Seed Saving...and Swapping again

Thank-you to each and every one of you for your warm welcome back.
How lovely it was too to receive. 

Yes readers; it's that time of the year again for me. It's time to take another walk around the garden and decide what seed to harvest. I can't stress enough on how important it is for every gardener to save at least some of their own seed....

No matter how large or small your garden is;

you can save your own seed!

Marigold seed - to be harvested

If you practice organic methods, (like me) you can take comfort in knowing that your seed is chemical free. Over the seasons; you can also build up a strain of seed that is resistant to disease AND climatic to your own region. How much better can you get?


When you do harvest your own seed, you more than likely will have plenty to share with other gardeners. Maybe you could even do a swap with them for something that you don't have or haven't tried growing yet. The possibilities are truly endless once you begin saving seed. Especially when you encourage friends and family to save their seed too. 

Think about it...Depending on what you grow; 

you may never have the need to buy seed again....

Mind boggling isn't it!

Perennial Basil seed -
to be harvested once dried on the stem

I've written about saving my Nan's Rhubarb seed here....and you can see when you click on the link how huge Nan Cady's rhubarb is. Good genetics in that seed I'm sure. 

Nasturtium Seed - to be hunted for and gathered

I've also written about those crazy Klumpin' Tomatoes I grew last year....and wrote about how I saved seed from them as well....There's a cool trick to saving Tomato seed without the gel sack around them. Did you know that if you soak tomato seed in some water, let the water go rancid, it develops an enzyme that eats the gel exterior on the seed....when strained, and left to dry on a plate, they dry clean, just like the seed you get in a packet....I used this method on many varieties of seed that I save. 

Rocket seed -
Once dried, the seed pods will be harvested and shelled 

Last December I wrote about saving the seed from Corn Salad Leaf, Tatsoi Salad leaf, Water Cress and Poppy Seed......My corn salad isn't doing so well this year, but I have enough leaf to harvest ocasionally for salad.  I don't have Tatsoi at the moment, but I do have another salad leaf in seed which I need to save (see the Pick-as-you-grow seed head below). 

Pick-as-you-grow lettuce seed -
all the fluffy heads need to be gathered and dried fully

My Water Cress bed is totally bombarded with Water Celery at the moment. I must tell you that Water Celery is very invasive....in the 12 months since planting it in my water garden (Maureen's bath after her bathroom reno, thanks neighbor)....The Water Celery has totally taken over the entire bath. The whole bath is one huge tight root ball of Water Celery. I find it hard to believe that there is any room in there for my water chestnuts to be peeking through, but they are....Thankfully......I never used my Poppy Seed for the tops of bread either; because it was sooooo small it would get laughed at.

Sorrel seed - ready to harvest

Last December I wrote about saving the seed from Corn Salad Leaf, Tatsoi Salad leaf, Water Cress and Poppy Seed......My corn salad isn't doing so well this year, but I have enough leaf to harvest ocasionally for salad.  I don't have Tatsoi at the moment, but I do have another salad leaf in seed which I need to save. My Water Cress is totally bombarded with Water Celery at the moment. I must tell you that Water Celery is very invasive....in the 12 months since planting it in my water garden (the neighbors bath after a reno)...It has totally taken over the entire bath. The whole bath is one huge root ball of Water Celery. I find it hard to believe that there is any room in there for my water chestnuts to be peeking through, but they are....Thankfully.
I never used my Poppy Seed for the tops of bread because it was sooooo small it would get laughed at.

Chervil Seed - to be harvested

If you click here you will see photos of me saving  Celery seed and 2 types of Pick-as-you-grow lettuce leaf. 

While I have never had any problems growing from my own seed, I never assume that they will always germinate....especially since none of my Rosella seed germinated this year, but all of the plants did develop a nasty disease last year due to heavy rainfall...So I guess that's the reason the seed didn't germinate this time...................
I was so thankful to Holly too for sending me the Rosella seed which I swapped with her for one of my shooting choko's.  Holly; I hope your choko vine is doing well. 

This week I need to harvest from my own garden the following: Nasturtium, Marigold, Perennial Basil, Chervil, Sorrel, Pick-as-you-grow lettuce and Rocket.

Later in the week, 

I will come back and show you all

just how much seed I gathered from my garden.

I'm looking to swap seed with anyone who is interested. (Australia and only certain states)....
I'm looking for Rosella seed, as mine developed a disease last year and all seed harvested refused to germinate this time. I'm also looking for some Loofah seed again, as mine went rotten...but I'm still determined to give them both another try.

I will be posting a list of surplus seed that

I have harvested too....

so keep watch and

maybe we could do a swap.

Vinegars & foods marked down.

I made the Pineapple vinegar I was talking about this morning.... I also made a fruit vinegar...

With the Pineapple vinegar I only had half a pineapple so I made up 500mls of water with 1/8 cup of sugar... I also made a fruit vinegar as well, which included a peach with a bruise cut off, a bunch of grapes that had seen better days, using the good ones that were left, half a nectarine and a sliver of pineapple skin.....

I just have to wait now for them to mature....hope they are nice vinegars...I have never tried anything besides White, Brown, Malt and Apple Cider..and those are from the shops.

Check out this fish...ugly isn't it, it is called a Sergeant Baker....also known as a Mother-In-Law fish...or the fish that you give to your MIL. If you listen to the local fishermen, they say, "Chuck it back, there's plenty better in that ocean than them stinkin' things."
I have seen on many occasions where Hugh Fernley-Whittingstall has pledged to make 'ugly' fish more palatable. Well this is my quest...to give this fella some meaning to his little life. Oh, and to make him yummy. I'm talking about the red one at the back of the photo.

When he is first caught, his red fins stand tall and ready to spike you....

Fishermen say they have too many bones to deal with. 

Here is how I cooked the Sergeant Baker 

Cut into 3 pieces to fit comfortably in the pot.

Add to the pan, 6-8 pepper corns, 1 tablespoon of salt, 3 Bay Leaves, 2 quartered lemons...

(if you look closely at the lemon skin, there is no lemon skin as I had previously used this lemon for lemon rind, and kept the lemon in the fridge for later use). 

Cover with cold water and cook slowly, until flesh falls easily from the bone. 

Carefully remove all flesh from the bones.

Look how much flesh I got from one ugly fish.

I sometimes do my shopping around 8pm at night, there are no crowds, just the night packers.

I find it easier to stay focused on the shopping list when I can hear myself think....

I have been collecting my receipts for a while now, knowing that I am going to make a Price Diary....I got this idea off Rhonda at Down to Earth.....

Back on track, I just thought I would show you a sample of the savings you can get if you look for them....Our deli department usually marks down their finely sliced (shaved) meats....Normally after 8pm, but not every night unless they have surplus shaved meat they need to clear ready for the next day.

Roast Pork - Shaved -  Savings $1.52

Chicken breast - Shaved -  Savings  $1.27

Cheese & Roasted Garlic Chicken Sausages - Savings $2.69

TOTAL SAVINGS from 3 products  $5.48

Every bit counts and I am glad that $5.48 is still in my pocket and not back at the supermarket.

Check back to see when I add my Prices diary...