Can You Save Pumpkin Seeds And Plant Them?

The answer is a big resounding yes!! I wrote this post about harvesting and saving the seeds, and I planted the seeds shown in those photographs in my garden a couple of months ago.

Well here is a photograph, taken today (July 4, 2010 - happy Independance Day to our friends south of the border! :)  and as you can see, the seeds worked very well. Next we'll see what kind of pumpkins will result from my efforts. I'll keep you posted!

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Success At Growing Strawberry Runners

It worked!

I tried planting strawberry runners while they were still attached to their mother plants, and lo and behold, I went from having six plants last year (which I purchased from a nursery), to having close to thirty this year.

First I lined up my original six in a row. I then took small pots filled with earth, raised them up off the ground (using other overturned pots) so that they would reach the runners, and then simply pushed the runners into the soil in the pots. I left them there all winter, and sure enough, they thrived. A couple of weeks ago I cut them free from their mother plants and transplanted them into larger pots (most were root bound at this point).


I'm not sure how many will produce berries. I've heard that plants produce more berries if you cut off their runners, so I think I'll try this with about half of them and see what happens.  Meanwhile, I'm starting to feel like I run a strawberry plant nursery :)



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Time To Get Gardening?

I'll admit it - I'm a fair weather gardener ;)  I haven't been up to much this winter, other than watering my indoor plants and mulling over how to compost with frozen ground.

Now, nearing the end of January, we're having strangely warm weather for my area (south coast of BC, Canada). Bulbs are sprouting everywhere, making residents here question the temperatures of days to follow. There are even those who have already planted flowering plants in their garden beds, waiting to welcome spring.

Will the unseasonably warm trend continue into February? (It's bad timing with the Olympics coming to town - we need snow on the hills!!)  Can we start our gardens early? It's soooo tempting to start making rows in the soil and dropping seeds - anything to extend our growing season!! I took a chance last year and started early and it worked out well, but planting seeds in January? (OK maybe not ;)

Meanwhile there is a lot I can get started on... pulling weeds, working the soil, and so on. Spring is just around the corner... I can't wait!!



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January 1, 2010

Happy New Year everyone!!

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