Seeds and Such

Today I finally cracked open my copy of Seed To Seed, by Suzanne Ashworth. Now I would have sworn that I had actually perused at least the first chapter of this book . But, since my copy was still wrapped in it's store shrink-wrap, this was obviously not the case. Before opening this book I was confident that I could save seeds. After all, hadn't I finally learned the trick of saving tomato seeds? (You have to ferment the outer gel coating off by soaking until they get icky, then pour the ick off and dry.) It seems that I was overconfident.

Apparently my craving for variety has done me in before I begin. According to Ms. Ashworth, seeds of several species cross and self hybridize, resulting in sterile or unpleasant seed . How utterly inconsiderate of them. Seed to Seed says that the secret to saving seeds is growing just one variety of each plant. Ah, well, considering my personality it is unlikely that this will ever happen. I live for variety. This does explain my grandmother's garden, though. I used to pity her as a child, since she only had one type of bean, tomato, and cucumber. Now I know why.

We are planning a third garden next year. Hopefully the distance separating them will be enough to avoid cross pollination. Hopefully. Ms. Ashworth did say in her book that onions can/will cross pollinate over a mile. A mile, imagine that. It seems too incredible to believe. We have a lot of land, but not that much. And as it's a timber farm, sunlit spaces for gardening are rare and prized. I'm thinking just shallots in the spring and multiplier onions in the fall.

Multiplier onions are very cool. You stick an onion in the ground, wait several months, and harvest
10-12 onions which store very well over the winter if they're kept cool, around 50 degrees. If that sounds easy, it's because it is easy. Not all gardening is sweat and labor. In fact, the hardest job in gardening to me is harvesting green beans. Because they hide. I think it's intentional on the plant's part...no matter how hard I try to pick them clean, I'll miss a few and get a few giants which I let go to seed. They are random, and it's the randomness which bothers me. I did grow yellow beans one year, and purple the next. They were so easy to harvest compared to the green beans because they showed right up. They weren't as tasty, though, so we're right back to the Random Green.

Parsnips are the other hard work in the garden. Planting parsnips will make any person' s back sore. They're light, little seeds and they want to be planted just 1 1/2 inches apart. this is many little holes with many little seeds. They also like to be constantly moist when they're germinating. This means three weeks of daily sprinkeling with a hose because the rest of the garden requires deep watering. Lastly, when they are dug up they must be carefully, surgically removed. No tough pulling, they must be excavated. They are worth the effort though, especially if they are planted in early July (yes, thank you, my back is recently sore) and harvested after the first frost. They are sweet and light; creamy and satisfying to the tongue in a way that makes potatoes seem grainy. I judge a seed company by whether they carry parsnips or not...the best do.

Seed to Seed had one factoid which fills me with hope. Apparently, properly dessicated seeds will hold in the freezer for up tp a dozen years. My alternative is the prospect of digging up winter cabbage, roots and all, and successfully storing it over the winter to replant in spring with the hope that it will seed. I quickly found dessicant on Amazon...the kind that changes color when it absorbs water and can be reused year after year by reheating in the oven. Then I ordered many cabbage and parsnip seeds...not an easy prospect in July. I was very happy to find http://www.gourmetseed.com. They had some great online sales, too. So now, hopefully, for the next several years I will simply pull my seed from the freezer and plant away. This will give me some time to experiment with seed saving. Our grandparents knew all of this information, it was common and every day stuff. My generation has to relearn all of this...and perhaps pass it on to our children.