- Tuesday, November 1, 2022 at 6:00 p.m. – Salida Library
- Wednesday, November 9, 2022 at 2:30 p.m. – Patterson
- Monday, November 14, 2022 at 6:00 p.m. – Ceres Library
- Tuesday, November 15, 2022 at 6:00 p.m. – Oakdale Library
- Monday, November 28, 2022 at 6:15 p.m. - Modesto Library
Gardening on a Dime
Prices for everything are going up, including plants, seeds, and supplies. Take this class to learn some creative ways to garden reusing items you may already have, learn how to save your own seeds, and how to propagate (make more of) plants. In a hands-on exercise, you will learn how to harvest, save, and label pepper seeds, and then take them home to plant next spring!
Due to holidays conflicting with class dates, this class won't be offered at Riverbank or Turlock Library locations.
Contact your local library branch to find out more. Missed a class you wanted to take? Look for it at another library branch in the future.
/span>- Author: Michele Martinez
In the Americas, chiles are a traditional staple, along with corn, beans, squash, potatoes, and protein-rich grains, like quinoa. The Capsicum fruit is packed with nutrients like vitamin C, vitamin A, riboflavin, and niacin. It's also rich in calcium, phosphorus, iron, and potassium. An additional benefit comes with the spice; consuming chiles increases enzyme production and helps the body digest fats. This condiment is not only a flavor-booster – it's good for the heart! Chile connoisseurs have their favorites, which range from the super-spicy (Scotch Bonnets, Habaneros) to the mild and tasty (Sweet Cherry and Banana Peppers). California nurseries are expanding their selection of both chile plants and seeds. Treats like Shisitos (East Asia) and Pimientos de Padrón (Spain), once only found in high-end restaurants, can now be grown and grilled at home. Whatever variety appeals to you, all peppers grow well in sunny Southern California.
Capsicum annuum (chile) has three basic needs: full sun; warm weather; and well-drained soil. If you're planting from seed, it's best to start indoors by March or April. Don't worry about missing this year's germination time. Local nurseries stock ready-to-plant peppers of all kinds, and seeds can be gathered at harvest. First, choose a healthy plant, and then select a locale – either in a container or the garden plot. Be sure to separate chiles by variety, as they are notorious for cross-pollinating. This year's Serrano chile may wind up next year's Serrano/Pequín! The following are some basic tips for the chile gardener:
Transplanting – Chiles love sunlight. They prefer temperatures of up to 80 degrees in the day and not below 60 degrees at night. Seedlings can be transplanted once they have developed their true leaves. Transfer plants outdoors once night time temperatures have reached a consistent 50 degrees. Chiles prefer growing alongside other plants. Space them 14 to 16 inches apart, and stake plants if you expect winds.
Soil and Nutrients – Chiles require well-draining soil, and a slightly acidic environment (pH 5.5 – 7). If the planting mix is loamy or moist, adding sand will make for better drainage. A typical tomato fertilizer (5-10-10) can be applied, but chiles don't require much. In fact, too much nitrogen can damage the plant, and inhibit the fruit's growth, so fertilize sparingly. The best strategy is to start with a mineral-rich soil, high in phosphorous, potassium and calcium. Prepare your plots with nutrients before the seedlings go in, then fertilize again lightly when the fruit begins to appear.
Water – Water deeply, and infrequently. Adding warm water will prevent root shock. Do this when the soil surface dries, but don't allow the area to dry completely. Be careful not to over-soak the roots.
Special Care – Unlike zucchini or pumpkins, peppers are self-pollinating. In times of stress, however, hand-pollinating the flowers helps ensure a good yield of fruit. In the afternoon, when pollen levels are highest, use a soft paintbrush or cotton swab. Gently touch one flower center, then another. The fruit is ready to harvest when it comes easily from the stem, about 70 to 80 days from planting, depending on conditions. Chile season can go from July through September. Some types can be treated like perennials, so look for grower's instructions on over-wintering.
Seed Saving – To save seeds, remove them gently from the fruit. To prevent mold, allow them to dry slowly. Store seeds in a paper bag or envelope. When spring comes around, rinse and soak seeds for a few hours, then place in loose planting soil, about ¼ inch deep. Set seed trays in a warm place and moisten regularly. They'll be the start of next year's tasty crop.
By Barbara Ott, Butte County Master Gardener, September 23, 2016.
The abundance from summer vegetable gardens is extended through the winter and beyond by methods of canning, freezing and drying. But you can also give your summer vegetables a longer life span by saving their seeds.
Flowering vegetable plants can be cross-pollinated by wind or insects. This can cause even heirloom plants to produce offspring that are not true to the parent plant. Cross pollination can be minimized by planting just one variety of a vegetable, or by separating the different varieties with sufficient space between them. For example, do not plant hot peppers near sweet peppers. It is likely the sweet peppers will be hot if grown from their seeds the following season. The seeds from these peppers will not be true due to random pollination.
When friends and neighbors start saying “No thank-you” to zucchini, summer squash, and cucumbers, plan to let these vegetables set mature seeds, if they are not hybrids. Once this decision is made, production will decline. When saving seed, harvest from the best vegetables. Choose disease-free plants with desired qualities, look for the most flavorful vegetables, consider size, time from planting to harvest, and other 'best quality' characteristics.
The seeds in tomatoes, peppers, melons, summer squash, and cucumbers are ripe when the vegetables reach full color. Peppers will shrivel, tomatoes will be very soft, melons, summer squash, and cucumbers will be large. Pepper seeds can be taken out and dried. Tomato, melon, squash, and cucumber seeds are prepared with a wet method. Scoop the seed masses out of mature fruit. Put the seed mass and a small amount of warm water in a bucket or jar. Ferment for two to four days. Stir daily. The fermentation process kills viruses and separates the good seed from the bad seed. After two to four days, the good seeds will sink to the bottom of the container, while the pulp and bad seeds will float. Pour off the pulp, water, bad seed and mold. Spread the good seed on a screen or paper towel to dry.
Seeds must be stored dry. Make sure all containers or packages are labeled with the seed type or variety, and date of collection. Store in a cool dry location like a refrigerator. Seeds that are not dry enough before storage will mold. Seed viability will decrease over time. Most seed should be used within three years. As summer ends, enjoy the fruits of your labor, including saving some of your vegetable seeds for the future.
"Though I do not believe that a plant will spring up where no seed has been, I have great faith in a seed. Convince me that you have a seed there, and I am prepared to expect wonders."
—Henry David Thoreau
Cold grey winter days provide the perfect opportunity for gardeners to succumb to the lures of beautifully-illustrated seed catalogs and dream of their spring and summer gardens to come. It is often that case, though, that home gardeners spend more money than they need to, and purchase more seed than they can possibly use. Who hasn't discovered when those lovely seed packets arrive in the mail, that they actually have room for only a small percentage of those seeds in their home garden?
Luckily, Butte County residents now have a source of reliable and FREE seeds for our own growing conditions: the Seed Lending Library at the Chico branch of the Butte County Library. A library card enables gardeners to “check out” seeds that have been saved in local gardens. The gardener then saves seeds from next year's garden, and returns them to the Seed Lending Library, and the cycle continues. With this wonderful resource, home gardeners instantly gain the ability to plant free locally-grown and acclimated seeds.
Why consider saving seeds when most seeds are inexpensive anyway?
- Locally-selected and saved seed varieties may be better suited to our local climate.
- Seed-saving methods attract beneficial insects by leaving plants to complete their flowering or fruiting cycle.
- Saving heirloom varieties helps keep these plants from extinction.
- Many flowers and vegetables grown today have no commercial seed sources.
- You can share or exchange seeds with other seed savers to gain seeds you might not have been able to save yourself.
While it is not difficult to save seeds, there can be some pitfalls. Only seeds from open-pollinated plants will produce the same crop next year. Most hybrid varieties do not breed true to type. This means that the seed saved from last season's frilly cosmos hybrid may produce a much simpler, plain cosmos next spring. Many vegetables (root crops, cole crops, parsley and others) are biennial and do not form seeds until the second year. Some common garden vegetables (like peppers and corn) need to be separated by variety to prevent cross pollination by insects and wind. Tiny seeds need to be separated from the chaff by sieving and hairy daisy seeds need trimming. But beyond these pitfalls, most flower and vegetable annuals are easy to harvest for beginning seed savers. Seeds don't need special care; plants complete their life cycle in one season; seeds are harvested and stored when dry and are ready for planting.
Getting started: head to the Chico branch of the Butte County library to get seeds at the Seed Lending Library. While there, look at or check out books that contain information on saving specific seeds. Plant encylopedias, for example, generally contain detailed seed-saving instructions. The internet is full of tips for seed saving. The websites organicgardening.com, motherearthnews.com and ucanr.edu are good resources for information about seed saving and seed viability. Spend some time this winter learning how to save seeds from next year's garden to share and to plant the following year.
Last spring I traveled to South America with a group. One day we went to a rancho in Chile for a luncheon. I noticed purple flowers growing in the front yard and asked what they were. No one answered me as they were all watching the Darwin foxes that had come to beg for leftovers.
When I returned home, I sent a picture of the flowers to fellow Napa County Master Gardeners, who identified the flowers as a type of impatiens. I have been a gardener for a long time but did not know there were so many impatiens varieties. There are hundreds of different species, a few even native to the United States.
Impatiens are sometimes called busy lizzies, poor man's orchids or touch-me-nots. New Guinea hybrids are the ones available in most nurseries, in a wild array of colors. They are tropical plants and mostly native to Africa and Asia. They were named impatiens for the eagerness of the seed pod to break open.
One thing that all impatiens in common is the way they spread their seeds. This was especially true of the plants I saw inChile. When you touch the ripe seed, you can feel the energy it puts into popping and spreading the seed. It's amazing for such a small seedpod to have so much strength.
The impatiens we see in the nursery are in the Balsaminaceae family. These have been hybridized to create blooms in a wide variety of colors. An orange one has overwintered for several years in my hothouse.
Once I knew the family of the mystery flower, I could start looking for seeds. Species impatiens and hybrids bloom in a range of colors, including pink, red, purple and yellow. Some are bi-colored, some have variegated leaves and others have double flowers.
The seeds I bought germinated easily. I have a shady corner near my house where the plants bloomed in containers from late summer through fall. When winter set in, I moved the pots into the hothouse. Luckily I had saved seed as the plants did not survive the hothouse temperature (usually in the 40s). Most of them have died back. Impatiens are considered an annual in our climate.
One of my favorites came from a fellow Master Gardener. I put the plant into a large tub and spent a few hours over the summer snapping open the ripe seedpods. It is rather relaxing to just snap a few each day. The seeds were about the size of a sweet-pea seed. I know they have been pollinated because I saw bees and hummingbirds visit the blooms.
I saved some seed and the rest I scattered over areas where I would like this impatiens to grow. I hope the seeds will germinate in spring.
Regardless of species, all impatiens have the same basic needs. They like shade or dappled sunlight and moist roots. They provide a mass of color where other plants will not.
The species flowers do not look like the hybridized flowers. The former have long throats and the petals are of different sizes. If you want to see some of the more exotic ones, search online for images of impatiens. You will be amazed by the differences.
Impatiens gladulifera, the impaciens I saw in Chile, is a nitve to the Himalayas. I has become an invasive plant in some areas, including English parks, Eastern USA Coast forests, Washington State and Oregon and Hawaii.
Master Gardeners are volunteers who help the University of California reach the gardening public with home gardening information. Napa County Master Gardeners (http://napamg.ucanr.edu) are available to answer gardening questions in person or by phone, Monday, Wednesday and Friday, 9 a.m. to Noon, at the U. C. Cooperative Extension office, 1710 Soscol Avenue, Suite 4, Napa, 707-253-4143, or from outside City of Napa toll-free at 877-279-3065. Or e-mail your garden questions by following the guidelines on our web site. Click on Garden Questions?