Friday, January 16, 2009

Seeds Are In

The seeds I order from johnny's came yesterday, pretty fast for cross border shipping I must say. In fact so fast my growing area is not set up yet. It shouldn't take me much longer though, I have painted the walls and have put the new ceiling tiles in, kind of sprucing up the basement lately. All I have left to do is hang the adjustable shelves, hang the light and I will be ready to go as well as share my grow light setup.

I have also started to save the seed from the cherry tomatoes from the grocery store. Being from the grocery store I have no idea if I will end up with what I purchased but it is worth a try. To save the seed I just cut them open, scooped out the seed into a bowl and added a little bit of water. I will then let them mold a little bit to release the seed jell, rinse, drain and dry. I hope they come true as those zebra ones are pretty cool and tasty.

Kind of hard to see but the seed jell is
red & green just like the tomato

I am also going to do a few seed trades with fellow veggie bloggers. In return for some of my varieties I am going to be receiving Variegated Tomato seed from Ottawa Gardener and Pink Berkely Tie Dye seed for Judy. I am also going to share some of my Cherokee Purple seed with Skeeter to go with her purple peppers she grew last year. This tomato seed swap stuff is kind of fun.

Lastly I have been watching the icicles grow larger and larger over my veggie trellis and cold frame. I am beginning to think I should have thought of this before I placed my cold frame there. Lets hope they don't let loose all at once or I may not have any glass left.

Taken on this beautiful yet frigid day,
-15c(5f) with the wind chill feeling more like -25c(-13f)

15 comments:

  1. Alright! I can't wait to see your germination/propagation photos later. Like I said on my blog, i'll be glad to trade with you as well, at the end of the year. I like trying different varieties of stuff.

    EG

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  2. Dan, I hope those pretty icicles do not turn into spears for your cold-frame. Yikes, that would not be nice to hear or see!

    How bad of me, I did not think to offer you any seeds! Duh, on my part. I only have flower seed that I collected. Hollyhock and 4 O'Clocks from my dads TN yard and my beloved Vinca (Perwinkle) from my GA garden. If you would like any, let me know, you have my email address!

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  3. Ops, forgot to say thanks for the Link also! My mind has been so full lately. arggg, I think I need to slow down and collect my thoughts :-)

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  4. That was fast! That tomato jelly is looking pretty soupy. Is that the right word?

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  5. EG - I'll get some photos up of my light by Monday. I can't wait to get some stuff growing.

    Skeeter - No need to trade, No worries. When you said you liked the look of them I thought, I have lots of seed so I should send you some.

    Tina - Hmm I think soupy is the right work. They are very soupy, this is from two cherry tomatoes and it was before I added any water. Juicy little suckers.

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  6. How impressive Dan. And yikes, those spears. I tried to take a pic of one at my inlaws before Christmas. It was 4 feet long. Ouch! Sure hope you save your coldframe, it is one classy looking garden tool! I've been very impressed with it.

    I'm very interested in your seed saving technique. The one Trudi has on wintersown.org uses sink cleaner like Ajax, which isn't very appetising.

    Glad you got your seeds, I've been lazy and haven't ordered.

    I too can't wait to see your light setup. I'm building mine tonight. Gotta figure out bulbs and fixtures though. I didn't buy them yet. Light spectrums and lumens, beyond me.

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  7. Keep posting about seed saving! I tried to save some seeds last fall and they all turned moldy. I guess I didn't let them dry out enough before storing. I'm going to keep trying this year and will be looking for good tips.

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  8. Sinfonian - lucky the cold frame has a thick layer of snow over it so even if they drop it shouldn't do any harm I hope. I can't move it because I placed it 6" in the ground for insulation and it is now frozen in.

    Using ajax or the like to save tomato seeds is new to me. I just use the tried and true routine of naturally fermenting the seed to remove the seed jell. I will snap some photos of the process and post them once all the steps are done.

    Sandy - I have saved tomato seeds a few times and I'd like to start saving other varieties this year. I will do a post for saving tomato seeds once I get a photo of each step.

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  9. Much too cold, but how exciting to get the seeds delivered , spring can it be far away?

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  10. Your new seed area sounds really nice. Looking forward to seeing it in action.

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  11. Rosemary - Yes, it has been way to cold lately. Spring can not come soon enough.

    Kathy - Neither can I, I will be starting the onions tomorrow, can't wait for them to sprout.

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  12. Those icicles look scary. Mine have grown a tremendous amount since bloom day. We had 12 more inches of snow and it is providing food for them. Luckily it looks like your roof doesn't have much snow left.

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  13. Daphne - This side of the house is south facing, combine the roof pitch & sun rays and the snow does not stick very long. We have not had 12" of snow since Dec 24th and I am glade about it too!

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  14. Ooh...it looks cold. Good luck with your tomatoes!

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  15. Parsec - It has been just as cold the last few days. For the next two months it will be a mix of frigid weather followed by warmer, snowy weather.

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