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Greetings Again
It is good to be back in contact with my fellow gardeners and
seed savers. The online NSN will not be as extensive as the
previous published one was, but the thoughts are as sincere. And
it's a good excuse to get out of the nether world of writing and
publishing and into the very earthy realm of gardening. Though
with 2 to 3 feet of snow on the ground it is a matter of faith
that the rich life filled dirt is down there. A great time for
dreaming of past and future gardens though. And definitely time
to get your seed orders together and sent in. NSN Issue #11 has a
list of good seed sources. Consider getting together with friends
and fellow gardeners to combine your orders.
Swiss Chard & Parsley Seed
The 1996 gardening season was an interesting and different one;
as has become the norm I guess. Winter was in no hurry to leave
us, and summer shy about showing her face. When she did come she
came in wet. So we started our growing season two to three weeks
late. As I mentioned in the Fall of 1995 - Issue #10 I had
planned to till up most of my garden in the spring. But as I
stood with garden plan in hand contemplating the comfortable,
friendly garden beds I changed my mind and my plans. With the
weather shortened season I had to admit it was no use planting
dry beans. There was little chance they would mature. As this is
a major crop for us this meant a good section of garden space. I
decided to till up just that area and put it into green manure
crops. This would help with the weed control and give the soil an
added boost. The rest of garden would remain in their beds. I
find permanent beds easier in the long run, especially in the
busy springtime. You can just go out and work and plant one bed,
or a part of a bed, without waiting until you can till the entire
plot. I figured I would weed and mulch and do the best I could
with the small amount of time that would be available. It turned
out to be a good decision.
The tomatoes were put out late when the weather finally warmed
up. But not as many as usual as I figured we would be maturing
them indoors come fall. The peas and potatoes and cole crops were
planted with a special appreciation for their short season
adaptability. The corn planting was also reduced. I would be
harvesting it all as green corn, for eating fresh but mainly to
dry for winter use, since there was little chance it would mature
to dry stage.
Looking Back at 1996
The overwintered swiss chard and parsely roots were planted with
hope that their seed crop would have time to mature. They
appeared to have survived the winter well being packed in sawdust
in a bucket and waiting out their days in the root cellar. But
only five of thirteen of the overwintered parsley roots grew.
While all four roots which I transplanted from those left in the
garden grew. Of the swiss chard roots five of eight grew. So I
learned. Leave the parsley in the garden and save more swiss
chard roots. The seed crop of both barely made it to maturity and
had to finish drying inside.
Broccoli
The Pacifica Broccoli which I had planted for seed was a
disappointment. The seed was old and germination poor so I didn't
have as many plants as I wanted to begin with. And those didn't
produce filled seed heads. This is a nice broccoli; a little
later than DeCicco, but the season simply wasn't long enough to
produce a seed crop. Worth trying another season.
Our summer did turn out to be a good one, and we had a great,
mild fall. The tomatoes actually ripened on the vine. The dry
beans still wouldn't have made it (I did plant a few for snap
beans) and I wasn't sorry I harvested all the corn as green corn.
It may have been able to mature to dry given the great fall
weather. But as there is not a lot of use for over ripe but not
fully mature corn, I'm glad I didn't take the chance. We've
enjoyed the large dried green corn supply this winter (it is
especially good cooked with dried beans).
Potatoes from Seed
An experiment that did work well was the potato from seed crop.
In 1995 I had saved seed from Blue Victor potatoes. In the spring
I planted them inside, along with the tomatoes, and transplanted
24 plants to the garden about 12" apart. Now in 1995 I had
eighteen varieties of potatoes growing so the seed was definitely
crossed, besides the fact that potato seed does not come true to
type. So the resulting harvest of these 24 plants was a fun
adventure in variety. You could pretty much tell the parents
though, by shape and color of skin and flesh. I chose five plants
to save tubers from to plant in 1997. Since 1996 was a bad year
for blight it was a good year to select for blight resistance.
I'm looking forward to seeing how my selections do. I was
particularly surprised at the overall yield from these seed
plants. Though some plants produced only one smallish tuber many
of them had quite a good yield. Not only is it fun to grow
potatoes from seed it's nice to know that it's an option should a
tragic fate befall our regular tubers. See Issue #8 - Spring 1995
for more potato information.
Back and Forward
As always seems to be the case, in spite of my worries about the
shortened season in the spring I harvested more than enough food
that fall. And I'm looking forward to a good 1997 season. I've
gotten used to the varied weather and am not assuming any
particular pattern this year. I'm always hopeful, however, for a
good growing season no matter what Mother Nature gives us. I know
I have some good excercise coming in remaking the beds which I
tilled up last year. But I'm looking forward to the lessened weed
problem and the enriched soil in that area. It is the newest
section of our garden and has the poorest soil, so I'm sure it
benefitted by a year of cover crops.
My biggest problem right now is a common and recurring one for
many gardeners. Too many great varieties out there and too little
space and time in the garden! Limiting our purchases to a
reasonable number of varieties is not easy, and a goal seldom
obtained. But the browsing and dreaming is fun; one of the best
pasttimes for these winter months. I wish you a great time with
your garden plans, and good dreams with your seed selecting.
Updated 3/29/97
Copyright © 1997 by Susan J. Robishaw
Web Site created by Steve Schmeck
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