Saving a few dollars is always dollar saved is a dollar earned.
In that, I have been experimenting with various produce things from the grocery. For example, I dislike immensely the costs of garden seeds as it is getting ridiculous. Mail orders like Schumways or whatever their name is, are harder to come by in giving you good seeds at good prices yet.
For this reason, my spaghetti squash seed this year I will try to grow, came out of the grocery, after discussion with the produce manager who is a buddy of mine, in picking up a ratty looking one that I assumed was most ripe.
I also have currently sprouting some yellow bell peppers in which I purchased for a pizza. These yellows were fruity and sweet and on a lark I saved the seeds and in talking with TL decided to try them for this year, and voila they came up.
I have been having satan attack problems on my babies here due to the work I do on this blog and other areas of will imposing. My tomatoes I sprouted and the oven killed them. The next batch I was hardening off and decided to be kind and do some fish emulsion in melted snow water.........that damn stuff burned the plants and almost killed them.
I have never had that problem ever in a previous use and it is quite disheartening.
I did though emergency transplant them deeper as tomatoes have those growth root hairs on the stem, and they are mostly recovering.
For sprouting, the oven with pilot light cooked my sprouts. (Yes I tried that before too and it worked somewhat. ). I have sprouted now sitting in a plastic tupperware container on a pilot light on the top of the stove, with the burner grills keeping the plastic from direct contact. The seed trays I put in the quart size square tupperware which keeps them moist and wet......earth womb conditions in winter. That has worked well on tomatoes and peppers. Peppers need higher heat, but this must be correct in warmth, so all worked out covered with platic lids and then soon they will be transplanted as today is their day in the window to harden off in the sun.
I have no idea the variety, but know they are hybrid, and as they do not make me ill, that is what matters, as it is saving me around 3 dollars on seeds.
Peppers just need warm soil, and I do that by black platic mulch and they enjoy themselves well, and produce readily. That is the grand secret on fruits like tomatoes, melons etc... in just get some black plastic for heat, keep things watered and everything works out.
I tend to put metal coffee cans around my plant to water as I'm prone to drought here, but a soaker hose will work too.
The main thrust of this posting though is you can try new things in not having to spend more dollars on garden or fruit seeds, as your grocery does have an ample supply.......and if you are not having an aversion to dumpster diving, you could probably get the grocery to let you pick around the spoiled things to get seeds for trials.
The seed collectors and their catalogues are full of this type of seed theft going on in Eurasian states. Always read about someone on vacation doing that in stealing seeds from the market.
That was high crimes back in Jefferson's day, and espionage crop theft was how things were advanced as nations tried to protect all of it.
As long as the seeds sprout, some type of like fruit should appear. Sometimes it needs to stabilize but in that is fun too as you get a new variety that you can call your own.
I'm actually working on God produced hybrid paste tomatoe and if it works this year I will send it out for display.
Pretty simple all of this, and if you are fortunate to be at a Farmer's Market that sells heirlooms, you have a pretty good access to seeds that should behave.......granted they still might be crossed with other varieties, but if you find things that grow.........grow them, as the greenhouse tomatoes you get in your stores, the seeds are very expensive........and unlike Monsanto on corn being not able to grow from seed produced to keep the scam going, most of these fruits and veggies will still at least produce something.
This of course was my cucumber year for trials.......which I did not have time for as TL is my schedule, but still am planning on doing it, and now that my baby tomatoes are alive and these peppers are nothing invested in them but time.......well it is a short time to planting.
Of course one tomatoe froze in my window last night...........the Lord rebuke thee satan and your minions in Jesus Name Amen Amen
agtG
