Carrots and Stuff
Jan. 7th, 2018 08:05 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
unicorndukeI remembered I have carrots still in the garden.
It's been in the single digits and with lots of wind lately. I have no idea if they're still alive. But I'm going to try and hold them over for seed production in the spring because I don't think they would be that tasty at this point but we shall see. Maybe they would be, I don't know.
One of the things I've thought about a lot with seed saving is that, no matter how difficult it is to save seed, someone did it five hundred years ago with less tools than I have. They just had the knowledge. Someone somewhere probably saved biennials in the fields for seed production in the new year and I doubt they had tunnels or heated greenhouses to do it. Maybe they mulched them or whatever but this shouldn't be that difficult. So I'm letting them do their thing and they shouldn't be sterile because I bought them from Baker Creek and as far as I know, they don't sell hybrids.
I just checked over my records and apparently I planted the carrots in June so I'm a little surprised they were still okay a few months ago. I know a few had split but for the most part they were fine. Oh well!
On that note, I ordered a book from Dr. John Navazio who is a plant breeder. It's called The Organic Seed Grower: A Farmer's Guide to Vegetable Seed Production. It looks like it covers the production of biennial seed as well as farm storage of seed which is one logistical issue I haven't figured out yet.
I also ordered the new seed plates for the Earthway Seeder. I was going to buy the seeder but my parents have one for some weird reason so I'm going to use it. They had no idea where the other plates were. I think I need to set up a small area for storing my tools at the farm and the seeder is going to find its way there permanently. Because it was sitting in a pile of sawdust when we found it. I guess it's pretty much brand new.
Here's a picture of the carrots taken today!
It's been in the single digits and with lots of wind lately. I have no idea if they're still alive. But I'm going to try and hold them over for seed production in the spring because I don't think they would be that tasty at this point but we shall see. Maybe they would be, I don't know.
One of the things I've thought about a lot with seed saving is that, no matter how difficult it is to save seed, someone did it five hundred years ago with less tools than I have. They just had the knowledge. Someone somewhere probably saved biennials in the fields for seed production in the new year and I doubt they had tunnels or heated greenhouses to do it. Maybe they mulched them or whatever but this shouldn't be that difficult. So I'm letting them do their thing and they shouldn't be sterile because I bought them from Baker Creek and as far as I know, they don't sell hybrids.
I just checked over my records and apparently I planted the carrots in June so I'm a little surprised they were still okay a few months ago. I know a few had split but for the most part they were fine. Oh well!
On that note, I ordered a book from Dr. John Navazio who is a plant breeder. It's called The Organic Seed Grower: A Farmer's Guide to Vegetable Seed Production. It looks like it covers the production of biennial seed as well as farm storage of seed which is one logistical issue I haven't figured out yet.
I also ordered the new seed plates for the Earthway Seeder. I was going to buy the seeder but my parents have one for some weird reason so I'm going to use it. They had no idea where the other plates were. I think I need to set up a small area for storing my tools at the farm and the seeder is going to find its way there permanently. Because it was sitting in a pile of sawdust when we found it. I guess it's pretty much brand new.
Here's a picture of the carrots taken today!
