Dan L. wrote:

> Seed Saving will have to be another year or two for me. Small
> incremental steps for me. I do have purchased seeds saved up. A small
> 12x12 greenhouse is in my future IF I can hang on to my job. I am not
> sure if I can afford the solar or wind generators at this time for
> electric power. I have the gardening and composting down fairly well. I
> can heat with wood or propane. I have lots of trees.

Seed saving is an interesting art. Tomatoes are very rarely true breeds these
days, except for ones that are known to be "heirloom" they are almost all
hybrids and will go back to their original varities in as little as one
generation. Not all heirloom tomatoes are true either, I saw on another list
that the Rutgers tomatoes are now considered heirloom, while they are hybrids
(but were first produced around 70 years ago).

Tomato seeds are almost indestructable, you can easily save them by
spooning them into a cup, add a few inches of water and let sit. When
they mold, remove the mold and any floaters, pour out the water and let
dry. They last better in the freezer as George says in another post.
Tomatos fed to chickens have been known to grow unexpectedly from seeds
that went through them and the chicken droppings were used as
fertilizer.

Cherry tomatoes can be reseeded by letting a few of the late crop drop on
the ground and burying them.

Cucumbers are another odd one, they tend to cross with whatever is near,
you can end up with a big watermellon that tastes like a lousy cucumber,
and so on.

> pickling kind. Can one pickle slicing cucumbers? Are they as good as the
> pickling kind?

Generally yes, but before they start to produce seeds. IMHO they make
better vinegar (refrigerator/bwb) pickles instead of fermented ones.

Geoff.

--
Geoffrey S. Mendelson, Jerusalem, Israel N3OWJ/4X1GM