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Seed-Starting 101 : Part 1 of 6 : Crafting a Seed-Starting Schedule

Wednesday, February 17th, 2010

Nothing welcomes spring like a cold frame full of seedlings.

Crafting a Seed-Starting Schedule

From the soft comfort of a fireside rocking chair, your garden holds endless possibilities. You can picture–taste, even–the sweet tang of your certain bushels of tomatoes, the crisp crunch of cucumbers, the melting delicateness of a pile of stir-fried snow peas. All of this dreaming is essential–and at least partly true–but luckily February moves along, and wispy garden dreams must solidify into concrete garden plans if you hope to bring your visions to fruition, so to speak.

There are many garden plans to be made–questions of fencing, fertility, and size, among countless others–but one of the most vital is planning your schedule for starting seeds.

The key information to establishing your plan is your last spring frost date. This date is the average last day that gardeners can expect a frost to visit their garden. Here in the Mid-Hudson Valley, this date is about May 10th. However, this date differs significantly throughout the state (see this link from Cornell for an enlightening map), and it is also often refuted by actual fact: in both 2008 and 2009, for example, much of the Hudson Valley experienced a late May frost strong enough to damage frost-tender crops significantly. Still, we need a starting point, and the last frost date is it. (Outside NYS? Check out this link for extremely thorough frost and freeze data from throughout the country.)

Below is a rough schedule of spring seed-starting tasks in our region. For gardeners in the NYC metro area, you can start seeds about two or three weeks earlier than listed; for gardeners north and west of the Hudson Valley, you can start seeds about one week later than listed. Live elsewhere? Modify the chart by figuring out the difference between your frost date and May 10th, then adjust your plantings by that increment in either direction.

This table is a work in progress (it’s also too busy-looking for my taste–but it’ll have to do for now). It is not meant to be prescriptive; it just lists sowing and transplanting opportunities for each of the main spring planting weeks. Many flowers and herbs are not yet included, and probably a few veggies are missing, too. Share your preferred planting dates in the comments, and let me know what’s missing–I’ll update this as much as I can over the next week or two. Enjoy!

“Under Protection” means in a cold frame, greenhouse, or indoors with supplemental lighting.

Week Starting…	Seed-Starting Opportunities in the Mid-Hudson Valley (May 10th Frost Date)
Feb 14th	Under Protection: Onions, Leeks, Scallions, Chives, Garlic Chives, Celery, Celeriac, Artichoke
Feb 21st	Under Protection: Onions, Leeks, Scallions, Chives, Garlic Chives, Celery, Celeriac, Artichoke
Feb 28th	Under Protection: Onions, Leeks, Scallions, Chives, Garlic Chives, Celery, Celeriac, Artichoke
March 7th	Under Protection: Arugula, Spring Raab, Parsley, Onions, Leeks, Scallions, Chives, Garlic Chives, Celery, Celeriac, Artichoke
March 14th	Under Protection: Lettuce, early Cabbage, Kale, Collards, Broccoli, Arugula, Spring Raab, Parsley, Onions, Leeks, Scallions, Chives, Garlic Chives, Celery, Celeriac Direct Sow: Spinach, Peas, Arugula, Spring/Summer Onions
March 21st	Under Protection: Peppers, Tomatoes, Eggplant, Chard, Lettuce, early Cabbage, Kale, Collards, Broccoli, Tatsoi, Bok Choy, Arugula, Spring Raab, Parsley, Scallions, Chives, Garlic Chives Direct Sow: Radishes, Spinach, Peas, Arugula, Spring/Summer Onions
March 28th	Under Protection: Peppers, Tomatoes, Eggplant, Chard, Lettuce, early Cabbage, Kale, Collards, Broccoli, Tatsoi, Bok Choy, Arugula, Spring Raab, Parsley, Scallions, Chives, Garlic Chives Direct Sow: Spring Raab, Radishes, Spinach, Peas, Arugula, Spring/Summer Onions
April 7th	Under Protection: Peppers, Tomatoes, Eggplant, Chard, Lettuce, early Cabbage, Kale, Collards, Broccoli, Tatsoi, Bok Choy, Arugula, Spring Raab, Parsley, Scallions, Chives, Garlic Chives Direct Sow: Spring Raab, Radishes, Spinach, Peas, Arugula, Spring/Summer Onions
April 14th	Under Protection: Peppers, Tomatoes, Eggplant, Chard, Lettuce, early Cabbage, Kale, Collards, Broccoli, Tatsoi, Bok Choy, Arugula, Spring Raab, Parsley, Scallions, Chives, Garlic Chives Direct Sow: Lettuce, Carrots, Parsnips, Spring Raab, Radishes, Spinach, Peas, Arugula, Spring/Summer Onions Transplant:Lettuce, Spring Raab, Parsley, Scallions, Chives, Garlic Chives
April 21st	Under Protection: Chard, Peppers, Tomatoes, Eggplant, Lettuce, early Cabbage, Kale, Collards, Broccoli, Tatsoi, Bok Choy, Arugula, Spring Raab, Parsley, Scallions, Chives, Garlic Chives Direct Sow: Chard, Beets, Lettuce, Carrots, Parsnips, Spring Raab, Radishes, Spinach, Peas, Arugula, Spring/Summer Onions Transplant:Lettuce, Spring Raab, Parsley, Scallions, Chives, Garlic Chives
April 28th	Under Protection: Peppers, Tomatoes, Eggplant, early Cabbage, Kale, Collards, Broccoli, Tatsoi, Bok Choy, Arugula, Spring Raab, Parsley, Scallions, Chives, Garlic Chives Direct Sow: Chard, Beets, Lettuce, Carrots, Parsnips, Spring Raab, Radishes, Spinach, Peas, Arugula, Spring/Summer Onions Transplant: early Cabbage, Kale, Collards, Broccoli, Tatsoi, Bok Choy, Arugula, Lettuce, Spring Raab, Parsley, Scallions, Chives, Garlic Chives
May 7th	Under Protection: Okra, Cucumbers, Melons, Squash, main season Cabbage, Tomatoes, Tatsoi, Bok Choy Direct Sow: Chard, Beets, Corn, Lettuce, Carrots, Parsnips, Radishes, Spinach, Peas, Arugula Transplant: early Cabbage, Kale, Collards, Broccoli, Tatsoi, Bok Choy, Arugula, Lettuce, Spring Raab, Parsley, Scallions, Chives, Garlic Chives
May 14th	Under Protection: Okra, Cucumbers, Melons, Squash, main season Cabbage, Tomatoes, Tatsoi, Bok Choy Direct Sow: Chard, Beets, Beans, Corn, Lettuce, Carrots, Parsnips, Radishes, Spinach, Peas, Arugula, Spring Raab Transplant: early Cabbage, Kale, Collards, Broccoli, Tatsoi, Bok Choy, Arugula, Lettuce, Parsley, Scallions, Chives, Garlic Chives
May 21st	Under Protection: Okra, Cucumbers, Melons, Squash, main season Cabbage, Tomatoes Direct Sow: Beans, Corn, Lettuce, Carrots, Parsnips, Arugula Transplant: Tomatoes, early Cabbage, Kale, Collards, Broccoli, Tatsoi, Bok Choy, Arugula, Lettuce, Parsley, Scallions, Chives, Garlic Chives
May 28th	Under Protection: Okra, Melons Direct Sow: Cucumbers, Squash, Beans, Corn, Lettuce, Carrots, Parsnips, Arugula Transplant: Cucumbers, Squash, Peppers, Eggplant, Tomatoes, Kale Collards, Tatsoi, Bok Choy, Arugula, Parsley, Scallions, Chives, Garlic Chives
June 7th	Direct Sow: Okra, Melons, Cucumbers, Squash, Beans, Corn, Lettuce, Carrots, Parsnips, Arugula Transplant: Okra, Melons, Cucumbers, Squash, Peppers, Eggplant, Tomatoes, main season Cabbage

Tags: frost date, garden planning, seed starting, seed starting chart
Posted in how to, Seed Starting 101, Uncategorized | 20 Comments »

Seed Starting 101: Part 2 of 6: Starting Seeds Under Protection

Saturday, February 27th, 2010

Starting seeds early, when done right, is one of the most satisfying aspects of gardening. To see young, green shoots perk up through the soil while winter carries on outside is incredibly gratifying. It’s as if spring begins as soon as the first cotyledons (first leaves) pop open. It’s also an essential part of growing tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, and other crops, which otherwise don’t have a long enough season in northern climates to mature much ripe fruit.

For the home gardener lacking a heated greenhouse, there are two main ways to start seeds under protection: indoors or in a cold frame. We’ll take a look at both strategies.

STARTING SEEDLINGS INDOORS

Our friend Kerry Trueman demonstrates her own indoor seed-starting technique–with decopage!–in this great video. Check out retrovore.com for more New York-based food and gardening content.

For many gardeners, starting seeds indoors is the preferred, tried-and-true method. However, despite what most people believe, to be successful requires more than just a sunny windowsill. Successful indoor seed-starting requires the following components.

WARMTH. Most seeds will germinate within a fairly wide range of different temperatures. However, the swiftest germination takes place for most seeds of annual crops when soil temperatures are in the 70-80 degree range. The most notable exception to this is lettuce, which prefers a cooler temperature range of 60-70 degrees. Warmth is usually provided either by locating your seed-starting set-up strategically (near a woodstove or radiator, usually) or using a propagation mat, an electrical device that supplies bottom heat to the undersides of trays. In most cases an interior temperature of 60-70 degrees is not warm enough for quick germination, but seeds usually will germinate eventually (lack of supplemental heat is especially detrimental to peppers and eggplants, both of which are REALLY SLOW to germinate when left at room temperature).
MOISTURE. Seeds sown indoors are easy to water, but be sure to locate the seeds somewhere where you’ll be free to water liberally when needed. Watering can create drips and mess, and if you put the set-up in a pristine living room you risk being too precious about things to get done what has to get done.
LIGHT. For nearly all varieties (except lettuce), a sunny windowsill just doesn’t cut it. There do exist rare, due-south, full-sun, bay windows that just might cut it. But for most situations, extra light is necessary when starting seeds indoors. The most affordable way to provide this is to purchase a shop-light fluorescent fixture and suspend it within 1-2 inches of the emerging seedlings. Run it for 12-14 hours every day. And if you can set it up against a window, so much the better.
HARDENING OFF. Seedlings grown indoors are incredibly tender and sensitive, as they are subjected to neither the temperature swings nor breezes found outdoors. If you were to move them directly from the house to the garden, the shock would severely damage or kill them. Indoor-grown seedlings require full hardening off: a period of about 3-7 days when the seedlings are exposed in increasing doses to the natural elements. Start with a couple hours the first day, and gradually work your way up to 8 or 12 hours before transplanting them. Be sure to take on this process at the correct time for each variety.

Summary: Starting seeds indoors is convenient and accessible to all gardeners. Little time or money needed for infrastructure. Supplemental lighting is almost always necessary: don’t skip it! Seedlings grown indoors are ultra-tender and require careful hardening off.

STARTING SEEDLINGS IN A COLD FRAME

A homemade cold frame produced from easily obtained materials. Instructions on how to build this cold frame will be posted soon.

A cold frame is a simple structure placed in the garden that features structural sides (usually made of wood) and a top made of a transparent material such as clear plastic or glass. Starting seeds in a cold frame eliminates several of the difficulties of starting seeds indoors. However, it requires a small investment of time and money in the construction of the cold frame and careful attention on cold nights. Here’s a brief run down of what you need to know for successful cold-frame seed-starting.

WARMTH. From early March on, cold frames warm up significantly almost every day. When unvented, the interior temperature can easily top 90 degrees on a sunny day. The soil in seedling trays or soil blocks absorbs much of the solar radiation and heat, and the soil easily reaches temperatures that initiate seed germination. However, on cold nights the cold frame provides only 10-15 degrees of protection (depending on wind and the previous day’s high), so providing a bit of heat to stave off frost overnight is sometimes necessary. Sometimes throwing some old wool or polyester blankets on top can be enough; sometimes running a light bulb or Christmas lights within the box can do it. Generally some extra heat is wise if the outside temperature is predicted to drop below about 26 degrees and the frame contains frost-sensitive seedlings such as tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, basil, and certain flowers. (A cold frame with only brassicas and lettuces and greens will need no additional heat.) On sunny or warm days, venting is necessary–anything from cracking the lid to removing it entirely. Keep a thermometer handy: experiment a bit and you’ll get the hang of it.
MOISTURE. Seeds sown in a cold frame can be watered with abandon–no mess to worry about. Do monitor the seedlings at the end of the afternoon, as solar heat and breezes from venting can cause rapid moisture loss on a warm or sunny days.
LIGHT. When you use a cold frame, the mighty sun takes care of your light requirements: no supplementation is necessary. Just be sure to place the cold frame in a spot that gets full sun exposure. (Keep in mind that leafless trees will fill out and shade the cold frame before tender seedlings can be put in the garden.)
HARDENING OFF. Seedlings grown from the start in a cold frame require almost no hardening off, as they are exposed to temperature swings and breezes from a young age. Maybe give them one or two days of resting in a semi-protected spot outside of the cold frame before putting them in the ground; other than that, you’re golden!

Summary: Cold frames provide an ideal environment for seed-starting. Gardeners are assured ample natural light and need not bother with much hardening off before transplanting. Cold nights are an issue: gardeners must monitor for sub-26 temps and provide additional insulation or supplemental heat on those nights if frost-tender crops are in the cold frame.

Tags: cold frame, indoors, lighting, seed starting
Posted in how to, Seed Starting 101, Uncategorized | 4 Comments »

Seed-Starting 101 : Part 3 of 6 : Sowing Practices

Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010

Ah, Wednesday again. Time for another lesson, folks. (I used to teach high-school English, so I am getting a kick out of the chance to be all pedagogical again.)

SOWING PRACTICES

Once your schedule and protected space are set up, it’s time to actually do the deed: stick seeds in dirt, get ‘em wet, and watch ‘em grow. It’s surprisingly easy to succumb to anxiety when the moment arrives: am I burying the seed deeply enough? Too deeply? Is the soil wet enough? Too wet? Did I plant too many tomatoes? Too few?

Step One: RELAX. Take some deep breaths. Until about 100 years ago, nearly every person on the planet came to this moment many times each year. Things often went wrong: for them as they surely will for you. And yet, your presence on the earth today is proof that even when things were done imperfectly they still often worked out. So, approach the task of seed sowing with openness and a sense of adventure: no matter what happens, you’re about to learn a lot about plants, about the natural world, and about your own attitude (I know: not exactly how you wanted to spend your free time, this last.)

Making soil blocks

Step Two: CHOOSE A METHOD AND STICK WITH IT FOR A WHILE. There are countless media and containers–and labels and watering cans and gardening gloves–to consider for sowing time. You can start with a sterile soilless mix made almost entirely of peat moss and vermiculite, or one full of compost and rich microbial activity (I prefer the latter). You can start with plastic trays and cells; with tiny cow-manure compost pots; with leftover mini yogurt containers (with drainage holes punched in the bottom–don’t forget!); or with no containers at all when using soil blocks (each has its pros and cons, but we use soil blocks ourselves for most seed-starting). You can place seeds into soil with a tiny little plastic seed dispenser thingy (it looks like a giant comma with a clear lid), an electric vibrating seed dropper (yikes!), a moistened end of a toothpick, or your pinched fingers (I prefer toothpicks and fingers). The options are seemingly endless.

I suggest, however, that you pick one method and stick with it for a season or two until you’ve mastered it, figured out what you like and dislike about it, and are able to make a conscious decision to try out a different approach. In nearly all cases, problems at the seedling stage are less related to containers, soil media, or sowing method than they are to the conditions in which you are growing the plants (see last week’s post for details on this).

If it’s your first year with a garden, the easiest route is to head to a garden center and pick up one of their seed-starting kits and a bag of organic potting soil specifically labeled for seed starting. The kits are fairly inexpensive and include all you need for successful growing of a small quantity of plants; the organic mix will get your seed off and running with plenty of nutritious compost available to feed the young plants. You’ll probably find that these kits don’t make sense as you transition to a larger garden or more encompassing suite of crops, and at that time I would encourage a bit of googling to research seed-starting methods used by small farms and avid gardeners. (For those looking for this information right now, here are some links to get you started: pottingblocks.com, newspaper seed-starting containers, seed-starting rays and peat pellets, and lots more. Don’t drown in the information! No single method is perfect!)

No matter which system you choose, do be sure to consider that seedlings require fertile soil: if you start with a soilless mix, transplant the young’uns into good, well-composted soil quickly or provide a liquid organic fertilizer until transplant time. (This added consideration is why I prefer a potting soil with compost; McEnroe Farms makes a great one that is available at garden centers throughout the Hudson Valley.)

Step Three: SOW. Once you’ve picked your set-up and gathered materials, begin. Nearly all common vegetable and flower seeds are best sown at a depth that is approximately two to three times their diameter. It’s pretty easy to eyeball this, and once you get the hang of it you’ll do it intuitively. What it means is that tiny seeds, such as those for carrot, lettuce, basil, and most herbs, need only be covered by one-eighth to one-quarter of an inch of soil–or even just a dusting. Brassicas need one-quarter inch to three-eighths inch depending on the seed size. Beans need a good one-half to three-quarters of an inch. And so on. The drier the conditions, the deeper you should plant, as seeds germinate best when they occupy the magical spot where the soil remains fairly moist but oxygen from above ground is able to reach them. When the ground is dry, the moist layer is lower and the oxygen travels easily through the dry layer on top; wet conditions call for the opposite treatment. Once the seeds are in place, water them in: give them a nice good drink to allow the seed coats to soften and the process of germination to begin. (Note that if the mix you begin with is totally dry it will need to be watered before sowing, as a perfectly dry soilless mix will often not moisten easily once in trays–seeds sown into these conditions will often float off once watered.)

Step Four: OVERSOW. It is all too easy for something to go wrong during the seedling stage. An emergency that takes you unexpectedly away from the house and your seedlings to wither; a power outage that zaps your grow light for several days; a curious cat that mistakes your trays for a litter box: all can spell trouble. The best insurance against things going wrong is to sow many more seeds than you actually need. I learned this lesson the hard way early on, and it’s saved me many times over the past few years.

Ready for seeds.

One important method of oversowing is to re-sow everything (or nearly everything) sown on one date a second time two or three weeks later. This may not work for those with tight space restrictions–it’s even hard for us sometimes–but I can report that on many occasions the later plantings have been a happy blessing. One summer a late-sown round of tomatoes staved off an early blight beautifully (young plants are often able to repel disease more easily than fully mature plants), while another spring our second-round of young celeriac seedlings replaced some that perished when we failed to vent a cold frame on a lazy sunny day. Troubles come, and it’s wise to anticipate them. (I told you gardening is a learning adventure.)

The hard part is at transplant time, when, if all actually goes well, you’ll have plenty of extra seedlings that can’t make it into the limited space of your garden. Give ‘em to friends or family, or sell ‘em on craigslist. There’s always demand at transplant time for veggies that folks didn’t start from seed themselves.

Step Five: PROVIDE WARMTH AND MOISTURE. I’ve taken a slightly laissez-faire attitude here in the past: I never cover sown seeds with plastic wrap or anything like that. I do keep them watered if it looks like they are drying out. And I do provide warmth. The warmth is very important: cool pepper seeds can take weeks to germinate, while those kept above 80 degrees will germinated within about five days, usually. See this link for a great summary of the ideal germination temps for different vegetable types.

Achieving these temps can be tricky in a wintery home, but I’ll soon be posting a couple of DIY-themed addenda to this series with more details on this step: one on building the cold frame pictured in last week’s post, and one on tricking out an old fridge as a germination chamber (an idea I’ve swiped from many wise farmers, including Jay and Polly and Erin and Sam at Four Winds Farm / Second Wind CSA and Linda-Brook at Back to Basics).

Step Six: GET RID OF WARMTH AND MOISTURE. Ack! So crazy, isn’t it? Once you see your first flush of germination in any batch of sown seeds, quickly get them out of the warm and moist environment you’ve provided for germination and get them somewhere a bit cooler and a lot drier. Too much moisture brings on the dreaded damping off and is one of the most common mistakes made by new gardeners. If growing seedlings indoors, take them off the heat mat; if growing in a cold frame, move your seedlings in and let them cope–happily! really!–with the slightly cooler temps and the drier air. (The only real exceptions to this rule are peppers and eggplants, which thrive in continued warmth for much of their young lives–not the mid-80s that make them germinate quickly, but definitely the mid-70s, which keeps ‘em happy but does not allow them to remain too pampered and weak. If you can’t provide just the right conditions, don’t sweat it, and err on the side of room temperatures, or use a carefully watched cold frame from mid-April on.)

Oh, and make sure that the young seedlings get plenty of light. See the last post in this series for details. Don’t hate me, but I must say it again: a sunny windowsill is almost never enough light.

Step Seven. RELAX. AGAIN. Once you go through this process a few times you’ll get the swing of it. Behold the young life unfurling by your own efforts. Be grateful for it. Don’t worry to death over it. Taking part in gardening is all about stepping into sync with natural rhythms, which are in constant motion. Seed sowing is just one part of the process, and it is not a zero sum game. Sow some stuff in the coming week or two; so more the weeks after that; more after that. In fact, once you understand when to sow which varieties, you’ll be sowing eight months of the year, along with transplanting, weeding, and–with any luck–harvesting. You give and you wait to receive. You receive and you feel grateful. You always glance ahead and consider what you can sow now for harvest later. Don’t lose sight of the dance and get trapped in the feeling that it’s all or nothing: there is nearly always something to be sown right now to improve your garden prospects, feed you and your loved ones fresh food, and save on your grocery bill several months down the road.

Any specific sowing tips or methods you heartily endorse and would like to share? Any train wrecks to steer others away from? Comment away!

Tags: seed starting, sowing
Posted in how to, Seed Starting 101 | 2 Comments »

Seed-Starting 101 : Part 4 of 6 : The Quick-and-Easy Cold Frame

Thursday, March 11th, 2010

Successful seed-starting takes infrastructure, be it a tricked-out heated glass greenhouse or a fluorescent shop-light setup in your basement. Either extreme–or anywhere in between–can work beautifully. However, in my experience, the solutions that are most likely to be implemented by busy gardeners are those that feel accessible and do-able in occasional spare moments.

This post covers one such solution: a cold frame constructed from easy-to-find, fairly inexpensive materials.

THE QUICK-AND-EASY COLD FRAME.

The finished cold frame. Functional and not too shabby-looking!

I’m a huge fan of cold frames. Not only do they hold miraculous quantities of promising green growth within their simple walls, they also are easy to build and will happily bring through the winter many servings of cold-hardy crops like spinach, scallions, tatsoi, and mache. Here’s a cold frame that a reasonably handy person with some power tools can put together for about $100 with materials from a local lumberyard (or, unfortunately, big box store–see below). In one season alone, you can easily produce several hundred dollars worth of seedlings in this frame’s roomy 32 square feet.

Materials List

2 pieces 8-foot-long, 26-inch-wide SUNTUF polycarbonate panels — $40
2 packs SUNTUF closure strips — $10
1 box SUNTUF screws — $6
roll of tape sealant (often used for metal roof panel overlap joints and similar) or some silicone caulk — $10
2 pieces 8-foot 2×12 SPF lumber — $20
1 piece 8-foot 2×8 SPF lumber — $8
7 pieces 8-foot 2×2 SPF lumber, as straight as you can find — $13
exterior-grade drywall screws: 1-5/8″ and 3″ — $6
Hinges – $6

Tools List

Circular Saw
Drill with 3/16″ drill bit, Philips head driver bit, and 1/4″ hex driver bit
Optional but makes things a little easier: Chop Saw

All of these materials can be obtained from a local lumberyard, with the probable exception of the SUNTUF items, which can be obtained from Home Depot or Lowe’s. I like to give as much of my business as possible to my local lumberyard, Williams Lumber of High Falls, as I appreciate having a locally owned lumberyard so close to home. I want to support them. Unfortunately, they don’t stock clear plastic roof panels of any kind, and since the point of this project was to concoct a quick-and-accessible cold frame, I bit the bullet and braved the strip of sprawl on Route 9W outside Kingston to get the polycarbonate cover. (Note that these panels are lightweight and long–they require a truck to be transported–with some sort of bracing to protect them from blowing away in the wind. Or, you can have the staff at the box store cut them each in half to fit them in your car–see below.)

Once you’ve assembled your materials, here’s what to do:

Cut each SUNTUF panel in half so that you end up with four panels that are each 26″ wide by 48″ tall. This is best accomplished with a circular saw, though tin snips will also do the job.
Arrange the four panels so that they are spread out across a flat surface with the last rib on one panel overlapping the first rib on the next. Try to get them as straight and square as possible.
Measure the distance from the bottom of the first space-between-two-ribs to the bottom of the last space-between-two-ribs. This should be somewhere in the neighborhood of 8 feet. It won’t be exact, but that’s okay.

Make the Frame for the Lid

The frame for the lid.

Miter cut the ends of two of the 8-foot 2x2s at 45-degree angles, like a picture frame’s corners.
Cut one of the other 2x2s in half. Miter cut the ends so that the long edges are 48″, like a picture frame’s corners.
Attach the 2x2s at the mitered corners by pre-drilling to prevent splitting and then attaching the ends together using 1-5/8″ screws or similar. The result should be a giant picture frame, basically.
Cut another 2×2 to about 93″ in length. Don’t cut it too short! Place it in the center of the frame, centered 24″ from top and bottom corners. This creates a middle horizontal support parallel to the other long sides of the frame; this will prevent the frame from sagging under the weight of adhered interior dew or exterior snow loads.

Finish the Lid

Corner detail. Notice the miter cuts, the tape sealant, and the closure strips.

Using the drill bit, pre-drill holes in every other “valley” of each panel’s ribbing along the top and bottom edges.
Place strips of tape sealant along the top surface of the short sides of the frame. (Or, use silicone to seal this seam after step four. Place SUNTUF closure strips along the tops of the long sides of the frame.
Line up the panels on the frame so that they are overlapping and cover the entire frame, setting them on top of the closure strips. Set the final “valleys” set so they are resting on the tape sealant (or, again, you can fill this seam with silicone caulk). This won’t be a perfect match–the edges of the valleys will touch the sides of the frames, but they won’t rest on it nicely. This is okay. Just be sure this gap is sealed (it may take a few layers of tape sealant, some applied after the cover is attached.
Attach the panels using the SUNTUF fasteners and the hex-head driver bit.

Make the cold frame box

Cut one of the 8-foot 2×12′s into 2 45″ lengths.
Using a straight edge, draw a line from the top corner of one end of the length to a mark at 7-1/4″ from the bottom corner of the other end. Cutting on this line will create a side to the cold frame that will slope exactly from the rear 2×12 wall to the front 2×8 wall.
Using a circular saw, cut along this line. Be careful–it can be tricky to perform this cut, as it’s something of a ripping cut that sort of follows the grain.
Repeat for other 45″ length.
One sloping side, sandwiched between the longer front and rear walls.

Position the pieces of the cold frame. The two 8-foot pieces of lumber are parallel, with the two 45-inch pieces of sloping lumber forming the sides, with the un-ripped side up. These smaller pieces should be “inside” the 8-foot pieces so that, when sandwiched, the entire length of the side is 48″ (including the 1-1/2″ for the ends of both the rear and front walls).
Pre-drill holes and attach all sides of the frame using the 3″ screws.
Half-way down the short sides of the cold frame, attach a spare piece of wood to the inside top edge, flush with the sloping surface of the side.
Flip the cold frame over. Cut one of the three remaining 2×2′s into 2 45″ lengths. Match these up with the undersides of the lumber that makes the frame and attach with the 3″ screws. This will be the “ground floor” of your cold frame that will slowly rot over several years. After it’s rotted, simply detach and replace with a new “ground floor.” The rest of the cold frame will last for about 20 years or so if left out–maybe more if stored well when not in use. (The ground floor is not shown in the accompanying photos.)

Put the Lid on the Cold Frame

Set the lid on the cold frame, matching up the corners with the frame.
Attach to the cold frame using a couple of long rectangular hinges and short screws.
If the lid does not sit squarely on the frame, purchase and install a latch to hold it snug.

Spring's-a-comin'! Happy onions, leeks, scallions, and artichokes gain strength and size and fortitude for spring.

VOILA! A functional cold frame that can be built in an afternoon for around a hundred bucks. Fill it with trays and go to town! You’ll find endless uses for it.

(Look for an addendum to the seed-starting series sometime during the next week on another great seed-starting tool: the refrigegerminator!)

Tags: cold frame
Posted in how to, Seed Starting 101 | 12 Comments »

Seed-Starting 101 : Part 5 of 6 : Direct Sowing

Friday, March 19th, 2010

Saint Patty’s Day has come and gone, which is when we usually say the growing season officially begins. St. Patrick’s Day is a traditional pea-sowing day among Irish-Americans (and many others) in metro New York and the greater Northeast. But with the cold damp weather we’ve been having, many Northeast gardeners are just getting going. Don’t stress if you’re just starting to be able to work your soil. You still have time to get in your direct sowing, and most transplants don’t go out until mid-May. Plants are resilient and have wiley ways of catching up, even when planted later than usual. Follow our direct sowing tips for success with seeds!

TEN TIPS FOR DIRECT SOWING

Begin in the late winter or early spring–but not until the soil is ready. Many cool-weather crops, such as spinach, peas, arugula, and hardy salad greens, benefit from being sown as early as possible. Germination may take a bit longer than under warmer conditions, but they’ll be off and running early, which means the plant has the maximum amount of time to grow before summer heat sets in. However, it’s important to wait to sow until the soil has recovered from the winter freeze-up and has returned to a friable, arable state. You’re looking for the top several inches to be dry and crumbly enough that the soil doesn’t stick as you run a tool across the surface but instead falls away in small chunks or crumbles. Clay soils can sometimes take 1-2 weeks longer than sandy soils to become planting-ready. As you continue to add organic matter to your soil over the years, it will become lighter and lighter and more easily worked at the start of the season.
Do a thorough, pre-emptive weeding. Direct sown crops produce tiny seedlings that need careful attention to flourish. Among their greatest needs is to be free from crowding by weeds. This is easily accomplished in the greenhouse, where seedlings can be started in a weed-free potting soil. But when direct sowing crops, gardeners must pay careful attention to weeds during the seedling’s early days. Get a head start by doing a thorough, pre-emptive weeding before sowing. Pay special attention to stolon-rooted grasses and other perennial weeds, as it will later become nearly impossible to remove these aggressive growers without disrupting tender young seedlings. If gardening in a new or neglected patch, consider sheet mulching or tilling and raking multiple times to kill lurking weeds.
Amend the soil thoroughly. It’s much easier to create a fertile bed for your plants before planting seeds than after they have emerged. An unplanted bed can quickly be thoroughly hoed and raked multiple times to incorporate a big pile of compost; trying to do such a thorough job once the seedlings are up is nearly impossible. So don’t jump the gun: add compost, lime, soybean or alfalfa meal, rock phosphate, kelp, or any complete organic fertilizer before planting. Many plants benefit from later side-dressings as well, but they won’t make up for the first-round big boost to initial fertility accomplished by thoroughly incorporating amendments.
Create furrows of the proper depth. As I mentioned a couple posts ago, most seeds germinate and take root best when sowed at a depth of approximately 2-3 times their width. (For mid-summer direct sowings, you can increase this a bit if it’s dry and hot, as the moisture remains lower in the soil.) Figure out the proper spacing for the variety you are planting, then use a stick, a tool handle, or a piece of lumber to press clean furrows into a well-prepared (and therefore loose and friable) garden bed. Space these furrows apart from each other at the spacing recommended for the variety you are sowing. Press the implement into the soil until it reaches the proper depth: for small seeds like arugula and lettuce, this will be an extremely shallow furrow (1/4″ or so), while for beans or peas the furrow will be a good 3/4″ to 1″ deep.
Plan for thinnings when possible. Before actually sowing seed, consider if the crop you are sowing can be harvested young for table use. If so, consider sowing more thickly than the plants ultimately need to be spaced in order to harvest tender young thinnings early. This works well for any crop harvested for their leaves, such as spinach, lettuce, arugula, parsley, cilantro, and Asian Greens. Just remember to thin the plants promptly at the 3-4″ tall stage so that the plants you are growing for full maturity are not stressed by overcrowding as they grow.
Sow the seed. Once you’ve done all of the above, sowing the seed is easy! Depending on the seed size, either sprinkle or drop the seed at regular spacing into the bottom of your furrow. Don’t be too stingy with the seed–but don’t be too loose, either. Ideally you’d like an evenly spaced succession of seeds in the furrow at a spacing that is closer than recommended (if thinning) or just about what is recommended (if not thinning). It’s best to oversow certain crops–most notably spinach–to make up for the naturally low germination rates.
Keep it firm! One mistake often made by new gardeners is to try to keep the soil around the seeds extremely loose. While in general a loose soil is a sign of healthy tilth, most seeds germinate best when they have somewhat firm soil surrounding them. The reason is that firm soil does a better job of pulling moisture from below and transmitting it to the seed, while loose soil dries out quickly under the sun’s rays. So, once you’ve sown your seeds in the furrow, brush soil on top of them and press the soil–either with your open palms or with the flat side of a furrow-making stick–so that it is snug. This isn’t a strength test: save your muscles for turning compost. Just a gentle “tucking in” is all it takes to keep the seeds in a good, well-wrapped state for healthiest germination.
Water in, then relax. Always water in your seeds after planting, and continue watering regularly until you see seedling emergence. Make your waterings thorough in order to saturate the soil. Then–unless you have extraordinarily sandy soil–don’t water again for 48 hours. Seeds need a combination of moisture and warmth to germinate, and especially during the first half of spring the heat can be in short supply. Watering too freuqently keeps the soil even cooler, so restrain yourself. It can be difficult when you’re desperate to see a little green appear, but it is the wisest course of action and will hasten germination.
Weed and thin promptly during first month. While weeds can inhibit the growth and productivity of all plants, tiny seedlings can be stopped completely in their tracks by weed competition. If you know you’re a lazy weeder, make a resolution with yourself to invest all your weeding energy up front. Let the ripening peppers and tomatoes and squash be weed-choked, but for goodness’ sake keep your young spinach, peas, and beets clear of lambsquarter, spiky amaranth, and horse nettle. A sharp hoe can get the job done quickly, while a thick layer of mulch spread open to allow seedling emergence can keep weeds smothered. However you do it, get it done: a weed-strewn patch will seriously slow down direct-sown seedlings.
Consider a seeder to help if sowing on a larger scale. If you’re making the transition from having a small garden to growing all the vegetables you need, you may want to consider a seeder to make direct sowing operations fast and easy. Your bed needs to be loose and very friable for the seeder to operate smoothly, but once you’ve created these conditions it will seriously speed up your sowing time. Popular models are the Earthway seeder and the drool-worthy (and pricey) six-row seeder available from Johnny’s Seeds.

It IS spring, even if your still chilly. Monitor your soil, and as soon as it’s ready, let spring planting begin!

(Up next week is the final installment of this series: Transplanting and Troubleshooting. Plus the Refrigegerminator Extra as soon as I can get to it!)

Tags: direct sowing, seed starting
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Seed-Starting 101 : Part 6 of 6 : Transplanting and Troubleshooting

Friday, March 26th, 2010

Even though it may feel like the timing if off, the calendar is progressing headlong into spring, and the daffodils–along with the just-unfurling green buds on the dreaded and omnipresent multiflora rose–are here. Soon, the earth will warm, and your seedlings will eagerly sink their bound roots into the big, living universe of your own garden’s soil.

TRANSPLANTING

Transplanted seedlings in rows.

Transplanting is an intuitive and extremely satisfying garden activity. Before transplanting, your bed is empty and shapeless; after transplanting, your garden comes alive with the rhythm and structure created by the rows, grids, circles, and freeform shapes your new transplants trace.

Most of us began our garden journey with an act of transplanting, usually a few tomato or basil or lettuce seedlings purchased from a garden center. And while transplanting is quite straightforward, there are definitely some things to keep in mind for the best results. Here are five thoughts.

Only transplant properly hardened off seedlings. Hardening off seedlings–the process of gradually exposing them to longer and longer periods of unprotected, outdoor conditions (starting with about two hours per day, working up to ten or twelve over several days)–is essential to ensure the survival of seedlings grown indoors. There’s no room for fudging here–especially with warm-weather crops such as peppers, eggplants, melons, and tomatoes. If you grew it indoors, it must adjust gradually to outdoor conditions. If you raise your seedlings in a cold frame, full hardening off is not necessary–just set your trays outside your cold frame for a day before transplanting.
Transplant only on cloudy days or on late afternoons of sunny days. The act of transplanting is, by nature, stressful on the seedling. Bright, hot sun and dessicating winds amplify the shock: the poor seedling spends its limited resources in a struggle for water and purchase in the soil, rather than just settling in. Young seedlings are much happier when they are given a cool, moist, dark breather before facing their first day in a whole new environment.
Prepare your bed thoroughly first. Incorporate compost and soil amendments before transplanting. It’s best if the seedling can have at least a few days without much disturbance to its root system. It also needs a good, fertile environment in which to sink its roots, and few weeds to out-compete it. Work to provide these conditions before putting the seedling in the ground. Even if the seedling is getting root-bound, even if the calendar says its time to transplant, wait: the work of correcting poorly prepared soil is far more painful than exerting a little patience beforehand.
Transplant gently. Once all the above conditions have been met, cut into the surface of your soil with a trowel or hand-held hoe to create a space for your seedling. Eject your seedling carefully from its container, and then set it into the space you’ve made. Except for tomatoes, nearly all vegetables should be transplanted so that the level of the soil surrounding the seedling is even with the level of the garden soil (tomatoes can be sunk more deeply–all the little hairs on the stem grow into roots). With your hands, push the surrounding soil towards the seedling to “seal it in”; pat the soil down so that the seedling is held in place firmly, as vertically as you can get it. Water in with a gentle setting on your hose (longer than you think–be sure that you do more than just a surface watering), and you’re done!
Consider the cutworm. If you’re gardening a new plot–and often if you’re not–you may face the dreaded cutworm, a small crawly creature that loves to fell young seedlings. It does its thing by forming a circle fully around the stem of a seedling and then chomping down. You’ll instantly recognize the damage–it really does look like a felled tree. It mainly affects tomatoes, peppers, and eggplants, but it occasionally visits the stemmy bottoms of brassicas, too. To prevent this heartbreaker from ruining your day, put two toothpicks alongside and touching the stems of your transplants, one on each side of the stem. Do this at transplant time. The cutworm won’t be able to fully encircle the seedling and will give up. (Rarely do cutworms venture higher than the height of an average toothpick.)

That’s pretty much it! A few days after transplanting, your seedling should be well rooted, and cultivation with a hoe can take place.

TROUBLESHOOTING

Growing a garden is an invitation for trouble: thousands of other beings–from deer and woodchucks to bacteria and fungi–will be eyeing your vegetables just as hungrily as you are. While a good fence will keep the larger foes from your crops, the smaller ones are usually held at bay by the plant’s own defense systems. The key is providing the conditions that allow the plant to be as strong and resilient as possible.

Below is a list of common troubles seen in garden plants during their early years, along with tips on keeping your seedlings strong, healthy, and resilient.

Damping Off. Damping off is probably the single most common ailment seen in seedlings grown indoors. It is a fungal affliction in which the young seedling’s stem withers at soil level; the seedling topples over and usually dies. The conditions that cause damping off are a combination of moisture and poor air circulation and moderate temperatures. The key to avoiding damping off is to refrain from overwatering–let the surface of the soil dry out a bit before each watering. It also helps to improve air flow, either with a fan or by moving your trays from a stuffy room to one that experiences greater air exchange. Some crops are notorious for damping off problems even when near-optimal conditions are provided: onions seem to be the most susceptible. (We lose some to damping off nearly every year.) Consider a damped off seedling or two to be a rite of passage–and then act quickly to improve conditions.
Leaves turning purple. This condition arises in April and later, mainly, when your young seedlings have exhausted the available phosphorus in their potting soil. Organic phosphorus is released slowly, and only limited amounts are available in mixes that are designed for seedlings. If your seedlings are hanging out for too long in their trays without being transplanted, you will likely see their leaves begin to turn purpleish. Luckily, nearly all seedlings will recover from this state when transplanted to a healthy, well-composted garden soil; they may shed a leaf or two, but they’ll probably do fine in the end.
Yellow leaves/failure to thrive. Yellowing leaves are usually a symptom of nitrogen deficiency, which is usually only a problem in a potting soil that is not fully amended with compost and organic amendments such as seedmeals. Be sure that if you are using a sterile soilless mix that it either comes with fertilizer included or you are providing some yourself–or, better yet, choose an organic, compost-based mix from the start. But do be aware that any potting soil has limited resources to share with a seedling; keeping a seedling in a tray for too long will allow the plant to suck all the nutrition from the soil. Staying on top of transplanting will prevent such conditions.
Tall, spindly seedlings. Thin, stretched out, pale seedlings are called “leggy.” The condition arises from two causes: inadequate light and an overcrowded tray. I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again: a sunny windowsill is usually not bright enough to grow good seedlings. Most leggy seedlings are grown on such a windowsill. Get a shop light with fluorescent bulbs or build a cold frame–you’ll be amazed at how legginess goes away completely. If you believe your light is sufficient, examine the density of your seedlings: once the leaves of neighboring seedlings actually begin to touch each other, a race for light and air begins that makes the seedlings grow taller without filling out horizontally at the same time. If this is the case, either transplant immediately (if the timing is right for the variety) or pot up your seedlings to larger containers.

And with that, this series on seed-starting comes to an end. There is much more that could be written–growing food is an incredibly complex (and yet straightforward!) endeavor about which I could talk or write almost indefinitely. However, there are orders to ship and seeds to sow here, soil to prepare and a fence to mend. Spring is here, and the window of opportunity for so many great garden efforts is opening. Dive in, and good luck!

Tags: seed satarting, transplanting
Posted in how to, Seed Starting 101 | 8 Comments »

Efficient Weed Control

Wednesday, June 2nd, 2010

June brings fast and furious growth to all garden plants–including weeds. If there is one month of the season to make weed control a priority, it’s June. Many crops–especially those that have been direct sown–are still too small to be able to compete effectively with neighboring weeds; without timely weeding, they will be drowned out. In late July and August, your garden will suffer little if you become a less astute weeder or give up on weeding altogether–it won’t look nice, but it will still produce a bounty. Slack now, though, and you risk serious decreases in yield.

Most people abhor weeding because they approach the task in a nilly-willy sort of way. The most common mistake is to wait until the weeds are large enough to be aggravating before trying to remove them. Far better is to employ one of the following two strategies–or a combination of them both.

1.) Frequent shallow cultivation. Cultivation is the act of breaking the surface of the soil with a metal implement (in gardens this is nearly always a hoe) in order to disrupt and stop the growth of young weeds. It is a preventive technique: if you cultivate frequently enough (say once a week or so), your garden will remain weed-free throughout the season. A 50×50 foot garden can be cultivated in about an hour or two, depending on how big weeds have become since the last cultivation. The easiest technique I’ve found is to use a “draw hoe”–one that you pull toward you like a broom–to slice just below the soil’s surface. Keep your blade sharp (using a file or diamond hoe ever ten or fifteen minutes), and the work is precise and quick. Move along your beds, scuffling their entire surface, and the tiny weeds will be cut from their roots and die. Cultivation does several other things for your garden besides keeping weeds in check: the loose, cultivated soil dries and warms quickly in the spring, which is of benefit to heat-loving crops; the loose soil surface is permeable and “open” to receive rain water; and the process keeps you familiar with every nook and cranny of your garden to help you avoid unseen problems or forgotten corners. The downside to cultivating is that regularity is essential–once you miss a week or two, you’ll probably have to do some hand weeding, which is far more time consuming.

2.) Mulching. When most gardeners have a weed problem, their first idea is to try mulch. Mulch absolutely does decrease the weed pressure in your garden. It also keeps the soil consistently moist and cool (of benefit to some crops–but a detriment to the heat lovers) and provides a clean appearance to the garden. The downside of mulch is that it needs to be applied very thickly in order to prevent weeds from emerging (especially grasses)–about six to twelve inches. The materials most often used for mulch are hay and straw, which are no longer cheap or abundant commodities in our region. Buying enough mulch hay to cover a 50×50 foot garden can easily cost several hundred dollars. Mulch also does not prevent weeds from emerging entirely, and because it prevents cultivation, these weeds must be removed by hand (luckily, they pull out easily thanks to the loose and friable soil preserved beneath the mulch).

Which route is best? It depends on your personality, your financial resources, and your summer plans. If you expect a long vacation at some point in the summer, mulching can allow you to leave your well-weeded-ahead-of-time garden for an extended period with few worries about watering or weeding. If one of your reasons for gardening is saving money, however, it’s much less expensive to invest in a good hoe and cultivate. But by all means, expect and plan for weed control. Having to pull up weeds by hand when they are 12 inches tall will strand you in the garden for hours, cursing, or will lead you to abandon the weed-choked garden altogether.

Tags: weeding, weeds
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Tomato Trellising Basics

Thursday, June 3rd, 2010

Vintage image from 1914 Fairview Seed Catalog, Syracuse, NY. Digitally altered by Sarah Snow/ Treeodesign.

Google ‘trellising tomatoes,’ and you’ll quickly be immersed into an entire world you didn’t know existed. You’ll find finicky, particular pruners twisting their tomato vines around vertical strings supported by 6-foot high beams. You’ll find devil-may-care gardeners who let their tomatoes sprawl right on the ground. And, in between these two extremes, you’ll find hundreds of shades of tomato caretaking; there are nearly as many methods to grow tomatoes as there are heirloom tomatoes to grow!

An entire book could be written on the various methods, but here are the most common:

1.) Pruned vines tied to vertical supports. This is probably the most common approach. Vines are pruned as they grow–the shoots that develop in the crotches between the “trunk” and the lateral leaves are removed–and the trunk is tied to a nearby parallel stake as it grows. Works like a charm, allows for closer plant spacing and good yields, but does require regular attention to tying up.

2.) Tomato cages. Another common approach. No pruning required. Just place a tomato cage around your plants and let them grow however they’d like. Usually the cage will provide all necessary support passively, but do keep an eye out for toppling plants when young. A single loop of twine may be all you need to provide before letting the cage take over. Space your tomato plants widely if you use this method: indeterminate varieties can grow enormous when left unpruned.

Although this is not a recommended trellising method, we love this illustration of New Yorker Tomato sent to us by Carmel High School student Julia B. More seedy art from Carmel students is on the way.

3.) “The Florida Weave.” Pruning optional. Stakes are placed in the row between ever second plant, then twine is run both sides of the line of stakes, about a foot apart as the vines grow. Quick and efficient for large numbers of plants. Most commonly, 1/2″ EMT electrical conduit is used as stakes. Stakes at ends of row need support: either install a stake and run a diagonal line of wire to the top of it or use a T-post or 3/4″ piece of conduit.

You’ll notice I didn’t mention the let-your-tomatoes-sprawl-all-over-the-ground method. The main reason is that this method is risky in our climate. Not only are the ripening fruit more likely to suffer damage from small critters of all sorts when grown on the ground, they also stay cooler down low–and in a cool summer, this means a greater likelihood of disease and a reduced yield.

The important thing is to get your tomatoes elevated and to keep the bracts of tomatoes supported enough that they don’t topple your support structure as they grow and mature. Any method of accomplishing this is great–as long as it works well for you.

Tags: tomatoes, trellising
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Tomato Harvest Begins! Here are Five Tips to Make the Most of It.

Tuesday, July 20th, 2010

Rose de Berne Tomatoes

Our hot and fairly dry summer has had many effects on the garden, the most welcome of which is the imminent and seemingly strong tomato crop. What a marvelous counterpoint to last year’s collective tomato sadness!

Many growers and gardeners have already started to harvest their earliest outdoor-grown fruits (those with hoophouses began a month ago–even a small greenhouse can achieve these early, delectable fruits!). Leading the pack are the ultra-early varieties and the cherry tomatoes. Soon, the early main season crops will ripen, and swiftly (knock on wood) we will all find ourselves afloat in a sea of tomato bounty.

Here are five thoughts on handling and extending the tomato harvest.

Once the first fruits start to ripen, be sure to check your plants at least every two days. During exceptional hot and dry weather, a daily checkup is even better, but in general a once-per-two-days check-in will guarantee you don’t lose fruit to rots and fruit drop seen on over-ripened fruits.
Once harvested, set your fruit in a single layer, on a counter or windowsill, until you have time to eat them or preserve them. With lighter-weight varieties, you can often get away with a well-spaced double layer, but never any higher! Piled tomatoes lead to rot, waste, and fruit flies.
If you have more tomatoes than you know what to do with, preserve them. The easiest preservation methods are freezing and drying. Most people freeze just-boiled sliced tomatoes in freezer bags, but frozen raw tomatoes–though they take up slightly more space–are just as good for cooking in winter meals and require zero time in the busy harvest months. To dry tomatoes, chop into 1/4″ slices and arrange on a screen (NOT a window screen!) or on cookie sheets. Drying can take place in a sun-warmed car with cracked windows or a solar or electric dehydrator.
To encourage your indeterminate plants to continue producing, stay on top of the harvest and do your best to clean up the lower leaves of the plants, which will likely become blighted and crispy as the season moves on. Keep the soil surface clean and air circulating: the plants will appreciate these extra measures as the season turns cooler in the fall.
If a fall frost threatens, cover your plants with sheets or scrap plastic (or even Christmas lights). The day before the deep freeze arrives (forecasted lows below 28 degrees), harvest as many green fruits as you can: they really are delicious batter-fried or made into a piquant salsa. The half-ripe ones will continue to ripen on your windowsill.

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Don’t Blush, Be the Bee: Saving Seeds from Squash

Tuesday, July 27th, 2010

Squash Blossom

Saving Seeds from Cucurbits

There used to be a certain moment during hands-on seed saving workshops when I would blush. My cheeks would flush when discussing the intimacies of hand pollinating squash blossoms while taking a male flower and rubbing it around inside the female flower. These days, even with the giggles and gasps or silent wide eyes of virgin seed savers, I don’t even blink. I think of the act as being the bee, and more importantly, being the first bee to do the deed.

Successfully saving seeds from melons, cucumbers, or squash is extremely rewarding–the varieties are endless and intriguing. That said, it can be a bit tricky to accomplish. Follow the tips below to start out right.

Early Yellow Crookneck Summer Squash. Over-ripe and ready to seed saving.

PLAN

Cucurbits come in several distinct species.

Watermelon are Citrullus lanatus; all other melons are Cucumis melo; cucumbers are Cucumis sativus; and squash are one of several Cucrbita species, either maxima, mixta, moschata, and pepo. If working with squash, be sure to know the species of your plant from the start. Recommended isolation distance for seed-saving is ½ mile. Since this is not possible for most home gardeners who enjoy growing multiple varieties, hand-pollination is the way to go.

Left to right: Open flower= too late. Mature unopened flower= perfect. Immature closed flower=too early.

HAND POLLINATE

By July, male and female flowers will dot your cucurbit plants. Identify male and female flowers of crown fruit which are likely to open the next morning. Tape them shut and flag them. In the morning, cut the male flowers, leaving some stem. Un-tape and remove petals. Next, un-tape the female flower and brush on pollen from multiple male flowers. Re-tape female flower and flag. Take heart when you see the results of this labor wither on the vine: only 20% of hand-pollinated fruit will mature. Usually this is no problem, however, as cucurbits bear a tremendous number of seed per fruit.

Over-ripe squash can be a whole lot of fun.

HARVEST

Seeds of winter squash, melon, and watermelon fruit are ready to harvest when the fruit is ripe. Simply harvest, scoop out seeds (or spit out, for watermelon), and wash and dry the seeds before storing in an airtight container. For cucumbers and summer squash, the fruit should be over-ripe by about twenty days before harvesting for seed.

Close up of female cucumber flower. Note the tiny fruit forming at the base of the blossom.

A NOTE ON SQUASH CROSS-POLLINATION

If you grow only one type of squash from each species (examples below), and there are no other gardens within ½ mile of your yard, you don’t need to worry about hand pollinating. Let the bees do the work, and relax!

Maxima: Big Max, Buttercup, Galeaux d’Eysines, Hubbard, Marrow.
Mixta: Cushaw, some gourds.
Moschata: Butternut, Cheese. Pepo: Acorn, Field Pumpkin, Crookneck, Scallop, Zucchini.

Tags: cucurbits, seed saving, squash
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