Cleaning Up and Preparing for Next Year

Letting Lettuce Go to Seed

As the days get shorter and Fall arrives, we are cleaning out our plots and preparing for next year.  First, we are suffering through another mini-drought at the Stoddart Avenue Community Garden.  We’ve only received about a half inch of rain so far this month.  This has made starting off our Fall crops (like lettuce, turnips, bok choy, spinach and beets) a challenge.  Lea realized on Saturday that she would have to start over and there are only so many things (like Black Seeded Simpson lettuce and bok choy which have a chance of sprouting and ripening before the hard frosts come and we close for the year).  Despite the drought, I’ve been grateful for my yard-long beans because they keep producing no matter the weather.  The drought isn’t the only negative factor on our harvests, though.  Our food pantry harvests have been a bit disappointing since our regular thieves have been cleaning out our (heavy) tomatoes and peppers as they ripen.

Lettuce seed pods

Saving Seeds.  I’ve been doing what I can to save seeds.  With my many bean varieties, that’s relatively easy (although our over abundant stink bug population has been attacking the beans in Susan and my plot with some ferocity).  I spent last Saturday saving cosmos seeds.  Next weekend, I’ll try to save some sunflower and marigold seeds.  One year, I even managed to save some kale and petunia seeds.  Every year I think I will save lettuce seeds, but I never do (except for arugula).  However, this year, I finally found time to save some lettuce seeds.  Krystle planted some romaine lettuce in her plot before she returned to Denver and she let it go to seed.   I transplanted some romaine from my plot into my raised beds at home and let them go to seed, too.  So, when the plants flowered and then dried out, I was able to harvest romaine lettuce seeds to use next Spring.  I even showed Lea how to do it and have included some pictures. (The seeds are on the bottom of the dandelion-like fuzz) and inside the seed pods).  

Lettuce seeds from seed pod

Of course, I don’t like to leave things to chance and so I grabbed a few seed packets at the GCGC meeting earlier this month and last week visited Franklin Park Conservatory, which also has some free seeds to donate to area community gardens.  It’s nice to get our seeds in the Fall because then I can decide over the winter what I need to buy before I have to start seeds (for peppers, tomatoes, etc. ) in March and April.   The kids always want to plant carrots and sweet potatoes and, after that, it’s a negotiation with me trying to get them to grow something different and nutritious.

Crusader Day of Service.    Keep Columbus Beautiful has been a wonderful supporter of the Stoddart Avenue neighborhood and the SACG.  They’ve also donated some seeds to us in the past, and a few weeks ago, let me know how I could arrange for some Capital University college students to travel a mile to our garden to help out.  So, we are looking forward to 10 Cap students coming on Saturday for the Crusader Day of Service.  I will have several projects waiting for them, including cleaning up our compost bins and turning the compost, picking up litter around the neighborhood, watering everything twice (since we’re not expecting any more rain for the rest of the month), tidying the stake storage area (as we gradually pull out all of the tomatoes and their stakes), pulling some spent tomatoes and transplanting some collard greens, etc. from raised beds in their place), pruning sunflowers, and weeding flower beds, etc.  I’ve brought home our gloves to launder them before they start working on Saturday.

Coin envelopes work great to store seeds

Visitors.  While I was running around trying to water everything twice on Saturday, a man walked into the Garden, explained that he was stranded in town (from Mississippi) until Monday and was looking for some work.  I explained that I couldn’t pay him, but we had lots of work.  He said he didn’t care.  Leon raked up the rotting tomatoes in Krystle’s plot and cut out the overgrown and dying cosmos from the food pantry plot.  I suggested that he grab a book out of our library to help him pass the time and told him how Faith Mission offers three free meals a day/seven days a week and gave him some breakfast bars and a few stray tomatoes (since I hadn’t started harvesting yet).  I had a gallon of drinking water in my car, but no cups.  So, he said he would run to the corner store and buy his own bottle or cup and return.  However, he never came back.  He was a big help anyway.   Happy travels Leon; I hope you came back for a book.

Bexley Farmer’s Market.   I’ve been stopping by the Bexley Farmer’s Market on Thursdays to grab some fresh fruit, organic cheese and giant eggplants, zucchinis and poblano peppers, which have been a great bargain.   I baked some zucchini bread last week and am considering Martha Stewart’s chocolate zucchini cupcakes for this afternoon. . . . . I’ve also been enjoying at least once per week zucchini macaroni (with sautéed grated zucchini tossed with garlic and olive oil and mixed with cottage cheese and pasta).   I’ve also been having grilled eggplant sandwiches and stuffed eggplant. 

I’ve also checked out two Rick Bayless cookbooks from the Bexley Library to expand my weekly cuisine beyond American, Cajun, French, Asian and Italian.   There is more to Mexican food, after all, than tacos and burritos.   So, I’ve started drying poblano peppers (including red ones) along with my herbs to make ancho peppers to use in recipes that I hope to try this Fall.   I’ve already enjoyed several recipes with roasted poblanos and freeze a variety of peppers from my own garden (including Serrano, jalapeno, pasilla and cayenne).    Because our cool Fall has wrecked havoc on our tomato crop, I broke down in a moment of weakness and purchased a half peck of roma tomatoes from Smith’s Farm Market on Winchester Pike for $7 so that I could (when the cold front moves in) roast them all for soups, pasta sauce and a few Bayless recipes. 

The inside of a year-old butternut squash

While at the Market on Thursday, a woman asked how long the butternut squashes would keep.  I told her truthfully that I still had a butternut squash in my root cellar from last Fall.   (I should have donated it and it’s been a yoke of guilt around my neck every time I walk into that room).  She said her experience was that its interior would dry out after a few months.  The Rhoads Farms guy said it would keep at least a few months.  So, yesterday, I decided to check out my year-old squash.  It was certainly lighter than the one I harvested about 10 days ago.  I skinned it without any problem and then cut it into quarters.  The seed area had certainly dried out more than usual, and I decided not to cook with the bottom half (although I probably could have done so).  With the top half, I made a Rick Bayless squash soup recipe with roasted tomato and jalapeno salsa and the squash cooked up just fine.  I hope my year old sweet potatoes work out as well when I try another Bayless recipe with them later this week.   

This all being said, all winter squashes are not equal.  Acorn and delicatta squashes do not keep for more than a few months because they get moldy.   However, unlike butternut squashes, you can eat the rind of those winter squashes.

For grins and giggles, I'm thinking of starting a waging pool.  I have a giant butternut squash growing in the flower bed in front of my plot.  It's not ripe yet.  It's only a matter of time before someone steals it.  I'm thinking that for $10, you can bet on the week that the squash gets stolen.  Winner gets to keep half of the money (with the rest going to the Garden).  If no one steals it before we close for the season (or a hard frost kills the rest of the plant), the Garden gets all of the money wagered and I decide the fate of the squash.  I'm not really serious, but you might as well know how warped and twisted I have become on the subject of produce thefts.

Cleaning Up and Preparing for Next Year

Letting Lettuce Go to Seed

As the days get shorter and Fall arrives, we are cleaning out our plots and preparing for next year.  First, we are suffering through another mini-drought at the Stoddart Avenue Community Garden.  We’ve only received about a half inch of rain so far this month.  This has made starting off our Fall crops (like lettuce, turnips, bok choy, spinach and beets) a challenge.  Lea realized on Saturday that she would have to start over and there are only so many things (like Black Seeded Simpson lettuce and bok choy which have a chance of sprouting and ripening before the hard frosts come and we close for the year).  Despite the drought, I’ve been grateful for my yard-long beans because they keep producing no matter the weather.  The drought isn’t the only negative factor on our harvests, though.  Our food pantry harvests have been a bit disappointing since our regular thieves have been cleaning out our (heavy) tomatoes and peppers as they ripen.

Lettuce seed pods

Saving Seeds.  I’ve been doing what I can to save seeds.  With my many bean varieties, that’s relatively easy (although our over abundant stink bug population has been attacking the beans in Susan and my plot with some ferocity).  I spent last Saturday saving cosmos seeds.  Next weekend, I’ll try to save some sunflower and marigold seeds.  One year, I even managed to save some kale and petunia seeds.  Every year I think I will save lettuce seeds, but I never do (except for arugula).  However, this year, I finally found time to save some lettuce seeds.  Krystle planted some romaine lettuce in her plot before she returned to Denver and she let it go to seed.   I transplanted some romaine from my plot into my raised beds at home and let them go to seed, too.  So, when the plants flowered and then dried out, I was able to harvest romaine lettuce seeds to use next Spring.  I even showed Lea how to do it and have included some pictures. (The seeds are on the bottom of the dandelion-like fuzz) and inside the seed pods).  

Lettuce seeds from seed pod

Of course, I don’t like to leave things to chance and so I grabbed a few seed packets at the GCGC meeting earlier this month and last week visited Franklin Park Conservatory, which also has some free seeds to donate to area community gardens.  It’s nice to get our seeds in the Fall because then I can decide over the winter what I need to buy before I have to start seeds (for peppers, tomatoes, etc. ) in March and April.   The kids always want to plant carrots and sweet potatoes and, after that, it’s a negotiation with me trying to get them to grow something different and nutritious.

Crusader Day of Service.    Keep Columbus Beautiful has been a wonderful supporter of the Stoddart Avenue neighborhood and the SACG.  They’ve also donated some seeds to us in the past, and a few weeks ago, let me know how I could arrange for some Capital University college students to travel a mile to our garden to help out.  So, we are looking forward to 10 Cap students coming on Saturday for the Crusader Day of Service.  I will have several projects waiting for them, including cleaning up our compost bins and turning the compost, picking up litter around the neighborhood, watering everything twice (since we’re not expecting any more rain for the rest of the month), tidying the stake storage area (as we gradually pull out all of the tomatoes and their stakes), pulling some spent tomatoes and transplanting some collard greens, etc. from raised beds in their place), pruning sunflowers, and weeding flower beds, etc.  I’ve brought home our gloves to launder them before they start working on Saturday.

Coin envelopes work great to store seeds

Visitors.  While I was running around trying to water everything twice on Saturday, a man walked into the Garden, explained that he was stranded in town (from Mississippi) until Monday and was looking for some work.  I explained that I couldn’t pay him, but we had lots of work.  He said he didn’t care.  Leon raked up the rotting tomatoes in Krystle’s plot and cut out the overgrown and dying cosmos from the food pantry plot.  I suggested that he grab a book out of our library to help him pass the time and told him how Faith Mission offers three free meals a day/seven days a week and gave him some breakfast bars and a few stray tomatoes (since I hadn’t started harvesting yet).  I had a gallon of drinking water in my car, but no cups.  So, he said he would run to the corner store and buy his own bottle or cup and return.  However, he never came back.  He was a big help anyway.   Happy travels Leon; I hope you came back for a book.

Bexley Farmer’s Market.   I’ve been stopping by the Bexley Farmer’s Market on Thursdays to grab some fresh fruit, organic cheese and giant eggplants, zucchinis and poblano peppers, which have been a great bargain.   I baked some zucchini bread last week and am considering Martha Stewart’s chocolate zucchini cupcakes for this afternoon. . . . . I’ve also been enjoying at least once per week zucchini macaroni (with sautéed grated zucchini tossed with garlic and olive oil and mixed with cottage cheese and pasta).   I’ve also been having grilled eggplant sandwiches and stuffed eggplant. 

I’ve also checked out two Rick Bayless cookbooks from the Bexley Library to expand my weekly cuisine beyond American, Cajun, French, Asian and Italian.   There is more to Mexican food, after all, than tacos and burritos.   So, I’ve started drying poblano peppers (including red ones) along with my herbs to make ancho peppers to use in recipes that I hope to try this Fall.   I’ve already enjoyed several recipes with roasted poblanos and freeze a variety of peppers from my own garden (including Serrano, jalapeno, pasilla and cayenne).    Because our cool Fall has wrecked havoc on our tomato crop, I broke down in a moment of weakness and purchased a half peck of roma tomatoes from Smith’s Farm Market on Winchester Pike for $7 so that I could (when the cold front moves in) roast them all for soups, pasta sauce and a few Bayless recipes. 

The inside of a year-old butternut squash

While at the Market on Thursday, a woman asked how long the butternut squashes would keep.  I told her truthfully that I still had a butternut squash in my root cellar from last Fall.   (I should have donated it and it’s been a yoke of guilt around my neck every time I walk into that room).  She said her experience was that its interior would dry out after a few months.  The Rhoads Farms guy said it would keep at least a few months.  So, yesterday, I decided to check out my year-old squash.  It was certainly lighter than the one I harvested about 10 days ago.  I skinned it without any problem and then cut it into quarters.  The seed area had certainly dried out more than usual, and I decided not to cook with the bottom half (although I probably could have done so).  With the top half, I made a Rick Bayless squash soup recipe with roasted tomato and jalapeno salsa and the squash cooked up just fine.  I hope my year old sweet potatoes work out as well when I try another Bayless recipe with them later this week.   

This all being said, all winter squashes are not equal.  Acorn and delicatta squashes do not keep for more than a few months because they get moldy.   However, unlike butternut squashes, you can eat the rind of those winter squashes.

For grins and giggles, I'm thinking of starting a waging pool.  I have a giant butternut squash growing in the flower bed in front of my plot.  It's not ripe yet.  It's only a matter of time before someone steals it.  I'm thinking that for $10, you can bet on the week that the squash gets stolen.  Winner gets to keep half of the money (with the rest going to the Garden).  If no one steals it before we close for the season (or a hard frost kills the rest of the plant), the Garden gets all of the money wagered and I decide the fate of the squash.  I'm not really serious, but you might as well know how warped and twisted I have become on the subject of produce thefts.

Supreme Court: Saving and Replanting Patented Seeds Unlawfully Infringes the Patent

This morning, a unanimous Supreme Court held that a farmer infringed on Monsanto's patent for Roundup Ready soybeans, which had been genetically modified to survive exposure to its well-known herbicide. Bowman v. Monsanto, No. 11-796. (The genetic alteration enables you to spray the herbicide and kill everything except the soybeans you are trying to grow). Monsanto sells the seeds to farmers subject to a licensing agreement preventing growers from harvesting and replanting any seeds from the crop. Instead, the farmers must sell or consume the resulting crop. The defendant farmer in this case purchased the Roundup Ready seeds for his early crop from a Monsanto supplier and complied with the license agreement. However, he purchased additional commodity soybean seeds from a grain elevator (where the seeds were not sold subject to a licensing agreement), planted them, applied the herbicide to kill any non-genetically modified plants, harvested the resulting soybeans and saved them to plant his second crop (thereby avoiding the premium price paid for the Roundup Ready seeds). He did this for eight years and admitted that he knew of no other farmers who were doing this.

The legal theory asserted to support the farmer's conduct was that under traditional patent law, a legitimate purchaser of an object can put the object to whatever use he wants – except making copies – without infringing on the patent. In other words, ""the initial authorized sale of a patented item terminates all patent rights to that item." This is referred to as patent exhaustion. An example would be if you buy a car and then turn it into a house or a piece of art or buy a shoe and use it as a planter. However, in this case, the Court concluded that he was really making copies of the patented seeds. If this conduct were permitted, then farmers would only need to buy the patented seeds once before growing and saving their own. "If the purchaser of that article could make and sell endless copies, the patent would effectively protect the invention for just a single sale . . . [T]he exhaustion doctrine does not extend to the right to 'make' a new product."

As Justice Kagan explained in the opening paragraph of the opinion:

Under the doctrine of patent exhaustion, the authorized sale of a patented article gives the purchaser, or any subsequent owner, a right to use or resell that article. Such a sale, however, does not allow the purchaser to make new copies of the patented invention. The question in this case is whether a farmer who buys patented seeds may reproduce them through planting and harvesting without the patent holder's permission. We hold that he may not.

Following a trial, Monsanto was awarded $84,456. The verdict was affirmed on appeal.

Our holding today also follows from J. E. M. Ag Supply, Inc. v. Pioneer Hi-Bred Int'l, Inc., 534 U. S. 124 (2001). We considered there whether an inventor could get a patent on a seed or plant, or only a certificate issued under the Plant Variety Protection Act (PVPA), 7 U. S. C. §2321 et seq. We decided a patent was available, rejecting the claim that the PVPA implicitly repealed the Patent Act's coverage of seeds and plants. On our view, the two statutes established different, but not conflicting schemes: The requirements for getting a patent "are more stringent than those for obtaining a PVP certificate, and the protections afforded" by a patent are correspondingly greater. J. E. M., 534 U. S., at 142. Most notable here, we explained that only a patent holder (not a certificate holder) could prohibit "[a] farmer who legally purchases and plants" a protected seed from saving harvested seed "for replanting." Id., at 140; see id., at 143 (noting that the Patent Act, unlike the PVPA, contains "no exemptio[n]" for "saving seed"). That statement is inconsistent with applying exhaustion to protect conduct like Bowman's. If a sale cut off the right to control a patented seed's progeny, then (contrary to J. E. M.) the patentee could not prevent the buyer from saving harvested seed. Indeed, the patentee could not stop the buyer from selling such seed, which even a PVP certificate owner (who, recall, is supposed to have fewer rights) can usually accomplish. See 7 U. S. C. §§2541, 2543. Those limitations would turn upside-down the statutory scheme J. E. M. described.

The farmer also raised the issue of self-replicating seeds. The Court was skeptical of a blame-the-seed argument, particularly in this case where the defendant farmer "was not a passive observer of his soybeans' multiplication; or put another way, the seeds he purchased (miraculous though they might be in other respects) did not spontaneously create eight successive soybean crops. As we have explained, supra at 2-3, Bowman devised and executed a novel way to harvest crops from Roundup Ready seeds without paying the usual premium."

Because a passive recipient of the patented seeds might have additional defenses that are not available to the defendant farmer in this case, the Court declined to address the issue of self-replication:

Our holding today is limited--addressing the situation before us, rather than every one involving a self-replicating product. We recognize that such inventions are becoming ever more prevalent, complex, and diverse. In another case, the article's self-replication might occur outside the purchaser's control. Or it might be a necessary but incidental step in using the item for another purpose. Cf. 17 U. S. C. §117(a)(1) ("[I]t is not [a copyright] infringement for the owner of a copy of a computer program to make . . . another copy or adaptation of that computer program provide[d] that such a new copy or adaptation is created as an essential step in the utilization of the computer program"). We need not address here whether or how the doctrine of patent exhaustion would apply in such circumstances.

It might be a different case – as we all know exists – if this was simply a situation where bees, wind or other pollinators spread pollen from a patented crop to fertilize a non-patented crop and then some of the progeny contained patented or even new characteristics. (Frankencrops is one reason that some people are vehemently against genetically modified vegetables). Similarly, birds, other small animals and the wind frequently carry seeds from one location (i.e., a farmer who uses patented seeds subject to a licensing agreement) and drops them on land of another grower (who did not purchase the seeds or sign the licensing agreement).

So community gardeners, keep this case in mind this Fall when you begin saving seeds for next year. Did you grow your crop from patented seeds? Or Heirloom seeds?

Supreme Court: Saving and Replanting Patented Seeds Unlawfully Infringes the Patent

This morning, a unanimous Supreme Court held that a farmer infringed on Monsanto's patent for Roundup Ready soybeans, which had been genetically modified to survive exposure to its well-known herbicide. Bowman v. Monsanto, No. 11-796. (The genetic alteration enables you to spray the herbicide and kill everything except the soybeans you are trying to grow). Monsanto sells the seeds to farmers subject to a licensing agreement preventing growers from harvesting and replanting any seeds from the crop. Instead, the farmers must sell or consume the resulting crop. The defendant farmer in this case purchased the Roundup Ready seeds for his early crop from a Monsanto supplier and complied with the license agreement. However, he purchased additional commodity soybean seeds from a grain elevator (where the seeds were not sold subject to a licensing agreement), planted them, applied the herbicide to kill any non-genetically modified plants, harvested the resulting soybeans and saved them to plant his second crop (thereby avoiding the premium price paid for the Roundup Ready seeds). He did this for eight years and admitted that he knew of no other farmers who were doing this.

The legal theory asserted to support the farmer's conduct was that under traditional patent law, a legitimate purchaser of an object can put the object to whatever use he wants – except making copies – without infringing on the patent. In other words, ""the initial authorized sale of a patented item terminates all patent rights to that item." This is referred to as patent exhaustion. An example would be if you buy a car and then turn it into a house or a piece of art or buy a shoe and use it as a planter. However, in this case, the Court concluded that he was really making copies of the patented seeds. If this conduct were permitted, then farmers would only need to buy the patented seeds once before growing and saving their own. "If the purchaser of that article could make and sell endless copies, the patent would effectively protect the invention for just a single sale . . . [T]he exhaustion doctrine does not extend to the right to 'make' a new product."

As Justice Kagan explained in the opening paragraph of the opinion:

Under the doctrine of patent exhaustion, the authorized sale of a patented article gives the purchaser, or any subsequent owner, a right to use or resell that article. Such a sale, however, does not allow the purchaser to make new copies of the patented invention. The question in this case is whether a farmer who buys patented seeds may reproduce them through planting and harvesting without the patent holder's permission. We hold that he may not.

Following a trial, Monsanto was awarded $84,456. The verdict was affirmed on appeal.

Our holding today also follows from J. E. M. Ag Supply, Inc. v. Pioneer Hi-Bred Int'l, Inc., 534 U. S. 124 (2001). We considered there whether an inventor could get a patent on a seed or plant, or only a certificate issued under the Plant Variety Protection Act (PVPA), 7 U. S. C. §2321 et seq. We decided a patent was available, rejecting the claim that the PVPA implicitly repealed the Patent Act's coverage of seeds and plants. On our view, the two statutes established different, but not conflicting schemes: The requirements for getting a patent "are more stringent than those for obtaining a PVP certificate, and the protections afforded" by a patent are correspondingly greater. J. E. M., 534 U. S., at 142. Most notable here, we explained that only a patent holder (not a certificate holder) could prohibit "[a] farmer who legally purchases and plants" a protected seed from saving harvested seed "for replanting." Id., at 140; see id., at 143 (noting that the Patent Act, unlike the PVPA, contains "no exemptio[n]" for "saving seed"). That statement is inconsistent with applying exhaustion to protect conduct like Bowman's. If a sale cut off the right to control a patented seed's progeny, then (contrary to J. E. M.) the patentee could not prevent the buyer from saving harvested seed. Indeed, the patentee could not stop the buyer from selling such seed, which even a PVP certificate owner (who, recall, is supposed to have fewer rights) can usually accomplish. See 7 U. S. C. §§2541, 2543. Those limitations would turn upside-down the statutory scheme J. E. M. described.

The farmer also raised the issue of self-replicating seeds. The Court was skeptical of a blame-the-seed argument, particularly in this case where the defendant farmer "was not a passive observer of his soybeans' multiplication; or put another way, the seeds he purchased (miraculous though they might be in other respects) did not spontaneously create eight successive soybean crops. As we have explained, supra at 2-3, Bowman devised and executed a novel way to harvest crops from Roundup Ready seeds without paying the usual premium."

Because a passive recipient of the patented seeds might have additional defenses that are not available to the defendant farmer in this case, the Court declined to address the issue of self-replication:

Our holding today is limited--addressing the situation before us, rather than every one involving a self-replicating product. We recognize that such inventions are becoming ever more prevalent, complex, and diverse. In another case, the article's self-replication might occur outside the purchaser's control. Or it might be a necessary but incidental step in using the item for another purpose. Cf. 17 U. S. C. §117(a)(1) ("[I]t is not [a copyright] infringement for the owner of a copy of a computer program to make . . . another copy or adaptation of that computer program provide[d] that such a new copy or adaptation is created as an essential step in the utilization of the computer program"). We need not address here whether or how the doctrine of patent exhaustion would apply in such circumstances.

It might be a different case – as we all know exists – if this was simply a situation where bees, wind or other pollinators spread pollen from a patented crop to fertilize a non-patented crop and then some of the progeny contained patented or even new characteristics. (Frankencrops is one reason that some people are vehemently against genetically modified vegetables). Similarly, birds, other small animals and the wind frequently carry seeds from one location (i.e., a farmer who uses patented seeds subject to a licensing agreement) and drops them on land of another grower (who did not purchase the seeds or sign the licensing agreement).

So community gardeners, keep this case in mind this Fall when you begin saving seeds for next year. Did you grow your crop from patented seeds? Or Heirloom seeds?

A Story About Daisies and Saving Seeds

If you have been by the Stoddart Avenue Community Garden this Spring, you will notice that we have a lot of daisies. A lot. Several of people even stopped by to ask if we were selling them. No, but you can take a couple for free. How did we come to have so many daisies this year? Funny you should ask.

Let me take you back to1998, the year I bought my house. There was a legal secretary who lived behind me (where Beth & Mike live now with Louis, Lucy and Peter). She had a little dog and lots of daisies in her back yard. When I told her that I was interested in gardening, she came over with some dead daisies and just crushed the flower over my flower bed. There, she said, you will have daisies there next year. She was right; I had a lot of daisies. You see, the seeds are in the yellow center. I returned the favor when Beth & Mike moved into her house.

When the petals die back, all you have to do is to make sure that the center of the dead flower hits the ground or to crush it between your fingers to spread the seeds over where you want them the next year. The problem is that they can form foliage pretty quickly (which will overwinter in your garden) and that will prevent later season flowers (like cosmos) from growing. (It also runs the risk of dying in a drought). So, I usually prune the dead flowers, put the daisy centers into brown paper bags, label them and then spread them in the Fall (like November after all of the other flowers have died back) or in February (before other flowers start growing and while I can just see the outlines of the mounds of other perennials).

I apparently went a little crazy with daisies last Fall or in February because they were not just growing in our front flower bed, but also in most of my plot. (Even the most gentle breeze can carry their light seeds). No matter, Rayna dug them up from my plot and transplanted them into our middle flower bed during our opening work day. Although I thought they were dying, they bloomed just fine.

A Story About Daisies and Saving Seeds

If you have been by the Stoddart Avenue Community Garden this Spring, you will notice that we have a lot of daisies. A lot. Several of people even stopped by to ask if we were selling them. No, but you can take a couple for free. How did we come to have so many daisies this year? Funny you should ask.

Let me take you back to1998, the year I bought my house. There was a legal secretary who lived behind me (where Beth & Mike live now with Louis, Lucy and Peter). She had a little dog and lots of daisies in her back yard. When I told her that I was interested in gardening, she came over with some dead daisies and just crushed the flower over my flower bed. There, she said, you will have daisies there next year. She was right; I had a lot of daisies. You see, the seeds are in the yellow center. I returned the favor when Beth & Mike moved into her house.

When the petals die back, all you have to do is to make sure that the center of the dead flower hits the ground or to crush it between your fingers to spread the seeds over where you want them the next year. The problem is that they can form foliage pretty quickly (which will overwinter in your garden) and that will prevent later season flowers (like cosmos) from growing. (It also runs the risk of dying in a drought). So, I usually prune the dead flowers, put the daisy centers into brown paper bags, label them and then spread them in the Fall (like November after all of the other flowers have died back) or in February (before other flowers start growing and while I can just see the outlines of the mounds of other perennials).

I apparently went a little crazy with daisies last Fall or in February because they were not just growing in our front flower bed, but also in most of my plot. (Even the most gentle breeze can carry their light seeds). No matter, Rayna dug them up from my plot and transplanted them into our middle flower bed during our opening work day. Although I thought they were dying, they bloomed just fine.

Seeds Glorious Seeds or What Could Have Been a Bad April Fool’s Day Joke

Faithful readers are aware that yours truly Garden Manager is a faithful Knitwit at CLC. In addition to improving my knitting skills during the non-gardening season, one of my fellow Knitwits has generously donated every April two garbage bags full of packages of last year’s Botanical Interest seeds. This has made gardening oh so much more fun for us at the SACG and our many friends because we can inexpensively experiment with new varieties of vegetables and flowers that we might not do otherwise. This is, for instance, how I found Tuscan Kale and Endive, asparagus/yard-long beans and a wide variety of lettuces, peppers and tomatoes.

On Sunday, the chief knitwit informed me that there would be no Knitwits in April. My jaw dropped. Surely, you jest, said I. Surely, this is an April Fool’s joke, I said in horror. She was surprised at my distress and then realized it was not the knitting I would be missing so much, but Linda’s seeds. Yes, said I. Happily, Linda had not left church yet and I was able to make alterative arrangements with her for the delivery of our seeds.

Well, the seeds are safely in my possession and are taking up a large part of my living room. They will be distributed as follows:

1. To the SACG gardeners and other volunteers who helped get the Garden in shape on March 31;



2. Starting April 14: To the SACG gardeners and other volunteers who help get the Garden in shape on April 14;



3. Starting April 21: To the watchful, patient and understanding neighbors of the SACG;



4. On May 3, what seeds remain will be shared at the GCGC meeting.



5. Then, they will be kept in the SACG shed for any gardener to help themselves or for anyone else to stop by and ask.

We never get the same assortment from year to year. Some years, we’ve had lots of lettuce seeds and other years we get lots of different carrots. This year we have an abundance of tomato and pepper seeds. There is also a little bit of this and a little bit of that. And always something new.

I will be at the Garden during my regular schedule (i.e., Wednesday evenings and Saturday mornings) for the foreseeable future.

Of course, we grow certain things that are not covered by seeds, so yesterday I went shopping at area stores for onion sets, seed potatoes and seeds that some SACG gardeners wanted and which were not in this year’s allotment of Botanical Interest seeds. Readers should know that Oakland Nursery has been having a fantastic 33% off seeds (i.e., Botanical Interest, Livingston, Burpee, etc.) and have shallot sets. However, they are out of most seed potatoes. Dill’s has lots of seed potatoes and onion sets, 4-inch ground cover perennials at 10 for $10, but no seeds on sale. DeMonye’s is having its annual perennial sale the weekend of April 14 (but good luck getting there before me). I think the best deals for seed starting sets (i.e., those peat pots and mini-greenhouse/seed starting kits) are still at Lowe’s and Home Depot, though. So expect to shop around for the best deals because they are rarely at the same store. One of my gardeners has complained about Sunderlands on Nelson Road closing because it always had seriously cheap seeds.

Finally, you all know how much I love getting surprises in the mail. Well, this morning’s mail contained another mystery package wrapped in brown. My crafty, busy and generous friend from Louisville sent me more heirloom bean seeds! AND a beautiful Rancho Gordo Heirloom Bean Grower’s Guide. She’s been encouraging me for years to get seeds from there. Little did she know, that I already had a couple of months ago. I purchased some cannellini and Sangre de Toro beans . . . . but she just sent me Eye of the Goat and Vaqueros beans. How pretty! I spend the Fall, Winter and Spring making bean soups and bean salads and spreads. And my prolific bean planting also improves my garden soil as I rotate my crops every year.

Seeds Glorious Seeds or What Could Have Been a Bad April Fool’s Day Joke

Faithful readers are aware that yours truly Garden Manager is a faithful Knitwit at CLC. In addition to improving my knitting skills during the non-gardening season, one of my fellow Knitwits has generously donated every April two garbage bags full of packages of last year’s Botanical Interest seeds. This has made gardening oh so much more fun for us at the SACG and our many friends because we can inexpensively experiment with new varieties of vegetables and flowers that we might not do otherwise. This is, for instance, how I found Tuscan Kale and Endive, asparagus/yard-long beans and a wide variety of lettuces, peppers and tomatoes.

On Sunday, the chief knitwit informed me that there would be no Knitwits in April. My jaw dropped. Surely, you jest, said I. Surely, this is an April Fool’s joke, I said in horror. She was surprised at my distress and then realized it was not the knitting I would be missing so much, but Linda’s seeds. Yes, said I. Happily, Linda had not left church yet and I was able to make alterative arrangements with her for the delivery of our seeds.

Well, the seeds are safely in my possession and are taking up a large part of my living room. They will be distributed as follows:

1. To the SACG gardeners and other volunteers who helped get the Garden in shape on March 31;



2. Starting April 14: To the SACG gardeners and other volunteers who help get the Garden in shape on April 14;



3. Starting April 21: To the watchful, patient and understanding neighbors of the SACG;



4. On May 3, what seeds remain will be shared at the GCGC meeting.



5. Then, they will be kept in the SACG shed for any gardener to help themselves or for anyone else to stop by and ask.

We never get the same assortment from year to year. Some years, we’ve had lots of lettuce seeds and other years we get lots of different carrots. This year we have an abundance of tomato and pepper seeds. There is also a little bit of this and a little bit of that. And always something new.

I will be at the Garden during my regular schedule (i.e., Wednesday evenings and Saturday mornings) for the foreseeable future.

Of course, we grow certain things that are not covered by seeds, so yesterday I went shopping at area stores for onion sets, seed potatoes and seeds that some SACG gardeners wanted and which were not in this year’s allotment of Botanical Interest seeds. Readers should know that Oakland Nursery has been having a fantastic 33% off seeds (i.e., Botanical Interest, Livingston, Burpee, etc.) and have shallot sets. However, they are out of most seed potatoes. Dill’s has lots of seed potatoes and onion sets, 4-inch ground cover perennials at 10 for $10, but no seeds on sale. DeMonye’s is having its annual perennial sale the weekend of April 14 (but good luck getting there before me). I think the best deals for seed starting sets (i.e., those peat pots and mini-greenhouse/seed starting kits) are still at Lowe’s and Home Depot, though. So expect to shop around for the best deals because they are rarely at the same store. One of my gardeners has complained about Sunderlands on Nelson Road closing because it always had seriously cheap seeds.

Finally, you all know how much I love getting surprises in the mail. Well, this morning’s mail contained another mystery package wrapped in brown. My crafty, busy and generous friend from Louisville sent me more heirloom bean seeds! AND a beautiful Rancho Gordo Heirloom Bean Grower’s Guide. She’s been encouraging me for years to get seeds from there. Little did she know, that I already had a couple of months ago. I purchased some cannellini and Sangre de Toro beans . . . . but she just sent me Eye of the Goat and Vaqueros beans. How pretty! I spend the Fall, Winter and Spring making bean soups and bean salads and spreads. And my prolific bean planting also improves my garden soil as I rotate my crops every year.

Seeds, Seeds and More Seeds

On Sunday, Linda from the Knitwits group at Christ Lutheran Church, made my day by telling me that the Stoddart Avenue Community Garden would again be benefitting from a boatload of seeds from Botanical Interests. Remember last year? This permitted us to grow a wide variety of fruits, vegetables, herbs and flowers in 2010 and now we can look forward to a similar bounty in 2011. After we finish working on Saturday, the SACG gardeners and volunteers will get to select their own seeds for their own plots. Then, I'll bring the seeds back for our Earth Day work on April 16, our gardeners and volunteers will get a second chance to get seeds for their own plots.

After that, we'll be delighted to share the remaining seeds with any other community garden or Stoddart Avenue neighbors. Just send me an email and let me know when you want to select your seeds.

Here is a list of the seeds which filled one garbage bag and two grocery bags. Linda and her parents sorted all of the seeds, banded like kinds and organized them in bags alphabetically. It's like Christmas in April!

• Amaranth


• Arugula


• Beets (and my childhood friend Susan sent up a bunch of different variety of beets, too).


• Beans (Kentucky Wonder Pole, Royal Burgundy, Trionfo Violetto, Pole Runner Scarlet Emperor)


• Bok Choy (Tatso Rosette, White Stem)


• Broccoli, Broccoli Raab


• Brussels Spouts


• Cabbage (Copenhagen Market, Chinese, Red Acre)


• Carrots (Danvers, Cosmic Purple)


• Corn


• Cucumbers (Straight Eight, Armenian Burpless, Space Master, Japanese Soyu Burples, Homemade Pickles, Lemon)


• Edamame (I grew these last year for the first time. The plants don't look like regular beans, but there were a ton of them).


• Eggplant (Black Beauty, Long-Purple Japanese/Chinese)


• Endive


• Escarole


• Greens (Georgia Southern Collard, Southern Giant Curled, Ruby Streaks Mustard Greens, Mizuna mustard, Red Gian Mustard)


• Kale Nero Toscana


• Kohlrabi (Purple & White Vienna Blend)


• Leeks


• Lettuce (Red Sails, Black Seeded Simpson, Mesclun, Tom Thumb Butterhead, Micro Greens, Romaine Little Gem, Romaine Freckles, Butterhead Buttercrunch, Butterhead Marvel of Four Seasons, Leaf Redina, Romaine Parris Island Cos, & Farmer's Market Blend) and Mache Corn Salad)


• Muskmelon/Cantaloupe and Honeydew Melon and Charentais Melon


• Onions


• Parsnip


• Peas (Wando, Green Arrow, Super Sugar Snap, Oregon Sugar Pod)


• Peppers (Serrano, Purple Beauty, Canary Bell, California Wonder Orange, Early Jalpeno, Yolo Wonder, California Wonder, Cayenne, Ancho/Poblano, Habanero)


• Pumpkins Jarrahdale


• Radish (French Breakfast, Daikon Miyashige White)


• Radicchio


• Spinach Lavewa,


• Squash (Waltham Butternut, Early Yellow Crookneck, Summer, Summer Scallop, Winter Delicata Honey Boat, Black Beauty Zucchini, Baby Round Zucchini, Summer Clarinette Lebanese & Pink Banana Winter)


• Swiss Chard


• Tomatoes (Roma, Cherry Sun Gold, Grape, Rainbow Blend Cherry, Brandywine Red & Yellow, Red Siberian, Silvery Fir Tree, Beefstake)


• Tomatillo


• Turnips


• Watermelon (several varieties)


• Wheatgrass

Herbs

• Basil


• Parsley


• Oregano


• Catnip


• Sage


• Chamomile


• Dill


• Chives


• Rosemary


• Thyme

Flowers

• Alyssum


• Shasta Daisy


• Echinacea


• French Marigolds, Calendula


• Datura


• Butterfly Flower


• Flax Blue


• Bells of Ireland


• Sunflowers (Evening Sun, Autumn Beauty, Mexican Torch, Peach Passion, Sunspot, Mammoth Russian, Mammoth Grey Stripe, Moulin Rouge, Vanilla Ice,


• California Poppy


• Coneflower


• Candytuft


• Pansies


• Chinese Lantern


• Lov-Lies-Bleeding


• Black Eyed Susan Vine


• Butterfly Flower


• Cosmos


• Datura


• Gaillardia


• Sweet Pea


• Impatiens


• Hyacinth Bean


• Stock


• Snapdragon


• Hollyhock


• Bachelor Button


• Larkspur


• Lavendar


• Lobelia


• Lupine


• Forget Me Not


• Hyssop


• Moonflower


• Nasturtium


• Penstemon


• Delphinium


• Portulaca


• Painted Daisey


• Nicotiana


• Rudbeckia


• Verbena


• Zinnias


• Broom Corn

Seeds, Seeds and More Seeds

On Sunday, Linda from the Knitwits group at Christ Lutheran Church, made my day by telling me that the Stoddart Avenue Community Garden would again be benefitting from a boatload of seeds from Botanical Interests. Remember last year? This permitted us to grow a wide variety of fruits, vegetables, herbs and flowers in 2010 and now we can look forward to a similar bounty in 2011. After we finish working on Saturday, the SACG gardeners and volunteers will get to select their own seeds for their own plots. Then, I'll bring the seeds back for our Earth Day work on April 16, our gardeners and volunteers will get a second chance to get seeds for their own plots.

After that, we'll be delighted to share the remaining seeds with any other community garden or Stoddart Avenue neighbors. Just send me an email and let me know when you want to select your seeds.

Here is a list of the seeds which filled one garbage bag and two grocery bags. Linda and her parents sorted all of the seeds, banded like kinds and organized them in bags alphabetically. It's like Christmas in April!

• Amaranth


• Arugula


• Beets (and my childhood friend Susan sent up a bunch of different variety of beets, too).


• Beans (Kentucky Wonder Pole, Royal Burgundy, Trionfo Violetto, Pole Runner Scarlet Emperor)


• Bok Choy (Tatso Rosette, White Stem)


• Broccoli, Broccoli Raab


• Brussels Spouts


• Cabbage (Copenhagen Market, Chinese, Red Acre)


• Carrots (Danvers, Cosmic Purple)


• Corn


• Cucumbers (Straight Eight, Armenian Burpless, Space Master, Japanese Soyu Burples, Homemade Pickles, Lemon)


• Edamame (I grew these last year for the first time. The plants don't look like regular beans, but there were a ton of them).


• Eggplant (Black Beauty, Long-Purple Japanese/Chinese)


• Endive


• Escarole


• Greens (Georgia Southern Collard, Southern Giant Curled, Ruby Streaks Mustard Greens, Mizuna mustard, Red Gian Mustard)


• Kale Nero Toscana


• Kohlrabi (Purple & White Vienna Blend)


• Leeks


• Lettuce (Red Sails, Black Seeded Simpson, Mesclun, Tom Thumb Butterhead, Micro Greens, Romaine Little Gem, Romaine Freckles, Butterhead Buttercrunch, Butterhead Marvel of Four Seasons, Leaf Redina, Romaine Parris Island Cos, & Farmer's Market Blend) and Mache Corn Salad)


• Muskmelon/Cantaloupe and Honeydew Melon and Charentais Melon


• Onions


• Parsnip


• Peas (Wando, Green Arrow, Super Sugar Snap, Oregon Sugar Pod)


• Peppers (Serrano, Purple Beauty, Canary Bell, California Wonder Orange, Early Jalpeno, Yolo Wonder, California Wonder, Cayenne, Ancho/Poblano, Habanero)


• Pumpkins Jarrahdale


• Radish (French Breakfast, Daikon Miyashige White)


• Radicchio


• Spinach Lavewa,


• Squash (Waltham Butternut, Early Yellow Crookneck, Summer, Summer Scallop, Winter Delicata Honey Boat, Black Beauty Zucchini, Baby Round Zucchini, Summer Clarinette Lebanese & Pink Banana Winter)


• Swiss Chard


• Tomatoes (Roma, Cherry Sun Gold, Grape, Rainbow Blend Cherry, Brandywine Red & Yellow, Red Siberian, Silvery Fir Tree, Beefstake)


• Tomatillo


• Turnips


• Watermelon (several varieties)


• Wheatgrass

Herbs

• Basil


• Parsley


• Oregano


• Catnip


• Sage


• Chamomile


• Dill


• Chives


• Rosemary


• Thyme

Flowers

• Alyssum


• Shasta Daisy


• Echinacea


• French Marigolds, Calendula


• Datura


• Butterfly Flower


• Flax Blue


• Bells of Ireland


• Sunflowers (Evening Sun, Autumn Beauty, Mexican Torch, Peach Passion, Sunspot, Mammoth Russian, Mammoth Grey Stripe, Moulin Rouge, Vanilla Ice,


• California Poppy


• Coneflower


• Candytuft


• Pansies


• Chinese Lantern


• Lov-Lies-Bleeding


• Black Eyed Susan Vine


• Butterfly Flower


• Cosmos


• Datura


• Gaillardia


• Sweet Pea


• Impatiens


• Hyacinth Bean


• Stock


• Snapdragon


• Hollyhock


• Bachelor Button


• Larkspur


• Lavendar


• Lobelia


• Lupine


• Forget Me Not


• Hyssop


• Moonflower


• Nasturtium


• Penstemon


• Delphinium


• Portulaca


• Painted Daisey


• Nicotiana


• Rudbeckia


• Verbena


• Zinnias


• Broom Corn

Road Trip: Louisville 15K Farmers Seed Swap

On Saturday, I took a rare road trip and drove three hours each way to visit my friend Mary in Louisville and participate in the seed exchange of Fifteen Thousand Farmers in Louisville, Kentucky. Fifteen Thousand Farmers ("FTF") is an initiative to turn Louisville citizens into backyard farmers. They started small and last year had signed up 1250 new backyard farmers for events. They hold a gardening event on the 15^th of each month. Mary briefs me almost every month. This month, it held a seminar by Ivor Chodkowski, a local farmer and entrepreneur, on "Planning your Spring Garden." After the seminar, they had a potluck (filled with garden produce), cooking demonstrations (with spaghetti squash) and a seed exchange. It was extremely well attended (even without cocktails as a draw) and there were at least 200 people there. Johnny's Seed Catalogs were handed out to everyone (until they ran out of catalogs). There were even door prizes, but neither Mary nor I won one.

After answering questions about gardening, Ivor spoke to the audience about grasshoppers distribution, a Community Supported Agriculture organization, and related issues. Sadly, there are virtually no places in Louisville to butcher meat for small farmers or individuals. This makes me sad because my family (i.e., my father and uncle) would buy a cow every year at the county fair and have it butchered to supply our annual meat needs. Although I now certainly could not eat a whole side of beef by myself each year, I could probably eat a quarter if other people wanted to go in with me. My friend Iced Tea Latte butchers a pig every year and a side of been (and graciously shares with me). It's a great way to buy local. However, all meat processors now seem to focus only on factory farms these days. . . . .

My favorite tip from Ivor was to buy seeds which advertise "prolific" fruits. Good sign.

Of course, I really came for the seed exchange. I've never attended one before. I thought that I should contribute something slightly exotic so that I would add value (being from out of town and all). The promotional materials recommended bringing seeds in a jar, so I filled a jam jar with black chick pea seeds. I suspected (correctly) that no one else would bring such seeds. Most people put seeds in plastic baggies (which is much more efficient). I thought that we would walk around with our jars of seeds, meet people, chat, and exchange seeds (for which I had brought small coin envelopes). However, instead, they set up long row of tables (organized by food groups) and people would leave their labeled bags of seeds. Some people just dropped off store-bought seed packets, but most people brought their own seeds. Then, you would just help yourself from each envelope that spanked your fancy. From the seed exchange, I got the following: OT Heimi Vietamese mecum peppers, loofah gourd seeds, sugar pie pumpkins (for Beth and Mike), San Martin Peppers, Thai Basil, Thomas Jefferson Marigold, Arkansas Cow Peas, California Poppies/Orange cosmos, and Okra. Mary gave me heirloom underground railroad tomatoes and jolokia peppers -- but holy jolokia! – I lost the peppers!!! You have no idea how much nashing of teeth and searching of luggage there was this afternoon when I could not find them. My father wanted CaJohn's Holy Jalokia sauce for Xmas and I was seriously looking forward to growing my own hot peppers and making my own sauce. Now, I will have to search them out and buy them.

Life goes on. The event was catered by Heine coffee and I met Gary Heine – who is one of the organizers of 15K Farmers. I'm not even a coffee drinker and I had coffee (with lots of milk and sugar). It also has a new home – the Dismas Charities St. Ann's site site, which is a re-entry program housed in a former Catholic church school. 15k Farmers is associated with Growing Power, which you've read about here before.

It was a nice way to spend a few hours on Saturday afternoon. Then I let Mary spoil me for the rest of my trip.

Road Trip: Louisville 15K Farmers Seed Swap

On Saturday, I took a rare road trip and drove three hours each way to visit my friend Mary in Louisville and participate in the seed exchange of Fifteen Thousand Farmers in Louisville, Kentucky. Fifteen Thousand Farmers ("FTF") is an initiative to turn Louisville citizens into backyard farmers. They started small and last year had signed up 1250 new backyard farmers for events. They hold a gardening event on the 15^th of each month. Mary briefs me almost every month. This month, it held a seminar by Ivor Chodkowski, a local farmer and entrepreneur, on "Planning your Spring Garden." After the seminar, they had a potluck (filled with garden produce), cooking demonstrations (with spaghetti squash) and a seed exchange. It was extremely well attended (even without cocktails as a draw) and there were at least 200 people there. Johnny's Seed Catalogs were handed out to everyone (until they ran out of catalogs). There were even door prizes, but neither Mary nor I won one.

After answering questions about gardening, Ivor spoke to the audience about grasshoppers distribution, a Community Supported Agriculture organization, and related issues. Sadly, there are virtually no places in Louisville to butcher meat for small farmers or individuals. This makes me sad because my family (i.e., my father and uncle) would buy a cow every year at the county fair and have it butchered to supply our annual meat needs. Although I now certainly could not eat a whole side of beef by myself each year, I could probably eat a quarter if other people wanted to go in with me. My friend Iced Tea Latte butchers a pig every year and a side of been (and graciously shares with me). It's a great way to buy local. However, all meat processors now seem to focus only on factory farms these days. . . . .

My favorite tip from Ivor was to buy seeds which advertise "prolific" fruits. Good sign.

Of course, I really came for the seed exchange. I've never attended one before. I thought that I should contribute something slightly exotic so that I would add value (being from out of town and all). The promotional materials recommended bringing seeds in a jar, so I filled a jam jar with black chick pea seeds. I suspected (correctly) that no one else would bring such seeds. Most people put seeds in plastic baggies (which is much more efficient). I thought that we would walk around with our jars of seeds, meet people, chat, and exchange seeds (for which I had brought small coin envelopes). However, instead, they set up long row of tables (organized by food groups) and people would leave their labeled bags of seeds. Some people just dropped off store-bought seed packets, but most people brought their own seeds. Then, you would just help yourself from each envelope that spanked your fancy. From the seed exchange, I got the following: OT Heimi Vietamese mecum peppers, loofah gourd seeds, sugar pie pumpkins (for Beth and Mike), San Martin Peppers, Thai Basil, Thomas Jefferson Marigold, Arkansas Cow Peas, California Poppies/Orange cosmos, and Okra. Mary gave me heirloom underground railroad tomatoes and jolokia peppers -- but holy jolokia! – I lost the peppers!!! You have no idea how much nashing of teeth and searching of luggage there was this afternoon when I could not find them. My father wanted CaJohn's Holy Jalokia sauce for Xmas and I was seriously looking forward to growing my own hot peppers and making my own sauce. Now, I will have to search them out and buy them.

Life goes on. The event was catered by Heine coffee and I met Gary Heine – who is one of the organizers of 15K Farmers. I'm not even a coffee drinker and I had coffee (with lots of milk and sugar). It also has a new home – the Dismas Charities St. Ann's site site, which is a re-entry program housed in a former Catholic church school. 15k Farmers is associated with Growing Power, which you've read about here before.

It was a nice way to spend a few hours on Saturday afternoon. Then I let Mary spoil me for the rest of my trip.

SACG Has Been Blessed With Seeds and Seeks to Share Good Fortune

Four days before we broke ground for the 2010 season, I attended my monthly Knitwits meeting at Church. I was running late because I had been soliciting gardeners and volunteers for the weekend. When I arrived, the table which is usually filled with yummy goodies was instead overflowing with packages of seeds. I was speechless. Linda, one of my fellow knitters, had mentioned about six weeks ago that her cousin sold seeds and she could get some from last season for me for free for the SACG. They are organic seeds from the Botanical Interests Seed Company in Colorado (which has a very nice website). A huge number of them are heirloom varieties. She asked what I wanted: anything and everything. Boy oh boy. She and her parents took a stab at organizing them and banding them. For the edibles, I then put like things together in bags.

BISC has a great website. For example, it has lots of great tips about planting and saving seeds, etc., like this:

Can I use seeds leftover from last year?

The life span of seeds varies by variety and storage conditions. Some seeds like beets, swiss chard,gourds, squash, and tomatoes can keep for several years. Others, like onions, chives, shiso, edamame, and fennel may lose viability in less than a year. For best results in your garden, we recommend buying fresh seed every year. We pretest all of our seeds at an independent laboratory and only accept seeds from our suppliers that exceed federal standards for germination, so you can be sure that you are purchasing high quality seeds from us each season. If you do have leftover seed after planting or are unable to plant seeds that you purchased during that season, the best method for storing is to put them in an airtight container (such as a sealed Ziploc bag) in your refrigerator or a cool basement. Cool, dry air prolongs the life of seeds and hot, humid air can kill them quickly.

So we at the SACG are overflowing with blessings: two garbage bags filled with more seeds than we could plant in three years. So, with giving the SACG gardeners their first choice of the goodies this weekend and last weekend, I am opening up our good fortune to other community gardens which want to share in our bounty for the greater good of the community. I don’t want to lug these around in the hot trunk of my car indefinitely or let them go to waste in my basement. Contact me next week if you’d like to share some of our seeds.

I’ve already planted chamomile and it’s already sprouted. Here’s what else we have:

• Peas: Oregon Sugar Pod II, Green Arrow dwarf shelling pea heirloom, Wando shelling pea heirloom, Snap Pea Cascadia
• Broccoli: Di Cicco heirloom
• Cauliflower: Chef’s Choice Blend heirloom,
• Onion: Ringmaster, Flat of Italy heirloom (red),
• Beet: Gourmet Blend, Early Wonder heirloom,
• Parsnip: all American heirloom,
• Kohlrabi: purple & white Vienna blend
• Lettuce/Greens: Nero Toscana Kale heirloom, Gef’s Gourmet Spicy Mix lettuce, mustard heirloom greens, arugula roquette heirloom, Big Seeded mache corn salad heirloom, Red Giant mustard, Bright Lights Swiss Chard, Fordhook Giant Swiss Chard heirloom, Olesh Tres Fine Endive, Palla Rossa Shalim Radicchio, Asian Salad Mix Mesclun, Lolla Rossa lettuce heirloom, Tom Thumb lettuce butterhead heirloom, Little Gem Romaine lettuce heirloom, Rouge d’Hiver romaine lettuce heirloom (red), Broadleaf Batavian Escarole heirloom, Oak Leaf Blend lettuce heirloom, Red Sails lettuce, Great Lakes lettuce heirloom, Farmer’s Market mesclun blend, Gourmet baby greens mesclun mix heirloom, Salad Bowl blend heirloom lettuce, Black Seeded Simpson lettuce,
• Cabbage: Copenhage Market heirloom, Wong Bok Chinese cabbage heirloom,
• Bok Choy: White Stem heirloom, Rosette heirloom,
• Turnip: Purple Top White Globe heirloom,
• BEANS, BEANS AND MORE BEANS: White Dixie Butter baby lima heirloom, Windsor broad fava heirloom, Scarlet Emperor pole heirloom, Liana Yard Long pole, Romano pole heirloom, Blue Lake pole, Contender bush heirloom (my most reliable), Royal Burgundy heirloom (i.e., purple beans), Pencil Pod bush heirloom (yellow), Kentucky Wonder pole heirloom, Buttterbean (edamame/soybean), Purple Queen heirloom, Tavera bush, Blue Lake 274 bush,
• Pumpkins: Big Max, Jack O’Lantern, Howden, Moon & Stars Heirloom, Sugar Pie Heirloom,
• Melon: Mickylee watermelon, Melon charentais heirloom
• Peppers: Cayenne Blend heirloom, Yolo Wonder heirloom, Early Jalapeno heirloom, Ancho/Poblano heirloom, Canary Bell, California Wonder heirloom, purple beauty,
• Tomatoes: Celebrity, Silvery Fir Tree heirloom, San Marzano heirloom, Jelly bean red & yellow, Italian Roma heirloom, Gardener’s Delight heirloom, Rainbow blend, yellow pear, Cherry heirloom, Speckled roman heirloom, Sun Gold, Brandywine heirloom, Black Krim (Russian heirloom), Aunt Ruby’s German Green heirloom,
• Corn: Spring Treat (hybrid), Delectible (hybrid), (white) Agent (hybrid), Bodacious (hybrid)
• Carrots: Carnival blend, little finger heirloom, purple haze, scarlet nantes heirloom, Tonda di Parigi heirloom, Royal Chantenay heirloom,
• Cucumber: Japanese Soyu Burpless heirloom, Armenian burpless, Spacemaster
• Eggplant: Black beauty heirloom, Long purple – Japanese/Chinese
• Squash: Vegetable Spaghetti heirloom, summer cocozelle heirloom, Early Yellow Crookneck heirloom, Early Prolific Straightneck heirloom, Burgess Buttercup heirloom, Dlicata Honey Boat winter squash, Waltham Butternut heirloom,
• Herbs: Florence Finocchio Fennel heirloom, Common English Thyme heirloom, Rosemary heirloom, Broadleaf Garden Sage heirloom, Bouquet Dill heirloom, German Chamomile heirloom, Spearmint, Common Chives, and several varieties of basil (including Genovese Italian, Dolce Vita Blend, Purple Petra, Italian Large Leaf & Napoletano).

Flowers. And that’s just the edibles. Then there’s an equal amount of flowers, including sweet peas, zinnias, morning glories (which you must plant far, far away from the SACG, daisies, candytuft, nicotina, cardinal climber, cosmos, penstemon, lupines, poppies, coleus, forget-me-nots, hyacinth bean, nasturtium, black-eyed susan vine, butterf]y flower, celosia, jupiter’s beard, statice, columbine, moon flower, snapdragon, lobelia, hollyhock, four o’clock, vebascum mullein, Chinese lantern, money plant, and more!

Miscellaneous: Corsican hard-shelled gourd, Broom Corn heirloom (for those of you wanting to make your own brooms from scratch), Cat Grass, Liquid Sunshine Wheatgrass heirloom, Goblin Eggs ornamental gourds, ornamental eggplant, etc.

SACG Has Been Blessed With Seeds and Seeks to Share Good Fortune

Four days before we broke ground for the 2010 season, I attended my monthly Knitwits meeting at Church. I was running late because I had been soliciting gardeners and volunteers for the weekend. When I arrived, the table which is usually filled with yummy goodies was instead overflowing with packages of seeds. I was speechless. Linda, one of my fellow knitters, had mentioned about six weeks ago that her cousin sold seeds and she could get some from last season for me for free for the SACG. They are organic seeds from the Botanical Interests Seed Company in Colorado (which has a very nice website). A huge number of them are heirloom varieties. She asked what I wanted: anything and everything. Boy oh boy. She and her parents took a stab at organizing them and banding them. For the edibles, I then put like things together in bags.

BISC has a great website. For example, it has lots of great tips about planting and saving seeds, etc., like this:

Can I use seeds leftover from last year?

The life span of seeds varies by variety and storage conditions. Some seeds like beets, swiss chard,gourds, squash, and tomatoes can keep for several years. Others, like onions, chives, shiso, edamame, and fennel may lose viability in less than a year. For best results in your garden, we recommend buying fresh seed every year. We pretest all of our seeds at an independent laboratory and only accept seeds from our suppliers that exceed federal standards for germination, so you can be sure that you are purchasing high quality seeds from us each season. If you do have leftover seed after planting or are unable to plant seeds that you purchased during that season, the best method for storing is to put them in an airtight container (such as a sealed Ziploc bag) in your refrigerator or a cool basement. Cool, dry air prolongs the life of seeds and hot, humid air can kill them quickly.

So we at the SACG are overflowing with blessings: two garbage bags filled with more seeds than we could plant in three years. So, with giving the SACG gardeners their first choice of the goodies this weekend and last weekend, I am opening up our good fortune to other community gardens which want to share in our bounty for the greater good of the community. I don’t want to lug these around in the hot trunk of my car indefinitely or let them go to waste in my basement. Contact me next week if you’d like to share some of our seeds.

I’ve already planted chamomile and it’s already sprouted. Here’s what else we have:

• Peas: Oregon Sugar Pod II, Green Arrow dwarf shelling pea heirloom, Wando shelling pea heirloom, Snap Pea Cascadia
• Broccoli: Di Cicco heirloom
• Cauliflower: Chef’s Choice Blend heirloom,
• Onion: Ringmaster, Flat of Italy heirloom (red),
• Beet: Gourmet Blend, Early Wonder heirloom,
• Parsnip: all American heirloom,
• Kohlrabi: purple & white Vienna blend
• Lettuce/Greens: Nero Toscana Kale heirloom, Gef’s Gourmet Spicy Mix lettuce, mustard heirloom greens, arugula roquette heirloom, Big Seeded mache corn salad heirloom, Red Giant mustard, Bright Lights Swiss Chard, Fordhook Giant Swiss Chard heirloom, Olesh Tres Fine Endive, Palla Rossa Shalim Radicchio, Asian Salad Mix Mesclun, Lolla Rossa lettuce heirloom, Tom Thumb lettuce butterhead heirloom, Little Gem Romaine lettuce heirloom, Rouge d’Hiver romaine lettuce heirloom (red), Broadleaf Batavian Escarole heirloom, Oak Leaf Blend lettuce heirloom, Red Sails lettuce, Great Lakes lettuce heirloom, Farmer’s Market mesclun blend, Gourmet baby greens mesclun mix heirloom, Salad Bowl blend heirloom lettuce, Black Seeded Simpson lettuce,
• Cabbage: Copenhage Market heirloom, Wong Bok Chinese cabbage heirloom,
• Bok Choy: White Stem heirloom, Rosette heirloom,
• Turnip: Purple Top White Globe heirloom,
• BEANS, BEANS AND MORE BEANS: White Dixie Butter baby lima heirloom, Windsor broad fava heirloom, Scarlet Emperor pole heirloom, Liana Yard Long pole, Romano pole heirloom, Blue Lake pole, Contender bush heirloom (my most reliable), Royal Burgundy heirloom (i.e., purple beans), Pencil Pod bush heirloom (yellow), Kentucky Wonder pole heirloom, Buttterbean (edamame/soybean), Purple Queen heirloom, Tavera bush, Blue Lake 274 bush,
• Pumpkins: Big Max, Jack O’Lantern, Howden, Moon & Stars Heirloom, Sugar Pie Heirloom,
• Melon: Mickylee watermelon, Melon charentais heirloom
• Peppers: Cayenne Blend heirloom, Yolo Wonder heirloom, Early Jalapeno heirloom, Ancho/Poblano heirloom, Canary Bell, California Wonder heirloom, purple beauty,
• Tomatoes: Celebrity, Silvery Fir Tree heirloom, San Marzano heirloom, Jelly bean red & yellow, Italian Roma heirloom, Gardener’s Delight heirloom, Rainbow blend, yellow pear, Cherry heirloom, Speckled roman heirloom, Sun Gold, Brandywine heirloom, Black Krim (Russian heirloom), Aunt Ruby’s German Green heirloom,
• Corn: Spring Treat (hybrid), Delectible (hybrid), (white) Agent (hybrid), Bodacious (hybrid)
• Carrots: Carnival blend, little finger heirloom, purple haze, scarlet nantes heirloom, Tonda di Parigi heirloom, Royal Chantenay heirloom,
• Cucumber: Japanese Soyu Burpless heirloom, Armenian burpless, Spacemaster
• Eggplant: Black beauty heirloom, Long purple – Japanese/Chinese
• Squash: Vegetable Spaghetti heirloom, summer cocozelle heirloom, Early Yellow Crookneck heirloom, Early Prolific Straightneck heirloom, Burgess Buttercup heirloom, Dlicata Honey Boat winter squash, Waltham Butternut heirloom,
• Herbs: Florence Finocchio Fennel heirloom, Common English Thyme heirloom, Rosemary heirloom, Broadleaf Garden Sage heirloom, Bouquet Dill heirloom, German Chamomile heirloom, Spearmint, Common Chives, and several varieties of basil (including Genovese Italian, Dolce Vita Blend, Purple Petra, Italian Large Leaf & Napoletano).

Flowers. And that’s just the edibles. Then there’s an equal amount of flowers, including sweet peas, zinnias, morning glories (which you must plant far, far away from the SACG, daisies, candytuft, nicotina, cardinal climber, cosmos, penstemon, lupines, poppies, coleus, forget-me-nots, hyacinth bean, nasturtium, black-eyed susan vine, butterf]y flower, celosia, jupiter’s beard, statice, columbine, moon flower, snapdragon, lobelia, hollyhock, four o’clock, vebascum mullein, Chinese lantern, money plant, and more!

Miscellaneous: Corsican hard-shelled gourd, Broom Corn heirloom (for those of you wanting to make your own brooms from scratch), Cat Grass, Liquid Sunshine Wheatgrass heirloom, Goblin Eggs ornamental gourds, ornamental eggplant, etc.