Friday, August 16, 2024

Saving Seeds

 

Hello Gardeners

 

It’s been a while since I sent out an email. I hope your gardens are doing well. What a difference a year makes as this year I haven’t had to water very much at all. My flowers and vegetables are doing great and of course, so are the weeds!

Though there are still many weeks left of the growing season, it is time to start thinking about saving seeds. Remember the seed library would love to have your seeds! Saving seeds is easy and fun. After Labor Day I’ll start having seed packaging events. Look for information in a future email.

It is helpful if you remove the seeds from the seed heads or pods before donating to the seed library. It saves many hours of volunteer time if we don’t have to ‘clean’ the seeds before packaging.

Below is a quick how-to guide in saving seeds.

 

How to Save Seeds

1. Select open-pollinated (not hybrid/ F1) varieties of plants.

2. Start with the easiest seeds to save: Peas, Beans, Tomatoes, Lettuce and Native Plants.

3. Grow your plants making sure they are not cross-pollinated with other varieties. Select the healthiest plants to harvest seeds. If growing vegetables, also select good tasting fruit with high yields. Don’t choose wonky looking plants and select fruits from more than one plant if possible.

4. Gather fruits or seed pods at the correct time. See details below.

5. Dry seeds thoroughly. Store seeds in paper envelopes or small clean jars in a dry, cold location. A plastic or glass container in your refrigerator is a great place to store seeds.

6. Label, label, label!  Include the date, location and other notes about the plant, such as days to maturity or sun preference. You will forget come springtime.

Peas and Beans

Allow pods to ripen on the plants until they are dry and start turning brown. Peas and beans must be completely ripe or they won’t germinate. This will take about a month after harvesting the other peas/beans for eating. You can either strip the pods from the plants or pull up the entire plants whole and spread them to dry inside or other sheltered well-ventilated area for a couple of weeks. Shell pods and store in paper envelopes or jars. Pea and bean seeds remain viable for 3 years.

Tomatoes

Allow fruit to ripen fully and scoop out the seeds and pulp. Put the seeds and pulp in a glass jar with some water. Let sit at room temperature for 2-4 days, stirring once a day. Each day pour off the pulp and seeds that float to the top. Viable seeds will sink to the bottom. After 4 days, remove the seeds at the bottom, rinse thoroughly, drain and spread on newspaper or paper towels to dry. Package in paper envelopes or jars. Tomato seeds remain viable for 4 years.

Lettuce

You must allow the lettuce plant to bolt or grow a stalk which will make a flower head with small yellow flowers. They eventually change to feathery white tufts which contain black or white seeds. Lettuce seeds don’t ripen all at once, so monitor the plants for a month or two. Each time you see some seeds turning dark, shake the plant over a paper bag to catch the seeds. Dry indoors for a week before storing. Lettuce seeds remain viable for 5 years.

Native Plants

Most native plants produce a flower, which if pollinated, will make a seed head or pod. Late in the fall or after a frost, collect the seed pods or heads and allow to thoroughly dry. Remove the seeds before storing. Many native plants, especially milkweeds, attach a fluff bit to each seed to allow the seeds to disperse in the wind. To remove this fluff put the opened seed pods in a bucket or container with a lid. Add a couple of coins and close the lid and shake. The shaking with the coins will remove the fluff from the seeds. After shaking, the seeds will be at the bottom of the container.

Most native seeds require a moist cold period of time called stratification before they will germinate. The easiest way to grow these seeds is to plant them in the fall and let them go through the winter where they will sprout in the spring. Otherwise you will need to simulate winter by placing the seeds in moist sand and storing in the refrigerator for a set number of days before starting inside.  

 

RESOURCES

University of Minnesota Extension information - http://www.extension.umn.edu/garden/yard-garden/vegetables/saving-vegetable-seeds/

Seed Savers Exchange – http://www.seedsavers.org/

Native plant growing from Prairie Moon Nursery - https://www.prairiemoon.com/

Seed Sowing and Saving by Carole B. Turner

Starting and Saving Seeds by Julie Thompson-Adolf

 

Local Greenhouses and Nurseries

As a request from our volunteers I am adding a list of various local greenhouses or garden centers that sell plants. Many of these establishments do not use neonicotinoids on their plants that they grow. But the buyer should beware: they may sell plants that were grown previously at a different wholesaler which did use systemic pesticides. You should ask the growers at these establishments whether neonics were used on the plants you wish to purchase.

Neonicotinoids or ‘neonics’ are a systemic pesticides used on plants to kill insects. Unfortunately, these insecticides also harm pollinators as the insecticide gets into all parts of the plant including the pollen and nectar.

The only way to be sure a plant has not been treated with neonics is to buy certified organic seed and grow it yourself, or buy a certified organically grown plant.

More information here.

 

Goldman’s Greenhouse – East Bethel, MN

Website: Goldman's

 

Outback Nursery – Hastings, MN

Seller of Minnesota native trees, shrubs and perennials.

Website: Outback

 

Prairie Moon Nursery – Winona, MN and order online

They have hundreds of varieties of native plant seeds, plants and bare root stock.

Website: Prairiemoon

 

Prairie Restorations – Scandia, MN

Seller of Minnesota native plants.

Website: Prairieresto

 

 

Pam

 

 

Contact info for the Seed Library:

Email: wblseedlibrary@gmail.com

Blog site: WBL Seed Library

 

Monday, July 1, 2024

Summer Gardening, Fireflies and Garden Tours

Hello Gardeners

My gardens are doing great! All this rain has really helped after the last two years of drought.

After the rush of spring planting, it is time to enjoy your gardens. Take some time to just look and watch your flowers and vegetables. It’s amazing to see the activity that goes on from big fuzzy bumblebees to graceful butterflies. Maybe you have some toads and dragonflies.

I’m lucky in that I have fireflies putting on a show every night! Fireflies are having a hard time finding places to live and mate. One way you can help is to turn off your outdoor lights. The artificial light (including solar lights) confuses the fireflies and they can’t find a mate to produce offspring. It’s not just outdoor lights which are a problem, but even lighting from indoors that shines outside is also confusing to fireflies. Please consider blinds or curtains on your windows where lights or TVs are on during dusk to dawn.

Thank you to all who helped package seeds this spring! Later this summer and fall I’ll start packaging native plant seeds. Look for an email in a couple months asking for volunteers to help.

 

Summer is a time of garden tours. Washington County Master Gardeners have a summer tour July 20th.

Tour seven gardens designed and maintained by Washington County Master Gardener volunteers in Oakdale, White Bear Lake, and Stillwater areas.

Master Gardener volunteers will be on hand to answer questions and share resources on many topics including, watering wisely, landscape design, composting, vegetable growing, crop rotation and companion planting, pollinator-friendly and native plants, tree and shrub pruning, and prairie restoration. Master Gardener-recommended gardening books will be available for purchase.

See Washington Garden Tour or  Garden Tour for more information.

 

 

Locally Harvested Seeds

Many of the seeds, especially native plant seeds, are labelled ‘locally harvested’ or ‘locally grown’. These are great seeds as these seeds are more acclimated to our environment. Commercial seeds could have come from anywhere in the United States. For example; plants grown in Texas have significantly different growing conditions than plants grown in Minnesota.  So you can understand why I encourage you to save seeds from the plants you grow. There is a caveat though. I only want seeds that are ‘easy to save’. What does that mean?

It doesn’t mean the seeds are easy to remove from the fruit or seed head of the plant. It dose means seeds from the plant are less likely to have been cross-pollinated and therefore the seeds from the plant will likely have the same traits (color of flower, hardiness, height, etc.) as the original plant.  Easy to save seeds are those that are either self-pollinating or do not cross-pollinate easily. This includes; tomatoes, beans, peas, lettuce and native plants. As long as the original plant of these types was not a hybrid variety, the seeds from them will be great to save.

Bring any seeds (open-pollinated) you harvested to donate to the seed library! I’d love to get some tomatoes, lettuce, beans and peas you grew in your garden!

 

Local Greenhouses and Nurseries

As a request from our volunteers I am adding a list of various local greenhouses or garden centers that sell plants. Many of these establishments do not use neonicotinoids on their plants that they grow. But the buyer should beware: they may sell plants that were grown previously at a different wholesaler which did use systemic pesticides. You should ask the growers at these establishments whether neonics were used on the plants you wish to purchase.

Neonicotinoids or ‘neonics’ are a systemic pesticides used on plants to kill insects. Unfortunately, these insecticides also harm pollinators as the insecticide gets into all parts of the plant including the pollen and nectar.

The only way to be sure a plant has not been treated with neonics is to buy certified organic seed and grow it yourself, or buy a certified organically grown plant.

More information here.

 

Goldman’s Greenhouse – East Bethel, MN

Website: Goldman's

 

Outback Nursery – Hastings, MN

Seller of Minnesota native trees, shrubs and perennials.

Website: Outback

 

Prairie Moon Nursery – Winona, MN and order online

They have hundreds of varieties of native plant seeds, plants and bare root stock.

Website: Prairiemoon

 

Prairie Restorations – Scandia, MN

Seller of Minnesota native plants.

Website: Prairieresto

 

 

Pam

 

 

Contact info for the Seed Library:

Email: wblseedlibrary@gmail.com

Blog site: WBL Seed Library

 

 

Friday, May 24, 2024

Happy Unoffical Start of Summer

Hello Gardeners

Happy unofficial start of summer!

I have placed a lot more vegetable and flower seeds in the seed library. If you are home this weekend, I hope you get some time to plant in your garden. At least Saturday looks like perfect weather for outdoor activities.

There are now plenty of peas, lettuce, green beans, basil, dill, cilantro, kale, swiss chard, spinach, cucumber, radish, beet, summer squash, melons, carrots, rutabaga, microgreens and pumpkin seeds. As well as lots of marigold, morning glory, cosmos, calendula, angel trumpet, hollyhocks, oxalis bulbs and blackberry lily seeds.

 

Thank you to all who helped package seeds this spring! Later this summer and fall I’ll start packaging native plant seeds. Look for an email in a couple months asking for volunteers to help.

 

Locally Harvested Seeds

Many of the seeds, especially native plant seeds, are labelled ‘locally harvested’ or ‘locally grown’. These are great seeds as these seeds are more acclimated to our environment. Commercial seeds could have come from anywhere in the United States. For example; plants grown in Texas have significantly different growing conditions than plants grown in Minnesota.  So you can understand why I encourage you to save seeds from the plants you grow. There is a caveat though. I only want seeds that are ‘easy to save’. What does that mean?

It doesn’t mean the seeds are easy to remove from the fruit or seed head of the plant. It dose means seeds from the plant are less likely to have been cross-pollinated and therefore the seeds from the plant will likely have the same traits (color of flower, hardiness, height, etc.) as the original plant.  Easy to save seeds are those that are either self-pollinating or do not cross-pollinate easily. This includes; tomatoes, beans, peas, lettuce and native plants. As long as the original plant of these types was not a hybrid variety, the seeds from them will be great to save.

Bring any seeds (open-pollinated) you harvested to donate to the seed library! I’d love to get some tomatoes, lettuce, beans and peas you grew in your garden!

 

When should I start seeds?

Some seeds need to be started indoors now, such as peppers, tomatoes and eggplant. See this guide from the University of MN extension start seeds.

Some seeds like cool weather such as lettuce, peas, cabbage and onions. Other vegetables like it warm such as tomato and pepper transplants, squash and basil. Then there are tender crops such as cucumbers and pumpkins which need to be protected from late freezes. See a guide to starting vegetable seeds outdoors outdoor vegetables.

 

 

Plant Sales:

 

Big River, Big Woods Wild Ones Plant Sale

**Deadline Extended and New Plants Available!

 

Native wildflowers, ferns, sedges and grasses are available as 3-packs, 1 gallon pots, 2 gallon pots and 4 inch pots. Trees and shrubs are available in 1 gallon, 2 gallon, and 5 gallon pots.

This year we also have pre-designed garden packs such as butterfly, monarch, hummingbird and bee packs that help these pollinators.

Orders taken now until May 31 online at plant sale. The pick-up location will be in Arden Hills, close to the Mounds View High School. The address will be included in the confirmation email.

Plant Sale deadlines:

** Deadline has been extended to May 31! - Order deadline: last day to place your order.
Saturday, June 8, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. - Day to pick up your plant orders.
Sunday, June 9, noon to 3 p.m. - Day to pick up your plant orders.

Additional plants will be available from the vendors on June 8 & 9.

 

 

Landscape Revival – Saturday June 1, 9 am – 1 pm

Rockpoint Church, 5825 Kelvin Ave N, Lake Elmo, MN 55042

Sponsored by the St. Paul Audubon Society.

Market: Purchase MN native plants from multiple growers. No cultivars or systemic insecticides. Includes native plant growers from around the Twin Cities are surrounding areas that will have native plants in all sizes for sale. Cash or check preferred. Also there will be a Food Truck.

Expo: Learn to select and grow native plants for pollinators, wildlife, and water quality. Visit with educators and experts from conservation and environmental organizations. Get your landscaping questions answered.

 

For more information: Landscape Revival

 

Local Greenhouses and Nurseries

As a request from our volunteers I am adding a list of various local greenhouses or garden centers that sell plants. Many of these establishments do not use neonicotinoids on their plants that they grow. But the buyer should beware: they may sell plants that were grown previously at a different wholesaler which did use systemic pesticides. You should ask the growers at these establishments whether neonics were used on the plants you wish to purchase.

Neonicotinoids or ‘neonics’ are a systemic pesticides used on plants to kill insects. Unfortunately, these insecticides also harm pollinators as the insecticide gets into all parts of the plant including the pollen and nectar.

The only way to be sure a plant has not been treated with neonics is to buy certified organic seed and grow it yourself, or buy a certified organically grown plant.

More information here.

 

Goldman’s Greenhouse – East Bethel, MN

Website: Goldman's

 

Outback Nursery – Hastings, MN

Seller of Minnesota native trees, shrubs and perennials.

Website: Outback

 

Prairie Moon Nursery – Winona, MN and order online

They have hundreds of varieties of native plant seeds, plants and bare root stock.

Website: Prairiemoon

 

Prairie Restorations – Scandia, MN

Seller of Minnesota native plants.

Website: Prairieresto

 

 

Pam

 

 

Contact info for the Seed Library:

Email: wblseedlibrary@gmail.com

Blog site: WBL Seed Library