Now that we are into the later developed tomatoes it is perfect timing to start saving tomato seeds. I have posted about this topic before and have done a how to which can be found the following link. I am not saving a lot of tomato seed this year because I still have lots left but I do need to replenish a few and what's better then replenishing for free. First I am saving Porkchop, Velvet Red & Purple Calabash because I received them in trades and only have a few seeds left. I am also out of Cherokee Purple seeds so I am saving lots of them, future trades anyone? The only tomato I need to save seed from now is Pink Berkley Tie Dye, I hope some fruit ripens before the blight takes over.Well on the blight topic, the weather is forcasted to be rather dry for the next couple weeks. This should presumably slow down the blight and I hope I can harvest most to the remain tom's. This is the first year I have had blight in the six years I have grown tomatoes. Our summers are usually fairly warm and dry so I have never had this problem. I guess there is a first for everything.
I am also taking advantage of the dry weather to paint the porch. It was painted three years ago and has started to peel in a few places so I need to get on top of it before it goes to crap. I have about 50' of railing & posts to paint. I am painting the railing & posts light green to match the siding and the balusters, all 150ish of them, will be painted white to match the soffits. Should be excruciating.
Had to laugh at your last line about the painting project! ;) My husband just finished staining the decking and painting the railings and front bench etc. He was kind of cranky through the whole project so I know it was not his favorite task.
ReplyDeleteWhat's the average maturity for the Cherokee Purple tomatoes? I am figuring they are probably a longer maturing variety and probably something I would have to pass on as a result - but boy they are tempting looking! Regardless, I am planning to save Sunset Runner beans and Cascadia Sugar Snap peas. I know I will have plenty of extra sugar snaps and likely extra runner beans too - if you are interested I would be happy to share some of them with you too.
KitsapFG - The Cascadia peas sound good, I tried sugar snaps for the first time this year and they are excellent. I am guessing you could grow cherokee purples, the are 80 days to maturity. I had my first cherokee purple July 22 this year, just 8 weeks from transplant. I will make a note to set up a trade when it is seed time next year.
ReplyDeleteI don't mind painting but cutting in 150 baluster, top and bottom is a little much that's for sure. It will definitely be a task spread over a few days.
Please come for a visit. My house trim needs painting badly! I was going to tackle it this summer, but I got too involved in trying to beat EG with garden produce poundage, so I never found the time.
ReplyDeleteGranny - And beat EG you did! Sorry EG :-) A cross country painting trip might be worth it to bring back a weeks worth of your produce. It takes my garden a whole season to produce what yours does in a week. Next year I must plan for higher yields!
ReplyDeleteOh I've been saving seed :> I haven't saved a lot of tomato seed except Market Miracle. I did save a little Gabrielle (red sungold F3), Emma (gold sungold F3), black moor, chocolate cherry (but now I think I might like black cherry a little better so might save some of them too). My best seed producer is my Ground Control Marigolds. I gave up after I filled up a container with them. Sadly my saved peas didn't work this year. Too much rain and they all rotted. I'll do a whole list of what I've collected in Nov or Dec when the season is over and I have breathing space, but before people go out and buy seeds for next year. What we ought to have is a seed trading day, where bloggers put up their seed for trade and someone hosts with a Mr Linky so you can get to all the lists easily. That would be very fun :>
ReplyDeleteThanks Dan.....saving tomato seeds will now become my new obsession! lol.
ReplyDeleteI have a lot of leftover seeds also so I probably won’t be saving. I’d like to cut down to 5 FS varieties next year while keeping a couple fave’s and trying new ones too. Won’t be easy choosing !
ReplyDeleteIf it’s any consolation, Dan, I painted 60 ft of (4x8) lattice this summer. *gnarl* (I probably should get a paint gun !)
I'm trying to decide if I want to save seeds or buy true seed for the varieties I like. I got most of my seeds from wintersown this year and I'm not sure how "true" they are. My tumbling tom tomatoes were definitely not tumbling tom. I do have a few varieties I really like and I think I'll be buying packs of seeds for those kinds. I'll then save seeds next year for them.
ReplyDeleteDo you bag the flowers and hand pollinate? Or how do you preserve the integrity of each variety when you're growing more than one?
I remember your first post on saving tomato seeds. Quite an informative post and I was most impressed! Hard to believe another year has come and gone.
ReplyDeleteHi Dan;
ReplyDeleteyour blog is one of the most informative , so enjoyable to drop by and see your veggies..... My tomatoes are slowly performing tho lots yet to ripen, will they make it is the question before frost.. Good luck with yours.
Hey there, humor a newbie gardener! Please explain how to save these seeds for future use. I had delicious grape tomatoes this summer and I would be willing to share some seeds. Oh, if only I knew how!
ReplyDeleteThat yellow one is, well, super yellow! Hope it was tasty. As for the panting job, take a leaf out of the Huck Finn/Tom Sawyer book and convince friendly strangers (or non-strangers) passing by that painting is just such fun that they really want to help!
ReplyDeleteI'm somewhat new to seed saving, at least for tomatoes. Is it okay to save the seeds from tomatoes if the plants have blight?
ReplyDeleteDaphne - A seed trading day would be a great idea.
ReplyDeleteTCG - Good luck with your seed saving
Miss M - 60' of lattice would be brutal!
Chiots Run - I will send off the seed saving info.
Tina - This season has flown by that's for sure.
Rosemary - Glade you enjoy reading my blog. Tomatoes have been quite slow to ripen this year. I have lost most of mine to blight, certainly has not been a good year for them.
BarefootAdrianne - Here is a post I did on tomato seed saving:
http://veggiegardenblog.blogspot.com/2009/02/saving-tomato-seeds.html
Prue - The yellow porkchop tomato was excellent. I only ended up harvesting one though before the blight got the rest. I wish I could get some strangers to do my painting :-)
Dani - I think you can save seed from tomatoes with blight, I have read that the fermenting will sterilize the seeds. I would try to select blemishless fruit for the seed saving though.
Posting another comment on this blog entry because I want to let you know that I passed on a meme award to you. You can read all about it on my blog entry today.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.modernvictorygarden.com/apps/blog/
For Dani, Cornell University has a good faq on late blight:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.hort.cornell.edu/department/Facilities/lihrec/vegpath/lbfaq.pdf
They say that late blight can't survive on seed. Other pathogens can be an issue, but late blight (at least the strain that we have in North America) can't be transmitted that way.