Susie, I've frozen every kind of seed I've ever grown. The idea is to get moisture level down to at least 8%. Although I never measure for that level you can be pretty sure that seeds are dry enough when they tend to break rather than bend when put under stress. In the case of Kathy's zipper peas (and other legumes) if they get too dry they'll go into a deeper dormancy stage and be harder to germinate. This can be remedied though by allowing the seeds to sit at room temp for a couple days so they absorb moisture slowly from the air around them.
Melody referenced a great seed saving book to me quite a few years ago. Although I put off getting it for yet another two years I wish I'd not have delayed. "Seed to Seed" by Susan Ashworth is full of info, written in layman's terms, and a must have book. I highly recommend it. (And probably should go see if I've ever entered it in the Garden Bookworm!)
Shoe
Cucumber information needed
I will have to search Amazon for that book. I use dessicant pouches in all my seeds, so they are dry. I guess the reason I was afraid to store them in the freezer is someone here on DG said not to freeze because the whole package then has to be planted when brought from the freezer.
I trust your advice and will give it a try. Bud will be happy because that will free up a huge area in one of the refrigerators for more veggie storage!
The Little Leaf cukes are flowering, no sign of the PM returning. They sure are tiny plants, but loaded with flowers.
Bud is building low tunnels for me today for my squash and Thunder cukes. 10 ft wide, 34 ft long, 5 ft high, eight of them to cover 16 beds. I'm excited! We're trying to figure out the irrigation for inside, since our regular system won't work without soaking the isles. I hate soggy isles since I tend to slip and slide and leave a large depression in the planting area where I land!
Those little cukes are the most divine cukes I have ever grown and I've been gardening for more years than I will admit to. I always use Parks Seeds for unusual items. The baby cukes are so trendy but delicious too. Enjoy!
What is important, Calalily, is when you take the seeds out of the freezer to let them sit a while and get to room temperature, otherwise the two different temps cause condensation on the jars, the seeds, etc and is what (over a period of time) will cut back the germination rates.
Sometimes, being mr. last minute or in a hurry, I've opened a jar while it's still in the freezer, pulled out what I need quickly, then shut the door. The only seeds exposed to warmer temps are the ones I pulled out. If you organize your seeds similar (but better!?) to my seed freezer pic you can go directly to what you are looking for (box of legumes, box of peas and corn, a jar of tomato seeds, etc).
Congrats on your low tunnels! I've been hoping to do that this year, too. Yours are gonna be 10 feet wide? That will cover two of your beds, won't it, leaving an aisle in the center? Or maybe I thought your beds were of less width. Is he using chainlink top rails, or pvc for the hoops? I'm curious as to the best/quickest way to get them up.
Aquaannie, enjoy those cukes, I eat nearly as many cucumber sandwiches as I do tomato sandwiches!
Shoe
Now i've not heard of a cucumber sandwhich, unless it's on that little tiny rye bread with cream cheese on it. yum!!
I love cucumber sandwiches too (and cucumber tomato sandwiches).
Shoe, the frames are PVC, covering is 30% frost cover, the kind that is tougher than remay but not the heaviest one we use. He had trouble with two bows on one frame not gluing properly but discovered he needed more weight to hold the connection level while it dried. (I can take a photo the next time he puts one together).
The frames cover two beds, the beds are 4ft wide with a one ft isle.
Hoop making is on hold, it was 32 this morning with 45 mph winds. Brrr.......too cold! Garden is all under frost blankets, the heavy kind (bought one roll at a time over a year because they cost so much)
Thanks, Susie. I use pvc over my boxed beds, so far so good, but those beds are only 3 ft wide.
Shoe (who just finished sowing some pepper seeds in the g-house. Ahhh, the beginning of a new gardening season continues!)
Shoe, you mentioned saving corn seed in a box in your freezer. My seed order for corn last month ended up being back ordered. No panic yet, but I have several other varieties of seed backordered as well and I'm getting concerned. I have typcially purchased hybrid super sweet corn seed, but I am considering looking into a good short season corn seed which I can save some of the harvest for next years crop. My question is what steps do you follow other than letting the seed dry on the cob before removal and boxing up to put in your freezer?
morgan
I have ordered my specialty seeds now, and they are late coming in the mail but they were shipped, guess I'm lucky I got all of my seed so far.
Howdy, Morgan...
"My question is what steps do you follow other than letting the seed dry on the cob before removal and boxing up to put in your freezer?"
Yes, let the seed dry on the stalk if you can, if there are a lot of bugs/worms though you can pull it, shuck it (removing any worms) and dry it in a nice airy out of the sun place. It's gotta be good and dry. Once the kernels and the cob are dry you can easily twist the kernels off with your hand, or rub to cobs together.
Also corn is known for losing genetic diversity ("inbreeding depression") so if you can you should save seeds from a minimum of 25 ears, 50 if you grow that much.
There is another thread somewhere around here where Farmerdill gave some great recommendations on varieties, both OP as well as some hybrids. If I come across it I'll alert you to it.
A nice sunshiny day here so off to get out in it!
Best! Hope you and yours are doing well!
Shoe
WEll, it's a blizzard here, worst one this winter. Not a ray of sunshine in sight! lol BRRRR!
Fortunately the only problems experienced with growing corn have been the starlings and some black mites which cover the outside of the corn husks later in the season. We know have a cat which considers the corn rows her jungle and birds no longer invade. The black mites do not seem to invade inside the corn shucks unless we are not careful when shucking the corn. Don't know what effect leaving the corn in the field to dry would have on these mites invading the inside of the corn shucks would have. We grow eight rows of fifty each corn plants so by your measure of saved corn we would have to sacrifice the equivalent of one half row, estimating two ears per stalk. Not a bad trade off. Obviously since we only use 50 or so seeds per row we would have a lot of dried corn seed left but I have uses for that as well. I am considering purchasing Territorial Seed Company's Bolden Bantam (OP) corn if Johhny's doesn't come through shortly with my corn seed order. The problem here is the 85 days to harvest may not be enough days. I was hoping for something under 70 days to harvest, but that seems difficult to find in heirloom or open pollinated corn. I posted a request elsewhere here but no responses yet. Appreciate the feedback Shoe, you’re always a huge help. TYVM.
morgan
I just came across this thread and picked up on reviews of several seed companies. Just curious what y'all think about Twilly seed co. I have had good luck with their seeds and they seem to end up being my major supplier of seeds every year.
For some reason I get way too many catalogs from Johnny's. I really find this to be annoying.
t-rock, Johnny's get some pretty good reviews as far as seed companies go, however I am sick of backorders for half my seed purchases from them. I think I have ordered from them for the last time.
Odd.. I rec'd 100% of my Johnnys' order but agree ~ quit sending me all those blessed catalogues! .
I do share them with others but why waste the paper and postage?
Mraider ~ do you order early? Perhaps they are overwhelmed with southern orders. I also believe more and more people are buying seeds and gardening these days, hence the shortages.
This message was edited Feb 28, 2011 6:54 AM
podster, I ordered my corn in January because two seasons ago I shared seed with a neighbor and wanted to purchase some more. By late spring they said they were out and no chance for any more coming in time. So I jumped ship and went to another source which was not the same as Johnny's. Figured I would hit it early and still have not seen any of the onion or corn seed which was back ordered. I purchased onion seed elsewhere and will be planting it indoors this week. I'm crossing my fingers on the corn seed. Have decided if Johnny's doesn't come through shortly I will try another super sweet, short season hybrid. Haven't a clue as to which variety yet. The corn I grew last season was not well received by family members. Too tough and not sweet enough. I have really spoiled them with Johnny's seed but I must make a change. No more back orders will be acceptable. There is no doubt in my mind that some garden seed is being bought up as quickly as the catalogs appear. For some reason I don't get Johnny's until about a month after DG'ers start talking about having received theirs. I may just pester them until I get an order and save it until the following season.
OR shop on online early, I think many folks do.
I haven't figured out how a company can 'backorder' seed.
Do they have to wait till another crop is harvested?
Do they get what another outlet can't sell?
Or are they only trying to keep us on the hook and never deliver.
Seems counterproductive, doesn't it?
Good questions podster and well put. Shop on line may well be the best alternative; however I would call my order in to verify whether the seed is actually available. Occasionally I have seed catalogs state that due to crop failures a certain seed variety would not be available that season although still listed in their catalog. Good idea.
This year I started seed shopping online in October and November. By January when the seed catalogs start coming I have already received about 90% of what I have room to plant. The rest of my online, catalog, and in-store shopping is mostly for fun and research.
Most seed companies are North of where I garden and by the time I get their catalog, spend time browsing it, get online and place the order, and finally receive the seeds it is getting late to get seed in the ground and way too late for starting seed indoors. I start tomato and pepper seed indoors in January.
Shipment isn't always as prompt as one might expect either. Around the first of January I placed an online order with Park's for one of their on sale Bio Dome setups offered through an email I received from them. Two weeks later I checked on the order status and it hadn't even shipped. I let them know how disappointed I was and four days later I received the dome which by the way works beyond my expectations. I have since ordered refills for the dome and again it has been two weeks and they are yet to arrive.
.....and I get way too many Johnny's catalogs and Grower's Supply catalog in the mail, about one each every 10 days or so. I've already received four (4) of each one this season. What a waste!
I too get about eight or ten Growers Supply catalogs a year but have not ordered from them in a while. I learned to ask about the shipping costs before I place an order and the last two times I canceled my order when they gave me the shipping costs. I protested once and got the price reduced to half but it was still too much money compared to what it cost me to buy direct when the opportunity presented itself. That made me wonder how much they are actually gouging customers with inflated shipping costs.
What types of seed do you plant in the Bio Domes for t-rock?
I will follow your lead on buying seed in the future t-rock. I too have purchase seed from Home Depot already and may not plant it until next season, but I plan to have enough seed stored in my garage frig crispers for next seasons plantings. I just don't trust the availability of seed companies to match the future requirements. This is based on my observations just in this neighborhood alone. Gardening was unheard of when I started mine. Only one other in the neighborhood. Each year the number of new gardens cropping up has doubled in the last couple of years. Some are almost as big as mine (about 1/4 acre). And Montana is a tough state to grow vegetables in as well. Guess they figured if this old hillbilly can do it, so can they.
What types of seed do you plant in the Bio Domes for t-rock? So far tomatoes, peppers, and geraniums.
Two weeks ago I ordered refills for my 60 cell Bio Dome and an 18 cell whopper planting block that will fit in the 60 cell dome. These are designed for large seed. I will use the 18 cell block to start cukes, squash, and melons, that is if the block gets here in time.
Hi t-rock...how do you like your planting blocks from Parks? I bought a Bio Dome setup this year with the 18 cell block. I love the dome itself, but not sure how I feel about the sponge plugs for planting. Do you use them for food? Or do you put other planting mix in them?
Thanks, Pam
I'm about to pick my first cucino cucumber today I planted one more miniature variety also, forget the name now, i'm at work, but I swear I have l00 or more out there on those vines. maybe 300 i'll be giving away cucumbers for a while. lol I'll try to post pictures of them this weekend. I'm so impressed, all those buck a piece seeds germinated and my gosh I've never seen such growth in all my life. stay tuned!
A local food pantry might be thrilled to get your extras, I know we would here.
i have no trouble finding folks to give the extras to. nothing gets wasted.
here's the young cucumbers.
You can freeze cucumbers for winter salads, you know. I've got a bunch of them packed away already. Slice them thinly, mix them with salt (about a tablespoon per large cucumber), and put them in the refrigerator for a day. Then rinse them really well and press them as dry as you can. Mix them with sugar and vinegar, 50/50, enough to cover them. Refrigerate for another day, then put them in freezer containers and freeze. When you thaw them later, they're still crisp and good in salads, gazpacho, etc.
thanks G, I didn't know that. Question: freeze with the sugar/vinegar?
This message was edited Jul 23, 2011 10:07 AM
You drain the sugar/vinegar solution off, but there's always still some left. My granddaughter loves these in salads, and I thought I had used up the last of them by about February. Much to my surprise, when I went through my freezer recently I found bags and bags of them, so I put all the fresh ones on the bottom and we can probably have them with salads much more often this winter.
Thanks again, I have some extra already, will have to get some salt.