This post is ridiculously premature and I know it but the daydreaming starts between harvest season and the first snowfall so I couldn’t wait to put my plans in writing any longer.
I started out gardening with the intent to only plant heirloom varieties. Slowly, I succumbed to the common names and options locally available and before long I had acquired some peculiar genetics and a lot of seeds I am unsure of. A spaghetti-zucchini, sunflowers; although beautiful, of uncertain origin, and a strangely colored oblong pumpkin- to name a few.
So I’m currently sorting through the seeds chucking anything that may have come from a hybrid or gmo plant of previous years.
Keep in mind I am not entirely familiar with the process of cross-pollination but I have found that my heirloom seeds have always produced exactly the vegetable I expected even after 2 or 3 generations!
So, back to the fundamentals. I’ll be trying out seeds this year from Salt Spring Seeds. I perceive them to be a good honest heirloom seed company. It’ll be my first time ordering from them. I’m particularily excited to have found marshmallow on their website! It’s a highly valuable medicinal plant, it looks beautiful in the garden and is hardy and easy to grow:
I am also going to revert more to tried-and-true garden staples with vegetables that preserve well: Many legumes; peppers and tomatoes, potatoes, and onions and garlic. And also the kitchen garden staples: herbs, greens, grape tomatoes, cucumber, peas and carrots- also good for canning recipes.
This year I’ll be using my new pressure canner which I received just yesterday as a birthday gift from my wonderful inlaws. I’ll be sure to write a review once I’ve taken it for a good spin!
Other than dealing with inventory and simplifying the plan this year most else will remain unchanged.
I will be looking at establishing a proper raspberry patch with the wayward invasive canes that have tried to overtake the asparagus. Those things are stubbornly invasive and a lot of work to maintain. I’ll probably focus my energy on continuing to re-establish good production from the 60 year-old grapevine I’ve been doctoring back to good health over the last few seasons (we got our first fruit last summer since living here) so I can teach myself to make wine!
The season is upon us! ♡♡♡
I’ll leave you with a lovely simple manual I received from a friend for a successful season:
Happy Homesteading! Xx
Home Love 
Hybrids have parents of the same species but different looks (phenotypes). The first generation (f1) seeds will all grow the same, but the seeds of the f1 will come back with different characteristics of each original parent. (Sometimes they won’t be viable.) Heirlooms are open pollinated and when pollinated with the same type (lucianto kale x lucianto kale vs lucianto kale x red Russian kale) the genetics will be the same and grow true to self. You could grow two types of heirlooms of the same species side by side and come up with hybrid seeds the next year if you’re not careful.
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Thank you so much for the information; food genetics is something I am learning to appreciate more as I see how valuable having a dependable seed supply is. I look forward to learning more about maintaining prize species and trying my hand at intentional hybridizing through the seasons!
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Start with the cucurbrits (squah family). Big, single sex flowers, easy to know when they’ll open and easy to hand pollinate.
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Thanks for deciding to follow my blog. I enjoyed this post. With regard to squash; they are very promiscuous plants so that even heirloom plants are likely to cross between themselves and produce something very different from the original plants. As to making wine, no-one making it themselves anymore as it needs refrigerated fermentation to be drinkable! Unless of course you’re doing it on an industrial scale.
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Interesting; I had assumed that making a home-style grape wine would be much like making a mead or any other homemade wine. I did dandelion wine once and although the taste wasn’t great it certainly gave a warm fuzzy feeling! Lol
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