Seed Saving in Your Vegetable Garden

Some folks don't know that you can save your own seed from many, if not all, of the vegetable plants that you grow in your garden. Some folks are finding out, though, that the savings can be a substantial amount of money, and can add up quickly. The ability to share the seeds you grow with family, friends and those who can become friends through this exchanging of seeds is fun too.

I collect all of my own seeds, from all of my own heirloom varieties, and have been doing so for a long, long time. On occasion, I buy newly available varieties that I don't have, from a reputable seed source, like The Seed Guy , but their are many seed providers available to you via the Internet, so use who you think is the best.

Collecting some types of vegetable seeds is an easy process. Some plants make it so simple for you to collect their seed, that you could easily end up with hundreds, if not thousands of seeds from just a few minutes of collecting. Some, on the other hand, require a little more work on your part to extract the seed from sources like cucumbers, melons and squashes. Never fear, however, it is all worth it!

It is always best to collect seeds from what are called heirloom varieties, because they will carry all of the same traits as what you planted last year. YES! sometimes you can plant seeds from vegetables that you buy from the produce section at the local market, but you risk things like the fact that the seed may not be disease resistant, you may not get the same quality of fruit or vegetable, or you may not even get a yield at all. These are important things for you to consider before you waste your time.

Look at these zucchini seeds drying out on a paper towel and cookie sheet. At the end of your growing season, for this plant, let one zucchini grow to at least 18" long. It's okay if it is bigger and it may get as big as 8"-12" in diameter by that time. The seeds need to be scooped out of the fleshy part of this squash, rinsed and dried. Typically, I use paper towel and a cookie sheet, but sometimes seeds like watermelon stick to the paper towel if you don't get them rinsed well enough.

Let them dry out for at least a few days before you package them up for storage. I just use a zip type baggie and with a permanent marker, write the name of the veggie and the year I collected them. You can save them in one of many kinds of storage containers, like small mason jars or old spice jars.

Dealing with the fleshy, gooey part of a fruit or veggie to extract the seeds for next season is sometimes a real pain, but there are ways to make it a little easier. Some folks put the gooey part of a tomato that surrounds the seeds, as an example, in a mason jar with it half full of water. They will keep it in the jar for as much as a week, shaking the jar at least once each day to help loosen the goo around the seeds. Then, they just pour the contents of the jar into a strainer, rinse, and then place the seeds on a paper towel to dry. These tomato seeds were collected this way.

You can collect some seeds directly off of the mature or dying plant. These coriander seeds come from a cilantro plant. I collected all of the cilantro that I would be dehydrating for the season, then I let the plant grow normally until it started to die back. Once the seeds were dry on the plant, I pulled several branches together and broke them off into a large paper shopping bag. I shook the branches until all of the seed fell into the bag. I cleaned out all of the dried debris and bagged up the seeds

Sometimes a squash or melon produce a lot of seed. These cantaloupe seeds below are from just four melons. They require a little more work, but look at the result and the benefits. I usually let these harder shelled seeds dry out for a longer period of time prior to bagging them up to avoid the risk of mold.

It's always nice to get seeds in the mail from a fellow gardener, especially when it is a fruit or vegetable that you currently do not grow. One day, I received several small seed packets, from a Facebook friend, of different varieties of things I already grow, but she had included a little surprise. She had sent me a "Hopi" squash. 

These squash get big (I grew one from her seed that reached 32 pounds) and gray with a deep and rich orange colored flesh, and boy do they taste good. The seeds are very big and puffy. So, needless to say, I collected the seed, enjoyed the squash, and will be planting this variety of squash for years to come.

So, you see the importance, if not the necessity, of planting heirloom varieties of fruit and vegetables in your garden, so that you can collect the seed, save some money and share them with friends and family. Why don't you get started as soon as you can? I'm sure you will enjoy doing it as much as I do. There is so much more to learn about seed collecting, heirloom varieties and vegetable gardening that just can't be included in this article, but the good thing is that we all have this little friend called "Google" so have fun searching and learning!

A New Look With Raised Beds

You may have noticed that I have not spent much time here on the I Grow Vegetables Blog this last year. I am making major changes to the vegetable garden. I am raising up the beds and lining them with concrete block, which to some is very controversial.

I'm stacking the block two high, so these new beds will be 16" deep. I am also covering the ground, prior to placing manures, with cardboard. Some may call this a twist on the Back to Eden method. I call it good stewardship by helping my cardboard supplier keep it out of the landfill.

Once the cardboard goes down, the beds get lined with the block. Then, the manures go into the beds. It will take an entire season for the manures to break down on there own, so you can use finished compost instead. I then filled the walking paths with 12" of wood chips. Since I didn't want to loose an entire growing season, I got these new beds planted.

I am dealing with some some issues like stunted plant growth, and nutrient deficiency, but overall the garden is growing well. Prolific plantings like zucchini and cucumbers are doing great, but the tomato plants suffered until their roots reached the original soil below the manures. Bell Peppers are also thriving and producing much more than I hoped for. This season, my first year planting of "Kiowa Blackberries" produced 72 pounds of berries from 30 plants. I really look forward to next seasons berries.

I do a lot of canning of the zucchini, so I have 10 plants this year. I think I will plant 10 each season going forward.

I have also planted 6 cucumber plants, so, like every season in the past, I am canning a lot of pickles

The yellow squash grew well this season and it is hard to can up, so I dehydrated a lot of it into "chips" seasoned with garlic and onion powders.

And of coarse...the blackberries...

Although the season is not yet over, it will be soon and I look forward to finishing the rest of the beds during the fall and winter months. Although I do plan on expanding the garden, again, right now I have enough work to do, so, back to the garden!

How to Grow Cucumbers

What are the secrets to avoiding bitter Cucumbers? Here are some things you can do to grow perfect cucumbers.

Cucumbers planted in the garden are very prolific producers and can be great for pickling or eating fresh in salads or just freshly peeled. Cucumber, Tomato and Onion salad in an Italian dressing has always been one of my favorites. Cucumbers eaten on a regular basis are a great way to get re-hydrated during the summer months. I often find myself grabbing one off of the vine while I'm working outside in the summer heat.

Since it is a warmer season vegetable, cucumbers should be planted, as with most other vegetables, after the last chance of frost.  Check the date on the seed packet for the expected last frost, as it is different across the United States. I keep the USDA’s website as a favorite on my computer for a variety of information.

*** I cannot stress the importance of having good soil to support these prolific producers. I work a LOT of compost or manure into the soil the previous November (here in North Central Texas) and let it rot throughout the entire fall and winter months. I loosen the soil two weeks before planting my seeds.

Planting by seed has always worked best for me. I plant multiple seeds in groups four feet apart and then thin all but the strongest one plant. 

Spacing between rows should be at least six feet as the plants can easily grow together. If you are planting so the cucumbers can climb a sturdy fence, I would plant seeds about 4 inches apart and thin to the best plants about one foot apart.

In my home state of Texas, if I am going to plant a second crop I make sure I have plenty of time for the cucumbers to reach maturity prior to the first frost late in the growing season. Cucumbers usually need about 2 months to reach harvesting size.

If you’d like to produce great looking and tasting cucumbers, you’ll need to mulch heavily; approximately four inches of straw,  water regularly; about an inch per week spread throughout the week and harvest before they get about 8-10 inches long. If you let them grow bigger, or fat, they tend to get pithy and dry on the interior.

If you are using fertilizer from the local nursery or hardware store, I would fertilize more often at half of the normal rate each time. I would fertilize with about one pound per 100 square feet of row and apply it as often as every 2 to 3 weeks. I then water the fertilizer in very well each time.

Personally, as stated above, I use compost or manures in the fall months and do not need to add additional material during the growing season.

A salad cucumber on top and a pickling cucumber on bottom.

You can scatter finely ground finished compost underneath the plants if you desire, however, this can get cumbersome, as you’ll need to lift the plants to place the compost. You risk plant breakage applying compost this way.

Insect problems consist of cucumber beetles (spotted or striped), spider mites and squash bugs (true bugs). You can identify a problem if you see evidence of chewed leaves, tan colored mottling. The leaves typically turn very crisp, indicating spider mite damage. Control spider mites with a miticide. Mildews can be controlled with fungicides.

Check out my article on canning up "Refrigerator Pickles"

How to Grow Broccoli

Broccoli is considered a cole crop and can be grown in late summer and grown through the fall, or it can also be started in early spring. Broccoli is one of the most popular vegetables; however, it also gets a lot of negative comments about its taste from children. It is very easy to grow and should be planted in gardens across the USA.

You can direct seed your broccoli into the garden in both the spring and the fall because you need a good lighting system in the house if you are going to start your own transplants. The seedlings tend to get leggie very fast if you don't control the lighting consistently. Plant seeds in your fall garden by about August 20^th in Texas, but sometimes it's still too hot, so, you might need to adjust accordingly. You may need a shade cloche to protect the young seedlings until they are strong enough to handle the late summer sun.

You can plant seeds about 1-2 weeks after the last frost at springtime, and plant transplants at about the same time. Plant seeds about 15-16 weeks before the first frost in the fall/winter. Planting seed should be done at no more than a half inch deep, approximately 2 feet apart. If you are planting more than one row of broccoli, plant the rows 3 feet apart.

Keep the ground around your broccoli plants evenly moist by adding a 6 inch layer of straw mulch under the plants. You may consider laying a soaker hose down the middle of the row at the base of each plant, and then cover with the mulch. There are many types of mulches that you can use in the garden but consider using straw mulch for your entire garden, as it retains a lot of moisture and keeps the plants and garden looking clean.

Fertilize once per month with a balanced fertilizer, watering it in heavily after applying. Use about one pound per 50 foot row. If fertilizer is not available, or costs are prohibitive, side dress with newly finished and screened compost. If you have a large garden, you may already have a large compost heap cooking for future use.

Since there are a few insects that like to eat your broccoli as much as you do, use hanging sticky boards around the plants to control the flying insects like cabbage loopers. If the plants are infested with soft bodied insects like aphids, use a simple soap (dish soap) and water solution (about one teaspoon per gallon of water) to spray all over the plants, including under the leaves. If you are going to use a pesticide, please use it according to the label.

Harvesting can be a little tricky if you are doing it for the first time. The key is to wait until just before the flower buds on the head of broccoli open up. Don't let the flower buds swell up too much as it will be too late. Make sure the buds are still tight. Let the buds get as big as they can before you cut them. Broccoli will produce side shoots for multiple cuttings.

Broccoli is used in a variety of ways, including fresh. Lots of recipes for stir frying are available from multiple website cooking resources, as well as pasta, beef and chicken dishes that include broccoli too. It can be blanched and then frozen or canned up using a high pressure canner. No matter how broccoli is stored or prepared, you are sure to enjoy this wonderful vegetable from your own garden.

How to Grow Asparagus

Vegetable gardening is fun, easy, and the extra work is enjoyable. One of my favorite vegetables to grow is asparagus. The crisp snap of a well grown asparagus spear is music to my ears. It is said that you can grow asparagus anywhere in the United States, except for where it is very hot. I have a bit of news for you! I live in Texas and we saw temperatures reach over 100 degrees for approximately 26 days during this summer. My asparagus is thriving and I'd like to share with you how I grew my stand.

Soil
I live in what is called the "Blackland Prairie" in North Central Texas and the soil here is certainly heavy black clay. Although asparagus loves to live in a sandy loam soil, it will survive in heavy clay soils. You should make sure that there is sufficient drainage. Once planted, mulching with finely ground finished compost to maintain soil moisture is a must.

Previous to setting out one year old crowns, purchased from a reputable garden supplier, I turn in about 6 inches of quality compost to a depth of about 12" through a process called double digging. For best results, the best soil ph range should be about 6.5 to 7.0. Make sure you test your soil before planting, so you give your asparagus the best chance to produce for years to come.

Planting and Fertilizing
Buy quality plants! Purchase plants that are at least 2 years old. Set your plants into a trench 6" deep. Cover them with about 3" of soil. As the spears start to grow, cover with more soil until the trench is full. This is when I use a finely ground finished compost as a mulch. I usually plant multiple rows about three feet apart. At planting time I use a standard vegetable fertilizer, spreading about 3-4 pounds per 100 square feet. I'll also fertilize in late July with about 1 pound per 50' row.

Disease and Insects
Your plants can be affected by Frusarium wilt. This disease is brought on by too much moisture. Typically in Texas, it comes with summer rains in July through August. It is best to just remove infected plants as there is no control available.

Rust disease can be seen as small orange patches on asparagus spears and on the fern part of the plant. Rust is usually caused by high humidity and warm temperatures, so pick a rust-resistant variety. There are many rust resistant variety's available.

Asparagus beetle can become a menace to more than just asparagus in your garden. The beetle is small and cylindrical shaped and black with yellow markings. You may also see them on your bush beans and squashes. I watch for the beetle when my spears start to break the soil. I usually hand pick the beetles, however, if necessary I treat with a vegetable garden insect killer that lists asparagus and asparagus beetle on the label.

My first focus would be to try to introduce beneficial insects into the garden to control soft bodied insects like aphids instead of just applying a pesticide. I would also consider insecticidal soaps for thrips as well.

In early spring the spears can turn brown. This is usually caused by extremely cold weather, frost or freezes. The problem can be best controlled by removing the damaged spears and mulch with straw when you know the nighttime temps will plummet.

During the growing season
My main focus is to maintain even moisture to the asparagus plants. Their roots will reach into the next row, so keep the entire growing area evenly moist. Fertilize in the same manner; evenly. You may side dress your plants with your summer feeding, but I usually make a broadcast type of fertilizing for even coverage as well.

I started off with one year-old crowns, but spent two very patient years waiting to harvest. It was well worth the wait. Then I limited my first harvest so that I would not remove too many spears that were needed for crown support later in the season. In the third year, I harvested for a longer period of time because I had many more spears come up earlier. Once you get past that third year, you can usually harvest for a period of up to two months or more. 

Stop cutting the spears when they start to get thinner and the temperatures start to rise significantly. I cut my spears at the soil level. Let the rest of the plants that grow this season grow into full grown plants. These will provide food and strength for next seasons spears.

Preparing Asparagus
Although there are a multitude of recipes for asparagus, my favorite way to cook them is on the grill. I will steam them for just about 4 or 5 minutes, and then throw them on a very hot grill to put sear marks on them. The searing/grilling just brings out the flavor.

Growing Sweet Potatoes From Your Own Rooted Cuttings

When you place a sweet potato into a mason jar full of water, new stems and roots will grow from the potato. It may take a while, so be patient. I poke three toothpicks into the potato to hold it upright in the jar. Keep the jar filled with more water as it is used by the tuber and it evaporates.Once you start to see little white "nubs" on the side and bottom of the potato, you'll know that roots will be growing out soon.

I took cuttings, some rooted and some not, from my two sweet potatoes that have been sitting in these jars full of water for the last few months. It is obvious where you should make your cut with the stems that have roots on them, but a non rooting stems should be cut below the leaf (where you see little root "nubs" ever so slightly protruding from the stem (just below each leaf). 

I cut anywhere from 1/4 to 1/2 inch below the leaf junction so that when I place these cuttings into another jar of water, I have a few nubs ready to grow more roots.

When these non rooting cuttings have some root growth on them, I'll plant them out into the garden bed. It may take a few more weeks to get some roots on them, so a little more patience is needed. Once rooted, plant the stems 2-3" inches deep and in rows about 18-24" apart in soil amended with compost.

Would you grow your potatoes this way?

I just finished planting a "new" way, for me, to plant potatoes! In a bed about 6' X 8,' I dug small depressions in the ground and placed potato cuttings in them. I filled the bed with cuttings spaced about 18" apart.

I then covered them up with about 3" to 4" of wheat straw. Once the plants start to grow through the straw to about 10" tall, I'll add more straw to just under the top two sets of leaves. and then keep doing that until the mulch is about 12" to 18" above the top of the block border. That will equal approximately 20" to 26" of straw mulch covering the potato cuttings.

The reason that I'm trying this method, is because with all of the changes going on in outlining my beds with concrete block, I do not have the soil prepared as I would normally have. I had heard of this method from a Rodale gardening article that measured the effectiveness of planting potatoes several different ways, to determine the potential improvement in yield. 

We shall see, so please follow along as they grow and are harvested at the end of the season. I will post more photos as the plants emerge from under this first application of straw, then throughout the rest of the potato growing season here in North Central Texas.

Author's Note as of April 3rd, 2016: Prior to the beginning of April, we had a lot of rain, so the above test plot all died from being too wet. This is how I usually prepare my seed potatoes. And, this is how I mulch my potatoes once they are growing

Please feel free to share this with your vegetable gardening friends!

How to Grow QUALITY Tomatoes!

Celebrity Tomatoes are a great variety to have in your garden, no mater (sorry, I couldn't resist!) where you live. I do grow lots of heirloom varieties, but this is one great Hybrid for my garden. The tricks that work for me are the following, but these apply to most any variety:

1. Grow your own transplants to at least one foot tall before planting in the garden. Planting your transplants needs to be timed properly for your region to allow the plants to reach this height.

2. Prep your soil with lots of manures or compost in the fall months and let the earthworms do the mixing for you. Why should you break your back, right? Here’s my article on quick composting

3. Plant 7/8's of the plant into the ground, pulling all but the top two sets of leaves off.

4. Throw a tablespoon of Epsom salts into the bottom of the planting hole. Once completely planted, scatter one more tablespoon on the soil surface.

5. Know the difference between a Determinate and an Indeterminate variety, so you know if it’s' okay to pinch out the side growth. Here's my article on the subject

6. Keep an eye out for the bad guys: The dreaded Tomato Horned Worm, or the Tobacco Horned Worm

7. KEEP YOUR SOIL EVENLY MOIST THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRE GROWING SEASON!. This is a "must do!" Mulch if possible (I use straw mulch about 4-6 inches thick). Even moisture also helps to reduce the likelihood of cat facing (a bad cracking of the tops of the fruit). Here’s my mulching video over on YouTube, and my article on mulching.

8. Most varieties are in the so called "heavy feeder" category, so you can side dress with compost or a well-rotted manure. I would wait until after fruit starts to set, otherwise all you will get is a LOT of leaf and stem growth. (Side Note: I do not fertilize at all here in Texas, as I do all of my soil work in the fall).

9. Cage or stake your plants at planting time. Here's my article on the subject.

10. Have a BOUNTIFUL HARVEST!

Cutting, Planting and Harvesting Potatoes

I got my potatoes planted today (finally...I should have had them in no later than Valentine's Day here in Texas) before this oncoming flu gets any worse. Here's the steps to giving them a good start:

1. Purchase disease resistant potatoseed stock from your local nursery.
2. Cut into pieces (for more plants from one potato) with at least one eye in each piece.

Let them dry for at least one week (I was forced by weather and family duties to postpone planting right away).
3. Dig a trench in your planting row at least 3 inches, but I try to go 4 inches.

4. Place cut pieces in trench at 18 inches apart. Sometimes I place two small pieces together to make sure I get at least one plant to come up.

5. Cover and water!

Once plantings start coming up, you can protect them with gallon milk jugs with the bottom cut out, or like me, if we get frost I leave them alone as it will burn them back but not likely kill the plants. Mine re-sprouted after a late frost last season and I still ended up with a great harvest.

You'll know when it's time to harvest when the plants have dried up and died to the ground. Once plants die, I wait two weeks before I dig them up. This gives them a chance to toughen up their skins. I also pick them up off of the ground and place them on a drying table for a few days prior to storage.