Summer-themed posts

Here is a post with links to articles we've written that are relevant to this time of year. Happy Gardening!

Planting a fall and winter garden: Most home gardeners have one major planting in the spring and once these plants reach maturity and die, that's it for the season. By planting succession crops it's possible to increase the yield of your garden considerably. It can seem counterintuitive to start seedlings in the heat of summer for fall and winter crops but seeds need time to germinate before they can be transplanted out into one's larger garden area. Also, having just celebrated the Summer Solstice, each day reduces in length and by September this can have a marked impact on how much growth each plant puts on in a day. Follow this link for many tips on planting a fall and winter garden.

Transplanting Beet Seedlings: A few years ago, we discovered that beet seedlings transplant quite readily. Your nursery soil must be quite loose (so the beet roots don't get damaged when you dig them up) and you need to prep the receiving soil also to minimize transplant shock. This saves seed, and room in the germination process as you only transplant the viable seedlings.

Saving Tomato Seeds: Though for many of us in the northern hemisphere, in early July most tomatoes are only just beginning to ripen, here's a DIY guide to saving seeds for next year's plants. All you need is a half-gallon mason jar (or something similar) some cheese cloth to keep fruit flies from proliferating and a place to dry them out of direct sun and safe from mice (who love to eat the seeds!). Note: this only works with non-hybrid/open-pollinated/heirloom varieties of tomatoes.

Saving pea seeds - a low tech method to prevent 'pea weevil' damage: Pea seeds are very easy to save; most varieties (all?) will 'grow-true' (not cross-pollinate with other pea varieties grown nearby at the same time). The only tricky part is that in many regions pea seeds are susceptible to infestation of pea weevils which can make your pea seeds unable to germinate. Here's a low-tech method to prevent pea weevil damage that we have had great success with.

Tips for Maintaining a Well-Stocked Pantry: We understand that not everyone who follows our blog has garden-space or the ability to apply our gardening tips so here's a post for everyone! Whether your goal is to weather the next short (or long-term) power outage in your area, you want to stock up to hedge against rising food prices in anticipation of crop-losses due to fertilizer and water-shortages and other stresses on our food systems, or you'd just like to be able to open your cupboards and have some variety to choose from without having to go shopping so frequently, this post is for you!

A little farmer/gardener humor:  "Mama don't let your babies grow up to be farmers..." 

A Moneyless life: Living in the Gift Economy:
In 2015 Jo Nemeth left her job, closed her bank account and said goodbye to the last of her money. Eleven years later, Jo lives a healthy, fulfilling life while dramatically reducing her personal ecological impact. In this 16-min. video, she shares her journey from terrifying climate grief to a place of purpose and contribution. "Truly inspiring on so many levels!"

 

Love from Llyn and Chris and the Sharing Gardens (Image by Mike Brunt: https://www.secretlifeofseeds.com/)