Country Living Skills

Saving Seeds: Cantaloupe

Rose — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 18:41:38 +0000

Cantaloupes DO cross pollinate with other “melons” like other cantaloupes, musk melons, snake melons and Armenian cucumbers. Separate therefore from other “melons” by a quarter mile. Choose early ripening, disease free fruits to save seed from. Wash seeds from ripe melons in a strainer, dry on a paper plate or paper sheet. Seeds are ready to store [...]

Saving Seeds: Squash and Zucchini

Rose — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 16:52:18 +0000

Squash within the same species DOES cross pollinate, therefore species should be isolated by a quarter mile. This will also reduce the danger of squash bugs spreading over all the crops if they pester one patch. Seeds should be taken from fruits that have surpassed maturity by 3 weeks already. Remove seed, wash, let dry on paper [...]

Saving Seeds: Cucumbers

Rose — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 18:03:38 +0000

Cucumbers DO cross pollinate, so if you want pure seed, separate cucumber varieties from each other by a quarter mile. Seeds should be taken from fruit that has ripened past edible stage and begun to turn yellow and soften. To get to the seeds, cut the cucumber lengthwise, scoop the seeds out, wash them and dry [...]

Saving Seeds: Carrots

Rose — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 13:23:28 +0000

Carrots are biennial, that means, you can harvest seeds only in the second year. Carrots Do cross pollinate, so separate them 1/4 mile from other carrots in the first year. In the second year, when they are going to seed, separate them also from Queen Anne’s Lace (about 1/4 mile). Dig carrots up before the hard frost [...]

Saving Seeds: Peppers

Rose — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 12:30:09 +0000

Peppers DO cross pollinate, so separate varieties by about 500 feet, unless you can plant them in insect proof cages that are covered with window screen. Pick ripe, fully colored fruits that show no sign of disease to save seeds from. Remove the seed core and place on a paper plate or thick paper sheet to [...]

Saving Seeds: Tomatoes

Rose — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 12:16:44 +0000

Tomatoes usually do not cross-pollinate, at least not the modern varieties. Potato leaf varieties should be separated by the garden’s length though. Pick one ripe fruit of each plant (at least), squeeze the seeds and juice into a strainer. Then wash the seeds, spread them on a paper plate or thick paper sheet, and dry them. DO [...]

Saving Seeds: Beans

Rose — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 11:28:30 +0000

Bean flowers are self-pollinating, so the danger of cross pollination is comparatively small. It’s is recommended to separate different kinds of beans by a garden length though to ensure absolute purity. Save seeds from plants that ripen first and are disease free. Harvest seed pods reserved for seed saving when they are dried completely. Crush the [...]

Saving Seeds

Rose — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 11:19:09 +0000

I know this might come a little early for many of you out there, but I will start a new “series” here, giving information about saving seeds of different plants. I guess you all know that it is not much use to save seed from hybrid plants as you never know what you are getting, but [...]

Tomato Suckers

Rose — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 17:56:42 +0000

I mentioned suckers in an earlier post, saying that you can pinch them if you wish, but don’t have to – well, some people do not know what a sucker actually is. What is a sucker ? Suckers grow our between a tomato leaf branch and its stem. If you pinch them off and stick them in [...]

Planting Cucumbers

Rose — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 19:51:34 +0000

It is a good idea to plant cucumbers in hills so they can vine in peace and do not get too crowded. A week or two after your last frost date, make hills that are 4-5 feet apart from each other on all sides, and approximately 12” in diameter. Plant 6-8 seeds per hill. After 3 weeks, [...]

Growing Tomatoes

Rose — Mon, 11 May 2009 19:24:04 +0000

As tomatoes are most gardener’s favorite plant, especially but not exclusively amongst beginners, here are a few things that might be worth knowing about growing tomatoes. If those among you who have decades of tomato growing experiences are unhappy with my information or have things to add, please feel free to comment Basically, all [...]

Marie Claire: How to plant a window garden

Rose — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 13:31:31 +0000

Via: seattlepi.com 1. At a nursery, pick up seeds, potting soil, and a few small pots or a window box (it must be shorter than the length of your windowsill-measure first!). Get a container at least four to five inches deep with a drainage hole at the bottom. 2. Fill container with soil and place [...]

Good buys for gardeners

Rose — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 19:45:08 +0000

If you are new to the wonderfully healthy and economical past time of gardening, this list might be interesting to you. For all those who have been gardening for ages already, maybe you enjoy checking what this lady thinks is essential, and add what’s missing, from your own experience Via: baltimoresun.com By Susan [...]

The globalisation of addiction

Rose — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 16:11:53 +0000

So here is a study that tells you, basically, that living in the countryside, close to nature, as a producer, instead of a synthetic, stressful environment where people live as consumers only, will prevent addictions, will even cure addictions, will be the best you can do for your children and yourself. The addictions of our [...]

Gardening is getting more and more popular

Rose — Sun, 01 Feb 2009 22:40:19 +0000

We finally got our seeds, accompanied by a nice letter from FEDCOs, and what they are telling their customers there did not come as a big surprise to us: Fedco has had record sales this year, an over 40% growth in seed sales, which adds to the 20% growth they saw last year… At a [...]

Planning your vegetable and herb gardens – Tips to save your family money by gardening

Rose — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 02:48:43 +0000

Via: Seattle Garden & Kitchen Examiner A prolific garden can save your family a lot of money Food prices are continuing to rise while more and more products get recalled. It only makes sense that all of us considering ways to raise some of the food we eat. The more we food we raise, [...]

Have you ordered your seeds yet ?

Rose — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 19:14:18 +0000

You might think it’s weird to think about the gardening season now, but it isn’t. Even though your garden patch might be buried in snow right now, depending on where you are, you still need to get off your hindquarters and start planning now. 2009 might very well be the year when, for the first time [...]

Cloth diapers, again

Rose — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 16:48:51 +0000

Just a short note today: We recently talked to a pediatrician who told us that she is seeing a lot more cloth diapers these days than she used to. Most people are probably using cloth diapers now because they cannot afford throwaway diapers anymore, but it is still difficult to get decent diaper covers in any [...]

Apple Pie

Rose — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 02:06:26 +0000

I suppose most of you have made millions of apple pies in your time, but if you are looking for a nice online description of how to bake one, I recently found a well made page about how to make apple pie from scratch, with lots of pictures and ingredients for both a lattice and [...]

An Old-Time “Refridgerator”, Easily Built: The Trash Can Root Cellar

Rose — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 16:28:22 +0000

If you need storage that keeps your food cool without using electricity, a root cellar comes in very handy. There are a tremendous amount of different designs for root cellars out there – check out this site, for example: Root Cellars Their link to the garbage can root cellar is broken though, so here are some basic [...]