There's Seed Saving and There's Seed Saving Part तीन [teen]

It occurs to me that in my previous posts on seed saving (to be found here, and here) I was over-simplifying a bit.  When one is dealing with tomatoes, peppers and eggplants, what I wrote is right on target.  You see, all of these plants self-pollinate, so it is very common to be able to save their seeds without doing anything other than picking their fruits and following the simple steps I have outlined already.  So you can consider these plants to be the primary school of seed saving!

Now we can move on to middle school!

There's Seed Saving and There's Seed Saving Part Deux

Well the worst of summer seems to have passed.  At least here in Middle Tennessee.  Temperatures have dropped mostly into the 80's and rain arrives with almost plannable regulatrity.  The garden is humming along nicely with a steady flow of vegetables coming ripe.  The mulch has truly revolutionized our garden, as we had hoped.  It is not completely weed free, but, if you consider the level to which we are not weeding out there, it is certainly weed free enough!

Feeling Blessed

It seems as if all of our decisions are blessed this spring! 

We determined this past winter to make an effort to reach out to our community more.  It's not as easy as it might seem.  For the 15 years we have lived in Tennessee we have primarily lived as "tethered nomads".  (In other words, having a "base camp" home that remains a part of your life but almost living other places.)  Living this way has had its pleasures.  We have met many interesting people and had some incredible experiences, but as a result, we know very few people who live close by. 

Garden Update

Okay, okay, I know, I shouldn't have left everyone hanging for so long, but I'm back now.  We had a great day of planting the other day and now I'm just praying for no frost for the rest of the spring.

We are really working the Ruth Stout - No Work Garden program this year.  It feels like a lot of work right now but I am confident that it will pay off around mid summer.  The principle component is mulch.  Let me repeat that in all caps: MULCH!!!  To help you understand I have some pictures of our recent work.