Karen's Garden Delights Journal
4th week of August 2011

Tomato Seed Saving This is prime seed saving season. Here are the Persimmon tomatoes for seed saving. I planted four plants at least 20 feet away from other varieties and am picking ones that are dead ripe. I scoop out the seeds (toss the rest into the sauce pot) and let them ferment for several days in an open jar on the porch. The fermentation process takes off the gelatinous coat plus can kill any fungal diseases that came along with the seeds. Then they are washed and put on a paper towel to dry. Once completely dry, I will store them in a baggie in the fridge. Recently I also gathered cilantro, dill, calendula, sunflower and bean seeds to save. It gets a bit messy on the porch with bags and boxes full of seed heads but hopefully I can keep everything labeled and organized so I have lots to share next year.

Lettuce Under Flats It is time to get fall salad rolling. Under the shade blanket, the row of baby lettuces is flourishing and we are taking some for transplanting in the garden. The other day I transplanted around 75 but will need to keep them well watered as they get established. I use greenhouse flats to give them some shade while they get started. Last week I put a tiny salad bag in each veggie basket with two small heads of a summer lettuce called Anuenue along with edible flowers and purslane. Purslane is an aggressive weed but has the redeeming quality of being tasty and full of omega 3 fatty acids. I am really getting hungry for salad again as I watch the spinach peeking through along with some other greens. I also mixed up a salad dressing using some of my dilly bean juice and olive oil but then remembered I had no salad to put it on yet. Another sign of fall salad season is that I am gearing for five cold frame seminars in the next couple weeks. It is always fun to get others hooked on fall and winter salad and I always say that means fewer folks that I need to grow salad for.

Peacock Feathers The "flowers" for August also include feathers from the neighborhood peacock. Every August he loses his entire tail and the children delight in finding the treasures all around the farm. Many feathers are given out as gifts to farm visitors but we always have an abundance to make a feather bouquet and use in fall arrangements. I am also gathering bunches of statice, gomphrena and strawflowers to hang for drying. This year we didn't grow any sorghum for molasses so I will need to purchase (or swap for!) some seed heads from an Amish neighbor.