Saving Bean and Pea Seeds: The Lazy Way
Saving bean and pea seeds is the laziest seed saving in the garden, and I mean that as a compliment. One dry afternoon in August gets you a hundred seeds for next year. Here’s exactly how to do it.
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Save Tomato Seeds Free With the Ferment Method
Those heirloom tomatoes you grew this summer can fund next year’s garden for free. The fermentation method takes three days, almost zero supplies, and produces seeds that actually germinate better than store-bought. Here’s why it works and exactly how to do it.
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How to Save Pepper Seeds from Your Best Plants
Saving pepper seeds is easier than you think, and August is exactly when to start. Let one fruit go fully red, scrape the seeds, dry them on a plate for a week, and store in labeled envelopes. Here’s how to do it right, including what to know about hybrids and cross-pollination.
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August in the PNW Garden: Harvest Hard, Plant Fall
August in the PNW is all two things at once: peak summer harvest and the fall planting window closing fast. Here’s what to pick, what to plant, and what to get planned before the rains make the decisions for you.
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Stop Lettuce Bolting in Summer Heat
Lettuce bolting in July is inevitable if you don’t plan for it. Afternoon shade, frequent harvesting, heat-tolerant varieties, and smart timing can all delay it. And if some bolt anyway, let them go for free seed next year.
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Let It Bolt: Free Seed from Lettuce and Cilantro
Your bolted lettuce and cilantro aren’t garden failures. They’re next year’s free seed. Here’s exactly how to collect and store it before it’s gone.
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Fall Fava Beans: Free Nitrogen and an Early Spring Crop
Fall fava beans are one of the best deals in the garden: plant them in late October, ignore them all winter, and you get an early spring harvest plus free nitrogen for your soil. Here’s how to do it right, which varieties to pick, and why fall beats spring sowing in the Pacific Northwest.
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Save Squash Seeds and Grow the Same Variety Next Year
Cross-pollination ruins a lot of saved squash seeds, but it doesn’t have to. Here’s how to figure out which squash will cross, how to prevent it, and how to scoop, ferment, dry, and store seeds so you get the same variety next year.
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Growing Tomatillos and Ground Cherries on the Cheap
Tomatillos and ground cherries are easy to grow but there are a few things nobody tells you up front. You need two tomatillo plants or you get nothing. Here’s how to space them, support them cheap, know when they’re ripe, and let them save their own seeds.
