Bellies and pantries are filling up as we enjoy the summer garden harvest, and each BEST is saved for next year's garden. Do you save seeds? It's easy to save big obvious seeds from tomatoes, peppers, melons and squash, but I also save seeds from herbs, lettuces and flowers. Sometimes I just let things go to seed where they stand knowing that first thing in the Spring something wonderful will pop up. Cilantro and lettuce are great "volunteers" in the garden.
When I save seeds, wet seeds get time on a paper towel to dry before being put into a bag for storage, but dry flower seeds go right into a paper lunch sack. All of these seeds go into a big box where I store them on the cool porch until its time to start them in the house in late winter.
Lots of you visited Rush River Produce this summer for your blueberry fix and saw Terry and John's SPECTACULAR flower gardens. Terry is the queen of saving seed so that each year her flower gardens are more wowsome. This time of year you can start dead-heading annuals and perennials and saving seed. I've had luck with Echinacea, Black-Eyed Susans, Coneflower, Cosmos, Marigolds, Cleome, Nasturtium, Poppies, and of course, Sunflowers. The perennials (Echinacea, Black-Eyed Susans, and Coneflowers) can be planted right now for next year blooms, and the annuals can get scattered around a freshly scratched up Spring garden. Cleome, nasturtium and poppies all self-seed quite easily so once you get a patch established, you'll have them for a long time in that place. Poppies like cold stratification, so plant them in the Fall. There is so much fun yet to be had in the garden this year!
"How's your health?" lots of you ask.
So much better! For those of you who are new to my Weekly Farm News, a year ago July I found myself in the cardiac wing of Mayo Rochester Hospital learning that my heart was "pausing" and I would need a pacemaker. Sadly, recovery was a long road for me, but I am happy to say that my heart has decided to stop its flipping, flopping, racing and erratic bumping. In June I had a mountain of tests done to figure out what was going on, but nothing seemed out of the ordinary. When I visited with the guy who does what they call a "Device Check," I told him that I was feeling all this tapping and occasional electrical zapping. He turned the device (my pacemaker) off so I could determine if it was the pacemaker I was feeling. Turns out I wasn't feeling the pacing at all! It's likely what I feel is an impulse from the device in the heart muscle, but not the device and it's work. The tapping is still with me periodically, but ever since the pacemaker was shutdown and rebooted, I've been feeling fine! You know what they say when the computer or cell phone get glitchy... turn them off and back on again. Seems like my pacemaker may be the same deal! Last week I had another round of tests with a different cardiologist and my heart no longer races or sputters, in fact, it is stronger in many ways than it was when I landed in the hospital last July. My take on it all is that the pacemaker caused the heart to flip out and it needed time to adjust to it's new boss. Seems like we're all in harmony now.
The FARM STORE
We...
are open until the middle of December (as long as the weather holds out).
have lots of wonderful Frozen Soups for easy meals
have STRAW on a pallet outside the store for garden mulch
have all sorts of wonderful farm forward gifts if you're planning for the HOLIDAYS
encourage you to cook with SUNFLOWER OIL - local and heart healthy like olive oil
Be good to each other and eat plants, lots of plants, especially green plants!
Sending love from the farm,
Sarah
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