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Soap Colorants

If you want to have a broader range and more control over the color of your soap, you can experiment with food coloring and natural pigments. There are also soap colorants available online (micas, liquid pigments, mineral pigments, and glitter, for example). Avoid using dyes and colorants that are not made for soap, cosmetics, or food, such as crayons, candle dyes, or paint. As with almost all soap additives, add your chosen colorant at trace (right before pouring the unsaponified soap into the mold).

If you’re striving towards making soap that is 100 percent natural, you might want to avoid liquid soap dyes as they contain FD&C dyes. These dyes are also found in food coloring, so be advised. Even though FD&C dyes have been legally deemed “safe,” you might set your bar for safety a tad higher than our friends at the Food & Drug Administration.

There are many color-true natural soap dyes found in other household items. Here are a few to get you started:

• Blue: indigo (may stain, use with caution), poppy seeds
• Brown: rose petals, cloves, cilantro, cocoa, coffee grounds, ginger, cinnamon (use only for exfoliating bars, makes soap scratchy), comfrey root, rosehip seeds
• Gray: ground pumice
• Green: alfalfa, cucumber, fennel, spirulina, aloe vera, henna, dill, grass, sage, spinach, rosemary powder, seaweed
• Orange: carrot juice, pumpkin, safflower petals
• Pink: beet root, tomato, paprika (use only for exfoliating bars, makes soap scratchy), hibiscus, rose hips, red or white wine
• Purple: alkanet (steep it in oil before using in your soap), rattanjot, madder root
• Red: cochineal powder, Moroccan clay
• Tan: milk
• White: kaolin clay
• Yellow: saffron, curry powder, annatto seed (steep it in oil before using in your soap), chamomile, marigolds, corn meal (use only for exfoliating bars, makes soap scratchy), dandelions, beta carotene, blackberry, orange peel, blueberry, turmeric (use only for exfoliating bars, makes soap scratchy), ground calendula petals

Testing Your Own Potential Soap Colorants

To test your own colorants, use these steps. First, dissolve a small amount of lye in water and add some of the potential colorant. Observe and take notes. If the color is retained after adding the lye, then try steeping the potential colorant in one of your soap-making oils. Again, observe and take notes. If your potential colorant remains true after both of these tests, you’ve got a good shot at it surviving the saponification process intact.

Buying Natural Soap Colorants

TKB Trading and Cranberry Lane offer commercially made but natural soap colorants. The dyes offered by TKB Trading are oil-based and include: blue from gardenia flowers, green from chlorophyll, red from beetles, and yellow from annatto seed. Cranberry Lane offers purple, blue, green, yellow, and brown. Their liquid colorants are made from combinations of minerals, plant material, and seeds.

Minerals as Soap Colorants

Mineral pigments are also naturally occurring and colorful. For example, rust is a natural occurrence when iron and water interact, and it creates a ruddy orange pigment you can use in your homemade soaps. Most of the mineral colorants available are artificially created in a lab, but technically they’re still minerals. Mineral colors are my favorite when there is nothing I have laying around the house that will do the trick (fruit juice, spices, plants, etc.).

This might just be the most comprehensive guide to back to basics living ever published…

Follow the directions on the package when you buy the mineral pigments. Typically, you just dissolve a small amount in some hot water then add that to the soap at trace. If you over-do the mineral colorants, it will leave stains in your bathtub and create bubbles the color of the mineral (blue soap=blue bubbles).

Combining Colors

If you are looking to combine colors, use this chart to create your blend. Remember the primary colors are red, blue, and yellow (meaning these are the only three colors you need to make all the other ones). Having black and white colorants on hand is helpful, however, as they are more difficult (or impossible, in white’s case) to create through mixing.

• Aqua: blue + green
• Coral: yellow + pink
• Dusty Rose: a few drops of black + red
• Green: blue + yellow
• Lime: green + yellow
• Tan: a few drops black + orange
• Moss Green: red + green
• Orange: yellow + red
• Pink: white + a few drops of red
• Purple: blue + red
• Teal Green: black + green

Color Designs

Not only can you make your homemade soap a solid color, but you can also experiment with designs. For example, a technique known as swirling adds a beautiful element to the soap. You’ll make a base color of soap and pour it into a mold, then you’ll pour on a smaller amount of the accent color in a back and forth pattern over the top. Then drag a chopstick or similar object in swirl patterns through the soap. Be careful not to “stir” it but rather make sweeping motions and then leave the soap to cure.

Another fun way to spruce up your soap with color is to make several bars of soap in solid colors. Once the soap is hardened and cured for at least a few days, cut it into fun shapes (strips, cubes, triangles, or use a melon baller to make spheres). Dump these fun soap shapes into a white batch of soap, and you’ll see some fun designs when you cut it into individual bars.

Warning: Soap Colorants Fade

It is also important to note that practically all soap colorants will get lighter or less intense over time. Blue and green food colors can even turn different colors (usually purple) in cold processing. All food coloring has a tendency to bleed as well. Ironically, reds of any formulation (food coloring or otherwise) are especially known for bleeding. Finally, mineral pigments and micas are more likely to fade when exposed to light than other soap colorants.

©2013 Off the Grid News

On Your Mark: Records For Remembering

It’s always a good idea to keep some sort of record as to what did well in your garden from year to year, as well as what didn’t do well. Here are some things to consider from each of the categories.

What Went Well: What To Keep

Hopefully, as you garden year after year, you are able to have some successes to place under your belt and use another time.

Did some veggies do better this year than in previous years? If so, why do you think that is?

Did the squash variety you planted this year do a better job of resisting squash bugs?

Did you have a bumper crop of bell peppers? If so, what might you have done differently than in other years?

Realizing that some things, such as weather, are not in our control, it is still good to take note when things do well.  It could be that you planted plants that did well next to friendly neighboring plants. It could be that you planted that plant in an area of the garden that had more organic matter incorporated into the soil. Or, it could be your blood, sweat, and tears as you faithfully weeded around and fertilized your beloved plant, desperate for it to thrive.  Whatever the case, take note of the successes (and your speculations as to “why”) in a notebook for future reference.  This way, you can page through it during your planning process and it should help you to have more success in the gardens of your future.

What Didn’t Go So Well: What To Change

Similar to writing down what has gone well in your garden from year to year, it is also helpful to take note of what did not go well so that you can make changes in the future.

Did the cucumbers succumb to some sort of leaf fungus?

Did the cabbages split?

Did your tomatoes turn black on the bottom just as they were beginning to ripen?

Did the bean beetles gobble up your beans and leave only the skeletal remains of your plants in a short time?

These are just a few issues that you will want to take note of so that you can work towards addressing the issues as you plan your future garden.  Some of the issues may have to do with the soil the plants are growing in, or they may be attended to with various treatments, but you can also address many of your plant problems by planting seeds that have a natural resistance to issues you may be facing.  Do some research and try another variety and see if it does better in your garden.

Get Ready: Finding Your Seed Sources

If you don’t already have a list of your own favorite places to get seeds from, it’s high time you did that.  What else is a gardener supposed to do on snowy evenings, other than peruse seed catalogs and dream about what their gardens will look like come summer?

All kidding aside, unless you save all of your own seed, you will have to find seeds somewhere to plant this coming year.  Since you are reading this article, you no doubt have access to the Internet and the many seed catalog companies’ websites.  This can be a great resource, especially when you are seeking out a specific variety for your particular situation. A quick Internet search can find for you a variety of squash that is resistant to squash bugs (for example, Waltham Butternut) or a green bean that resists those pesky bean beetles for at least a little while before they finally give in to the beast (my favorite is Royal Burgundy Bush Bean, although I find other purple beans to have a similar resistance).

I personally like to get my hands on a physical copy of the seed catalogs if I can.  Some seed companies, such as my favorite seed catalog from Heirloom Solutions, actually run out of catalogs for the season, and they need to be requested early if you expect to get them.

And, if for some reason you don’t want to order online or through the mail, you can still get seed from your local stores.  You won’t have the varieties to choose from like you would from a catalog, but you can usually still find plenty of decent varieties.

If you find a variety that you love and it’s an heirloom, don’t be afraid to save your seeds and use them for next year’s planting.  You don’t have to be reliant on the yearly catalog or a yearly jaunt to the seed store to have seeds from year to year. (Though I do like to experiment with new-to-me things each year if I can…)

Get Set: Plot Your Planting Plan

It is a good idea to have a rough idea of your planting space and how much you can plant in that area and not be too crowded.  It is also a good idea to map out what will be planted at which locations in your garden (think companion planting) and to get enough seed to plant as much as you want to plant. I have had the unfortunate experience of having a long row of one thing and then running out of seed for the companion plant.  It wasn’t the end of the world, but I would have liked the planting to be uniform.

When comparing seed prices from company to company, don’t just compare the price per packet. Instead, get a much better comparison by comparing the price per ounce of seed (or whatever unit it is sold in).  You might find that the “more expensive” seed is actually sold in much greater quantity per packet.  This may or may not work for you, depending on how much you plan to plant, but I figure I can always save the seed for an emergency planting (such as if the groundhogs decimate the whole row of beans), give them to a friend, barter with them, or set them aside for future use.

Go!

Once you have made your seed purchases for the coming spring, you will have a bit of time where you can sit back and relax—just a bit, though, because before you know it, the dirt is going to be calling your name and the gardening cycle will be ready to start up again! Enjoy this short lull in the cycle of plant life and allow yourself to rejuvenate a bit, for before you know it we will be at it again!

Part of the fun of gardening is getting to decide what seeds you are going to be planting from year to year.  Have fun with the process. Once you’ve ordered your seeds, the next fun part of the process is getting the garden ready, planting the seed, and waiting with trepidation for those first wee sprouts to pop up from the earth.

I am looking forward to seeing what this next year of gardening brings about. How about you?

©2012 Off the Grid News

Tomatoes

I have personally had good luck with leaving tomato plants with tomatoes in the garden at the end of the season and through the winter and having little tomatoes come up the following year (sometimes to my chagrin).  I wouldn’t, however, rely on this completely from year to year without having access to alternative plants if for some reason the “volunteer” tomatoes didn’t come up.

To save tomato seeds, select the best tomato from the best-looking plant in your garden. Cut the tomato in half and, with clean hands, scoop out the seeds and their accompanying slimy goop.  Place this in a jar with a couple of tablespoons of water.  Place a lid loosely on the jar, but do not tighten it, as air is needed for the coming fermentation process.  Place the jar in a warm location for a couple of days, checking on it each day and swirling the mixture around in the jar.  By the end of the fermentation process, the goop will have separated itself from the seeds.

It will look gross, but this process is part of what destroys many of the plant diseases than can live on a seed.  When the fermentation is complete, take a spoon and skim off as much of the gross scum from the top of the seed mixture.  Next, pour the seeds and any remaining liquid into a fine metal strainer and rinse very well with water, stirring the seeds around to make sure they are as clean as possible.

At this point, you can spread them and dry them using your preferred method. As they are drying, they should begin to look a bit “hairy.” Some of them may be stuck together; rub the seeds between your palms if this happens. This should help separate the seeds. Once unstuck, you will want to dry them a bit further so that the previously unexposed areas are sufficiently dried.

Peppers

Saving seeds from peppers is much easier than saving seeds from tomatoes.  The main thing to remember is that you want to be saving seeds from a mature, red-colored pepper, whatever the pepper variety.

If you live in an arid, warm climate, mature peppers may be picked, strung together, and hung in a sunny, breezy area to dry.  Once dry, you can use the peppers themselves for cooking, and remove the seeds to plant in the springtime.

If you are not able to do the above method, you may also pick the mature peppers, cut them open, remove the seeds, and lay them out to dry.  This is a fairly non-messy way of collecting seed compared to some of the other seeds.

Obviously, if you are handling hot peppers and their seeds, it is a good idea to wear gloves and keep the juice away from your eyes.

Cucumbers

Cucumbers need to be left on the vine to turn into mature fruit—that means until the vine has died and withered back. Once this has happened, your cucumbers should be yellow and ready to come inside. Place them on newspaper on a shelf out of direct sunlight. Make sure it is a place where you will not forget about them, for you will need to check on them from day to day until they are squishy. When they feel soft and squishy, cut them open and scoop the seeds into a jar of water.  This should be left to ferment for about five days, during which time foam should form at the top of the water in the jar.  By the end of the five-day period, the good seeds should have sunk to the bottom of the jar.  Scoop the yucky stuff from the top of the jar, pour your seeds into a colander, and rinse well.  After rinsing, spread the seeds thinly on screens or something similar and air dry for about three weeks. When sufficiently dried, the seeds should snap and break when bent.

Squash

Squashes have a tendency to cross-pollinate. It’s recommended to have your different varieties at least a quarter mile apart from each other to prevent cross-pollination and thus unreliable seeds.  If you have a small area in which to garden and really want to grow more than one variety, make sure the varieties have different second Latin names.  This means that you can grow zucchini with the Latin name Cucurbita pepo in the same garden as a butternut squash with the Latin name Cucurbita moschata and not have them cross and thus have dependable seed from year to year from both lines.

If you plan to save your squash seed, you will need to allow the squash to reach full maturity on the vine. This means that, yes, you do want to grow a monster zucchini! Sometimes you do these things on purpose, right?

Once your squash has reached full maturity and has a hard rind, harvest it and let it sit in a safe place for at least 3 weeks and up to several months.  When you are ready to harvest your seed, cut the squash open and remove the seeds.  Rinse them in water, removing any pulp, and lay out to dry.

Beans

Beans are another crop that is easy to save seed from.  Whichever type of bean you have (green beans or a dry bean), it is important to allow the bean to reach full maturity and to allow the bean to stay attached to the plant until the plant dies.  Once the plant has died and the seedpod is also dry, you may then remove it from the plant and remove your beans. They should be sufficiently dry at this point and can be stored until springtime.

Leafy Greens

For leafy green vegetables such as lettuce, spinach, kale, etc., you will need to let the plant mature, bolt, and send up a stalk that will contain seedpods. Allow these to mature, and once you notice the pods drying and about ready to pop, go out and carefully collect the seeds. I like to use large paper grocery bags, carefully cutting the seed stalks and placing them in the bags top-down. As they dry further, they will pop and the seeds should remain in the bag.  These seeds should be sufficiently dry and ready to save for spring planting.

Herbs

Many herbs will either go to seed from an obvious flower or send up a stalk much like leafy greens do.  Simply pay attention to when the seeds begin to mature and dry, then go and collect them from your plants.  Again, I like to use paper bags to catch as many seeds as possible from the plants.

Corn

Corn is another plant that is fairly easy to save seed from. Simply leave it in the garden until after the plant has died and the corn has completely dried.  To remove the seed, simply grip the cob with one hand and twist with the other hand. Do this over a bag or other container and allow the seeds to fall into it.

Melons

Like squash and their kind, melons will cross with other melons within a quarter-mile distance. Keep this in mind when deciding whether to save melon seed. If you want to grow more than one melon variety, educate yourself on how to do make sure you are saving seed from uncrossed melons.

All that said, melon seeds are another easy seed to harvest and save. Simply save the seeds from your favorite heirloom uncrossed melon when you cut it up to eat it.  Rinse them well in a wire mesh sieve or colander, removing any pieces of melon. Spread out on screens and dry.

Okra

Okra seed is easy to save as well. Simply leave pods on your healthiest plants towards the end of the season and allow them to dry after the plant has died. On a very dry day, cut or pull the pods off of the plant in the fall and place in a paper bag or box. In the springtime, all you need to do is twist the pod to release the seeds.

I have found that okra pods also make good decorations and conversation pieces over the winter.

For further instruction, check out The Complete Guide to Saving Seeds by Robert Gough and Cheryl Moore-Gough.

©2012 Off the Grid News

Whatever the reason, it is a good idea to learn how to save your own seeds. Following are a few guidelines to follow to reach your seed-saving goal, as well as some instructions for saving seed from some common vegetables and herbs.

Heirloom Seeds = More Consistent Results

Heirloom plants—plants that have been around for generations, generally have not been crossed with other varieties, and produce the same exact type of plant from year to year—are generally the best bet for seed saving.  If you choose to plant heirloom varieties, you can save your seeds from those plants and grow the exact same plants next year.  Keep in mind that plants of the same species but of a different variety, when grown together, may cross if they are close enough to each other in your garden.  Seeds from these plants will still produce, but the resulting vegetable may be different than what you were bargaining for.  Research each of your varieties and find out how far away to plant to greatly lessen the chance of cross-pollination.

Seeds may be saved from non-heirloom varieties, but they are not nearly as dependable as to what sort of fruit or vegetable is produced.  You may be thrilled with a certain hybrid vegetable, but the seed from this vegetable may not yield a plant with the same genes and characteristics.

Basic Drying Methods

Seeds should be stored in airtight containers in a cool dry place.  There are a myriad of methods to choose from in order to achieve the perfect dryness of your seed before storing.  I prefer paper methods of storage (envelopes, boxes, bags) rather than plastic envelopes or containers, as I live in a more humid climate and am afraid if I haven’t dried the seeds enough, I will find a container of moldy seeds in the springtime. An alternative to using paper products is to put an oxygen absorber in with your seeds to help absorb any excess moisture.

Screens And Sunshine

The simplest drying idea is to lay your prepared seeds out on screens in a sunny, warm area.  If your days are still scorching hot, it may be a good idea to place your seeds in the shade.  One of the drawbacks to this method is if you are in a windy area and you lose your seeds, or if you have small children or animals that will relocate your seeds for you.

Food Dehydrators

A food dryer such as an Excalibur will help speed up the drying process and is especially handy if you live in a particularly humid area and/or you are drying the more moist seeds that are more prone to mold before they dry. Be sure not to use too much heat when you dry your seeds or you will kill them.  A general guideline is to dry them at 100 degrees Fahrenheit for six hours or so, checking on the seeds occasionally to be sure not to overdo it.

Oven

Similar to the food dehydrators, an oven will hasten the seed drying process.  It is important to set your oven to the lowest setting possible and to crack the door, making sure the temperature does not exceed 100 degrees.  This may not work for those of you whose oven temperatures will not program that low, or if you don’t want to waste a lot of energy running an open oven all day long.

Creativity

If you want try other measures for drying your seed, you can certainly do this, too.  For instance, you may find that setting your screens near a fireplace or wood-burning stove will get you the end results you need. Or perhaps setting a screen near a heat register.  Or you may want to hang your various seedpods as decorations until springtime.  You don’t have to have fancy schmancy set-ups to dry your seed. Be creative!

Here are some of the most common plants grown in the garden and some specifics as to how to handle your viable seed from the garden to whichever drying method you choose to implement.

Not Into Seed Saving? Here’s A Backup Plan

You can purchase garden seed kits that will keep long term for use in a survival situation.  These can be good tools to keep on hand in case TSHTF and you are left wondering where your food will be coming from.  I personally find the selection in said kits to be different than what I personally would want to be planting, and lean towards saving my own seeds from favorite varieties rather than what someone else thinks is good to go into the can.  If you just want peace of mind that at least you have something on hand just in case, these might still fit the bill.

©2012 Off the Grid News

175 Teas, Tonics, Oils, Salves, Tinctures, and Other Natural Remedies for the Entire Family…

Healing and Curative Properties:

All parts of the caraway plant are useful for improving health. It has been used to activate the glands and increase the activity of the kidneys. It is also a systemic cleansing agent for the body. Its oil has been helpful in relieving gas and bloating and for relieving the nauseating and gripping side effects of some medicines

Stomach Ailments: Caraway has been found to strengthen the digestive functions of the stomach and to relieve flatulent colic. A cup of tea made from caraway seeds taken three to four times daily may be very helpful.

Stomach Tea: Add one teaspoon of caraway seed to six to eight quarts of boiling water in a ceramic or enamel teapot. Allow to simmer over low heat for fifteen minutes. Strain and serve. For best results, sip tea hot or warm.

Colic Relief: Bruise an ounce of caraway seed. Pour a quart of distilled water over the seeds and let sit six hours. May be sweetened with honey. Give one to two teaspoons as needed, up to four times daily. This treatment is considered safe for all and is especially useful in treating children.

Hookworms: Carvone, isolated from the oil of caraway seeds, is an anthelmintic that is useful for removing hookworms from intestines.

Scabies: Soak one teaspoon of caraway seed in a quart of 100-proof alcohol (vodka works well) for twenty-four hours or longer. Mix one part of the alcohol solution in seventy-five parts castor oil. Shake mixture well. Take one teaspoon orally two to three times daily.

Earache: Mash caraway seeds and place in a hot, wet cloth. Place on affected ear. Reheat in microwave as needed. Apply to the ear three to four times daily.

Bruises: Pound seeds into a paste and apply to the bruised area; cover with a cotton cloth to hold in place. This can be repeated three to four times daily.

Other Medicinal Uses: Caraway is aromatic, helps bad breath, is a carminative, and can be used as a cordial for dyspepsia and hysteria. Taking a tea, either hot or cold, can also aid in relieving female problems. Caraway extract can be used as a rubefacient for soothing tired, sore muscles. It can also be useful in treating colds, bronchitis, and irritable bowel syndrome.

Health Benefits: In addition to the above medicinal properties, caraway seed has other health benefits.

• It is rich in dietary fiber – 100 grams of seeds contain 38 grams of fiber, which prevents constipation and speeds up the digestive process. Fiber also binds to toxins contained in foods and throughout the body. This helps to protect the colon from cancers.
• It is rich in anti-oxidants such as lutein, carotene, cryptoxanthin, and zeaxanthin, which have been useful in protecting the body from cancers, infection, aging, and degenerative neurological diseases.
• It is rich in essential oils such as carvine, limonene, caeveol, pinen, cumuninic aldehyde, furfurol, and thujone. These oils are known to have antioxidant, carminative, beneficial digestive, and anti-flatulent properties.
• It is an excellent source of minerals like iron, copper, calcium, potassium, manganese, selenium, magnesium, and zinc.
• It is also rich in necessary vitamins such as vitamin A, vitamin E, vitamin C, and many of the B-complex vitamins like thiamin, riboflavin, pyridoxine and niacin.

Other Uses:  Caraway has found a fine place in the kitchen flavoring breads, cheeses, and savory dishes containing beef and pork.

Growing Caraway: Caraway is a biennial herb with fleshy roots and slender, branched stems. It grows to two feet tall with small, feathery leaves and cream-colored flowers in umbels; the plant resembles Queen Anne’s lace. The dried fruit – seeds – are brown in color, sharp, and hard to the touch. They have a pleasant odor, an aromatic flavor, and a sharp taste that leaves a warm feeling in the mouth.

Growing caraway is easy, and it grows best in full sun. It can be sown as soon as the ground is warm and ready to be worked, around the end of May to mid-June. Cover the seeds lightly and keep them moist until they germinate. Caraway likes sandy soil with good drainage. When planted in clays or wet soils, caraway may bear a small yield, but they won’t be hardy and will likely die off in winter.

Tips:

1. A spring sowing will not bear seed until the plant matures in the second year. However, sowing in September can prove better, as you may get a harvest the following summer. Caraway tends to grow less than twelve inches tall the first summer.
2. Harvest the seeds when they are dry. Then cut back the stalks and place in compost.
3. Caraway will self-seed and may become intrusive, so thin vigorously to remove weaker plants and keep them in their place.
4. Due to its biennial nature, you should plant a row this year and another next. This way you will have an ongoing crop each year. When you plant the first year, plant several seeds to an inch. Later you can thin them to keep the strongest plants, spacing one plant every twelve inches.

Add this herb to your garden for its edible delights, medicinal qualities, or both. Happy gardening!

Resources:

Back to Eden by Jethro Kloss.

http://www.henriettesherbal.com/eclectic/usdisp/carum_oleu.html

http://www.nutrition-and-you.com/caraway-seed.html

http://www.gardensablaze.com/HerbCarawayMed.htm

http://www.simplegiftsfarm.com/growing-caraway.html

http://www.online-vitamins-guide.com/herbs/caraway-seed.htm

©2012 Off the Grid News

There are many reasons to save your seeds. Since you will not have to purchase new seeds or plants each year, you can save a lot of money. Also, when you save and use seeds from your own plants year after year, you will begin to develop new varieties. These varieties will be perfectly adapted to the conditions in your backyard so you will have healthier plants and better harvests each year.

As you plan your garden and think about saving seeds, consider using heirloom varieties of plants. Heirlooms are plants that date back several generations and that are openly pollinated. With the rise of big agriculture and the use of only a few varieties to get the most food for the least money, many varieties of fruits and vegetables have been lost to the average consumer. The result may be more serious than the simple lack of variety in taste. When commercial agriculture decided to focus on a few varieties only, they ended up with plants that are vulnerable to pests and disease. If we lose heirlooms, there will be nothing to replace the supermarket plants when they are wiped out by disease. Not only that, many of the varieties that Big Agriculture produces are hybrids, which often do not reproduce true. In other words, the seeds you save and plant next year may not grow to be the exact same type of plant.

Do your part to keep genetic variability in plants by using heirloom varieties and by saving your seeds. In fact, as you save and use your own seeds year after year, you are actually creating new heirloom plants. Your children will be able to carry on with your tradition, and your family will have its own unique set of plants adapted to your area.

Learn How To Collect, Save, And Cultivate seeds, And It’s Fun…

How to Save Seeds

There are two categories of plants in terms of seed saving, those with wet seeds and those with dry seeds. When you save wet seeds, you need to wash them to separate them from the surrounding pulp of the fruit. This can be accomplished by putting the pulp in a bowl of water. The seeds will sink while pulp and any dead seeds will rise to the top. The seeds will then need to dry thoroughly before storage. Some wet seeds will also need to be fermented before saving, such as tomato seeds. Fermenting removes substances from the seed that inhibit germination.

Dry seeds are harvested from the plant when their husks or pods have dried. The seeds then have to be separated from the chaff. When the seeds are dry, you can crumble them up and place them in a dish. Swirling the dish will cause the larger pieces of chaff to rise to the top where you can remove them by hand. To separate out the smaller pieces of chaff, you can use screens. One screen will let small pieces of chaff fall through, leaving the seeds behind. The next screen will allow the seeds to fall through, while larger pieces of chaff remain behind.

To separate dry seeds from the chaff using an ancient method called winnowing, you need a breeze or a fan. Put a sheet or bucket on the ground and drop seeds onto it from a height of a few feet. The breeze or fan will blow the chaff away, while the heavier seeds collect below.

There are some tricks and techniques for saving seeds from different plants. In many cases, a plant or two will need to be sacrificed to get the seeds. Vegetables like lettuce, cabbage, and broccoli will need to be allowed to bolt, while for others you will need to allow the fruit to dry or over ripen in order to get the seeds. Account for this when you plan your garden and grow extra plants for the purpose of collecting seeds.

Certain plants will need to be isolated from each other to avoid cross-pollination. This is only important for plants from which you hope to save seeds. For instance, if you have two different varieties of peppers from which you hope to collect seeds, you need to keep them from mixing pollen. These plants can be bagged or surrounded with wind-proof caging. If the plants that are bagged normally require insects to pollinate them, you will have to lift the bag and use a small brush to hand-pollinate the flowers.

Beans

To harvest bean seeds, let the pods dry on the vines before you pick them. Shell the beans and let them dry thoroughly before storing. You can harvest most of your beans for eating and leave just a few pods on the vine to dry for seeds.

Beets

If you are growing beets and Swiss chard, they will need to be surrounded by wind-proof caging or bagged. They will easily cross-pollinate, even at distances of a mile. Allow your selected beet plants to over-winter. They will flower and produce seeds in the spring. When the seeds are mature and dry on the plants, simply rub them off of the stems. They can be stored as is for up to five years.

Broccoli

To get seeds from broccoli, you need at least ten plants to make sure there is enough of a genetic base. You can harvest the broccoli’s central head to eat and let a secondary shoot on each plant over-winter. Collect seed pods in the spring before they split open naturally. Dry them upside down in paper bags and the seeds will fall from the pods and into the bag.

Cabbage

Cabbage should be isolated from broccoli, collards, cauliflower, kale, and Brussels sprouts. Like broccoli, you need ten plants for a good genetic base. The cabbage plants will need to over-winter, and you will not be able to harvest any for eating from your seed plants. In the spring, collect the pods when they are dry but not yet split.

Carrots

Carrots can cross-pollinate with Queen Anne’s lace, so they need to be isolated for the purpose of seed collection. Only a small area is needed to let carrots remain in the ground for seeds. Pick the seed umbels when they have dried on the plant. Let them dry, and the umbels will easily crumble away.

Cucumbers

To get seeds from cucumbers, let the fruits over ripen on the plant. When fruit is removed from the plant, let it sit for three weeks before removing, cleaning, and drying the seeds for storage.

Garlic

It is not common practice to collect seeds from garlic for future use. Instead, save a bulb or two and plant the individual cloves to get new plants.

Lettuce

Lettuce produces many flowers throughout its flowering season. Collect dried seed heads from the plants every few days. Hang them upside down in a paper bag or over a tarp. The seeds will fall out as they dry.

Melon

Melons are a wet seed plant. Allow melons to be harvested for seeds to ripen on the vines until their skins are very hard. Pick the fruits and let them sit for three weeks. After this time period, you can remove the seeds, clean them and dry them.

Onion

When flowers form on the onion plant, you need to let the seeds ripen and dry before picking them. However, you need to watch for this carefully to avoid losing seeds. Harvest them as soon as they are dry. You can only store onion seeds for one or two years before they go bad.

Peppers

Some varieties of pepper will cross-pollinate, but you can safely grow one sweet pepper and one hot pepper without worrying about separation. To collect seeds, let the fruit mature and fully dry before picking. The seeds can be easily removed from the inside of the fruit at this point.

Squash

Allow squash fruits to remain on the vine well past the stage at which they can be eaten. They are ready to be harvested when the skin is hard and leathery. Store the squash for three weeks before opening them for the seeds. Remove the seeds, clean them, and dry them before storing.

Tomatoes

Most tomato plants will not cross-pollinate and do not need to be isolated. Pick tomatoes for seeds when they are very ripe and just past the eating stage. Once the seeds are removed, they need to be fermented to remove the germination-inhibiting gel that surrounds each seed. Put the seeds and pulp in a jar and leave it in a warm place. When you see bubbling in the jar for a day or two, remove the seeds and clean the pulp from them. The timing is important. If you allow the seeds to ferment for too long, they will begin to germinate. Watch the jar carefully. The process should take between one and a half and five days.

©2012 Off the Grid News

If you’re like most people who live in a place that has winter, you are probably itching to get outside. Cabin fever tends to set in by January, although for the tougher amongst us, maybe not until February. While you can certainly spend time outdoors in the winter, the cold temperatures, gray skies, and lack of green can leave you feeling glum and even depressed. One way to beat the winter blues is by working on your garden.

If you are living the off-the-grid lifestyle, you undoubtedly keep a vegetable garden. Growing your own vegetables is an important part of surviving without the constraints of modern society. With your very own vegetable patch you can meet the nutritional needs of your family. You may even be able to sell some of your extra food at a local market or trade with your neighbors for other goods that you need. An excellent way to get your garden started while the sun is still setting early is to begin seeds indoors. Many of your vegetables can be started inside, giving you some growth earlier in the year. Those that are started outside will have to wait, but this gives you a staggered harvest, which is very useful.

Vegetables That Can Be Started Indoors

Exactly what vegetables you can start indoors and when you should start them will depend upon where you live. But, generally, there are several vegetables can be start inside from seeds with minimal effort and great results. The following do well when started in February or March:

• Spinach
• Chard
• Lettuce, all different varieties
• Cabbage
• Broccoli
• Cauliflower
• Brussels sprouts
• Tomatoes
• Herbs

A little bit later, around the end of March, you can start some of your warmer weather crops like:

• Pumpkins
• Squash
• Zucchini
• Melons
• Cucumber

To know for sure what you can start and when to start them, find out what growing zone you live in and check the directions on the seed packet. It should tell you when each vegetable can be started for your particular location.

Materials You Will Need

The good news is that starting seeds indoors is not really any different from starting seeds outdoors. Like all plants, your seeds will need soil, light, and water. To be a little bit more specific, you will need a sunny spot that is not too cold. A south-facing window is ideal for optimal sunlight. You need a good potting soil that is light and fluffy. Seeds do not appreciate heavy soil. You can purchase commercial medium soil, or you can create your own mix. A good recipe for seeding soil includes one part sand, one part loam, and one part peat. You may include fertilizer, but it is not necessary. It is best not to use soil from your garden as that can introduce pests, weeds, or disease to your new seedlings. Also, your garden soil is typically too heavy for seed starting.

Next, you will need to find some containers. You can start with one large container and thin out your seedlings after they have sprouted, or you can start with individual containers that will be large enough to hold your sprouts until they can go outside. Just be sure that your containers have adequate drainage so you don’t drown your seeds. If you saved containers from plants that you purchased previously, they can be used to excellent effect. Left over plastic food containers also work as long as you punch out some drainage holes.

You will also want some kind of labeling system so you can record the name and date started for each set of seeds. You can use tags designed for this purpose, but popsicle sticks are an easy choice too. Be sure to use permanent marker so that your labeling does not wash off during watering.

New Survival Seed Bank™ Let’s You Plant A Full Acre Crisis Garden!

Plant Your Seeds

Begin the process by getting your potting soil mix ready. It needs to be damp, but not soaking wet. Put your soil into a large container, like a bucket, and wet it until it is just moist all the way through. Stir it with your hands to distribute the water evenly. If you overdo it and get the soil too wet, give it some time to dry out a little before planting.

Fill your seedling containers with your moistened soil and level each so that the top surface is flat. Gently press your seeds into the surface of the soil. You don’t want the seeds to go too deep, but they need to be in good contact with the soil. For very small pots, like planting trays, put one or two seeds in each container. For larger pots, space the seeds every inch or two. If you over seed, you will just have to thin out the plants later.

Once the seeds are in the pots, sprinkle a little bit more soil over the top. To be sure about how deep your seeds should be, check with your seed packet. The general rule is that the depth should be about four times the diameter of the seed. This means that the smaller the seed, the more shallowly placed it should be in the soil.

The seeds will take anywhere from eight to twelve days to sprout. To ensure the best results, you want your containers to be evenly warm and moist. To keep them warm, place them in a warm spot in the house. Do not keep them on a windowsill where the temperature can vary. To keep the soil moist, cover the pots with plastic wrap. You can also mist them with water every few days as necessary.

You Have Seedlings!

Once your seeds have sprouted, they will need light. It’s time to move them to your sunniest window. If you don’t have a good spot for them to get adequate sunlight, you may need to invest in lamps. If it is very cold by the window, keep the pots a little ways back so they don’t get too cold. If your house is very drafty, you might consider using a heating mat. Find one made just for this purpose so you don’t burn your plants.

Your sprouts will also need more water at this point. Be sure that the pots drain well and keep the soil moist. Do not over water them or let them dry out. You need to find the right balance. There are two great ways to get your sprouts the right amount of water. You can set the trays or pots in a dish of water. The soil and roots will soak up the appropriate amount of moisture. You can also continue to mist the pots from the top as you did with the seeds.

When the danger of a frost is gone, you can put your little seedlings out in the garden. Make sure they are several inches tall and cover them if there is a chance that they will be vulnerable to plant predators like rabbits. They find the young shoots to be particularly tasty.

Save Your Seeds for Next Year

You’ll never need to purchase new seeds if you save some from your garden. However, you do have to let some of your plants go to seed if you want to collect them. That means not getting a harvest from those plants. If you plan to collect seeds, put a few extra plants in the garden just for that purpose. Some plants will give you seeds from the fruit, so you don’t have to worry about this: melons, squash, and peppers are examples. The method for collecting seeds varies by plant type, so research your vegetables and herbs to find out the best way to get them.

Happy indoor (and outdoor) gardening!

If you are living the off-the-grid lifestyle, you undoubtedly keep a vegetable garden. Growing your own vegetables is an important part of surviving without the constraints of modern society. With your very own vegetable patch you can meet the nutritional needs of your family. You may even be able to sell some of your extra food at a local market or trade with your neighbors for other goods that you need. An excellent way to get your garden started while the sun is still setting early is to begin seeds indoors. Many of your vegetables can be started inside, giving you some growth earlier in the year. Those that are started outside will have to wait, but this gives you a staggered harvest, which is very useful.

Vegetables That Can Be Started Indoors

Exactly what vegetables you can start indoors and when you should start them will depend upon where you live. But, generally, there are several vegetables can be start inside from seeds with minimal effort and great results. The following do well when started in February or March:

• Spinach
• Chard
• Lettuce, all different varieties
• Cabbage
• Broccoli
• Cauliflower
• Brussels sprouts
• Tomatoes
• Herbs

A little bit later, around the end of March, you can start some of your warmer weather crops like:

• Pumpkins
• Squash
• Zucchini
• Melons
• Cucumber

To know for sure what you can start and when to start them, find out what growing zone you live in and check the directions on the seed packet. It should tell you when each vegetable can be started for your particular location.

Materials You Will Need

The good news is that starting seeds indoors is not really any different from starting seeds outdoors. Like all plants, your seeds will need soil, light, and water. To be a little bit more specific, you will need a sunny spot that is not too cold. A south-facing window is ideal for optimal sunlight. You need a good potting soil that is light and fluffy. Seeds do not appreciate heavy soil. You can purchase commercial medium soil, or you can create your own mix. A good recipe for seeding soil includes one part sand, one part loam, and one part peat. You may include fertilizer, but it is not necessary. It is best not to use soil from your garden as that can introduce pests, weeds, or disease to your new seedlings. Also, your garden soil is typically too heavy for seed starting.

Next, you will need to find some containers. You can start with one large container and thin out your seedlings after they have sprouted, or you can start with individual containers that will be large enough to hold your sprouts until they can go outside. Just be sure that your containers have adequate drainage so you don’t drown your seeds. If you saved containers from plants that you purchased previously, they can be used to excellent effect. Left over plastic food containers also work as long as you punch out some drainage holes.

You will also want some kind of labeling system so you can record the name and date started for each set of seeds. You can use tags designed for this purpose, but popsicle sticks are an easy choice too. Be sure to use permanent marker so that your labeling does not wash off during watering.

Plant Your Seeds

Begin the process by getting your potting soil mix ready. It needs to be damp, but not soaking wet. Put your soil into a large container, like a bucket, and wet it until it is just moist all the way through. Stir it with your hands to distribute the water evenly. If you overdo it and get the soil too wet, give it some time to dry out a little before planting.

Fill your seedling containers with your moistened soil and level each so that the top surface is flat. Gently press your seeds into the surface of the soil. You don’t want the seeds to go too deep, but they need to be in good contact with the soil. For very small pots, like planting trays, put one or two seeds in each container. For larger pots, space the seeds every inch or two. If you over seed, you will just have to thin out the plants later.

Once the seeds are in the pots, sprinkle a little bit more soil over the top. To be sure about how deep your seeds should be, check with your seed packet. The general rule is that the depth should be about four times the diameter of the seed. This means that the smaller the seed, the more shallowly placed it should be in the soil.

The seeds will take anywhere from eight to twelve days to sprout. To ensure the best results, you want your containers to be evenly warm and moist. To keep them warm, place them in a warm spot in the house. Do not keep them on a windowsill where the temperature can vary. To keep the soil moist, cover the pots with plastic wrap. You can also mist them with water every few days as necessary.

You Have Seedlings!

Once your seeds have sprouted, they will need light. It’s time to move them to your sunniest window. If you don’t have a good spot for them to get adequate sunlight, you may need to invest in lamps. If it is very cold by the window, keep the pots a little ways back so they don’t get too cold. If your house is very drafty, you might consider using a heating mat. Find one made just for this purpose so you don’t burn your plants.

Your sprouts will also need more water at this point. Be sure that the pots drain well and keep the soil moist. Do not over water them or let them dry out. You need to find the right balance. There are two great ways to get your sprouts the right amount of water. You can set the trays or pots in a dish of water. The soil and roots will soak up the appropriate amount of moisture. You can also continue to mist the pots from the top as you did with the seeds.

When the danger of a frost is gone, you can put your little seedlings out in the garden. Make sure they are several inches tall and cover them if there is a chance that they will be vulnerable to plant predators like rabbits. They find the young shoots to be particularly tasty.

Save Your Seeds for Next Year

You’ll never need to purchase new seeds if you save some from your garden. However, you do have to let some of your plants go to seed if you want to collect them. That means not getting a harvest from those plants. If you plan to collect seeds, put a few extra plants in the garden just for that purpose. Some plants will give you seeds from the fruit, so you don’t have to worry about this: melons, squash, and peppers are examples. The method for collecting seeds varies by plant type, so research your vegetables and herbs to find out the best way to get them.

Happy indoor (and outdoor) gardening!

Roses from Rose Hip Seed

Growing roses from seed takes a bit of time and patience. It will take about three years for a rose bush to grow from seed. However, it is an interesting, inexpensive, and fun hobby for gardeners and rose lovers alike. Just keep in mind that the success rate is small, as few seeds will germinate.

Growing from seed:

• Before planting soak seeds in purified water for 24 hours. Some of the seed will sink, and some will float. Floating seeds are not viable, so throw them away.
• Plant seeds in early spring when all danger of frost has past.
• Place seeds ½ inch deep in a 50/50 mixture of sterile potting soil and vermiculite. Use small pots with drainage holes in the bottom – 4-inch or 6-inch diameter pots will be great.
• Never let pots stand in water on the saucer.
• Lightly dust the seed with rooting hormone or a fungicide before covering with soil mixture. This will reduce chances of damp off, a disease that kills young seedlings.
• Spray pots with water until soil is thoroughly saturated.
• Set pots outside in direct sunlight. Check often to see that the soil never dries out.
• Plants should sprout in about six weeks, or when the weather has warmed up. If the weather becomes too hot, seedlings will quit sprouting.

Transplanting:

• When seedlings are 3 to 4 inches tall, transplant them into a larger pot.
• As plants continue growing, they may need to be transplanted again in 8 to 12 months.
• Plants will continue to grow and mature. It will be about three years before they will yield blooms.

Growing from Cuttings

Many tales have been told about mothers and grandmothers that traveled across country with Mason jars and rose cuttings to plant in their new gardens. The tales are verifiable, and we know that many ladies moving west carried small pieces of rose bushes they had grown in the east. These baby bushes were sprouted and grown all across the country. Growing roses from cuttings is quite easy and has a good success rate.

Mason Jar Method:

• This process will work in spring, late summer, or early fall. In mild climates, it may also work in winter.
• Gather as many glass or plastic jars as the number of bushes you plan to plant. Two-liter soda bottles with the bottoms removed will also work just as well.
• Select healthy canes from the roses you want to propagate.
• Cut a two-foot section from the chosen cane. It should be cut just above an outward facing bud.
• Carefully remove thorns for ease in handling. Also remove leaves and twigs.
• Cut the cane into pieces 6 to 9 inches in length, with the bottoms of each section being as close to a leaf node as possible. Cuts should be diagonal, not straight across.
• Remove a small area of the cane’s surface – about an inch long – just below the leaf node.
• Dip the cane pieces in rooting hormone. Stick the canes into the ground or into pots and cover with jars.
• Water the soil around the jars as needed so that the canes don’t dry out.
• It will take a couple of months for new bushes to take root and begin sprouting leaves.

Stick-in-the-Mud Method:

Follow directions above for making your cuttings, then stick your cane pieces into the ground or into small pots with soil. Water as needed.

This method works well where climate is mild—no temperatures about 100 degrees and no freezing weather.

Baggie Method:

Fill 2-inch pots with potting soil. Insert cane cuttings halfway inside the pots. Place the pots into gallon-size zip-lock bags – four pots will fit into a bag.

This method doesn’t work as well, since cuttings may rot from the bag folding over and preventing air circulation. It may work better if you put sticks inside the bag, stuck into the pots, to keep the bag upright and full of air.

Tips for Root Cuttings:

• Planting medium – The best mixture for cuttings is a 50/50 blend of sterile potting soil and vermiculite. It is light and encourages root growth.
• Cutters – Make sure cutters are sharp. Dull cutters will crush the stem.
• Rooting hormone – Using such a hormone will increase your success rate.
• Labels – Label your cuttings with their proper name.
• Rooting – It generally takes 4 to 8 weeks for cuttings to root, depending on the weather and rose variety.
• Watering – Always keep cuttings moist with good air circulation and sunlight.
• Slits – Making slits in cuttings an inch from the bottom will encourage more rooting. Use a knife to scrape off some of the stem’s exterior.
• Pots – If you are using pots be sure they are clean, especially if you are reusing them. Wash them with mild soap and hot water or in the dishwasher on the top rack.
• New Wood vs. Old wood – Cuttings can be taking from either with equal success. It is very important to let stems mature sufficiently before making cuttings. New wood is mature enough after the stem has finished its first blooming cycle. Some prefer to use old wood though. It is best to make old wood cuttings in the fall. In mild climates (no freezing weather), you may remove jars from new stems after four weeks; it should be warm enough for them to root on their own. Water daily so they don’t dry out.
• Buds – If flower buds appear next blooming season, remove them so that the young plants can put all of their strength into producing strong healthy plants.

Misting

As you get more confident in your propagating, you may want to set up a misting system. It can be on an open-air bench or enclosed in a small misting box or greenhouse. When setting up your system, you can choose to have the misters go off manually or have an automatic timer. It is whatever your budget and expertise permits. One family has a site that tells how they built their misting box; you can see it here.

May your roses flourish!

©2011 Off the Grid News

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