Seed Saving Basics

[Charlie]

Snagged in aus.gardens....old news for some....good place to start for those new to saving seed.

[Omelet]

Cool.

[FarmI]

[Charlie]

;-)) Gotcha! Caught me out, eh? I'm keepin' me eyes open.

Y'all been a little slow downunder as of late, must be the onset of the cold hard times, and I'm hardpressed tryin' to awaken me countrymen to the dangers assailing them and gettin' my garden in and dealin' with the anklebiter that just took up crawling and how loves getting into

*everthing*. Lot's of rain, but I shan't complain...too much. I need two acres also. You know the issues.

Like Arnold the Terminator says, "I'll be back!" ;-)

You have the bedstand piled high with books and extra comforters? Chooks have plenty of warm straw? Plenty of tea? :-)

Peace and Care Charlie

[Lilah Morgan]

Thanks mulchly for the link, I was rather basic with my seed saving with produce from last year, for tomatoes and such I just squished the fruit, got all the goopy seeds, put them on a paper towel lying flat in a well ventilated room, and in a few days I folded the paper towel over them and put a rubber around it to keep the towel from unfolding and labelled them, 'cept the corn seeds(another one just sprouted that was from the third planting! I'm so happy!)which went in a jar, and the eggplants in a tiny ziploc bag.

[Gary Woods]

You'll get a lot nicer results by mixing the goop with an equal amount of water, letting it ferment for a day or three, and pouring all the crud off the top. The clean seeds can be washed and dried in an old sieve. Of course, the Seed Saver's Exchange has a German made machine that can remove the seeds from a pickup load of tomatoes as fast as you can throw them in...

Gary Woods AKA K2AHC- PGP key on request, or at home.earthlink.net/~garygarlic Zone 5/6 in upstate New York, 1420' elevation. NY WO G

[FarmI]

Yep. I'm keeping my eye on you :-)

Not too cold yet. T-shirt and light jacket during the day, long sleeved T, jacket and fire at night, but some deeper cold forecast for this weekend.

and I'm hardpressed tryin' to awaken me countrymen to

Yep. Saw my anklebiter today. Much nicer than one's own. I like this Grandparent role.

Good. Pop in and tell us what you've been up to at some time. Seems that David is getting rain and the mean sod isn't sharing it round. :-))

Snort! I don't have room. I have 3 huge piles of mixed reading next to the bed. Never know what I'll feel like reading when I hit the hay.

Cleaned the pen, nesting boxes and under the roosts about a week ago and refilled all with fresh hay. Rotten chooks didn't even say thank you.

I hope the worms will be more appreciative as I spread it all over a couple of veggie beds after having read how Kylie uses her chook poop. And as for tea - rotten muck unless it's drunk from a fine bone china tea cup and freshly brewed in a good teapot, so I tend to drink coffee.

And same to you Old China.

Fran

[Charlie]

Damn, opposite side of the planet, thought I'd be outta sight.

I forgot that you don't get all snowy and frigid like we do. Sounds as if your temps are about the same as ours now, but normally we'd be warmer. 60F this morning and fell to 44F by noon with a cold north wind. Brrrr. Hmmmm, I'm thinking that your cold winds must be south winds?

I already put on shorts for the season, and now my legs are cold when outside.

Bloody oath! G'parenting is fantastic.

I shall. Been distracted lately and busy trying to clean up the yard and garden and get stuff planted.

I see that he is. Sounds as if it is becoming destructive. Weather patterns are certainly different than they have been for the last few...decades.

Same here. I've probably a dozen books partially read, stacks of magazines and catalogs, I often get sleepy, fossicking thru the piles.

Coffee price has nearly doubled on the brand/style we drink. We are now drinking more tea and less coffee. We are using loose tea and a tea/coffee press. Started using the press for coffee too.

I'm learning, old friend. (Read "old" however it best suits ya! :-) )

Charlie

[Bill]

I use our white pines which are about.

Bill ...still the coffee bean is first thing in the AM.

[Charlie]

Hmmm....this is different than I expected. Not as "piney" as would have assumed. Pretty mild.

I've had a better cuppa, but given the benefits, yeah I can drink this.

Thanks. Added to the new folder on my meatware drive. ;-)

Charlie

[enigma]

Charlie wrote in news: [e-mail]:

ever have Spruce gum? we brew a couple spruce beers (blue, white & a combo of the two) in late May or June, depending on when the new tips are growing. just brewed a batch of Scarborough Faire ale yesterday (parsley, sage, rosemary & thyme obviously). it's unhopped & the flavors change as it ages. lee

[Billy]

"Clover" mead is best for aging. Aging gives esterfication, which gives complexity.

[FarmI]

In the world of usenet, you may as well be my next door neighbour :-))

Thankfully no. If we ever do get some snow, we're out in it taking pictures. Happens about once every 5-10 years and seldom stays on the ground for more than a couple of hours.

Sounds as

We seldom get southerlys but our best rain seems to come from the south east (if it ever bloody comes!). Most of both our hot and cold winds come from the west.

LOL. I seldom wear shorts - too much danger of sun burn.

I can understand that. spring is always the busyest time of the year.

There were really major floods up in his neck of the woods last year.

as for

I must admit that I don't really know the rpices of individual items. I tedn to just notice the overall grocery bill going up.

Once past 25, when one's arse drops and is no longer the pert shape of youth, I figure old age is creeping up. I'm way past 25 so I am content with the 'old' and there is no way I would go back to that age unless I could take all my experiences with me.

[Charlie]

Thank goodness my plumber's butt in the garden isn't visible over the usenet fence!

I entirely agree with this, though it makes one wonder....since my arse has fallen, why is it so often peeking out the *top* of my stubbies?

Charlie