Wednesday, August 3, 2016

Incoming! Lettuce seed!

On the way out of the yard this morning I noticed the lettuce seed pods are opening, very exciting.

I think I planted this lettuce maybe 4 years ago and haven't had to replant since then. I usually save 2 plant tops full of seeds (a few hundred seeds or so) and the rest I let fall on the ground to begin anew. This means we have fresh lettuce in October and again in April. We have seed stored at both houses and will keep adding to the collection.

We are being patient with the garden, the tomato plants aren't enjoying the last couple of weeks of heat so no new growth, and no new red fruit. The few ripe ones we had I didn't get to enjoy on a sandwich because someone picked them and gave them to father in-law. I over acted and dramatized that I was slowly being killed by starvation.

Cucumbers are doing well, minus one plant on each end of the row. We should have an abundance of pickles. I need to visit Ace hardware in town and buy 5+ cases of jars. They always have the best selection and prices for canning supplies. We don't get the fancy jars although sometimes they are tempting as we give a lot of them away as gifts. Twice the price has always stopped us from doing it.
I did run out of jelly (in the fridge) so I conquered a pile of laundry in the basement and got myself some peach jelly that we canned almost 3 years ago. The jelly, salsa and pickle supply is still well stocked and with any luck it's numbers will be doubled by years end. The peanut butter and peach jelly sandwich was amazing and could have only been better if it was cool enough to make bread.


11 comments:

  1. Never having attempted to grow lettuce, I had no idea what the seed pods looked like.

    Thanks for the picture, I learned something new today!

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    1. You are welcome! Each one of those little pods opens up and looks a lot like a dandelion with a ton of small (in our case) black seeds.

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  2. I've never tried lettuce either. My tomatoes did ok this year but the squash , peppers and watermelon didn't grow at all. The plants just sat there, and that was it.

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    1. We have a few days of cool weather and rain incoming so I'm hopeful that will boost the production and growth a little. If these were time that it was absolutely needed, we would haul water from the creek up to make up for the lack of rain.

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  3. Yep the Mrs. Grows lettuce every year and some of it usually goes to seed just like that :)

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    1. Easiest seed harvest I can think of, we just wait until the seeds show and cut an entire head off and put it in a paper bag until it's totally dry and then food sealer it up.

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    2. Tobacco is easy too. It comes in it's own little sealed pods that hold all the seeds. Of course the seeds are like powder grains :)

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    3. I've wonder about growing tobacco for after TSHTF.

      I remember reading it's pretty hard on the soil, sucking all the nutrients out.

      And then it has to be cured properly.

      Probably should buy a book on it....

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  5. Nothing tastes better than fresh cucumbers or lettuce from your own garden or peach preserves you made yourself. The fruits of your labor!

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    1. It's so nice, I agree. We have come cucumbers ready to get sliced for the tomato sandwiches. So good!!

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