Saving seed - Dry Beans

Today I threshed some of the pole beans. These are the bird egg pole beans I grew on strings and other forms of support (sticks, old wire fencing, sunflowers). I picked the dry pods off the bean plants and then piled them up and crushed the pods to release the beans. Then I sorted the seed from the chaff (winnowed) for later use. The best of these seeds will be planted next year. I'll select for good color and shape. The remainder will be eaten in soup or other meals. The plants are still bearing so this process will continue through the autumn. I prefer to thresh and winnow small batches of beans rather than do them all at once. It is a very meditative process.

Grape Harvest

The grapes on the giant old grape vine, which climbs up into the trees, have become ripe and ready to pick. Last year I made 4 quarts of grape juice concentrate, which I canned and then drank throughout the winter. The year before that I made grape jelly. I haven't decided which way I'll go yet, jelly or juice, but I've harvested a basket of grapes, washed them, removed them from the stems and cooked them. They are currently sitting in cheesecloth inside a strainer to get all the good liquid out. I'll put it in the fridge and decide how to proceed later.

Saving Seed - Black Beans

During the cold weather we like to eat black beans in various recipes. Black bean chili with butternut squash is a staple winter-time meal for us. I've been buying organic black beans from the grocery store for years. I've grown plants for the past few years. This year I got a pretty good yield from a few plants I grew in the front yard. Some of the plants are still maturing but I cut some of them today and gathered a pile of seed pods. Once all the plants mature and the seed pods dry fully I'll thresh and winnow the seeds and maybe I'll get enough for one pot of chili.

Saving Seed - Artichokes

Today I went out and found some of the artichoke plants hunched over and dropping mature seeds on the ground. I cut the dried heads and put them into some white paper bags. I gathered the bag up around the stem and started whacking the thing against the back of a patio chair. I could hear the seeds falling out into the bottom of the bag. When I poured the contents of the bag onto some row cover the seeds came tumbling out along with various insects and spiders. I picked out all the seeds and put them in an envelope. Once I finish collecting seeds from all the artichokes, I'll count the seeds and determine if I have enough to offer through Seed Savers Exchange annual yearbook, which members of SSE are given each year. SSE suggests having enough seed for 10 requests of 25 seeds each, for a plant like artichokes. I could offer as "limited quantity" if I don't have enough for 10.

The recommended number of seeds varies by plant type. For example Maize (corn) should have 200 seeds for the minimum offer since corn needs lots of genetic diversity to avoid inbreeding. Suzanne Ashworth's book Seed to Seed is an excellent source of information on growing plants for saving seed.

I obtained the seeds for my Imperial Star artichokes from the Natural Gardening Company in Petaluma, CA. They offer certified organic seeds and plants. I also got my organic strawberry plants from them.