Free Seed Saving Workshop in Ptbo
Will be doing a FREE workshop on Seed Saving 3pm this Saturday at the Peterborough Folk Fest! http://ptbofolkfest.com/
Come down to learn more about the importance of, and techniques for seed saving!
Come down to learn more about the importance of, and techniques for seed saving!
My laboratory
The tomatoes, before I cut & squeeze out their seeds
Pretty jars filled with all the beautiful colours of tomatoes coming out my garden, they are not so pretty in a few days when they are fermenting!
Liftlock Garden - Aug. 19th
Can you believe all of this food came out of a 20x20 plot!!
Beautiful sunset was the backdrop for your meeting
Gardeners reaping their harvest
Newly dug up plot ready for planting of fall greens
Brussel Sprouts in a fellow gardeners plot
Gorgeous sky, gorgeous garden
Surveying the plot
Cracked Tomatoes
Unfortunately all this rain & then hot sun tends to make tomatoes crack. Heirloom tomatoes are very thin skinned, and when the sun hits a wet tomato, it can cause the skin to split.
One thing that you can do to help prevent this is pick them a little bit unripe. Look for a slight changing of colour at the bottom or throughout the tomato, this should indicate that it is already ripening inside, and will be delicious to eat in a few days.
Remember, cracked tomatoes does not affect the taste! You can still eat & enjoy the fruit, and if it is starting to rot, you can either simply cut around that part of the tomato or, you can always collect seed from it!!!
One thing that you can do to help prevent this is pick them a little bit unripe. Look for a slight changing of colour at the bottom or throughout the tomato, this should indicate that it is already ripening inside, and will be delicious to eat in a few days.
Remember, cracked tomatoes does not affect the taste! You can still eat & enjoy the fruit, and if it is starting to rot, you can either simply cut around that part of the tomato or, you can always collect seed from it!!!
Harvest
Although I have a million pictures of my tomatoes, and these are certainly not the best, they are my first pics of the harvest from this year so, here they are:
& some photos of my harvest from my community garden:
Lovely country skies
Although I am a proud urban dweller and young farmer, i can't help but blissfully enjoy my commute through the country to the farm. These photos make it very easy to see why:
Sunset over the farm. Beautiful time of day to pick tomatoes!
The drive home, country at a quick pace
Collecting Lettuce Seeds
Here are some photos of various leafy greens going to seed:
This is some lettuce seed in the stage after it has flowered (above)
When collecting leafy green seeds, pay attention to the plants. They will begin to "bolt", grow upwards & create flowers (they will no longer taste very good at this stage), let those flowers bloom & die back, and then seed pods will form. Let them brown & then collect! Dry further indoors, pop open pods, and there is the seed!
Romaine Lettuce bolting, it is about to send out it's flower stock
Romaine sending out flowers
Leafy green flower stocks against a beautiful august evening sky
Red Romaine just about to flower
After the flowers have bloomed, you will have to wait another few weeks for the pods to form and start to dry out . . .watch carefully, when they are ready, they may burst open & you will loose the seed. Take them inside to dry before that stage . . .
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)