How to save pumpkin seeds
15.4 years ago harvest, pumpkin, seed saving, seeds
The kids and I carved several pumpkins this year but we waited carve the three pumpkins we grew in our backyard until Halloween since these were the seeds I wanted to save for planting next year. First, I know exactly how these pumpkins were grow, organically and free of any pesticides. Second, I was able to let these pumpkins grow undisturbed until the day I picked the seeds, so the seeds should definitely be mature.
The process is very simple, while getting the “goo” as my 5-year-old would say out of the pumpkin set the seeds aside and add to a colander. Give them a good rinse and remove any orange “goo” that may have snuck in. Pat dry with a towel and let the seeds dry on wax or parchment paper for a couple days. Once they are dry to touch put them layered on a paper sack and let them dry for a few weeks until putting them in homemade seed packets until the are ready for next year.
If you have way too many seeds than you need (I know I do) you can also use the great recipe to roast some of you extra seeds as a snack:
CVG’s Roasted Pumpkin Seeds
- Extra pumpkin seeds
- 1/2 tsp oil
- 1/2 tsp of Worchester sauce
- 1/4 tsp of seasoning salt
Directions: Add ingredients to bowl and mix well. Lay on a single layer on a cookie sheet and bake at 325 for about 25 minutes being sure to flip the seeds after about 10 minutes. Eat as soon as you can without burning your mouth.
Tags: cheap, garden seeds, organic vegetables, outdoor plants, vegetables
How to save corn seeds (Kernels)
15.4 years ago corn, harvest, seed saving, seeds
Corn is one of those crops I really don’t have space to grow but still like to try every year. This past year I only had one ear that made it to maturity, in the plants defense we have a very hot summer and I didn’t have the most consistent watering schedule so I am to blame for most of their demise. Given I used the last of my corn seed this year and wanting to make the best out a bad situation, I decided to use this ear for seeds for next year.
I decided to go the natural route and simply let the corn stay on the stalk until I was ready to pull up my corn stalks my wife got tired of looking at our dead corn stalks in the backyard which turned out to be yesterday (October 31st) As you can see from the picture above the corn kernels have dried out pretty well, though still contain a little moisture.
To remove the kernels I started by braking the cob in half and then starting where I split the cob pushing the loose kernels off with my thumb starting from one end to the other. Once I have this first row off it should be pretty easy to attack these kernels at any angle.
Lastly I layered the kernels in a single row in an open ended brown lunch bag to allow air flow to allow the remaining moisture to be removed. I put the bag on top of our cabinets in the kitchen and will add them to a homemade paper seed packet after a few weeks or drying (or when I remember they are up there more like a few months late) then store in the refrigerator until time for planting next year.
Now I have more seeds than I probably will ever need for a few years and hopefully will have better luck (or at least remember to water them better) next year.
Tags: cheap, garden seeds, outdoor plants, vegetables
Pickled jalapeno peppers
15.5 years ago jalapeno, peppers, recipe
My jalapeno peppers did great this year. So good I didn’t really know what to do with all of them. After making some salsa and having several mature red ones as snacks in the garden, I still have about two pounds that I didn’t want to go to waste. After a little thought I decided to make some pickled jalapeno peppers.
CVG Picked jalapeno pepper recipe
Directions: Mix ingredients and bring brine to boil. Either slice or leave the pepper whole. If you choose to do whole peppers, be sure to poke them with a toothpick so they won’t collapse. Fill jars with jalapeno peppers and then fill with hot brine up to 1/2 in from the top of jar. Boil for 10 minutes and feel free to pick some pickled peppers as fast and as many times as you want this summer.
Tags: garden seeds, led, pepper plants, salsa garden
Computer controlled grow box – Part 2
15.5 years ago indoor growbox, water
Though I have made some significant changes to the grow box controller, the actual grow box has undergone some minor but important changes over the past few months.
Automated watering
Now I must say this one is pretty darn simple. Though I will be planning on a slightly more complicated hydroponic setup later I decided to start with a very easy bottom watering technique. Just take a regular old fountain pump (I went with the cheapest I could find) drop it in a 5 gallon bucket of water and attach a hose long enough to reach your planting tray and plug in the power to the pump to your grow box controller and that’s about it.
To prevent evaporation and algae and little bugs making a home in my nice bucket of water, I added a lid with two holes for the water output and power input. The power input required me to make a straight cut with a utility knife to ensure a snug fit while not requiring me to cur the AC line to feed the wire through.
I also cut a hole of the same size as the water output on the bucket lid to the grow box to allow the line to enter while still keeping the box closed.
Exhaust fan control
Air circulation is important for plants to be healthy but when the box gets warmer than expected I installed two controlled CPU fans to help regulate temperate as well as one static fan that constantly pushes air from the top to bottom.
I added a 12 volt exhaust fan to the top of the box (pictured above) to help push hot air out of the grow box with another (pictured below) at the lower part of the grow box to push in cold air as needed. Both of these fans are powered by a 12 volt power wall adapter plugged into the grow box controller.
Heating
Though the computer and lights allow the box to create a comfortable internal temperature, sometimes it needs a little help. For this I installed a regular old seedling heater to hopefully take a little sting out of the cold floor the seed tray is sitting one. Like other components this was simply plugged into the grow box controller.
Putting it all together
My previous version was a little sloppily put together with duct/packing tape (lets just call it prototyping). Though this added some hackiness appear it wasn’t too functional so I added a little strip of wood to support a couple hinges which I created a top which holds the LCD panel.
Upon opening the top you can see the grow box controller and the state of the art 600 MHz PC in all their glory.
As you can see I have still have some cleaning up to do with compress air and maybe a few more zip ties but all in all everything seems to have come together nicely.
Tags: cheap, garden seeds, grow lights, growbox, led, outdoor plants, vegetables
How to determine your seed germination rate
15.5 years ago germination, seed saving, seed storing, seeds
Whether you are trying to determine if those seeds you have been stored for 3-4 years are still good or questioning your ability to harvest seeds on your own testing germination is a great way to take away from of the guesswork and avoid disappointment next spring.
The process is very simple, I believe I did the same thing in second grade during our plant section. Though that was to observe how a seed sprouts/roots the concept is exactly the same.
Take a wet paper towel and place 10 seeds on it and place the wet paper towel in a Ziploc bag. After a few days (or weeks depending on the normal germination rate) check back on your seeds and count how many sprouted.
In my case six out of ten of the jalapeno seeds sprouted. So just do the simple math using the following formula:
Germination rate = (# seeds sprouted/# total seeds sprouted) X 100
So in my case:
(6 seeds sprouted/10 seeds total) X 100 = 60% germination rate
Of course the more seeds you use in your “trial” the more accurate the results will be for my purposes the error rate is good enough for me.
If I was a seed seller this would be disastrous since most distributors have germination limits (90-95%), but given these are for my own use and I have about 300 more seeds that I will use no major loss. Though I will need to remember when I plant these out I will want to plant 2 seeds per cell to have good odds one of the seeds will germinate.
Another option is to give your 4 year old a handful of seeds and a pot full of dirt and see if most of them sprout. Much less scientific but my daughter didn’t seem to notice.
Tags: garden seeds, outdoor plants
Peppers sprouting in grow box (time lapse)
15.5 years ago indoor growbox, peppers
Well slightly more exciting than watching grass grow but for something that takes several weeks to complete is definitely worth a watch. If you watch carefully you can even see the automatic watering in action.
Joining the sprouts is a mature pepper plant which has been flowering and daisy seedling my 7 year old planted hoping it will flower as well.
Tags: garden seeds, growbox, outdoor plants, pepper plants
