GARDENING FOR FUN AND SEEDS -seed saving method for green beans
I am no expert in the garden or homesteading in general. I'm a learn as you go and learn from your mistakes kind of lady. It's always fun to not know what to expect and to have something to google about (when DO I harvest my potatoes?).
This kind of gardening is super fun for me, as I can get hands on learning and I see something I haven't seen before almost every single garden day! For example this year my potatoes grew berries! poisonous berries!! But still how cool, for a moment I thought I had gotten something besides potato sets. Turns out it was just the insane amount of rain we got in such a short time.
So now that I have had a garden for a while, I find my favorite thing is to see how big I can grow my produce!! The good news is they make for some awesome seeds, the bad news is they lose the good flavor when over ripened.
Yesterday, I went out and collected some green bean pods. I let them grow and dry on the vine and I'll show you why!
In the blue corner weighing in as far too heavy to be a nice dried seed, is a over ripened green bean. This is well on it's way to turning into a good seed pod. In the pink is a ready seed pod. And in the green is one about halfway between. I did not include a photo of the rotted seed pod as it's pretty gross and most people have the common sense not to use rotted seeds.
Here we have the pods I pulled green about 2 weeks ago. They are on the napkin. I wanted to show the difference in letting the beans dry out and harvest or harvest straight from the vine.
Here is the difference. The seeds from the dried beans inside are much smaller and a lot of them were still attached to the bean pod. The other is the bean that dried on the vine. It split in half easily and offered up much larger- fully dried seed.
And we are done! There were a few seeds that were not quite done drying so I will be leaving them out on top of the refrigerator for about a week, then storing them with the rest of my seed collection!
Thanks for checking out my seed story and I hope you all enjoyed it.
What is your favorite part of gardening and why? What is your favorite plant to grow?
Great picture tutorial. I made a rookie error earlier this month and didn't wAit for my beans to dry on the vine. Lost all my seeds. Luckily I have more heirloom for next year and will correct my mistake then.
My favorite part of garde ing is watching all my plants and herbs grow, produce a harvest.
Favorite? Any herb... and sunflowers!
@originalworks
Sun flowers are the best!! They have so any beautiful stages and they attract more bees and butterflies than any other crop I have planted!! herbs are going to be my next project!!
The same happened to me for a couple years with my beans, I know I stated that I learn from my mistakes, but sometimes I need to make the mistake a couple times!! Ha ha I'm so glad to be a part of this community for the knowledge and it helps to know that not everybody has got it 100% figured out but with our powers combined... The sky is the limit!
It's all trial and error, learn as you go.
I've learned so much from other members here than anywhere else.
yes!! there is something extra special about reading the blog and seeing the pictures without the hubub of youtube or some ad filled website!!
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You are not alone. I did this mistake as well a few years back with my beans as well. LOL
Great post. Your potatoes are usually as a rule of thumb ready in 100+ days, they will flower do wait till after that. Hope that helps.
it does help tremendously!! I will have to keep better track of when i start my plants next season!! I'm just terrible with potatoes, especially in the woodchip garden!! I wind up with small things just like what I planted 3-4 months ago.... I think i'm going to adventure with a potato box, it looks like fun and a good project to steem about!! Have you tried one yet?
I have planted potato bags and potatoes in a laundry basket. They worked out perfect. Pinterest the concept of the laundry basket
Interesting, I will have to check that out!
This is a great reminder to just let them dry on the vine/bush like that. I found mine actually had this wonderfully beautiful spots on them when I cracked some of my dried ones open. I will have to see if I can get a picture when I am home from work.
Do you have the issue of Frost where you are? I am just wondering as this is my first time trying to save seeds, and not sure how it effects the seed collection.
And as for my favourites? Hmm... The creation. The fact that gardening is therapy (weeding is like ripping the spines of your enemies still attached I once heard), and the knowledge that hey, I made that!
For my favourite plants? RIght now pumpkins! Out of fluke I have a 50lb pumpkin this year, and it is my first time growing a pumpkin.
We are having a funky weather pattern like always, it is missouri. yes eventually there will be a frost, but mine dried out in plenty of time. I'm not sure how it would affect the seed pods, but a very good question, surely somebody here knows. I may mention it in the chat room and see if i find an answer!
Yeah, Saskatchewan has had crazy weather also. Drought and floods, but not ever where it is needed it seems haha.
that's the way it always is, if you get rain its buckets in 2 minutes and then nothing for a month. Glad to have rain collection barrels for this exact reason!
Exactly. I am working at figuring out my rain barrel retention, as I have 3 55 gallon barrels that I want to use for it, just need to figure out how to best allow for gravity feed. Otherwise, my well has kept us watered as it is deep and has never run dry.
We also have 3 55-gallon barrrels. We set them up on cinder blocks and they gravity feed all the way to the garden about 150 yards away. We actually didn't have gutters until we decided to collect rain!
Nice. I am looking at building a stand for them beside the house. We live in a small town, so don't have a heck of a lot of room, but thankfully we are on a corner lot so gives us a little extra. I am thinking of having the divert about 10 feet up on the gutter, and allow it to feed into a stacked system of barrels, and then the overflow will continue down the gutters. Once I tear down my useless shed, and put a greenhouse up, I am hoping to also connect a solar powered pump to be able to have it for a roof irrigation inside.
#goals!!! You read my mind!! I would love to have a green house and a bigger collection system closer to the garden. Thats a good idea to have an overflow system put into the gutter system. I might have to meddle with mine! And then after green house and solar comes aquaponics!! (spellcheck)