![]() We saved seeds from various peppers we bought and gleaned (a bunch of Hatch-types fell off the harvesting truck outside some organic fields last year and got over-ripe in the sun, so we picked a few up and saved their seeds) last year, but we didn't manage to get any growing this year. Luckily my partner is pretty cool, too, so at his prompting we saved seeds from several kinds of winter squash - homegrown and store-bought - last year that we've already seeded, along with beans like teparies we purchased in big bags intended for eating. Thank you for reminding me to open my eyes and look outside the box! I can be so set in my ways, insisting on buying seed or collecting from plants I've grown. Wouldn't be surprised if avocadoes were recalcitrant. Mostly oaks and tropical fruits from the grocery store I want to raise as houseplants. In fact recalcitrant seeds are pretty rare in Montana where I live and the PNW where you live. It is true though that most seeds can be dried down and frozen- if you follow the rules. I've also heard that some tropical and subtropical seeds are recalcitrant. Though as with many things, I've noticed that arid climate oaks have acorns that seem to dry down quite a bit more than ours. They can't be dried down, you have to store them moist in the fridge. The acorns of oak trees are a good example of this. There is a important caveat to freezing seed and that is a type of seed known as Recalcitrant seed. She gives techniques for properly drying them down first- and she lives in the PNW. Consult Carol Deppe's book "breed your own vegetable varieties" for in depth details. When you take seed out of the freezer, it's important to let it warm to room temp before opening, otherwise moisture will condense on the seed damaging it. Freezing reduces viability a bit but extends it to as much as twenty years or more. ![]() ![]() There are some important details to freezing seed. Most seeds can be kept in the freezer if properly dried first. Is it okay to preserve/keep all seeds in the freezer? I will go the freezer route since it is really hard in the PNW to keep anything consistently dry. Sonja Draven wrote:Those are gorgeous, Joseph! I hope they are hardy for you. let things reproduce as they naturally do. I mowed it with my scythe and stacked it in the barn to throw them a bundle each day.ĭon't work any harder than necessary. This process started when a friend plantd wheat for a cover crop but then was not able to plow it in the spring. They are working their way through the dwarf apple orchard now eating the wheat that came up where they buried seed they missed. My old hens have become experts at recognizing seed heads and pods to thresh their food so all I have to do is through the mature plants in the tractor to feed them. The golden flax and lentils dried out early so I only have about as much as I planted to harvest for the chickens. I now have ripening about ten times as much millet, sorghum, thistle and sunflower seed. I bought a bag of bird seed and sowed it on the bare ground, mulched it with grass clippings and watered it thoroughly. I wanted a summer ground cover to keep the ground open so I could transplant raspberries in the winter. The natural way to plant the nightshade family is to let the fruit rot on the ground. The soil was covered in fallen tomatoes so when she opened it to plant the next spring there was a solid carpet of little tomato plants ready to transplant. at the end of the season she pulled the spent plants and closed it up for the winter. One of our co-op directors had a low tunnel full of cherry tomatoes. The ideal is to plant your harvested tomato and pepper seeds in among the spinach or other greens so they are sheltered by cold tolerant annuals which will reach maturity and be removed about the time most people start their transplants. We go through stress for 'economic efficiency' (plant spinach instead so that you double your crops in the same space), but less efficient methods can be much more enjoyable and easier. If it works well I might plant tomato plants during Autumn each year rather than Spring.
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