach still trying to grow in the cold.  A little lettuce not looking too bad.  Planted this several months ago.  Have had one small salad from it.

This lettuce looks frozen.

Added some snow around the edges.  Looking pretty dry.  Hopefully the snow will melt and water the spinach and lettuce.

I took me two days to get the snow and ice scraped off of the glass.  Yesterday was the thick layer of snow and today was the ice.  I was worried that lettuce and spinach would die, because of a week or more with no sunlight.  All of the herbs are dead except the rosemary.  With not getting above freezing for a week I am surprised to see it still alive.

Lots of snow and dead things everywhere.  The bed with the red frame is the garlic.  Covered with screens and mini pallets to keep away whatever was eating the tops.  Scraped some of the snow off it.  Hope the ice will melt and water the garlic and then get some light too.

Gourds drying on the vine.  Will be ready to pick when it is time to plant again.  Do your gourds rot over the winter in the garage, house, or wherever you put them?  Now you see how to stop that from happening.  Another one of those things that require being done different in Nevada.

Some of my water storage containers.  They were mostly filled from the big rainstorm about a month ago.

The horse trough was my best yard sale find in 2012.  $15.  It filled half full from that same rainstorm.  I wish I could find more big containers like that and for as cheap.