do you check for seeds' viability if the package is old?

[RainDog]

is it worth the bother when a package costs under 2 bucks?

is it too weird to create a spread sheet of the things you're planting to note when they sprout, bear fruit, or fail?

and why can't I grow eggplant?!?!?

[guitar man]

1. Just because the package is a little old

that doesn't necessarily mean the seed isn't any good...

:hide:

:rofl:

:yoiks:

:hi:

[RainDog]

2. hey, I gave that one to you!

:applause:

and you were on it!

so now tell me how to grow eggplants. :)

[madinmaryland]

3. Heh! I had a 15 incher last year!

Zucchini, that is!

[guitar man]

5. Ok

You want your soil to have good drainage and a ph somewhere in the 6-6.5 range and rich in organic matter. Starting them from seedlings works best, but if you want to start your own from seeds, you should start them indoors 6-8 weeks or so before the last expected frost.Don't over water and they should be fine

Been a long time since I've planted a garden so I hope I'm remembering correctly

:hi:

[RainDog]

6. and then I'll get a 15 incher?

that girl, maidinmaryland, has a dirty mind!

what would I do with 15 inches anyway? that's a lot of veggie.

[guitar man]

8. only if your package isn't too old!!

:rofl:

[RainDog]

9. I guess I'll just show you, then.

humph.

[guitar man]

15. "pardon me while I whip this out"

:D

[RainDog]

21. I'm so confused.

the only thing I could whip out is a whizzinator. :)

except I've never even seen one in person. I only even heard about such a thing last year!!

[Debi]

4. He's 23 years old FFS!!

Oh, you weren't talking about ... nothing ... :yoiks:

[RainDog]

7. and he's got a roll of quarters in his pocket anyway.

girl, you need to get some fresh air. all that vampire lust is getting to you.

(actually, is he a vampire or does he become one? and - is he really an ABSTINENT vampire?!? - and if so, what good is that? - speaking in terms of pagan bloodletting to improve harvests, btw. bloodroot doesn't stop deer, just fyi.)

[Debi]

10. He's been in movies OTHER than the Twilight saga

*pout*

[triguy46]

11. I've used corn that is 3 years old with no problem. If you don't use it all this year...

plant it next. In a small garden a drop of 5 -10% germination rate is not a biggie. Most overplant anyway.

[RainDog]

12. so what are you planting this year?

I've got two types of eggplant with some seeds left over. I'm just gonna see if any of them germinate since they're older.

and tomatilloes.
and watercress
and banana peppers
and cilantro
and half of some early girl toms.
and creeping thyme
and luffa gourds - I tried these and didn't start them soon enough.
and sugar peas - which I should already have out.

because I didn't do my garden last year, except for toms. on the porch. so the seeds are more than one year old but they've been kept dry and cool, so I'll see.

this year I'm going to see what, if any of that, germinates.

have some sunflowers, chives, lettuce.

I want to start an asparagus row. When I move, that's something someone else can enjoy. I have blueberries that did really well last year so I'm gonna do some cuttings.

but I think I could survive all summer on tomatoes. so, cherry tomatoes, early girl and an heirloom variety.

[noamnety]

17. If tomatilloes work well for you

You might try ground cherries, too. Yum. Last year was my first time ever growing/tasting those, they're a definite keeper. I got addicted.

I tried luffas, finally decided my season just isn't long enough for them.

I hate radishes, but the husband eats them and they are a dependable grower so I usually plant a few. And then because the garden is my domain and I hate the radishes, I don't always get around to harvesting them. Last year I finally copped on that when they go to seed, they make pods like peas, and those are way more tasty than the radishes themselves, and it's a better value - since one plant keeps producing them all season it seems as long as you keep them picked. This year I splurged and got a pack of "rattail radishes" - grown for the pods. Here's a typical daily harvest from just three regular radishes I let go to seed last year:

[RainDog]

18. wow! I'll have to try that.

I love radishes. esp. the french, oblong kind.

there's a traditional way to eat them that you might like... or maybe not. there's something called "fresh cheese" in some places in Europe. it's not as heavy as cream cheese and not as liquid as sour cream.

anyway, for around here, you can use a 1/4 c. of sour cream, maybe a tspoon of cream for some substance, but not too much.

then, cut fresh chives into the sour cream, add coarse pepper. then, um, you use the rest of that baquette that's too hard. spread the sour cream/chives on open face bread, then slices of radishes.

I usually serve herb soup and have this for sandwiches for a spring meal. it's very good!

oh, how do you do with leeks?

[noamnety]

22. The combination of peppery flavor and cream sounds great.

I've been afraid to try leeks. I've got onions and chives, but I have a fear of not getting around to piling dirt around the base of the leeks properly. I envision everything getting planted, and then partway through the season I'm supposed to magically produce extra dirt out of thin air to make that happen.

[Gormy Cuss]

20. Most of that stuff should germinate at a rate of at least 40%

When using old seed, the key is to over-seed and prune as needed -- IOW, plant seeds closer together or several to a container.

Eggplant and peppers seem to germinate better for me in soil-less mix or Jiffy pellets. Keep the seedlings inside and warm until the weather is reliable warm outside. That seems to help.

[triguy46]

23. The older I get, the more focused I become, plus we have a vibrant farmers market...

So we grow bunches and bunches of onions, a few yukon golds mainly for new potatoes though they keep well. Eggplant. Zucchini. Tomatoes. Maybe a pepper or two. I may do corn, but then maybe not. Its a zero sum game: We have a very large garden, what I don't plant in vegetables wife plants in flowers, so we have either good fresh food or great flowers. Its a win win.

[RainDog]

26. all sounds good to me!

I've never grown corn. there's too much of it around where I am.

but it's just nice to be able to go into your backyard and pick lunch.

I was trying to grow the creeping thyme to plant between bricks for a patio (that I made, all by myself, which is why it... actually, it's okay) so that you would have that scent when you walked on it.

I have a lot of lavender, sedum, hostas, astilbe - that's the sort of thing I really like to grow. divide and increase them. can't eat those, tho.

I've tried to plant perennials and annuals with lots of white flowers or leaves so that they'll pick up moonlight.

that's what I like to do with gardening, really.

oh and keep the deer from eating everything. my next door neighbor is from thailand and he told me about eating daylilly buds. they're good too. also have used nasturiums in salads. they taste like cukes with pepper. so maybe there's some use in those things I love to plant too.

[noamnety]

13. I keep spreadsheets. (that doesn't mean it's not weird)

I use older seed regularly. The last few years I started sprouting some of my seed in ziploc baggies before putting them in the garden (except for things like carrots, lettuce, peas, things that just beg to be planted directly outside). I felt like I had better luck with germination that way. Even things that are supposedly extra hard to germinate (stevia) had great success that way, either put in damp paper towels or rubbed on some natural sponge.

And eggplant, ugh. I've been trying to start them from seed for years. I always give in and buy seedlings. This year, again, I'm trying to sprout some. I don't know what the problem is, whether I'm putting them out too soon before the soil is warm? I don't know. Maybe we should start an eggplant fail support group.

[RainDog]

14. so glad to know I'm not the only one

I'm gonna put black landscape or plastic under mulch to keep the ground warm and maybe hold moisture. (stuff I already have.)

I love roasted eggplant so I have to plant some one way or another.

I've always had much better luck with things like blueberries and perennial flowers.

My boss wants me to landscape her yard - which I may do to make some extra money - so I'll probably start seeds for that, too. but mostly I'll divide hostas and peonies and things like that. I used to donate lots of plants for my kids' school sales but last year I thought I was going to move more than once and that kind of kills the urge to put too much into a garden.

I've created a lilac standard that I haven't gotten to bloom yet so I'm hoping this year... plus I should feed it cause it's in a big pot.

[femmocrat]

16. I think you can layer them between damp paper towels to see if they sprout.

I never bothered though-- I just plant them in seed starter mix. If they sprout, yippee! If not -- so what, I tried!

I never tried to grow eggplant. (I cook about one eggplant a year. I'm not going to waste garden space on something we don't eat.)

I think a spreadsheet is a great idea. Lots of gardeners use journals. Yours is just more techie. Good luck! :hi:

[RainDog]

19. yeah, I've done it before with some seeds I had that were hard to find

but I had so many... I'm like you - I'll toss them in a starter tray and see what comes up.

when I plant moonflowers and morning glories I always soak them in water overnight and sometimes scrape the seed coat.

grilled eggplant and zucchini with sesame/garlic/ginger is da bomb!

[femmocrat]

24. That does sound good!

I'll have to try grilling it. Thanks!

[RainDog]

25. here's what I do with it

if you have a fish grill thing... a way to grill flaky fish... you know what I mean? -- anyway, I use one of those b/c eggplant has a lot of water in it.

soooo, here's the RainDog zucchini and eggplant marinade:

1/4 c. first press olive oil
1/4 t. sesame seed oil (this is for the flavor - and necessary - but you can get it in really small bottles)
a lot of minced garlic
a couple of t.s of minced ginger root
pepper

I like long slices of zucchini rather than kebobs.

I also roast eggplant under the broiler in the oven. you can also do that with bell peppers, then cover them with a dish towel for about five minutes until the skin rises. then it's easy to peel off (you have to do that before they cool down again, tho.)

roast pepper, eggplant and other veggies are good with vinaigrette. or you can make baba ghanoush, but I don't like the texture of tahini, so humus and baba ghanoush aren't my favorite thing.