What did you do in the garden today?

[CNJ]

@CNJ, If you want to save tomato seed, heirlooms, or open pollinated ("OP") are the way to go. That means they aren't hybrid and will breed true. You probably knew this, but just in case...

I rarely buy seed from a store anymore. Sometimes from a garden center, rarely from the grocery store or big box.

Here are the places I buy from, in no particular order:
Baker Creek
Sow True Seed
Seed Savers Exchange
Tomato Fest
Maine Potato Lady (for seed potatoes and onion sets)

I know about hybrids, they don't breed true. Last year, I had a bumper harvest of a University of Hawaii developed Roma tomato hybrid. I saved some seeds and grew them in 5 gallon wicking buckets, but they did not have the same vigor and I got only a handful of small cherry size Roma looking tomatoes.

Johnny seeds charged me $7 for shipping, but Organic America Seed Co
on Etsy has free shipping, so that's my go to for now. However, I don't know if their seeds will sprout yet............I had a bad experience with Johnny seeds, they sold me a packet of bad Red Romaine seeds with $7 shipping.

Burpee and Park Seed on Amazon did not disappoint me yet. The seeds I got from them grew. Park seed's come in a water tight aluminum packet, so they may last longer than the paper packet seeds from Burpee.

 

[Sally PB]

Baker Creek has free shipping, I believe. I've had good results with their seeds.

 

[CNJ]

Baker Creek has free shipping, I believe. I've had good results with their seeds.

OMG, I got to have these, orange peach tomatoes, I can't resist...................Thanks for sharing Baker Creek's seeds.
https://www.rareseeds.com/orange-peach-tomato

The genus name, Solanum, is the Latin word, solamen, which means "comforting or soothing." The species name, lycopersicum, means "wolf peach." Tomatoes were called "wolf peaches" when they came to Europe. This originated from a German legend that witches and sorcerers used the fruits in potions to turn themselves into werewolves. The word "tomato" originates from the Spanish word tomate. The French call the tomato. the pomme d'amour or 'Love Apple," because they believed it was an aphrodisiac.

 

[CNJ]

I've grown Berkley Tie die too. Tastes great! There are many similar looking tomatoes. Could be any one of so many.
The darker one reminds me of Black Krim. It's one of my favorites.

The Berkley Tie die is now my favorite tomato......

 

[Sueby]

Dreary day here. I need to see if anything is happening to my lettuce, I keep forgetting to check on it.

Ya’ll should just call me Aaron. I had to go in for a cortisone shot in my shoulder today. The one that was fixed 6 years ago. It’s getting worse & worse every day. Because 2 back surgeries in the last 3 weeks wasn’t enough. Not enough hardware in me already for the universe?
(Back pics for ya)

Sorry to complain to the garden thread with completely non garden stuff!

Dumb question, i know, but is there anyway I can save all my dahlia bulbs if I don’t plant them this year? Some were from my neighbor that passed away & I hate to let them go but I will not be able to plant them this year.

 

[WthrLady]

My machines are great actually. The clothes seem cleaner, the spin cycle works better, I love it! It’s not a front loader or a GE, it’s a top loading LG. I don’t buy GE anything, past experience has taught me well.

we are on city water, very hard. I clean my machine once a month with something to get the lead out.

Well that was a long work night. Went to bed at midnight, and alarm went off at 255. Thunderstorm was in my zone. So 311am, thunderstorms, hail, sleet, then more hail and freezing rain. That lasted 30 minutes. We never got above 32 degrees.
Thick layer of ice on everything and this morning 1/3 of an inch of snow on it. Not bad, just a loud awakening for a January morning. When I logged off and went back to bed, I leaned over and tiny hailstones fell out of my hair. LOL.

Got to bed at 530am, and finally got up at 9.

Puttered this morning, looking at the ice I refuse to shovel off the world, and then sewing after lunch. Now it's 3 and it's dark, dark, dark out. No idea what is for supper, and pfft, having trouble thinking what I even am in the mood for.

 

[WthrLady]

My machines are great actually. The clothes seem cleaner, the spin cycle works better, I love it! It’s not a front loader or a GE, it’s a top loading LG. I don’t buy GE anything, past experience has taught me well.

we are on city water, very hard. I clean my machine once a month with something to get the lead out.

My machine is brilliant too and I'm on a stinky sulfur iron well.
Those scent beads and dryer sheets are full of wax that build up in the machines and make lint buildup worse in the dryer, and all kinds of buildup in the washer drain lines, as does fabric softener.
I use flakes of real tallow soap that dissolves fully and is easy on the septic tank, added to that is washing soda, and for rinse cycle plain white vinegar.
The dryer gets wool dryer balls. I do all Lemongrass essential oil to just one of the balls (3 drops), not because the clothes aren't clean or stink, but because I like it. In the summer I'll use a citron scent for bugs. (make sure you check your oil flashpoints of oils for your dryer temperatures)

 

[WthrLady]

Dreary day here. I need to see if anything is happening to my lettuce, I keep forgetting to check on it.

Ya’ll should just call me Aaron. I had to go in for a cortisone shot in my shoulder today. The one that was fixed 6 years ago. It’s getting worse & worse every day. Because 2 back surgeries in the last 3 weeks wasn’t enough. Not enough hardware in me already for the universe?
(Back pics for ya)
View attachment 3366037View attachment 3366038

Sorry to complain to the garden thread with completely non garden stuff!

Dumb question, i know, but is there anyway I can save all my dahlia bulbs if I don’t plant them this year? Some were from my neighbor that passed away & I hate to let them go but I will not be able to plant them this year.

You no longer need a surgeon, you need a hardware store.
Is that a padlock? No wonder your back hurts. LOL.

 

[igorsMistress]

My machine is brilliant too and I'm on a stinky sulfur iron well.
Those scent beads and dryer sheets are full of wax that build up in the machines and make lint buildup worse in the dryer, and all kinds of buildup in the washer drain lines, as does fabric softener.
I use flakes of real tallow soap that dissolves fully and is easy on the septic tank, added to that is washing soda, and for rinse cycle plain white vinegar.
The dryer gets wool dryer balls. I do all Lemongrass essential oil to just one of the balls (3 drops), not because the clothes aren't clean or stink, but because I like it. In the summer I'll use a citron scent for bugs. (make sure you check your oil flashpoints of oils for your dryer temperatures)

I love the wool dryer balls! I use those for towels but no EO because my skin is super sensitive and I’ve reacted to it even using the way you do…I can use regular fabric softener but it can only be the Downey with the pink lid so that’s what we do. Hubs cleans the washer once a month though. No extra scent things, but we don’t typically have to store many items for winter or summer use exclusively.

 

[WthrLady]

My washing cleaning consists of checking the seals, the filter and draining the machine to see if I've got build up, and cleaning the door window. About every three months I run a hot bleach peroxide load to help with any crud that could be growing where I can't see, but honestly I've never had a problem since I use bleach and vinegar on a regular basis, and I never leave the door shut when it's not in use. Any moisture in the drum, will grow funk if there is any seed of funk left in there.

I find a lot of people's problems in overloading a washer. Back in the day, washers were front load and the flip down door had a scale incorporated in it. You loaded on your clothes and met the requirement not to exceed and if lower, adjusted the knob accordingly.

My LG weighs the load and uses enough water. If it's and extra gross farm load I up the temp, and the soil level and it does fine.