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/)

Local food: Grow your own beans and grains

It's time to be planting grains and beans in our area (Willamette Valley, Oregon USA, USDA Zone 7b). Every year we grow a yellow corn and a blue corn, two kinds of sorghum and amaranth; all of which we dry down, hand-process and grind for use in cereal and baking. We also grow lots of Scarlet Runner beans (pictured left) and kidney beans to be dried and used for cooking throughout the year. Here are links to show you our methods. 

Grow Your Own 'Blue Corn' Blue corn is higher in protein than yellow corn and it makes a delicious, sweet addition to your hot-cereal mix or baking recipes - Crumb-Free, Whole-Grain Cornbread Recipe . Here is info on growing and processing this heirloom grain, native to north America.

Corn bread made from a combination of blue and yellow corn we grew ourselves.

 Grow Your Own Protein - Scarlet Runner Beans: If you're interested in growing your own beans for winter-storage, this is a great variety to choose. Because the beans are so large, they are easy to process in the fall after you harvest them. They DO need trellising but adapt well to growing on a teepee, giving you a beautiful and fun, shady hide-out through the summer. If picked young, the beans and pods are even edible!

Shelling dried Scarlet Runner Beans is a favorite activity in the fall....

 

Grow your own Sorghum for grain and flour: Sorghum is a relatively easy grain to grow and process on a small to medium scale. It doesn't require heavy-feeding/fertilizer nor lots of water. We grow two varieties, BaYeKi, short-season, short height, less sweet; ideal for chicken feed but also fine for human consumption. And Kassaby, tall, long-season (often needs trellising to prevent lodging); it has a sweet, wonderful flavor. Canes can be used for making syrup (but you have to choose either syrup or grain; you can't have both).

 

Kassaby sorghum being laid out to dry before being removed from stalks.

Most seed-saving doesn't happen till the fall but, if you want to save seeds from your crops, here are some things to be thinking of as you plant your crops in the spring:  Basic Seed-Saving on a Small Scale. Happy Growing!
 

Image credit: Seed abundance! Mike Brunt

Locally Sustainable Gardening in the Face of Supply-Chain Shortages

Originally posted at the beginning of the pandemic, in May of 2020, this post is even more relevant this year! Seeds are becoming ever more expensive and in some cases, harder to find. Also, due to current world events (spring 2026) fertilizer and other commercial amendments may also become more expensive and harder to find.

 

For years, the Sharing Gardens has been anticipating shortages, and higher prices on fertilizers and soil amendments. This is why we've been developing and perfecting our methods of creating soil-fertility from locally available materials such as leaves, grass-clippings, wood ash and coffee-grounds. (See links below).

Fertility without fertilizers (commercially-made ones that is...). Sharing Gardens - July 2019

Sharing Gardens - late July - 2019

This year we didn't purchase or use any fertilizers or amendments (including livestock manures) and we created our own potting mix from the worm-castings we harvested from our greenhouse paths, mixed with a courser compost our neighbor produced from hard-wood sawdust, coffee grounds, leaves and grass clippings (with a lot of help from his worms!)(Spring 2026: this will be our 6th season using 'veganic' methods). Here are articles about this "veganic" method we are using with great success.

Lovely compost!

Making your own "Veganic" (no animal manures) Potting Soil

Grass Clippings and Leaves for Mulch

Coffee Grounds and Wood-Ash for Fertility

 

The Ground to Ground Primer - Coffee grounds for your Garden

We have seen many headlines, and heard from fellow gardeners  about vegetable-seed shortages. If you would like to learn about saving many of your own seeds, here is a post with info on saving many kinds of seeds in your own garden for use next year.

Saving squash-seeds

Family Heirlooms: Saving Your Own Seed

Please keep in mind that sustainable gardening practices at a local level will be far more successful if you build cooperative relationships with your neighbors instead of trying to do it all alone. Here is a link to many resources about how to start a Sharing Garden in your own community.

Gardening with a group! Many hands make light work...

Basic Seed-Saving on a Small Scale

Hello dear friends of the Sharing Gardens. It's been a long stretch since we posted anything new. Autumn is our busiest season and then we often need a bit of time to recharge our energy as the season turns into winter. (Image credit left: Seed abundance! Mike Brunt)

The following post is about processing seed crops on a small-scale. Hopefully, it will inspire you to begin saving some of your own seeds and sharing them locally.

 

Though we're writing this in the heart of winter, if you're interested in saving seeds in the coming growing season, now is the time to be thinking about the varieties you wish to grow (they must be non-hybrid/Heirloom/open-pollinated varieties or they won't produce 'true' seeds).  

It is becoming increasingly clear that growing our own seeds is essential for locally-based food resilience. Rapid climate change (whether from man-made or other causes), the break down of supply chains, the increasing cost of purchasing seeds, all point to this need. 

 

Fortunately, for many plants, it is not that difficult to grow and save your own seeds. Over time, these will become increasingly adapted to your local climate and soil conditions.  

 

Image credit: Llyn Peabody 

The process of saving seeds begins with procuring high-quality, open-pollinated (non-hybrid) seed and growing out the plants in excellent soil with appropriate levels of water and sunlight and protection from pests. These topics are beyond the scope of this post.  

 

This post simply highlights some of the methods and innovations we've come up with over the years for small-scale seed saving. At the bottom of this post you'll find many links posts we've written that go into much more detail about growing and saving seeds from particular crops.  

Humans eat the seeds of many plants. Here, Olivia is harvesting Hopi Red Dye amaranth. Some grain-seeds we save for future planting, some we share with other growers, and most we grind for use in our very own hot breakfast cereal mix. (LINK: 'Nooks and Crannies' hot breakfast cereal RECIPE)

Once you've grown plants to maturity, it's important to harvest them at peak ripeness but not to wait too long or, for seeds that mature in flower heads or seed pods, you risk losing them as they pop-free and fall to the ground. In general, you're looking for pods or flower heads to dry and the seeds themselves to swell and darken. To determine ripeness for individual plant varieties, do your own research. 

For seeds that grow in pods (these are Red Russian kale seeds) you'll want to check them periodically to pick them at peak ripeness. But don't wait too long or the pods may shatter, spreading your precious seeds on the ground.

After harvesting grains, DRYING: Beans, grains, and many other types of seeds, all require a bit of drying before they can be processed. This makes them easier to break out of their pods. To dry, they need warm, dry conditions, protected from mice and birds. In summer and early fall months, we do this in our greenhouses. Use tarps or lay them in flat boxes or plastic totes to catch any seeds that fall from the plants. Be systematic in laying out the seed-heads, spreading them out so they dry evenly.  

Be systematic as you lay out grains, beans or other seed crops to dry. If they are laid out too thick, the bottom layers may not dry properly. (Chris and Suzanne laying out Kassaby sorghum-heads on sheets.)

Smaller seed-heads like these two kinds of amaranth need to be put on tarps to catch falling seeds as the plants dry. (Hopi Red Dye and Golden amaranth)

We lay corn out to dry on tarps before shucking it off the cob. Pull husks back to facilitate drying and only put the cobs one layer deep. (Hooker's Blue and Golden Bantam varieties. Both make excellent dried corn for grinding).

If you have trouble with birds eating your grains or seeds while drying, use a light-colored cotton sheet or cloth to cover them.

We often use cardboard boxes to dry some grains and seeds. The trick is to find boxes that have no holes at the corners (or to tape them closed). (Nantes carrot seeds drying)

Kassaby sorghum drying in a cardboard box.

We dry down some kinds of seeds in plastic totes. (Radish seeds pictured)

Different plants require different methods for removing seeds from their husks. Most seeds (grains and beans) also require sifting to remove the bulk of the chaff from the seeds. These steps are then followed by winnowing (see below). Here are some methods we use:

Some seed-pods are spiky and require gloves to remove them from their husks. Here, Hopi Red Dye amaranth being rubbed through a screen. It will still require winnowing to remove some remaining chaff from the seeds.

Amaranth seed can also be removed by rubbing the seed heads vigorously between one's hands (gloves definitely required). Seeds fall to the tarp. Sifting and winnowing to follow (Image: Darlene and Suzanne with Golden Amaranth - a sweet, mild grain. One of our favorites for breakfast cereal).

Golden amaranth seed being run through a sieve. Seeds shake out below.

Rolling pin method: Some seeds are more conducive to a rolling-pin method (radish seeds pictured). Using a rolling pin, or wide, wooden dowel, the seeds are popped out of their pods. They are then sifted to remove big pieces of chaff, and winnowed.

Sorghum: Here are some specific techniques we've developed to process sorghum seed.

Sorghum processing tools: Sifter on left and a tool Chris invented by affixing a metal pet-comb to a 2"x4" piece of wood. These tools work great for medium-sized seed-heads such as sorghum.

Chris' pet-comb tool in use. The seed-heads are gently drawn upwards to dislodge them from the plant-stalk and captured in the tote below. (Image: Kassaby sorghum)

Sorghum being passed through a 1/4"  metal screen to further break up the seed-head clusters.

Sorghum (BaYe Ki variety) being passed through a final screening (a nursery-flat with smaller holes than 1/4" screen). Winnowing will follow.

Corn:

Note that, while corn is drying on the cob, we've peeled the husks back but left them attached. This facilitates them drying faster as the husks wick away moisture. (Golden Bantam corn, with a bit of crossing with Hooker's blue in previous years of seed-saving. Corn is a very 'frisky' plant; eager to cross-pollinate).

Chris invented this tool to remove dried corn kernels from the cob. Long screws are drilled in from the outside with reinforcements of wood on the sides to prevent the tool from splitting under pressure. A handle makes it easier to use.

Corn-shucking tool, in use. As you rub the cob against the screws, the kernels fall into the bin below. Corn definitely requires further drying before storage or it is at risk of molding.

Beans: We use different methods to process seeds from pole beans (like Scarlet Runner beans) than bush beans (Kidney beans). Pole beans we process by hand; letting the beans dry on the vine and popping them from their pods by hand. Bush beans are more conducive to flailing (see below).

Many of our beans seeds are processed over a wide-mouth bin or tarp to capture falling seeds. A fun task for all ages! Be sure pods are good and dry. This will make processing much easier.

Kidney beans (which are a bush-variety of beans) are processed most quickly through a flailing method. It helps if the pods are fairly dry. We lay them on a tarp and whack them with pieces of plastic piping. This knocks the seeds from their shells.

After flailing, to further dislodge the beans from their pods, we sift them through a 1/2" wire mesh which removes the longer pieces of stems and chaff.

Kidney beans after sifting. The next step is winnowing.

Winnowing: Next we winnow our seeds, separating the remainder of the chaff (or at least most of it) from the seeds by pouring them from one container to another, multiple times, on a mildly windy day (or in front of a fan). The heavier seeds drop into the container below while the chaff blows away. Be sure you have a high enough 'drop' (space between the top and bottom containers) for the wind to blow away the chaff and a large enough receptacle below so that all the pouring seeds fall within it. 

 

Chris, winnowing beet seed in the wind.

Chris, winnowing Kidney beans in front of a fan.

Further Drying: All beans, grains and seeds will require further drying after they've been processed otherwise they are in danger of molding when in storage. We have found that bringing them indoors and finishing the drying process with a heat source works best for us. For small amounts, a food dehydrator on a very low setting can work as well.

If we're harvesting our seeds in late fall, some will require more drying than is possible outdoors as the sun becomes weaker and the air becomes more humid. When this is the case, we bring them inside and put them on shelves above our wood stove to dry. These are Kassaby sorghum heads before processing arranged in a basket for best air-flow. 

After winnowing, we put grains and beans and other seeds in baskets with a paper lining and continue to dry them inside.

We've hung shelves all around our living room above the wood stove to dry plant material, including seeds. If you don't have a wood stove, you can use a small space-heater or put seeds some place where warm, dry air circulates in your home.

Storage: After all your precious time and effort has gone into saving your seeds, be sure to store them well. Everything should have a clear label with the variety of seed and the year it was harvested. 

Our seed supply is mostly kept in our freezer with everything stored in air-tight containers. Though the cold temps will slow down the aging of the seeds, conditions can be too dry if seeds don't have air-tight protection. Sometimes we even use freezer-bags inside of plastic jars just to be sure.

Our food supply of grains and beans are also stored in air-tight containers in our pantry, out of direct sunlight. 

Nantes carrot seeds almost ready for harvest. These seed-heads all came from just three carrots re-planted after a period of dormancy in our fridge (Re-planting Carrots or Beets for Seed) . So, three seeds produced this many seeds for the future! (Note: lettuce plant going-to-seed at the left of the picture.)

Seeds are about community: Lastly, once you begin saving seeds, you'll soon find that your plants are able to produce far more seeds than you will be able to use. We have shared seeds with the Agrarian Sharing Network and their Seed Increase Initiative to help us distribute our seeds to a wider regional community and hope to participate in the Cascadia Seed Guild as they develop. This group, stewarded by Mike Brunt (the featured artist in this post) has developed this comprehensive guide outlining the need for bio-regional seed sovereignty and a road-map for getting there. Good stuff.

 

Seed swap at an Agrarian Sharing Network Propagation Fair, 2025.

Seeds help grow community connections. Here is a seed swap in someone's living room. Most of these women are connected to a small-scale, non-profit garden project so these shared seeds will continue to multiply and spread to an ever greater community.

Relevant Sharing Gardens LINKS: Here are relevant posts for saving specific kinds of seeds: (Image credit left: Five Sisters Abundance (corn, beans, squash, amaranth and sunflowers) Mike Brunt)

Family Heirlooms - Saving Your Own Seed: A general guide to saving seeds.

In addition, we have written posts on the specifics of saving seeds from the following plants:

Re-planting Carrots or Beets for Seed 

Growing Kale and Saving and Storing Kale Seed  

Saving Tomato Seeds 

Grow Your Own 'Blue Corn'  

Grow your own Sorghum for grain and flour: Small-Scale Grain Production and Processing 

Lettuce: From Seed to Feed - Part 2: Saving Seed  

Saving pea seeds- a low tech method to prevent Pea Weevil damage   

Grow Your Own Protein - Scarlet Runner Beans 

Sprouting potatoes? What to do.  

Though we're writing this in the heart of winter, if you're interested in saving seeds in the coming growing season, now is the time to be thinking about the varieties you wish to grow (they must be non-hybrid/Heirloom/open-pollinated varieties or they won't produce 'true' seeds).