Saving Seeds

December 15, 2020 Sarah

Saving seeds can be one of the most important things you do on a homestead or farm. Not only are you preserving your favorite items you grow, but you reduce your costs the next year by not having to buy seeds. You can share plants that do well in a local area with other like minded people (seed swaps). You become less reliant on others, and in times of panic buying, you will have seeds to plant.

I am writing this a bit late in the season, life has been busy for us. But you can use this come next year. For now, buy your seeds now – don’t wait, in case like this year panic buying happens again.

This part of seed saving is for dry seeds, unlike where tomatoes and similar are wet seeds. I will cover that at another time.

When to harvest seeds will depend on where you live. What growing zone you live in. During summer and into early fall I watch for the signs. Plants start drying out, the flowers go to seed. I save up paper bags that are clean – grocery bags for the big stuff, for small seeds I use paper lunch bags. I mark on the bag what is in it, and when I put it there.

While using a dehydrator might sound like a great way to speed up drying, don’t. Heat isn’t good for seeds. Air dry, in a well ventilated area, out of direct sun.

Rockwell beans, a local bean to Whidbey Island. When the bean pods dry out, it is time to pick them. I haul them in and let them air dry for a week or two (or until I remember), then I shell them and put them up. Be sure to check on them later, to make sure they are not molding if moisture was in them still.

Indigo, the seeds are in the top, shake out into a paper bag. They fall out easily so cut straight up. If the flower top isn’t all the way dry, pop them into paper bags and just let dry for a few weeks, then shake out the seeds.

Quinoa, the seeds saved in early fall. I cut the quinoa stalks off and let them air dry in paper bags for weeks, then I threshed the seeds off and let air dry more, then I packed it up.

White Sage seeds, saved in late fall.

Once your seeds are dried and ready, bag them up. See here for an easy to make seed packet template. This a great project for children to help with! We store our seeds in mason jars after that – to keep them fresh. See here for how to do that.

~Sarah

Fall On The Homestead

December 14, 2020 Sarah

This year has slipped by, and yet, felt like it has taken forever. The days go by in a blur, homeschooling keeps us busy. But even with that we spend a lot of our time on the homestead, keeping it going. The Winter Solstice is a week away, and winter has knocked ever so lightly to let us know it’s coming.

But as the summer left into fall, we kept busy harvesting flowers and seeds, to save for winter, and for next spring.

Flower saving for herbalism uses this coming winter.

Dried Rockwell Beans, a Whidbey Island bean.

Classroom work, Picking plants to dry.

Seed and plant charts for school.

For Alistaire’s nature journal, for his schooling.

Packing up seeds for spring.

Seed to preserve.

Rockwell beans we picked – and ate in soup. They are so, so good.

Scarlet Runner Beans.

I started picking up new seeds to try in late winter. All dwarfs! Forgotten Heirlooms.

Another one I picked up from: The Experimental Farm Network.

Sunset on the homestead.

Mid fall is crunchy leaf time!

The big maple tree is the best….

Working on one of the fields.

Rosemary blooming in October.

First good frost in early December, with the full moon at sunrise.

Chickens everywhere.

The baby chick isn’t so much a chick anymore. It is nearly 7 weeks old now. Of the 2 baby chicks we hatched sadly one was taken by either the owl or an eagle. This one has always stuck with Mama.

Set up a day area for the ducks to work on.

Heading home after a hard day’s work.

This weekend we built a new raised bed, near the house, using recycled bricks. We will fill it, fence it, and put down wood chips on the outside. It will be a “kitchen garden” near the house. Perfect for early spring crops.

Fall was relatively dry and neither cold nor warm. The rains have returned this week.

And in the final 8 days of fall, the days are short, and the night is long.

~Sarah

Gardening · Homesteading

September On The Farm

October 1, 2020 Sarah

September was a throwback to years past….the wildfire smoke rolled in and shut down the last heat of summer. Which led to early tomato blight. Then heavy rain came and then the sun came back. As September slipped into October, the wildfire smoke returned again. Not a horrible September, but also not the best. I lost about a quarter of the tomatoes this year to the garbage due to blight.

Farm hands…..

As the smoke started to roll in, from both California and Eastern Washington, the next morning the Olympics were not visible.

The end of summer in the berry bed.

Fall raspberries.

Tomatoes every day, canning most days.

A succulent I mostly ignore, deciding to bloom.

The two dwarf hens, the white one, Lady V, has come far from when she was nearly pecked to death by her siblings. This summer we moved her to a new coop and she found a friend in Lady Grey Gray, who is from the same set of eggs, and is also a dwarf. Lady V has healed and gotten in all her feathers. She was being pecked even as young as 3 to 4 weeks of age. She is now past 25 weeks.

We are doing a hybrid education, where I homeschool the boys, but we are under the school district’s umbrella. We attend the school farm once a week in person, and do online work as well. It involves projects with produce as well. I look at it as a bonus to home schooling.

Byrtle waits for no one.

Cosmos in bloom.

Red Faro Quinoa.

The tiny marble sized grapes ripened and we got to eat them.

Collecting seeds was both farm work and part of homeschooling. These are Rockwell Beans, a variety that was preserved on Whidbey Island.

The boys collected seeds that were dry, made up seed packets and labeled them for next year.

Flowers preserved before the heavy rains came, for herbalism projects later on.

Red and Golden Raspberries.

With Fall coming in, we let the older hens in to the beds, to till the soil with their feet. No bugs left!

We let the ducks roam, especially after it rains, and the slug population stays far down.

Not a bad month, even with the smoke. We grew a lot of food, picked a lot of eggs. Even worked in some education for the boys.

Fall crops are growing, and I love working in the cooler days, getting all the chores done for winter.

~Sarah

Crafting · crafts · DIY · Gardening · Herbalism · Homeschooling · Wildcrafting

Tye-Dyeing With Fresh Indigo Leaves

September 30, 2020July 17, 2024 Sarah

As part of the hybrid homeschooling we are doing with our local school district, the boys get to attend the farm at the school in person. Last week we had an instructor come and teach tye-dyeing with Indigo leaves. I hadn’t done it before, so it was very fascinating to learn. Glad we had cover at the school farm though, because the fall rain showed up that day, and was very heavy.

Indigo.

We were given a couple plug starts in late spring and I potted it up. It grows easily, and needs nothing more than sun and water. I am hoping to get seeds from it before the cold comes.

Soaking the fabric in the dye slurry. The boys opted for gloves, as it does stain your hands (but not synthetic fabric).

Rinsing it well in tubs of water.

Finished product.

Gorgeous color from nature.

I borrowed the hand out we were given, with the details below to do it yourself. We used silk fabric scraps to dye.

Dyeing with Fresh Indigo leaves
The plant we are using is called Persicaria tinctoria (also called Polygonum
tinctoria) or Japanese indigo.
Inside the leaf of indigo plants is a molecule called Indican. The leaf also contains
enzymes. When blended together, these two things combine to create indoxyl.
Indoxyl plus oxygen combine to create indigotin. Indigotin is the main blue
substance of the color indigo.
Indican + enzyme = indoxyl
Indoxyl + oxygen = Indigotin or indigo or Blue!

Materials and equipment:
Indigo leaves
Buckets
Blender
Cold water
Protein fiber (silk or wool) – washed
Gloves (optional)
Salt (optional for process #2)

Process #1:
1 – Harvest the indigo plants about 6 inches above the ground. Do this first thing
in the morning when the plants are coolest and contain the most juice.
2 – carefully strip the leaves off of the stalks
3 – put some leaves in the blender and fill halfway with cold water. Blend on high
until well pulverized like a smoothie.
4 – Pour this liquid into a container and add your fiber or fabric. Depending on the
size of your fabric, you may want more than one blenderful. Note – you may
want to strain the liquid through a fine mesh or cloth bag if you are dyeing
something like wool yarn to prevent the plant fibers from sticking to the yarn.
5 – Gently rotate the fabric in the liquid for 20 – 30 minutes
6 – Rinse in cold water and hang to dry

Process #2: Salt method
1 – Harvest the indigo plants about 6 inches above the ground. Do this first thing
in the morning when the plants are coolest and contain the most juice.
2 – carefully strip the leaves off of the stalks
3 – Put a big handful or two of leaves into a large bowl. Add some salt (like a
tablespoon). Massage the fabric and leaves for 20 -30 minutes. Until the leaves
have released their juice and the fabric has turned blue.

~Sarah

Gardening · Homesteading

The Garden Roundup: What Grew, What Failed

September 4, 2020 Sarah

Summer 2020 was interesting to say the least. Spring was as I have talked about it before….long, cold, dreary and wet.

I came into January feeling disillusioned, and I waited till March this year to start my seedlings. I was consumed with watching the news from outside the US and wondering what would happen. I waited to see if I should plant for market sales, or just for us. I felt so disjointed about the future.

I also battled a bigger issue: the compost I was using was too hot, and I didn’t realize it until the damage was done. I should have known better, but I was distracted in late winter/early spring dealing with the shut down in Washington State, and dealing with schooling my boys. Normally I grow seedlings in a custom mix I make but I sloppily used far too much compost. It led to seeds burning, and hampered growth. I learned my lesson, had to redo seeding in some cases, and kept going.

Finally, things started growing!

As the end of March came into play, and we were shut down I changed our focus from a farm to a homestead farm. Instead of plants for sale, and then produce for sale, it would be for us to use. But, due to the weather, we couldn’t even get the main bed tilled and beds formed till late April, and then the beds were topped with…too hot compost (notice this frustrating theme). We were 1 to 2 months behind normal schedule and I was feeling very frustrated. But at least I knew we wouldn’t do farmer markets this year at that point. When the main market we used to do finally opened, it was so tightly restricted by the state I passed on it. I could only sell plants, produce and soap. No touching, no conversations with customers. It wasn’t for me.

We did hold a couple open days on the farm, to sell plants. Because as usual, we had a lot! The sales went well, and people were happy to come visit, if just to get out of the house.

With the cool weather (it was in the 50’s until July!) and the many overcast days in spring and early summer it felt like the gardens would never take off. Everything was so …. low to the ground. I’d look and yes, the tomato plants were growing, but just barely.

The spinach however grew well in the fields, and it kept the boys busy picking it to sell.

While lettuce grew insanely this year as well. No matter the bed it was in, it grew quickly. Add in kale to that list. If it was greens, it grew and didn’t go to seed for once. Although peas were slow to take off, but matured in July this year, even the dwarf varieties.

The one glaring thing was Bok Choy. It kept going to seed. Constantly. Even as seedling starts, I had it go to seed with only 2 sets of leaves.

The main bed, looking very sad and forlorn….in June! It got so bad we wrapped the fences in plastic to insulate it more.

By third week of June it was at least a bit higher and more filled in.

The berry bed was also quite sad. You can barely see the blueberry plants as they only started leafing out in June (in warmer years we often pick the first berries by the 4th of July). This was from May.

Early June things started growing finally. It’s frustrating when you miss a spring crop due to the weather cycle. We didn’t get much in spring strawberries or raspberries.

However, potatoes grew well (and continue to grow well)

By July 12th we got our first tomatoes, the small gold ones we are growing. I had ended up due to not going to market with a lot of extra plants. Turns out…they were our best plants for this summer. I don’t overall like just eating them, but they make great salsa that I can.

I am barely keeping up with those plants production these days.

Middle of August. 3 chicken coops with 10 hens fills the areas, and 5 duck hens live in the greenhouse (for now).

After a couple losses due to the cool weather, we finally hit it right with beans and they took off in August.

Great production on them. I am growing F1 hybrids though, mostly bush style, to make up for the lost time.

However, a positive was the Walla Walla onion crop this year. I grew them from seed, they did great.

For the weird choice, I did quinoa this year. It grew. It’s nearly ready to harvest as well.

Our grape plants decided to produce this year, and most of them might have some by end of summer. They are behind though.

Summer squash was late, and we haven’t had as much as normal, but with me not selling, that is OK.

The raspberry bushes did grow, and actually grew well, once July came and warmed up. The dual crop red canes are 8 feet and higher now, and are starting to produce a late summer crop that was worth the wait. However, the alpine strawberry plants growing in the front have not done well this year, and at 3 years old, I am considering pulling them this fall. We shall see.

~September 4th~ The berries are tall, the grapes are loaded.

It was a good thing in many ways this year, however fingers crossed that we get more ripe big tomatoes before the rains come in late September. We are having a hot week so a lot is ripening at once. Of which I am not complaining about! Just a lot of dehydrating and canning this coming week.

It wasn’t the best year for growing. But we got food, and that is what matters. I learned some lessons, as always. And to that….here is to fall, fall crops and winter dreaming.

~Sarah