September 25, 2020 by maggielane

Save those SEEDS!

Do you have organic produce coming in? Fall is upon us. Don’t forget to save seeds from some of your produce for use next year. Squash, and tomatoes are great to save seeds from, and it’s pretty easy.

Here’s how….

Saving Seeds:

Scrape those seeds off the cutting board as you chop those tomatoes. They all tend to squirt out anyway. Be sure to slice different varieties separately from each other, so as not to mix seeds.

Scrape them all into a bowl and cover with a little bit of water.

Let them soak overnight to help loosen some of the gel around them.

Then rinse well with water straining them through a sieve.

Spread out on the back of a paper plate labeled with the name of the plant. Set it in a warm place to dry.

Once dry, store in a labeled (name and year), paper envelope for the next growing season.

Squash is a great plant for saving seeds too. Use the same steps outlined above.

Happy gardening! May your harvest be bountiful! ❤️

October 15, 2019 by maggielane

Dehydrating Tomatoes

I decided to take the advice of my friend Carolyn Thomas at Homesteading Family and dehydrate some of my end of the season tomatoes. It was fun and easy.

We’re still getting the last of the ripe tomatoes off our cherry tomato plants. Since this is about the only vegetable that I seem to be able to grow prolifically, sometimes we don’t eat them up fast enough. Enter my dehydrator.

I simply sliced them in half, and seasoned them with a bit of salt, pepper, granulated garlic, oregano, and savory. You could use any seasonings you like.

Lay them out on the dehydrator tray and dehydrate at a temp below 150 degrees until they are crisp.

If you have a few that are past the point of saving, then squirt out the seeds into a bowl, cover with water for a day or two to loosen all the gel, and then lay out on a paper plate to dry for the next year’s growing season.

May 15, 2018 by maggielane

My Garden – Early May 2018

Our new House has a few flower beds, so I’ve spent the last couple of years reading, experimenting, and learning about gardening. I hope to compose a few upcoming blog posts highlighting some of the things I’ve learned, mistakes I’ve made, what’s worked and what hasn’t, etc. But until then here’s some pictures of what’s growing in my garden (zone 6b) so far for Spring 2018.