Additions to the food forest + new seeds (VIDEO of bean varieties/seed collection & when to grow)

In a previous post, I show you some of the new seeds we bought from Vegan seeds and SOS (Seeds of sustenance), and here I wanted to show you a the collection haul we purchased from Seed Savers Exchange. In the video below I show you the varieties of beans we purchased from the site, and Apple gourd, arugula, and peas. From Rare seeds website, we got 2 Aronia berry plants, 2 Goji berry plants, and 2 Dwarf mulberry tree plants with a variety of seeds as well. Those trees don't ship until April. I made the foolish mistake of transplanting blueberry and raspberry plants so early. Recently, we transplanted new additions to the food forest including 1 Lapins Sweet Cherry tree and 2 Elberta Semi-dwarf Peach trees, with 16 blueberry and raspberry plants (Sunshine, Blue Crop, Pink Lemonade blueberry varieties and Anne variety raspberry.) I did mulch the trees and berry plants with pine needles, but I noticed some plants had died at the tops of the berry plants. I should have mulched over top of the plants (probably.)

In the first two pictures below, are of the bean varieties from Rare seeds. Those include Turkey craw, Calypso, and Hidatsa Shield. And not seen in the picture is the Christmas lima beans.

Below are the blueberry and raspberry plant varieties, and peach trees and cherry tree.

Seeds for the 2016 Gardens

Every year I purchase from the Veganseeds people. This year I purchased less seeds from vegan seeds company, and am experimenting with another seed company on amazon called SOS (seeds of sustenance). From the vegan seeds company, the pack contained 2,500 Total Non-Hybrid seeds of the follow varieties: 1. TOMATO beefsteak 125 seeds 2. Blue Lake bush Bean 50seeds 3. Kidney Bean 50 seeds 4. lettuce 500 seeds 5. Broccoli 100 6. cabbage green 100 7. Nantes  CARROT 300 8. Sweet Corn 50 9. Hales best jumbo Cantaloupe 50 10. Marketmore Cucumber (50 seeds) 11.Ashley Cucumber (50 seeds) 12. black beauty Eggplant 50 seeds 13. cherry belle Radish 50 seeds
14. Spinach 50 seeds 15 Green Pepper (50 seeds) 16. Jalapeno Pepper (50 seeds) 17. Watermelon (45-50 seeds) 18. Yellow Squash (50 seeds) 19. Zucchini 50 seeds 20. Cayenne Pepper (50 seeds) 21. ONION yellow spanish 50 seeds) 22. dark red Beet (50 seeds) 23. Lima Beans (50 seeds) 24.Sunflower Seeds (50 seeds) 25. rutgers TOMATO (125 seed 26. pinto beans 27. Utah celery 28. jack-o-lantern pumpkin 29. peas green 30. cowpeas 31.cilantro 32. brussel sprouts 33. Georgia collard greens 34. turnip greens
From the SOS company, the pack contained 15,000 seeds of the same varieties that was packaged from vegan seeds. Some different and unique varieties in the SOS pack were Green Globe Artichoke, Spineless Okra, Fordhook Lima Bean, Long Purple Eggplant, Large Mixed Gourds, American Purple Top Rutabaga, Big Max Pumpkin, Bilicious Corn, Scotch Curled Kale, Boston Pickling Cucumber, Calabrese Broccoli, Crimson Sweet Watermelon, Giant Nobel Spinach, Green Arrow Pea, Green Flesh Honeydew Melon, Iceberg Lettuce, Large White Rib Swiss Chard, Long Island Brussels Sprouts, Mary Washington Asparagus, Peredovik Sunflower, Red Acre Cabbage, Paris Island Romaine, Purple Top Turnips, Red Cherry Tomato, Red Romaine Lettuce, Red Russian Kale, Roma Tomato, Ruby Onion, Small Sugar Pumpkin, Spaghetti Squash, Sweet Banana Pepper, Victoria Rhubarb, White Snow Puff Corn, Slow Bolt Arugula, Snowball Y Cauliflower, and Sweet Yolo Wonder Pepper. 

 

In the picture below are leftover seeds from previous years, flower seeds recently given to me, and seeds saved from the garden vegetables. Much of the seeds saved from the garden were melon seeds, cushaw seeds, etc. 

How to save seeds from common garden vegetables

One of the ways I dry lettuce, broccoli, radicchio is by covering and tying off with newspaper. Pull the plant out of the ground, cut off the root ball, then save the top of the plant with the dangling seedpods by wrapping the plant with newspaper, and tie with a string the top of the stem. Hang on a wall in the house or where ever is convenient to hang drying plants. This is usually a temporary method of drying, as this could encourage mold. The proper method of storing or drying seeds is by taking the shells away from the seed, dry for a week, then storing in an envelope, plastic bag, or glass jar. Keep seeds in a cool, dry place; and of course you can store seeds in the refrigerator or freezer. 

Typically it is best to let all seedpods dry naturally on the decaying plant. Once the plant dies and becomes brown and brittle, the seeds should have dried well enough that you can store the seeds indoors. There are several methods of drying different plants, and I'll show you different ways I dry each plant and their seeds.


In the picture below, I have covered Radish plants, Lettuce, Spinach, and Radicchio in newspaper and tied with a string.

We prefer to allow the beans dry naturally on the plant, but you can harvest bean pods green and allow them to dry by stringing pods together (which we have done in the photo below). It is best to dry beans and other seed pods on wracks that will ensure aeration and prevent molding.

Here I am drying onions and beans on newspaper, and corn drying in a box.

Normally I dry cantaloupe, watermelon, and squash seeds by scooping them out of the fruit, rinsing them in water, then laying them out on a paper towel, wash cloth, or newspaper. After a week or two of rotating the seeds, they should be ready to store. Pepper seeds can be dried as you would squash or melon; but pepper seeds will dry faster than other fruits.

Because a coating on the outside of tomato seeds prevents the tomato from sprouting on the inside of the seeds, saving seeds from tomatoes requires (as well as cucumbers) a fermentation process. Fermentation is one way of breaking down the coating. 
Use your biggest, ripest (mature), and best looking tomato to save seed from. Start by scraping out the seeds into a glass jar, and avoid big chunks of tomato. Fill the jar with 1 and a half times as much water as you do tomato seed and juice. Then cover the jar with a coffee filter or fabric that will allow the jar to breathe; then secure with a rubber band or hair tie. Keep the jar in a cool, dry place out of direct sunlight. Everyday, shake the jar of seeds and juice. A scum will develop on top of the juice, and of course that is normal. After four days or so, strain the juice from the seeds in a sieve. Clean the seeds with water. Spread the tomato seeds on a paper plate or paper towel for several days until completely dry. Store in an envelope. 
Cucumbers also require a fermentation process, but you do not have to ferment the seeds in a jar of water like the tomatoes. I have done that before, but I have also seen gardeners dry the cucumber seed as you would a squash seed.
Save the seeds from an overripe, yellow cucumber that has been left on the plant until it has doubled its picking size. This will allow the seeds to mature and triple their normal picking size. 
In the picture here, there is one large cucumber on the left that is turning white and yellow--this means that the cucumber is mature enough to save seed from.
First, scrape out seeds into a sieve. Wash the seeds in the sieve over running water. Clean completely and dry on a paper towel or paper late for up to seven days. 

Adding more seeds & bulbs to the 2015 garden inventory

For Valentine's day/my birthday, James got me a garden pot full of bulbs and seeds. I was suspicious that was what he was up to since I posted a lovely photo on facebook that read: "Say 'I love you' with seeds" that featured a heart shaped box with different seeds inside.
Several weeks I showed you my Seed inventory which you can see the full list at the post here: Seeds I bought for 2015 garden year. The seeds you see in the picture below come from Vegan seeds company.

Today James bought a large selection of Basil, Watermelon, Radishes, pumpkins. We have shallot bulbs, asparagus, red onions, garlic, and rhubarb. You can see the selection in the pictures below:

Seeds I bought for 2015 Garden year

Thanks to generous donations from family members, we were able to purchase seeds for the upcoming garden year. We were able to buy 60 varieties of seeds from Veganseeds company, 10 Luffa seeds, 1000 Goji berry seeds, and 50 Dino Kale seeds.

From Veganseeds company, I bought "Emergency Seed Vault - 60 varieties of seeds" (non-gmo, non-hybrid, Heirloom, Vegan seeds). The Seed Vault included different types of Tomatoes, Beans, Melons, peppers, and Squash. Unique seeds added to the Seed Vault were Asparagus, Kohlrabi, Cauliflower, Anise, Echinacea, Swiss Chard, Arugula, Rutabaga.

We bought the Luffa seeds on amazon at "Luffa Bathroom Sponge 10 Seeds - Gourds!". Luffas are fibrous internal structure of the gourd that converts into sponges after 12 inches long. They climb or spread just like cucumbers and need very similar growing treatment. They can be eaten like a cucumber, and you can dry them to make loofah bathroom sponges. When ripe, leave in a dry place, and the outer skin will come away revealing the loofah beneath. Wash them in mild disinfectant and place in a warm place to dry completely.
Harvest when 6" long for eating. They are slow to grow, and it is best to start indoors according to gardeners. 

photo source from a Japanese lifestyle for every culture

 From Asklepios-seeds we bought 1000 seeds of Goji Berries from: 1000 seeds of Lycium barbarum, Goji-Berry, Wolfberry, Boxthorn, HIGH YIELD STRAIN.  

From Botanical Interests, I bought the "Kale Italian Lacinato Nero Toscana Certified Organic Seeds" also known as Dinosaur kale. 

The following photos show you the collection of Organic & Non-gmo Seeds I currently have:

The list of seeds include: 

1. Rutgers TOMATO (1,000 SEEDS) 2. Blue Lake Snap Bean great flavor (200 ) 3. Dark Red Kidney Bean (200 seeds) 4. Butter crunch Lettuce (44,000+ seeds) 5. GREEN Broccoli (1,150seeds) 6. CABBAGE ALL SEASON (1,100 seeds) 7. SCARLET NANTES CARROT very tasty (26,000 seeds) 8. Corn (truckers favorite) (150 seeds) 9. CANTALOUPE HALES BEST JUMBO (250 seeds) 10. Market more Cucumber (500 seeds) 11. Ashley Cucumber tasty (500 seeds) 12. Eggplant black beauty (150 ) 13. Cherry Belle Radish (550 seeds)salad favorite 14. Spinach Bloomsdale (550+plus seeds) 15. California Wonder Bell Pepper (150+plus seeds) 16. Jalapeno Pepper (150) 17 Watermelon (75seeds) 18. Yellow Crookneck Squash (85 seeds) 19. Zucchini Black Beauty (75 seeds) 20. Long Red Cayenne Pepper (150 seeds) 21. ONION (100seeds) 22. Dark Red Beet (150+plus seeds) Great Taste 23. Henderson Lima Beans (150+plus seeds) 24. Sunflower Seeds (2050+plus seeds) 25. BEEFSTEAK TOMATO (1000 seeds) 26. TURNIP SEVEN TOP TURNIP GREENS (36500 seeds) 27. COLLARDS GEORGIA SOUTHERN COLLARD GREENS (36500 seeds) 28. CELERY (23,000 SEEDS) 29. PUMPKIN (50 SEEDS) 30. BRUSSELS SPROUTS (100 seeds) 31. COWPEAS (50 seeds) Black eyed peas 32. GREEN PEAS (30 SEEDS) 33. CILANTRO (50 seeds) 34. ANISE 50 seeds 35. BASIL 50 seeds 36. CATNIP 50 seeds 37. CHAMOMILE .45gm 38. CHIVES .7gm 39. ECHINACEA 20 seeds 40. FENUGREEK 30 seeds 41. OREGANO .5gm 42. SAGE 50 seeds 43. WHEAT Spring Wheat (100 seeds) 44. CAULIFLOWER (100 seeds) snowball 45. OKRA (40 SEEDS) Clemson Spineless 46. PARSLEY (100 seeds) Italian 47. ROMA TOMATO (100 SEEDS) 48. MANALUCIE TOMATO (150 seeds) 49. Bantam Yellow sweet corn ( 130 seeds) 50. BUTTERNUT SQUASH (50 Seeds) 51. SWISS CHARD (50 seeds) 52. ENDIVE (50 seeds) 53. PINTO BEANS (30 seeds) 54. TOMATO CHERRY (125 seeds) 55. Mustard greens (100) 56. Asparagus (40) 57. Arugula (100) 58. Turnip purple top (100) 59. Kohlrabi (50) 60. Kale (50) 61. Dill (50) 62. Rutabaga (50)

Luffa seeds (10)

Goji berry (1000)

Butternut squash other (400+)

Dino kale (50)

Spaghetti Squash (100)

Acorn Squash (300)

Sweet marjoram (100)

Summer Savory (50)

Spearmint (50)

Rosemary (20)

Garlic Chives (40)

Thyme (50+)

Basil Italian, Lemon, Dark Opal, Cinnamon (40)

Watercress (100+)

Broadleaf Sage (18)

Sweet Banana pepper (30+)

Lavendar (50+)

Early Prolific Straightneck Squash (50)