Visiting the Baker Creek Petaluma Seed Bank. 1.5.18

Petaluma Seed Bank, Baker Creek Seeds.  1.6.18

 Last weekend I was in Petaluma, CA, and remembered the Baker Creek Seed Bank store is there.  So we visited.  What a cool place!  It's like the catalog, but in person.  Very helpful staff.  I left with another dozen packets of seeds for this year's kitchen garden.

Petaluma Seed Bank, Baker Creek Seeds.  1.6.18

Petaluma Seed Bank, Baker Creek Seeds.  1.6.18

Late Winter Gardening. Start seeds for onions, peppers, oregano. 2.22.14.

"Flagpole Giant Green Onion" seeds

Greek Oregano Seeds

Peppers are germinating

My garden calendar for this week said to plant onions.  These were from Fred Meyer, "New Dimension Seed" "Flagpole Giant Green Onion".  They do not make bulbs, so are used as scallions year-round.  Something else to try in my raised beds.  Planting a used 6-pack.  I may be able to cut like a cake, when grown, for 4 sections per cell, 24 total.

The Greek Oregano seeds were as fine as sand.  Maybe finer.  Last year I grew catnip and lemon balm from similar size seeds.  Might grow.  Barely pressed them into the surface of seed starting medium.  Did not cover them.

The peppers are germinating.  I continue to keep them on seed starting warming mat.  So far the following have germinated:  Tabasco, Long Red Cayenne, Fish Pepper, Sweet Banana Pepper. Not all of the seeds of each.  Only one or two of each.

Flush with that success, I added another pot of seeds to start.  This time, "Hot Lemon".   There are others in my collection, but I think I will just start some more "Fish" because the variegation is nice and they would make a nice gift.  Later for those.

Pink Banana Squash and other seeds. A nostalgia vegetable.

Pink Banana Squash image from wikipedia

Searching the web, I found seeds for pink banana squash.  Cucuberbita maxima. 

My dad's aunt Emma grew these and saved the seeds, which meant I grew them when I was a kid. I remember my mom being overwhelmed with what to do with the yield, cut it up and froze to make pumpkin pies.

I found a few sources, and added one to my seed "burden" for Spring

From www.rareseeds.com
Order Number: 100353504

 

Item Name
Jumbo Pink Banana Item No: SQ138	For nostalgia.   If we can't eat it all, the chickens will like it.
Anise Hyssop Item No: HB122	For the bees.
Shungiku Edible Chrysanthemum Item No: HB129	Something different.
Red Round Turnip Item No: TN112	Ning likes turnips.
He Shi Ko Bunching Onion Item No: ON111	I like scallions.  These will be a change.
Chioggia (Bassano) Beet Item No: BT104	Ning likes beets
Tall Mixed - Marvel of Peru Item No: FL444	I'll compare to the other seeds.

Planting Seeds.

Spring Seed Planting

These are the seeds I planted in the past week.

Alyssum and Bonanza Mix Marigolds in the tomato bed.  They sprouted during the rains of the last week.  Also planted alyssum seeds in the border of the new iris raised bed.

Clemson Spineless Okra - Also in the tomato bed.  Clemson Spineless was introduced by Clemson University in 1939, 50-64 days.  That's in an ideal hot climate - possibly 2 or 3 months here if it bears at all.  After one week of rain, I also saw sprouts.  I read that they require soaking and heat.  So I started some today after soaking with 2 changes of water, for several hours.  I also read Okra doesn't respond well to transplanting.  The seeds I planted today I planted in newspaper-lined containers to reduce transplant shock.

Swiss Chard - in empty squares of the iris bed I set up last weekend.  It will be mid to late summer before I add the irises in those spaces.  I don't want to leave it with bare soil.  Space is at a premium.

Petite Yellow Watermelon ( 65-80 days) and Blacktail Mountain Watermelon (65-75 days) - Haven't tried watermelons here.  Starting in containers, today.  Then into raised bed.  Cleared some space in the raised bed, from winter vegetables.  Some of those didn't do well, others have been harvested - radishes, greens.

Minnesota Midget Canteloupe (60-75 days).  Haven't tried these either.  These are a small melon, 4 inches, and the vines are 3 feet long.  May plant them in containers, not sure yet.  Also starting in containers, today.

Japanese Soyu Burpless Cucumber (65 days).  Starting in containers today.  Will find a place for them.

Asparagus Pea (60-75 days).  Starting in containers.  Will need to fine a place for them too.

Parisian Carrot (55 days) and Red Cored Chantenay Carrot.  (70 Days).  Also in the new iris bed, for the same reason.

Also some cleome seeds for Ning's meadow.

Also the last of the sweet potatoes.  One week ago, I discovered what looked like near dead sweet potato starts in the mailbox.  They were there for the weekend.  I cleaned them up and planted the best looking ones in a half barrel.  These sweet potatoes were described as an early variety, good for the North.  The remaining set I placed in a glass of water, with daily water changes.  They also look better, grew new roots, so I planted them today.

Seed Testing. Progress Report.

Very happy with this project.  I'm learning which seeds to plant when Spring arrives.  Also learning refinements on how to test them.

Batch prepared Jan 8.  So 4 days from starting.  The tomatoes have not sprouted.  Neither has the cilantro.  All, or almost all, of the Butternut Squash, Champion Radish, and Tevera bean have sprouted.

More stated Jan 8.  Nearly all of the seeds have sprouted - Black Seeded Simpson lettuce, Basil, Hailstone radish, Okra North/South, and early Cucumber.  The mesclun is a mix, some have sprouted, some not.

I composted these, to start another batch.  Except I ate the radish sprouts.

I'm very pleased with this method.  It's easy to set up, easy to see what sprouted, and quick.  So I did it again with more seeds.  This is Signet Marigold, 2006; Cayenne Pepper 2008, Tyee Spinach 2009, a Red Chinese Radish from 2003, Hungarian Yellow Wax Pepper 2006, and Red Icicle Radish, date not legible but starting 200 so probably 2009 or 2008.  That 2003 Radish is a long shot.

This is what I'm doing now.  Draw the lines and label the paper towel with ballppoint pen.  Lay on a piece of wax paper the same size.  Add some seeds of each variety.  Moisten the paper towel around the seeds, using a spoon to add water.  That holds the seeds in place.

Then fold over the paper towel, moisten so the entire towel is moist but not dripping wet.  Also fold over the wax paper.  The wax paper makes the paper towel easy to place into zip lock bag.  Place in zip lock bag.

Holding up to light, the seeds are easily viewed.  Sprouts show well, for seeds with vigorous or sturdy sprouts, like radishes, squash, beans, cucumbers.

Now they go onto the heating mat.  When I checked last year, it ran about 80 or 85 degrees F.

Seed Testing. Progress Report.

Most of the seeds from the first batch are done. It might be early to terminate the test. But I got what I wanted and for the most part don't need to incubate further. So will start another batch.

Percentages are not detailed.  They are my wild estimate.

Nings old bean seeds.  Not very promising. A few are swelling, none with root initials.  There is a little mold.  I will incubate another week.  These might be dead.

Della Fave bean 50% 2012=1 year old
French Breakfast Radish 90% 2010=3 year old
Scarlet Nantes Carrot 20% 2010=3 year old
Scallop Squash 50% unknown date, I'm guessing 2 or 3 years old

Taiwan Sugar Pea 75% 2012=1 year old
Roma II Bush Bean 50%  unknown date.  I'm guessing 2 years old.
Cherry Belle Radish 100% 2012=1 yaer old
Parisian Market Carrot 10% unknown date, I'm guessing 1 year old.

This might not have been enough time for the carrots.  I can plant thicker to use up the seeds, and thin out extra plants if needed.

New batch.

These seeds:
Lettuce Black Seeded Simpson 2012
Radish Hailstone 2010
Okra North and South Hybrid 2009
Basil Italian Large Leaf 2010
Mesclun Blend 2010
Early Pride Hybrid Cucumber 2010

Tomato Gold Nugget 2009
Radish Champion 2010
Squash Butterstick 2010
Cilantro 2012
Bush Bean Tavera 2011
Tomato Better Boy 2006



I changed a few things.
Getting the moist paper towel into the plastic bag was very awkward.  Even with a spatula.  So this time I folded a piece of wax paper over the paper towel.  That handled a lot easier.
I also marked with a ball point pen, on the paper towel instead of the bag.

Testing Seeds. Progress Report. Day 3.

Not sure about these Chinese beans.  But it's just 2 days.  Some are swelling.  Maybe a sign of life.

The squash are sprouting.  Ditto for the French Breakfast radishes,  The carrots are not sprouting yet.  The Della Fave pole beans are swelling a bit.

The Cherry Belle radishes, and Taiwan Sugar peas are sprouting.  Also a couple of the Roma II beans.  Not the carrots, yet,.

Testing Seeds

I have a lot of seeds from previous years. There is more planting room this year. I want to test some of them for viability, use them if they are viable. It's early. I can test a few at a time. In the past I used gallon-size ziploc bags, drew a grid on paper towel, and had many varieties per bag. This time I'm using sandwich size bags but otherwise similar.

Just 4 varieties per bag.  This is Cherry Belle radish (2012) , Taiwan Sugar Pea (2012), Parisian Market Carrot (no date - 2010?), and Roma II bean (2009).  They are all from 2012 so should be OK.

The beans labeled "Ning's Beans" must be 6 years old.  A Chinese bean.  It will be nice if they grow.  Not counting on it.

Scarlet Nantes carrot (2010), Della Fave pole bean (2012), Scallop bush squash (2008), and French Breakfast radish (2010).  I think the squash are 2010, no year on label.  The others are 2011.

All ziplocs are now on the heating mat.  I didn't count seeds.  If a few grow, or a lot grow, I'll try them.  If they don't, I won't.

Plum Seeds

These are the wild plum seeds I opened 2 months ago and placed into the fridge in a moist paper towel, sealed in a plastic ziplock sandwich bag. That was July 8th. So germination is about 3 1/2 months. One looks rotted. The other 2 are slightly moldy but growing. This was one week ago.

Here they are today. I planted them in seed starting soil. No problem from the mold. Seems like wrong time of year to be sprouting. Will grow in window.

Pie Intermission: Pepper seeds.

The Pepper Seeds continue to incubate. I think one seed sprouted so far - a cayenne.

This method makes it easy to observe the results without opening the bag. However, I did open it briefly to let some air into it.

The thermometer reads 86 F. This article describes experiments on pepper seed germination - looks like 30C (about 86F) is about the highest you can go before viability drops off. Not much difference between 20C and 30C (68F and 86F). They didn't test lower, and the next higher temp, 35C (95F), gave a much poorer result. It took 6 to 10 days for 1/2 of the seeds to germinate. Based on this experiment, I don't need to heat them so warm, but the mat doesnt' give much temperature control. On the other hand, in seed starting medium, they will probably be a little cooler, due to medium between the seeds and the mat.

This article recommends 70F to 90F. They also recommend a presoak in dilute vinegar or dilute tea. This article also states the same thing.

There seems to be a whole subculture built around growing chilis. I have this book pretty good discussion of chili types, history, and cultivation.

Ecoseeds.com suggests that peat-based media inhibit either germination or growth of pepper seeds. I don't know how scientific their experiment was, but it's worth keeping in mind. Given that there is signiciant criticism regarding the environmental impact of peat harvesting, there may be some bias - no way for the reader to know.

One little sprout.

Here are the rest of the seeds.

Seed Germination Experiment: 14 days & Conclusion

I wondered, just how warm is the heating mat. I placed a thermometer between the mat and the thin kitchen towel that covered it, left the thermometer in place overnight. A toasty 86F degrees. Wow!

I had unplugged the mat and forgotten it for 2 days, which may affect the results.

The additional seeds that sprouted were" Cherokee Purple tomato, all. Lemon Boy, all. Tabasco pepper, 2 more. Spinach, all.

Final results, including sprouted seeds that I removed to make the new ones countable:




Chinese Parsley 2005 0/10
Gambo Pepper 2004 0/10
Cherokee Purple Tom. 2009 10/10
Lemon Boy Tomato 2007 10/10
Lemon Boy Tomato 2006 10/10
Tabasco Pepper 2006 2/10
Tabasco Pepper unknown 0/10
Bulgarian Carrot Pep. 2008 10/10
Supersweet 100 Tom. 2007 10/10


Roma II Bush Bean 2008 10/10
Goldn Wax Bush Bean 2008 9/10
Scallop Bush Squash 2008 9/10
Roma Bush Bean 2009 10/10
Icicle Radish 2008 pkt 1 10/10
Icicle Radish 2008 pkt 2 10/10
Golden Nugget Tom. 2009 10/10
Spinach Savoy 2009 10/10
Black Krim Tomato 2008 10/10
Better Boy Tomato 2006 1/10

Planning ahead for seed starting.

This is planning WAY ahead, but having played with seeds I wondered what are the best dates to start vegetable seeds.

The information below is from Suite100.com:

They recommend starting seeds 4 to 6 weeks before the date to set out plants.

Very Early: 4-6 wks before the date of last frost. March 16th to March 30th.
Asparagus, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, lettuce, onions, peas, radishes, spinach, turnips.

Early: 2-4 wks before date of last frost. March 23rd to April 6th.
Beets, carrots, chard, mustard, potatoes.

Average: On or just after date of last frost April 20th. (WSU extension states set out tomatoes Mid May)
Beans, corn, tomato.

Late: One or more weeks after date of last frost April 27th.
Cucumbers, eggplant, melons, okra, peppers, squash.

To find date of last frost, check farmer's almanac here. For Vancouver WA, date of last frost is April 20th. (Date of first frost is given as Oct 15th). That's interesting, because for Seattle, date of last frost is March 10th, and for Portland, which is next door, date of last frost is March 23.

For starting seeds, then, we would time our starts 2 to 4 weeks before planting dates.

Tomatoes - start seeds March 16th to March 30th.
Peppers, cucumbers, eggplants, squash - start seeds March 23rd to April 6th.

I'm not sure about the beans, because they grow so fast and need warm soil. I'm tempted to say start them in May.

For direct sowing of seeds in the yard, zone 8, this site recommends:

Carrots: Feb through April
Lettuce: Feb through March
Onions: Dec through Feb
Peas: Feb through March
Radishes: Feb through April
Spinach: Feb through April
Beans: March through August

These seem early! I'll need to check some other sites as well.

We should be about the same as western valleys of Oregon - maybe a week later. So from OR state extension service, this site:
Beans: May through July
Carrots: March through July 15th
Corn: April through June
Garlic: Sept through Feb (interesting)
Peas: Feb through May
Radish: March through Sept
Spinach: April

Seed Germination Experiment: 2 days (60 hours)

Interesting result so far. I planted Sunday am, now it's Tues pm, roughly 60 hours.
Chinese Parsley 2005 0/10

Gambo Pepper 2004 0/10

Cherokee Purple Tom. 2009 3/10

Lemon Boy Tomato 2007 3/10

Lemon Boy Tomato 2006 0/10

Tabasco Pepper 2006 0/10

Tabasco Pepper unknown 0/10

Bulgarian Carrot Pep. 2008 0/10

Supersweet 100 Tom. 2007 2/10

Roma II Bush Bean 2008 6/10

Goldn Wax Bush Bean 2008 8/10

Scallop Bush Squash 2008 4/10

Roma Bush Bean 2009 5/10

Icicle Radish 2008 pkt 1 9/10

Icicle Radish 2008 pkt 2 9/10

Golden Nugget Tom. 2009 2/10

Spinach Savoy 2009 3/10

Black Krim Tomato 2008 2/10

Better Boy Tomato 2006 0/10

So far, very early, quite a lot of germination. This is a test of the packets to see what I can use this year, not a randomized-controlled trial of effects of age on germination. Still, it's interesting. The warmer certainly doesn't seem to hurt, and may well help.

The cat, of course, needs to get to the middle of it all. Probably thinking "this is where that large lumbering animal opens the little packages of yummy stinky fishy stuff for me. Maybe it will open one now! She then walks across a paper towel - well, no longer any semblance of sterile :-)

I did add another sheet of paper towel to each bag. They seem too moist.

We'll see how they look in another day or two.

Garden Log: Testing seeds for germination

As planned, this is the start of the germination testing for old seeds. The objective is to determine which packets might as well be composted, and which ones can be planted for this year's vegetable garden. I haven't done it this way in the past, so it's an experiment.



Two generic white paper towels, marked with squares and labeled with the seed varieties and year. The year is the year to sell, so they were one season old at that point. I wanted to test tomato varieties, peppers, and beans. There were also some squash, spinach, radish, and Chinese parsley seeds, so i thought, "why not".

The seed sizes are quite different, but I don't think that matters.

Covered with a paper towel, and very carefully slid into zipper type plastic bag. I did not lift them from the table, just slid, to avoid spilling seeds. This was the most difficult step, especially for round seeds.



I used a tablespoon to add water to the paper towels, about 1-2 tablespoons to each square. This was challenging, again trying to avoid spilling seeds from their designated squares. The labels became more visible when the paper towels were moist. Most of the seeds stayed in place. Once moist, they don't move around much. These photos are also my record, in case the labels become nonlegible.

Then moved to the seed warming pad. My main concern is that the pad is designed to have a seed flat sitting on it, and this method may cause overheating. It's not an exact science. I may give in and buy a thermometer. Regardless, it's a few months to seed starting season, so if this doesn't work, I can try again.

Seeds to start in 2010

Order from Burpee came in the mail. I felt like a kid on Xmas day. Even though I ordered them myself.

All as ordered. The warming mat will be handy for upcoming experiment, to post tomorrow if I do it. I want to see if existing old packets of seed will sprout. I'll place them on moist paper towels, in baggies, and leave them on the mat. We'll see.