Block · one region of the page, as the scanner read it. It may hold a whole story, part of one, several, or an advertisement; stitching blocks into articles is the next step. Text is supplied OCR.
Page 16 · column 3 of 6 · from the scan, no model involved
allowed to linger after bolting, and the seeds are found amongst the fluffy white floss appearing after blossoms.
Leave squashes to mature and begin drying on the vine, then harvest and keep them in a dry, warm place awhile before cutting open to remove seed. These are then washed to remove any clinging pulp, spread to dry until crisp throughout, then stored.
Cucumber seeds are saved by allowing the ripe fruit to remain on the vine for two weeks. Then, bring the cucumbers indoors. When they reach a nearly rotting stage, scoop out the seeds and place them in bowls of water to ferment. Malodorous affair that this is, the non-viable seeds will float to the top to be skimmed off. Wash the remainder and spread them to dry on screens or thick layers of paper. Tomatoes are processed in the same manner, excepting the fruits are brought in as soon as they are ripe.
Flower seeds
The seeds of flowers are most often saved from seedheads or pods that are dried on the plant. Some, like violas, milkweeds and columbine must be watched very carefully as they are clever escape artists eager to be off to new adventures.
As yet, there is no book I have found which details seed saving for more than a few flowers or herbs. When there is no written reference, one must turn to the book of nature to learn. Every plant has its own way of sharing seed. Through patient watching and recognizing similarities between plants, you will learn those ways.
It is easy to become daunted with information when learning a new gardening skill- don’t let that deter you. Try saving seed from one type of plant, something easy like sunflowers, cosmos or beans. Then, next year, see if you don’t feel just a bit more involved with that plant and your own garden.
Donna LaPre welcomes questions and comments and may be reached at dopray@ earthlink.net or in care of the Rappahannock News, P.O. Box 59, Washington, Va. 22747.
95.3%