I found some more "patio" tomatoes. My neighour is growing them, they are ideal for appartment or balcony growing. One year mine got to 5 feet tall in little garbage cans and gave of a hellish amount of tomatoes. I'm going to get a couple from her so I can save the seed for the appartment people who are interested.

The thing I dislike most about store bought produce is that they have bred or lost a lot of the taste out of them. there is a world of difference between what you get at the store and what you get from a garden.

Strawberries and tomatoes are two of the biggest examples. they are large and almost woody and have very little taste, commerical growers are interested in large, water filled (ie weigh more on the scale) produce to make more money per item.

whereas the heirloom varieties were bred for taste, length of season (which doesn't matter if you have a relatively short growing season) and length of stor-ability. While I've only been growing for about 7 years, heirloom is the only way I will go. its the best EROI for me.

That’s right UE, the supermarket consumer has in effect bred today’s produce by selecting for looks in the store and not taste. Just as great dog breeds have been ruined by selecting for pretty long ears instead of useful abilities such as hunting, herding, etc.

Over time people have no idea how a tomato or green bean is supposed to taste, let alone grass fed beef, fresh eggs or butter.

The neat thing about saving your own seed is that by selecting for the traits you want; taste, early maturity, etc, you eventually get a strain matched to your own taste, soil, climate, gardening method or whatever you find important. Of course it won’t happen in one season, but over time your plants will get better and better.

I can confirm Pop's suggestion that saving seeds is a worthwhile thing to do. I have been planting out the best of the best of my garlic each year now for the past six years, after starting with bulbs from a local grower. I've been going for bulb size, yield and flavour, and every year the bulbs have been getting bigger, the point where it's almost getting a bit ridiculous - last year the largest bulb was 193 grams, about a third of a pound! (this is NOT elephant garlic which doesn't taste as good, just regular garlic grown very large.) I've won the blue ribbon at our local Fall Fair the last two years in a row - but please excuse a gardener bragging!

Obtaining local, open-pollinated (not hybrid) seed is a really good idea. In our area we have an event every year in February known as a 'Seedy Saturday' where gardeners get together and swap seeds. The quality isn't perfectly consistent, but you can get some amazing seeds for interesting varieties that have been adapted to your local conditions, for free. They are also a good place to pick up ideas about what might grow well in your area, and other growing tips. If there isn't such an event in your area, organizing one would be pretty easy.

That is one thing I don't know if we've addressed here before or not. but there is a lot of justified pride in growing your own food. Its not just the hard work or the end product you eat and is then gone for good.

but in knowing you are doing something worthwhile, larger than yourself, and the pride of a job well done. I think it takes people who can think and plan long term.

It certainly says more to me when someone can see something through from the concept to planning, from the planting to harvesting and preparing for yet the next year. I doubt there are many who could accuse gardeners as being stuck in instant gratification. In short there's a lot to brag about!

I just found out that Canada has a seed diversity program. they have a seed sharing program. If the link doesn't work let me know.

Well I haven't been much of a seed saver in the past. I have saved a few, but this year I am more serious about it. I'm trying to learn all I can, because I know I will need to be able to save my seeds in the future. Two things I have done so far this year that make me proud - We bought Egyptian Walking Onions - top set onions. I've just harvested many sets for next year's onions this weekend. Though I don't have as many as I would like, as I said, I'm just learning, and having those sets sitting by gives me a good feeling of security. Question, though - anyone have any tips for storing them between now and spring? I dont want them to go bad on me.

I also harvested a lot of radish seeds this weekend. I let them go to seed when we got tired of radishes earlier this spring, and now I have a zillion radish seeds. Only problem is that there are only about 4 seeds in each little pod - and boy are those a pain in the ass to shell.

This year's sunflowers, pumpkin, and marigolds are from home saved seeds, and I've purposely bought and planted non-hybrid seeds for the rest, so I can try to do some more saving.

I'd be interested in swapping with anyone who has some to share. I may not have much, but I'll share what I have!
Kathy

Try putting the radish pods in a cloth bag and scrunching them up, then pour it into a bowl, shake the bowl and the seeds should fall to the bottom and you can scoop off the chaff. Or you can winnow by pouring the seeds and chaff out in front of a fan, supposedly the chaff will blow away and the seeds will fall. I've never tried that, I'm afraid my seeds would blow away too!

Thanks for the ideas Ludi. I thought about crunching them up, but was afraid I'd damage the seeds. Guess it wouldn't have mattered if I damaged a few, though... as I said, I have zillions .

I'd be afraid of the fan, too. Now a breezy day? Outside? At least if they blew away, they might volunteer and come up in your yard .
Kathy

A quick and final update on my grocery store peppers as pops had requested.

They grew but where stunted compaired to the proper plants I also planted.

The regular plants hit about 8 inches and then developed flowers, the grocery store plants where about 5 inches tall at that point and had no flowers.

Deer or rabbits determined that the flowers where tasty and ate the heads off of all of the regular plantsone night. The next night the ate most of the leaves off of all the plants. The regular ones are alive and trying to recover but the grocery store ones are looking worse by the day.

I have lots of seed left over so I'll try again next year.

I've had the following on my want list:

Seed to Seed: Seed Saving and Growing Techniques for Vegetable Gardeners (Paperback)
by Suzanne Ashworth, Kent Whealy
Paperback: 320 pages
Publisher: Seed Savers Exchange; 2nd edition (March 1, 2002)
Language: English
ISBN: 1882424581

Amazon reviewer:
Sixty million American gardeners buy their seeds from mail order seed companies. In the period 1984-1987, 54 of the 230 seed companies in the U.S. and Canada went out of business, resulting in 943 non-hybrid varieties becoming unavailable. One answer to the extinction of food crop varieties is Seed Savers Exchange, the publisher of Seed to Seed. Begun in 1975, SSE maintains more than 18,000 rare vegetable varieties at Heritage Farm in Decorah, Iowa. Another answer is for individual gardeners to save their own seed from non-hybrid varieties. Varieties that grow and taste exceptionally well in specific areas can be planted year after year from home-grown seed. A further advantage is protection from seed price increases. Ashworth provides definitive information on seed gathering, processing and storage techniques. Twenty family entries include taxonomy, pollination characteristics and techniques, general production and processing techniques. Each of the 160 species entries includes botanical classification; pollination, crossing, and isolation; seed production, harvest and processing; seed viability. Ample black-and-white photographs complement the text. Hybrid seeds are in the control of large companies. You can be in control of heirloom varieties that do best in your garden. Happy eating.

Some day I'll get Seed to Seed. For now I have Saving Seeds by Marc Rogers out of the library. Helps with ALL Kinds of questions. Today's question is "How many lettuce plants do I need to let go to seed?" (Answer: they're self-fertile, so the minimum is 1.) I had some gorgeous lettuces very early this year.

But Seed to Seed is THE book AFAIKT.

Another book for the want list.

Saving Seeds : The Gardener's Guide to Growing and Saving Vegetable and Flower Seeds
Paperback: 192 pages
Publisher: Storey Publishing, LLC; Revised edition (January 3, 1991)
ISBN: 0882666347

Thanks, OldSprocket

Some seeds are easier to save than others. Like others above, I've saved radish seeds; I grow the large Japanese 'daikon' white radishes, a good one's about 18 inches long and about as big around as my calf. I also just scrunch up the pods and let the seeds fall out.

I've had pretty good luck saving peas, mainly because you inevitably miss a few as they ripen, and since over-large peas aren't great for eating fresh, I just dry them and save them as seed. They're particularly good to save, because being big, they tend to be a bit expensive if you want to grow a lot, and growing lots of peas is a good thing. I read somewhere that if you could only have one vegetable, peas would be a good choice. And they're productive, kids love 'em, and they're easy to grow. If I could manage it, I'd grow about 10 times as many as I do now and dry them to eat through the winter.

I also save kale seed, although you hardly have to bother because they readily reseed on their own. Kale is a good thing to grow because it's so good for you, is very hardy (it actually improves with a bit of frost), and hardly ever fails. It should be in every garden grown where ensuring a supply of food is an issue. There are lots of kinds; I prefer what is known around here as 'curly green'. Some people aren't fond of it as a vegetable - we've found that if you prepare it like Japanese 'oshitashi' spinach (lightly steamed, excess liquid pressed out, cut up and then seasoned with 'ponzu' and sesame seeds), it tastes great - even the kids go for it.

I also save nasturtium seeds; they also readily reseed, but I like to start them all over the place so it's nice to have lots. I'd like to know how to pickle them into capers to eat with smoked salmon, but haven't found a recipe. Besides being nice to look at, a few nasturtium leaves and flowers can really jazz up a salad. My granny used to eat the leaves in sandwiches and she lived to be 99, so maybe they're good for you.

I saved a TON of sunflower seeds and now i'm drowning in them. The ones i've planted came from one of the Russian giant sunflowers so there good sized (Around 8-10ft currently). In my book sunflowers are probably one of the most simple crops to grow, with no care really necessary (some watering). Don't plant anything too close because they throw out a lot of shade under the huge leaves and the roots emit something that stunts other plants (so i've read). If a person had an acre or so, you could probably grow your own fuel oil (biodiesel) from sunflowers! and have plenty of honey, because the bees love pollinating the flowers.

How do those Eygptian onions taste? I've wanted to plant them, but couldn't come across the seed locally.

I grow about half in the ground/half my plants in containers.

Container grown peppers are doing WAY better then inground, while the tomatoes in the ground seem to be doing better then container grown.

nice to hear everyones experiences!

Ab0di -- This thread prompted me to buy Seed to seed and it looks like a much better book than Saving seed.

frankthetank -- Similar to Egyptian onions are evergreen hardy white, which taste great. Mine (from seed from Fedco) have established themselves well, and this year I've let about half of them flower and go to seed. Onion seeds are viable for only a year (or so) which puts them at the short end of seed longevity.