Resurrected Chinese Beans. 8.28.16

 We've had sveral meals from these Cinese bean seeds that I resurrected from packets in the 6 to 10 year old range, maybe older.  There seem to be 3 types.  The wider ones were what we remembered from the past.  Wuote delicious, stir fried i  the Northeast Chinese way with potatoes.  Tradition calls for pork but I am vegetarian, and I think their flavor as is, is great

The intent is to save pods from each type.  Beans normally pollinate within the flower, so may grow true.  I would not be surprised, if they dont.  I will label plants of each type for sed saving, so that I can segregate them next year.  Red/pale, Red/green, and Black/green.

Not bad.  Even though initial germination of tne old seeds was only about 20%, we got a lot of beans in the end, and vigor, for most, was great.

You CAN Grow Okra in Southwest Washington State. 8.27.16

Top photo is today, lower photo is yesterday.   The short fat pods are the Star of David cultivar.  The longer, thinner pods are the Baby Bubba hybrid.

It's true, this Spring was unusually hot.  I didn't think they would grow and did not invest much effort in these at first - planted in ground, in rows.  When they started growing, I became more interested, thinned the plants, provided fencing for animal predation protection.  

My failures this year, were okra plants that I grew indoors and set out in the garden. They failed to thrive, and died - I think it was too early, and on top of that rabbits ate them  .

In the top photo, thete are 3 large pods and one small malformed pod.  The top three were hand pollinated, using a paintbrush.  i left the flower for the other one, to its own devices and local insects.  I dont think the insects here are pollenizers for okra.  The only flowers that have formed pods, are ones that I pollinated.

There are lots more flower buds.  Cool weather ahead may limit bearing, but at the moment i'm very happy.

Late Summer Planting Perennial Seeds. 8.21.26

These are perennals for next year if they grow.  I bought seeds for Echinacea - both the wildflower species and the hybrid "Warm summer".  The hybrid had all of 10 seeds in the packet, but I don't need more than that anyway.  There is also hybrid  Lychnis, unnamed Rudbeckia species, Asclepias tuberosa, and a hybrid perennial hibiscus.

I could have planted these in the garden row, but containers give me something to putter with, and I don't have to decide whether germinating seedlings are weeds vs. ornamentals.   The seedling medium is old but hopefully sterile.

Most of these should germinate in 2 to 4 weeks.  It's warm to hot outside, so not using a warming mat.

First Grapes. Some Flowers. 8.10.16

Okra. 8.21.16

So far, so good. We had the first 2 pods for supper today, in a stir fry with tomatoes, peppers, garlic and onions, and mixed into scrambled eggs.  All of those ingredients home grown.  Nice feeling.

This variety is Star of David.  They are a fat pod type, not long and narrow.  I think the hand pollinating is helping, as well as the hot weather the past week - several days above 100 F.