Garden and Life Notes: seeds

Showing posts with label seeds. Show all posts

Saturday, January 7, 2023

Heirloom Vegetables

Heirloom Plant Varieties Provide More Than a Good Harvest or Beautiful Blooms

Home Gardeners can select plants with better flavor and interesting history.

Heirlooms provide a sense of history. The wardrobe from Great Aunt Rose’s attic, an antique hand-carved chair, and a rusty tool from a local auction carry a sense of history, of the people who used them. This holds true for heirloom plant varieties.

“Heirloom seeds are usually more than 50 years old and have been passed down from generation to generation,” said Kathy McFarland, Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Company. “This means they come with fascinating stories and heritage from years past.”

Many gardeners are drawn to the stories behind the names. ‘Radiator Charlie’s Mortgage Lifter’ tomato came from radiator business owner, “Charlie,” who came up with a large, meaty and productive variety that he sold during the depression. He used the money from this side business to pay off his mortgage.

‘Aunt Lou’s Underground Railroad’ tomato has been traced back to Kentucky through Ripley, Ohio. The seeds were carried by an escaping slave as he traveled the Underground Railroad. The tomato is characteristic of those grown in that era.

While the stories don’t enhance flavor, shelf-life, color, or fragrance, they are a way to connect to our plant and flower heritage. “Heirloom seeds have often been handed down as family favorites,” said Chris Mayer, Director at Wilson College’s Fulton Center for Sustainable Living.

Home gardeners, unlike commercial growers, have the luxury to choose what they grow. Many choose these vegetables and flowers for taste, shape, hardiness and color not found in hybrid selections.

Originally from India, Bullnose Peppers (Capsicum annuum) have been in U.S. gardens since the mid-1870’s. These sweet peppers were grown by Thomas Jefferson and are still grown at Monticello. They ripen early, withstand bad weather and their thick skins make them ideal for pickling, stuffing and raw with dips. While 20 seed companies offered these over 25 years ago, today vendors are rare and seeds often “out of stock.”

Heirloom varieties are open-pollinated which means that, unlike hybrids, seeds you collect from one year will produce the same plants the next year. “Using heirlooms helps preserve the gene pool and assure that resilience from pests, diseases and climate are built into the system,” said Mayer.

Tomatoes are the one vegetable that has a wide range of shapes, colors, taste and growing habit. Cherry, slicer, beefsteak, or canning types are available as are pink, orange, white and ‘Green Zebra’ striped varieties.

“Most heirlooms taste better than the hybrid and genetically modified produce because these have been bred and selected for generations based on how they taste,” said McFarland.

Pennsylvania heirloom tomatoes include Brandywine, reported to be introduced in 1885 by Amish farmers in Chester County. Other Mennonite and Amish heirlooms include Hahnstown Yellow, Amish Oxheart and Eva's Amish Stripe.

Mid-March is the time for seed starting for transplants in mid-May. Gardeners seeking heirloom or unusual varieties probably won’t find them at the local garden centers or nurseries.

The annual Master Gardener plant sale on May 20, 2023, will have some of the heirloom varieties ready to plant. Best results for planting transplants is after the last frost date and when the SOIL TEMPERATURE is ready. Check out the soil temperature information and note that in our area the best time to plant is mid-May.

Also see Heirloom Vegetables: Good Taste and Interesting Tales

U of California. The Real Dirt Blog. Heirloom Tomatoes

CKagan, Master Gardener

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Tuesday, March 30, 2021

Spring Garden Tips

We had a few mild days and started either thinking about working in the garden or actually doing some chores. Here are some tips for Spring.

Survey the garden and landscape. An important part of planning is having information about your garden. Note what light is available – full sun for 6 or more hours each day during the growing season, part sun/shade, and full shade. For some plants it is important to know if the site is wet or dry. Make note of what bulbs and perennials need to be divided.

Get your seeds! Last year there was a seed slam as gardening interest exploded during lockdown. Whether you order seeds or go to the garden center, look over your plans and get your seeds now. Look for plants that are listed for Zone 6b, the Franklin County USDA Hardiness Zone. Hardiness zones are areas with the same temperature - the coldest zone is 1 and the warmest is 10.

Sow any seeds you plan to start indoors. This will give you about 6 weeks before the last threat of a late frost (average is May 12 in Franklin County) and planting outside. Penn State’s Seed Starting Demystified article has good information.

Get a soil test. Since garden soil is the container for your plants, have it analyzed through Penn State. They are available for $9 at the Extension Office, 181 Franklin Farm Lane, Chambersburg (8:30-4:30 M-F). Find out if the soil needs amended and, if so, what it needs. Soil tests information.

Buying plants. Often the plants we want, especially annuals, are already out at the nurseries even though it is too early to plant them; however, later the selection will be small. If you buy them ahead of time you will need to babysit them until May.

Tune-up your tools. Shovels, spades, trowels, hoes, pruning shears, loppers, and hedge clippers should be sharpened. Clean garden tools now and after each use. Check for loose handles or screws. Make sure there is easy access storage for the garden season.

Do garden clean-up. Perennials and grasses left standing can be cleared. Remove fallen leaves over spring bulbs so that sun can reach the emerging foliage. Remove mulch from roses, azaleas, and other tender shrubs. Be prepared to recover if a cold-snap hits.

Prune dead and damaged branches from trees and shrubs. Prune only what you can reach. Leave big tree pruning to professionals. Delay pruning spring-flowering trees and shrubs until after they have bloomed. For example, do not prune forsythia until after it has bloomed.

Plant cool season crops. Once clean-up is done, and before working in the garden, make sure the soil is not wet. Working soil when it is wet destroys soil structure and causes compaction. When the garden is dry enough (feels crumbly like chocolate cake), it is planting time. Cool season vegetables such as peas, onions, shallots, leeks, salad greens, cabbage and broccoli be planted. Some are available as transplants and other seed-sown. Penn State Extension has a list of planting dates for common garden vegetables.

Check your soil temperature. Plants are sensitive to temperature below ground, too. Use a soil or meat thermometer and take the temperature at 2-3” deep around 11 a.m. Try to get readings over a period of four to five days. Transplant local warm season crops at 60° to 65° F. These include tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, cantaloupes, watermelons, pumpkins and squash. A daily soil temperature reading is available for Franklin County from Cornell University. More on soil temperature at Garden and Life Notes.

CKagan, Master Gardener

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Friday, February 5, 2021

Seeds: What’s in the Packet

Seeds: What’s in the Packet

by Annette MaCoy, Penn State Extension, Franklin County

SEED CATALOGS are arriving in mailboxes now. Seeds offer an opportunity for gardeners to grow old favorites and try new varieties at a much lower cost than purchased plants. The selection of seeds available from catalogs is extensive; you can find unusual varieties not sold or grown by local nurseries or garden centers. It takes some time and effort to start seeds successfully, but many are very easy for beginning gardeners to grow.

When we order seeds from a catalog, or when we purchase packets of seed in the spring, we are drawn to the colorful flower or vegetable pictured. It is important also to pay attention to the information and instructions provided, which can spell the difference between success and failure.

Seed Packet Info (Photo:B.WIlliams, NC State)

Here is some of the information usually included in catalogs and on seed packets:

Description – includes common and scientific name, plant height at maturity, days to harvest or bloom, growth habit (for instance, vining), life cycle (annual or perennial), and suggested uses for the plant.

HARDINESS ZONE – for perennials, this designation indicates how well the plant will survive average minimum low winter temperatures. The United States is divided into bands, or zones, with lower numbers indicating colder areas. Franklin County is in Zone 6, so perennials or woody plants that you select should be listed as “hardy to zone 6” or colder.

Hybrid or Open Pollinated – these terms refer to how these seeds were bred or created. Hybrid seeds, often called F1 hybrids, are the result of a specific cross between two carefully maintained parent plants to create a variety with hybrid characteristics and vigor. Open pollinated plants, on the other hand, are varieties that are pollinated naturally; these are often called “heirloom” or “antique” varieties and exhibit characteristics that are usually stable from year to year. They may be less vigorous or less disease resistant than F1hybrids but have other attributes, such as flavor or fragrance, that make them worth growing.

Weight - either a weight or number of seeds is noted; this is useful in determining how much seed or how many packets you will need for the area you are planning to plant.

Date – the year for which the seeds were packaged, e.g., “Packed for 2021” and a sell-by date, as well as the country of origin, are included. It’s important to know this date, because as seeds age, their germination rate declines. If you sow seeds from several years ago, you may get fewer seeds sprouting as their viability decreases.

Planting Directions – when to plant, planting depth, spacing, light exposure requirements, days to emergence, whether the seeds should be started indoors or can be planted directly outdoors; all this information will help you to grow a successful crop.

Although we often don’t think much about it, a seed is an extraordinary thing. Seeds come in myriad shapes and sizes, and plants have evolved ingenious methods to disperse seed. A seed is basically a container that is generally small, easily stored, and able to withstand conditions that would kill its parent plant. No matter how small the seed, contained within that seed coat is a dormant plant, complete with root, stem, and leaves, most of the time with a food source – either seed leaves or endosperm – to provide nourishment to the embryo seedling. A seed survives cold, drought, heat, sometimes for hundreds of years, just waiting for the right conditions of moisture and light to germinate.

Here are a few interesting facts about seeds:

Seeds provide more food for human beings than any other plant or animal – think of rice, corn, wheat, barley, oats, peanuts, and nuts. The second largest of all known seeds is the familiar coconut. It can float, sometimes thousands of miles, on the ocean because of its hollow cavity and fibrous coat.
Some seeds, such as those of orchids and begonias, are as fine as dust. The seed capsule of one orchid flower contained over 3 million seeds.
Many common weed seeds, such as lambs’ quarters, ragweed, and foxtail, can survive up to 40 years buried in the soil

Seed Vault Items (Photo Courtesy of Svalbard)

The Norwegian government has built a SEED VAULT at Svalbard, 390 feet inside a sandstone mountain on the island of Spitsbergen, to collect and preserve the genetic diversity of over 4.5 million samples of different seeds.

Editor's note: Keep your seed packets after sowing to save seeds and for reference on future care and harvesting.

At the end of the season you may want to SAVE SEEDS FROM YOUR GARDEN. Here's some tips from Penn State.

Also remember, when saving seeds, that germination rates will decline over time. You may want to test the viability of any saved, or shared, seeds. Check out TEST YOUR SEEDS FOR VIABILTY on this blog.

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