BOULDER GOLD in the Daily Camera:

First, a reminder that we’d love to have you vote us #1 in the Daily Camera’s ‘Boulder Gold’ competition.  Voting ends on July 30^th, so please go right away to: http://www.futureofnews.com/AdEverywhere/SI/PR/RC/?S=dailycamera&B=1040 and cast your ballots for us in the BEST GARDEN CENTER and BEST PLANT NURSERY categories, and a third category of your choice (may we suggest Best Locally-Owned Store, Best Shopping Destination, Best Company that Gives Back to the Community, or Best Tree Nursery). THE RULES ARE AS FOLLOWS: 1) You MUST vote in at least 10 categories, 2) You can vote for the same business in up to 3 categories, but no more, and 3) You MUST fill out the required fields at the end of the ballot and submit your vote, and 4) You must get your ballot in by the end of the day Saturday July 30. Thank you for your support!

IN THE VEGETABLE GARDEN (and the kitchen):

We have been checking the vegetable garden, harvesting lettuce, rustic arugula (very heat-tolerant),  radicchio, spring onions, zucchini, swiss chard, kale, broccoli side-shoots, cauliflower, upland cress, fava beans, leaf broccoli (aka Minestra Nera or Spigariello), strawberries, basil, parsley, mint (the latter two for making quinoa tabbouli).  Tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, tomatillos, green beans and cucumbers will be ready very soon.  You are welcome to visit the vegetable garden at Harlequin’s and see how we support our tomato plants.  Just ask someone on our staff to show you.

Eve has been making lots of pesto, not only with basil, but she’s also pestifying with parsley, cilantro, arugula and tarragon.  Parsley Pesto (made with pecans, garlic, parsley, olive oil, salt and lemon juice) is fabulous on pasta or potatoes, bruschetta, grilled meat, chicken or fish.  Arugula pesto is made with walnuts, garlic, arugula, olive oil, salt and lemon juice, and is great for all the same uses.  Tarragon Pesto, made with brazil nuts or pignoli, tarragon and olive oil, is particularly good spread on crackers or bruschetta with some soft goat cheese, or on chicken. Eve’s cilantro pesto is made with walnuts, cumin seeds, garlic, cilantro, virgin coconut oil, olive oil, salt and lime juice.  It’s a daily staple in our home, used on avocado, grilled chicken or fish, sweet potato, black beans or bean soup, or anything that’s handy. Did you know that cilantro is known to draw out and cleanse the body of toxic heavy metals, especially mercury?

PESTS and DISEASES:

We have received reports from a few of you that Early Blight is affecting some of your tomato plants.  Early Blight is a fungal disease, and can be organically controlled by spraying with Green Cure, which we have in stock.

This summer also seems to be particularly buggy, and we are well-stocked with effective, non-toxic, organic pest management supplies.

LET US KNOW WHAT YOU LIKE:

We would love to get your feed-back on which vegetable and herb varieties you liked and didn’t like.  Your feedback helps us enormously when it comes time to choose which varieties we should grow for the coming year (we make those selections in December). The best way to let us know what you think is to go to our website and click on PLANTS, then EDIBLES, then VEGETABLES, then SPEAKING OF VEGETABLES.  Or save this link to go directly to it: http://www.harlequinsgardens.com/plants/edibles/vegetables/the-veggie-report/

FRUIT TREES:

Mikl has just brought out a new crop of fruit trees, including Apples (Cortland, Sweet Sixteen, Honeycrisp), Plums (Stanley), Peaches (Red Haven, Reliance) and Apricots (Moorpark).

SEASON EXTENDING in the VEGETABLE GARDEN:

In the midst of the midsummer heat it may be hard to imagine that we really will be seeing cool, short days again in the not-so-distant future. But it is true, and NOW is the time to plan and plant cool-season crops for fall and winter harvests.

With this in mind, we have just re-stocked our supply of seeds from Botanical Interests with many great varieties of Carrots, Beets, Radishes, Kale, Lettuce, Mesclun, Bok Choy, Tat Soi, Arugula, Kohlrabi, Spinach, Cilantro, Swiss Chard, Green Onion, Collards, and more.  We also have lots of Abbondanza Lettuce, Chard, Kale and Tatsoi seeds.

Eve has been planting and potting starts for Broccoli, Cauliflower, Cabbage, Leaf Broccoli, Kale, Chard, Lettuce, Arugula, etc., and these will soon be ready for sale.  We have SeedGuard row-cover to protect your seed beds and new crops.  And for those of you who are new to season-extending, we have Eliot Coleman’s essential books ‘The Four-Season Harvest’ and Winter Harvest Handbook’.

Rhubarb and Sea-Kale plants in one-gallon pots are still available.

IN THE ORNAMENTAL GARDEN:

We still have lots of wonderful perennials, vines, grasses, groundcovers, roses, shrubs and trees to choose from. New selections continue to come out of our growing houses and ‘fields’ daily.  We have mulches, row-cover fabric, mycorrhizae, compost tea and ‘Super-Thrive’ in stock to help your new plants get established in spite of the heat.

In July, gardens require TWICE AS MUCH WATER than any other month to support them in the stresses of heat, flowering and making seed.  You can also help them through the heat by adding mulch, and by dead-heading (removing) half or more of the spent blooms before a plant has made seed.

LOOKING AHEAD:

This fall, starting in early September, we will again offer a delightful, hand-picked selection of bulbs for spring blooms, with an emphasis on jewel-like beauty, easy naturalizing, drought-resistance and deer-resistance.  We will also offer an expanded selection of organic Garlic and Shallot bulbs.

Stay tuned for details about our TOMATO TASTING event, coming up on September 10^th.

We hope you are having a splendid summer and that we will see you soon!

All the best,

Eve & Mikl Brawner and the Staff at Harlequin’s Gardens

We have put our organic veggie starts on sale!  Our usual price of $2.50 per plant has been reduced to $1.50!  Our starts include tomatoes, summer and winter squashes, eggplants, peppers, cucumbers, leeks, and more.  (Basil excluded from sale.)  So, come on in for a great bargain!

Between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. on June 17, 18, and 19, folks from the Pollinator Partnership will have an information table at Harlequin’s Gardens to educate our customers on the harmful effects of pesticides on honeybees and other pollinators.  The goal is to empower us in supporting the pollinators in our area.  Harlequin’s will also share free handouts about plants that provide food and habitat for pollinators.

You can support the Coalition 4 Bees by purchasing a “Honey Bee Haven” sign for $5.00 and sign their pledge to not use pesticides or herbicides in your yard.  They will track the sign locations in an effort to begin mapping pesticide free yards in Boulder County.

We look forward to seeing you at this unique event later this week!

 Mikl and Eve also continue to provide consulting services through the winter.  Most years, there are plenty of days that are warm enough and free of snow on the ground to make garden consultations and tree-health consultations practical.  In return for giving us a small trickle of winter income, we offer a coupon for a 15% discount on a purchase of plants in the 2011 season.  Here’s a link to our Consultations page for more information: http://www.harlequinsgardens.com/consultations/.

Every year, a lot of people ask us what we do in the winter, when the nursery is closed.  Sometimes we wish the answer was “Oh, we usually spend a few months on the beach in Mexico or Costa Rica”.  But in reality, we begin by putting all the plants to bed and packing up the remaining products, while simultaneously compiling and placing early orders for seeds and plants for the next season.  We erect fences around our display gardens to keep the rabbits at bay.  Every year we collect seeds from many of the plants we grow and from native wildflowers and shrubs. We have to clean the seeds (separating them from the chaff and debris) before the end of the year because we begin sowing seeds in the greenhouse in early January.  Some seeds sprout quickly, so transplanting has usually begun by the first of February. Plant descriptions are researched and written, ordering continues, we work on improving and updating our website, and make plans for the classes and events we will offer in the coming season.  And there are always some repairs and building projects.  To sum it all up, we are preparing to re-open Harlequin’s Gardens on April 1, 2011 as a better resource for gardeners and the larger community than ever before.

With all the holidays coming up, you may not be thinking much about gardening, but there are some things that could be done on a warm day (today’s forecast calls for a high of 60 degrees!).  It’s not too late to finish planting bulbs, and to top-dress your perennials and shrubs.  A thin (1/2”) layer of compost applied in fall or winter will be absorbed into the earth with rain and melting snow.  This mimics the fall top-dressing done by Nature and is an easy and gentle way to build soil, especially if done annually.  Organic matter, especially in the composted form, does more than hold moisture and supply some mild nutrients.  It has the dynamic effect of feeding the earth worms and beneficial soil microorganisms that make nutrients available to plants – which is far more relevant than the simple presence of nutrients.  In addition, this soil life secretes a sticky substance which binds small clay particles together, making aggregates of soil that increase porosity and tilth (ease of digging).

So far, it’s been very dry this fall, so remember to thoroughly water your evergreens – especially broadleaf evergreens – at least once a month, preferably early in the day.  For a more complete discussion of winter watering, see our Thanksgiving Greetings blog.

Happy Holidays!

Mikl & Eve Brawner and the staff at Harlequin’s Gardens

         The weather guessers are predicting temperatures around zero degrees for tonight, so if you still have root crops like beets, carrots, and parsnips in the ground, grab those bagged leaves from the curb and lay them over the vegetable beds (don’t unpack the bags!).  You should be able to lift the bags and dig any time you want to harvest the roots throughout the winter. 

         Now that the nursery is closed for the season, we are busy using those leaves to pack around our containerized plants in to give them some insulation until next spring.  When our over-wintered plants are brought out for sale next year, the packing leaves will be shoveled under the plant tables so that when the plants are watered, so are the leaves, the worms and the bacteria and fungi which compost the leaves. We use this rich worm compost in our potting soil mixes.  We also used some in amending the soil of a new 32” x 72” solar-vented coldframe that we installed in late September, and Eve top-dressed the salad greens seed with the same rich compost. In only 2 days, about 120% of the seeds had sprouted and in no time at all the greens were ready to harvest and we have been eating delicious, fresh salad from that coldframe for almost six weeks now.  We built and sold several of these coldframes this year, and expect to have more available for 2011.  Let us know if you are interested in reserving one.

          If any of you are having problems with voles eating the bark off the lower branches of junipers and undermining and pulling plants down into the ground, now is a good time to mow your lawn short (under 4”) so there won’t be any bent-over grass to provide tunnels for the voles to hide in from owls and other predators.

          Don’t forget winter watering for all evergreens and roses, and most any plant that was planted in September or October. Evergreens continue to transpire (give off water) during the winter, because they have leaves or needles. If these plants cannot take up water, they will dehydrate and suffer, not showing injury until it’s too late. And roses, with their green-skinned canes, are far more likely to perish in winter from dehydration than from cold temperatures. Water once or twice a month, in late morning or early afternoon so that the water has time to sink in before it freezes.  Aside from conifers, some other evergreen plants that will benefit from some winter watering are Manzanita, Kinnickinnick, Scotch Broom, Spanish Broom, Hardy Jasmine, Oregon Grape Holly, and the evergreen Euonymus selections.  Sagebrush, Curl-leaf and Littleleaf Mountain Mahogany, and Ephedra are probably fine without supplemental winter water.

         We thought we knew everything we needed to know about Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs), but we have recently learned much more. The Food and Drug Administration allows the release of GMO crops without requiring adequate safety tests; but in independent research, scientists have found that GMO foods in which the inserted genes are from bacteria and viruses (such as Round-up Ready crops and BT crops) create new and unpredictable proteins, cause toxic and allergic reactions in humans, and cause sickness, sterility and death in livestock. In addition, GMO foods contain higher herbicide residues. The main GMO foods on the market are soy, corn, canola, cotton, all of which are components of ‘vegetable oil’, which we unknowingly consume in massive amounts if we eat processed food, fast food, or eat out at ordinary restaurants.  GMO sugar beets are set to be the next threat, along with GMO salmon.  In order to avoid these foods, eat organic – organic certification does not permit inclusion of any GMO ingredients. And some foods have “non-GMO” labels. Read labels of processed foods very carefully, and avoid those which contain the 5 GMO foods. Fresh fruits and vegetables are safe (to date, the only ones that may be genetically modified are papaya, zucchini and crookneck squash). But most meats are from animals fed GMO corn and soybeans. To make it easier to avoid these GMO foods, you can download a free Non-GMO Shopping Guide at http://www.responsibletechnology.org/. Also, to comment on the plan to release genetically modified salmon, go to www.foodandwaterwatch.org. Besides protecting your own health and the health of our children, if just 5% of Americans refuse to buy GMO foods, we could kick them off the market.  This is not far-fetched – Americans have rejected Bovine Growth Hormone in milk, and most of the big retailers have followed suit.

          Wendell Berry said that “Eating is a political act”. Let’s vote with our dollars and our food choices.

Here’s to eating well, loving well, and living well!  Happy Holidays!

Mikl & Eve Brawner, and the staff at Harlequin’s Gardens

The 2010 season brought a number of notable ‘firsts’ to Harlequin’s Gardens – our first celebration of World Laughter Day (first Sunday in May), the first year we have offered our own home-brewed Compost Tea, about a dozen wonderful new classes including introductions to raising chickens, keeping bees and growing the best tomatoes, the first year we have constructed and offered our excellent cold-frames, and the first year we have written a blog.

It’s also the first year we are staying open 6 days a week in October (Tuesday through Sunday, 9 to 5), and the first time we are selling bulbs!

Now is the perfect time to start planting bulbs for spring flowers.  With only a week left before we close for the season, we encourage you to come out and choose from our carefully selected array of bulbs, including many that we have been growing (and you have been admiring) in our display gardens for years.  Many are either deer-proof or deer-resistant, most are drought-tolerant species and varieties that will naturalize in your garden, and all are guaranteed to cheer you up with their sudden bursts of color after a long winter.  The list of our bulb offerings, along with photos, descriptions and planting instructions, is on our website in ‘Plants’.

Now is also a great time to apply organic fertilizer and top-dress your garden with compost.  Organic fertilizers are naturally slow-release, and when applied in autumn, the nutrients will be stored in the roots of your plants to help them get through the winter and support new growth at the beginning of next spring.  We recommend Nature Cycle fertilizer, which you can broadcast by hand, and Eko Lawn Top-Dressing (which is not just for lawns!).  Both are now on sale for 25% off.  The Eko Lawn Top-Dressing is the same as Eko Compost except that is finely ground and free of lumps.  This makes it easy to spread by hand in perennial and shrub beds, and also easy to spread on lawns with a mechanical spreader.  Top-dressing with compost is a great way to replenish the organic matter in your soil without digging or disturbing your plants.  Earthworms and micro-organisms will do the work for you, slowly incorporating the compost into your soil over the winter.

Our Fall Sale continues through Saturday, October 30^th, the last day of our 2010 season, and we still have lots of great perennials, herbs, and shrubs at 40% off, trees at 50 % off, hardy own-root roses at 20% off, and soil products (fertilizers, soil amendments, and mulches) are 25% off.  Remember, we’ll be open every day except Monday, though our last day, which is Saturday October 30.

CONSULTATIONS & GIFT CERTIFICATES are available year-round!

 Mikl and Eve are available for consultations year-round, either together or separately.  To see our rates and the scope of our consultations, go to the Consultations section on our website at www.HarlequinsGardens.com .  Then call us at 303-939-9403, or call Eve directly at 720-291-7826 to schedule your appointment. 

If you schedule a consultation to take place between November 1 and February 28, we’ll give you a coupon for 15% off a one-time purchase of plants at Harlequin’s Gardens to use in 2011.

Gift Certificates to Harlequin’s Gardens are always appreciated by the gardeners in your life.  See the instructions for ordering gift-certificates on our website, or leave us a message at 303-939-9403.

We look forward to seeing you as we finish out the season!

Mikl & Eve Brawner and the staff at Harlequin’s Gardens

Now is a great time to feed your lawn organically, and fertilize your gardens organically. Organic fertilizers are not water-soluble so they do not produce fast, soft fall growth that would freeze; they feed slowly for up to six months, building energy reserves that will help plants prepare for spring.

Mikl just attended a talk by Paul Tukey, author and national leader in the organic lawn care movement. Paul explained that the essential practices that produce great lawns without chemicals are to 1) apply a compost top-dressing :our locally-made topdressing is regularly $8.25, NOW $6.20.  One bag covers 72 square feet a quarter of an inch deep. 2) apply an organic fertilizer: our locally-made lawn fertilizer 8-2-1, is regularly $17, NOW $12.75. One bag covers 3,500 square feet. And 3) apply compost tea to make nutrients more available: our Harlequin-made compost tea is regularly $5/gal, NOW $3/gal, Use one gallon per 1,000 square feet, spraying it in a hose-end sprayer or back pack sprayer.

If the lawn was not aerated in spring, it is best to aerate before applying fertilizer, compost tea and compost topdressing. This organic method does cost more in the beginning, but once the soil life and soil health are built up, costs and maintenance go down, and become more economical than chemical methods that fight Nature.

For lawns with big weed problems, you can apply Corn Gluten (which is 9% nitrogen) instead of fertilizer and which also prevents weed seeds from germinating. Denver garden advisor Kelly Grummons says good results can be obtained from using the corn gluten in February and September.

Don’t forget: to cut back on watering in October so that plants will be encouraged to go dormant. Then remember to give your plants a thorough watering once or twice a month in the winter, especially evergreen plants, roses, or anything planted in September or October. Water by hose around mid-day so the moisture will have a chance to sink in before freezing.  Of course, if the ground is frozen or under a blanket of snow, you can delay watering or see if Mother Nature has taken care of it for you.  And some very xeric perennials, if they are planted in soil that does not drain very rapidly, may rot if watered in winter.  Feel free to ask us if you aren’t sure.

Coldframes: We built 5 coldframes to sell this year, an improved version based on our previous model, which we have been testing for 3 years. They are equipped with a solar vent opener which opens and closes automatically (without electricity) to protect the plants from both freezing and frying when you are not at home. They should be seeded in September/early October with greens that can be harvested from late February thru May. You can’t imagine how wonderfully tasty, fresh, tender and full of energy these greens are in early spring. We are sold out of these coldframes now, but you are welcome to see our model in operation at the nursery, and perhaps order one for next year. This is one of the best methods for extending the food growing season.

Bulbs: Remember those brilliant orange ‘waterlily’ tulips in our xeriscape rock garden?  The glowing golden cups of species crocus, the dainty nodding miniature daffodils, intense blue droplets of Siberian squill and the smoldering deep red chalices of heirloom tulips?  Every year in April and May, many of you have exclaimed over the beautiful tulips, ‘snow iris’, wild crocus, dwarf narcissus, etcetera, lighting up our xeriscape display gardens, and asked if we sell the bulbs.  At long last, this year we do! Our full selection of bulbs is now here, and we hope you will come in to get these choice gems while they last. The full list of our bulb offerings is on our website at http://www.harlequinsgardens.com/plants/bulbs. The list includes excellent descriptions and photographs.  We also carry Colorado-made Age Old Organics bulb fertilizers and sturdy made-in-Iowa bulb-planting trowels. 

The fall-blooming Saffron Crocus should be planted right away (they should bloom this October or November), and you can begin forcing Paper White Narcissus now for fragrant blooms in four to six weeks.  Spring-blooming bulbs should be planted from mid-October to December (a little earlier for higher elevations).

Our fall vegetable starts, broccoli, cauliflower, chard, lettuce, arugula, spinach, cilantro and kale, are beautiful and healthy, and should be planted in your garden NOW – and they are on sale for 20% off.  Growing vegetables for fall and winter harvests without a greenhouse is a new concept for most Colorado gardeners. It may sound daunting, but it’s really easy.  Some of us have been enjoying fresh, home-grown greens in the colder months for some time now.  Eve has grown Swiss chard, lettuce, kale spinach and arugula for almost year-round harvest, and the incredibly sweet carrots, sown in late July, have graced our soups and salads through the winter.  Our friend Roland, a mountain gardener, has grown the delicious and extremely cold-hardy Purple Sprouting Broccoli (one of the varieties we have ready now) for many years – planted in fall and over-wintered, it begins yielding in spring and continues for many months. He grows about 50 different vegetables in his fall and winter gardens (okay, some are grown in his greenhouse).  We can help you protect your fall and winter crops with row cover fabric, too. 

Remember: In October we are open only Thursday, Friday and Saturday 9-5.

Our best wishes to you for a colorful and healthy fall!

Mikl & Eve Brawner and the staff at Harlequin’s Gardens

We don’t have vast resources to offer you, but if you lost a home or landscaping to the Fourmile Canyon fire, come and see us.  We will give you what we can – special deals on mountain-tough plants and advice for choosing them and getting them established.

Great thanks to all the brave and dedicated firefighters who worked so hard to contain the fire and save lives and homes!

Sincerely,

Eve & Mikl Brawner, and the staff at Harlequin’s Gardens

It is fine to do deadheading now of any plants that you are not wanting to reseed, or that you are not saving for seed for the birds. Pruning is good to do on fruiting plants as soon as the fruit is gone. This will compact and lighten them before winter snows and thin and prepare them for new growth and more fruit for next year. It is OK to remove dead canes from roses now, but it is better to wait until late April or early May to do thinning and major pruning of roses.

If you missed Eat Local Week, you missed a wonderful event. There was an ice cream social, presentations at Chautauqua celebrating the rising potential for the local food system,  films about new thinking about what we are eating, a Flat Iron Chef Cookoff and a Local Foodshed Conference. Check it out for next year. Harlequin’s participated by hosting the Boulder Culinary Gardeners’ Tomato Tasting. (Watch for a public Tomato Tasting in 2011).

OUR BULBS ARE IN so come and get them. We don’t have large quantities this year as we are just testing your interest. We also have locally-grown, organic Chesnok Red Garlic bulbs for Oct. planting.

AND we do have limited quantities of organic vegetable starts for September planting.

AND our FALL SALE is in full swing.

Mikl was one of 22 speakers to give a brief presentation at the Kickoff Event beginning Eat Local Week. This is what he said:

The local food movement is guiding our society to a more healthy, enjoyable and saner experience with life.

When food is not shipped long distances, the varieties of fruits and vegetables can be chosen for their great flavor and for their nutritional value, rather than for their tough skins and resistance to decay. So we get to taste and enjoy tomatoes like Cherokee Purple, Sungold, Black from Tula and Green Zebra; and fruits like Swenson’s Red Grape, Cortland Apple and Crandall Clove Currant.

In addition, these fruits and vegetables do      not have to be picked green so they will resist bruising in shipment. They can be allowed to ripen on the vine or tree, so the starches have time to convert to sugars. These sweet and delicious foods satisfy our food cravings and replace the impulse to consume processed sugars and high fructose corn sweeteners.

Because we appreciate and prefer soil building and nontoxic farm and garden management, we eliminate many physical and psychological health problems at the root.

“Hear-Here” for a locally sustained, healthy soil that leads to healthy plants, that lead to healthy humans in a healthier, saner community.

The Bottom Line cannot be money alone; the Bottom Line has to be our day-to-day enjoyment of Life which includes Good Food, Good Water, Good Air; and a Community where love and sharing is common.

10% Local Food Shift: Transition Colorado is challenging Boulder County residents to make 10% of food purchases buying local food.  Make this commitment to eat well, support local food security and strengthen our local economy.  Pick up an Eat Local Resource Guide at Harlequin’s Gardens, or go to http://www.transitioncolorado.org/.

NOW is the time to get our beautiful Broccoli, Cauliflower, Kale, Chard and Lettuce seedlings in the ground for your fall and winter harvests.  Our seedlings are really beautiful and robust!  Arugula will be ready soon, and spinach, cilantro and broccoli-raab should be following soon thereafter.  These are crops that thrive in cool weather, tolerate frosts, and, with easily-installed protection, can provide lots of fresh, homegrown greens through the fall and even the winter. Ask us about our Row-Cover Fabric and Loop-Hoops. And you thought the vegetable gardening season was almost over!

Don’t forget we have added a great class, ‘Sprout your Eats, Eat your Sprouts!’ on Sunday September 19^th at 1:30 pm.  This class will enable you to grow incredibly nutritious, tasty, fresh greens all year long, even if you live in an apartment.  Check it out on the list of classes on our website at http://www.harlequinsgardens.com/classes-for-2010/.

OUR BULBS HAVE ARRIVED!
We received a shipment yesterday containing most (but not all) of the bulbs we are offering this year.  We will probably receive a few more varieties today, and another few are expected in the week of September 20.  These bulbs should be purchased now, but held for planting in late October, November or early December.  There are two exceptions: Saffron Crocus (Crocus sativus) is fall-blooming and should be planted immediately, and Paperwhite Narcissus can be planted in indoor containers right now, or held for a couple of months.

GARLIC BULBS are also in! We have a very limited supply of local, organically grown Chesnok Red hardneck Garlic for planting.  They are really nice, large, plump bulbs that have been properly harvested and cured, and with every garlic purchase we are including a locally-appropriate instruction sheet that covers planting, growing, harvesting and storage.

Saving Tomato Seeds:
Did you know that tomatoes are almost entirely self-pollinating?  This means that they rarely cross-pollinate, so you can collect the seeds from your open-pollinated varieties (any variety that is not an F1 hybrid), and if properly ‘processed’ and stored, you’ll be able to grow the same variety from your own seeds next year, and for years to come.  The procedure is really easy – Eve has been doing it for several years, with excellent success. Here’s how:

Select one or more thoroughly ripe, unblemished fruits from your best, healthy plant of a given variety.  Label a small glass or jar with the name of the variety. Cut the fruit(s) in half horizontally and gently squeeze out the gelatinous substance that contains the seeds, into the container. Add a little water (1/4 to ½ cup), and cover the container with a lid or a piece of plastic wrap.  Place in a warm location out of direct sun for about 3 days, until a layer of mold has formed over the top -  usually, it is a thin white film, and sometimes has black fungus spots as well.  The function of the gelatinous substance surrounding the seeds is to prevent the seeds from germinating inside the warm, juicy fruit.  The mold/fungus eats the gelatinous, germination-inhibiting coating and also produces antibiotics that help control seed-borne diseases.  When this film of mold has formed, skim off and discard the mold and any floating seeds (these are not viable seeds) and pieces of pulp.  Then add a little more water to the container, and pour the seeds into a small strainer (wire sieve) that has holes smaller than the seeds and carefully rinse under running tap water until no pulp debris remains, only seeds.  Let the excess water drip out, then invert the strainer over a plate or baking sheet. Be sure to label the plate with the variety name!  Some people like to dry the seeds on a sheet of paper towel, but with most brands of towels, the seeds are very hard to remove from the paper when dry. Try to spread the seeds out so they are not in a big clump. Allow them to dry completely (usually takes about one day), break up the clumps into individual seeds, and store them in a paper envelope that has been labeled with the variety name and the date.  Tomato seeds usually remain viable for 5 years or longer.

We are very proud that Mikl has recently been awarded the E-chievement Award, an honor bestowed by the Boulder-produced

E-Town radio show.  He was nominated by one of our beloved long-time customers.  Listeners from around the country send in stories that nominate individuals or groups, and E-chievement awards are bestowed upon those nominees they feel are “remarkable individuals who are working hard to make a positive difference in their communities and beyond….One step at a time.  That’s how things change, that’s how problems are solved.  That’s the message that’s delivered each week, as we recognize people who’ve found positive solutions to challenges in their communities” (excerpted from the E-Town website). To learn more about E-Town and the E-chievement Award, go to http://www.etown.org/.