Category Archives: Garden Advice

Pre-Sprouting Pea Seeds: give your pea crop the best start

pre-sprouting seeds with an overnight soak

Watch them grow! These Wando English (Shelling) Pea seeds change dramatically with just an overnight soaking, the first step in pre-sprouting. (Wando is a favorite variety for excellent production in hot weather.)

the final product, sprouted peas
The final product! These are VERY ready to sow — don’t let the rootlets get any longer! I kept them moist after soaking by laying a damp cloth over them.

Pre-sprouting your seeds is an ideal technique for letting you see how well your seeds are germinating before you sow. If your seeds are old or haven’t been stored properly, you can pre-sprout them to make sure they’re still viable.

We only recommend pre-sprouting for large seeds, like beans, peas, spinach, and corn. Smaller seeds become difficult to handle when wet.

You don’t have to go all the way to sprouts: soak your seeds for at least 4 hours, but not more than 12 hours, to get much of the benefit of pre-sprouting, but without the hassle.

To pre-sprout the seeds, drain them after soaking and keep them evenly moist until the tiny first rootlets just barely emerge. We keep our seeds moist by rinsing them at least twice a day and covering with a damp cloth.

Watch your seeds very carefully! You should sow them as soon as the tiny rootlets emerge: they should only be about a quarter inch long. Wait just one or two days longer and you’ll have long, easily-damaged roots and stems.

Tomato Tasting Time: Planning a Fun Garden Party

By Ira Wallace
A perfectly ripe heirloom tomato is one of the great joys of summer, eagerly anticipated by gardeners all over the Southeast. I really like introducing folks to the many varieties we shepherd here at Southern Exposure.

Every year we host big tastings with 50-100 varieties of tomatoes, plus dozens of peppers and melons at the Heritage Harvest Festival at Monticello, and the Mother Earth News Fair at Seven Springs PA.

Heirloom tomato tasting fredericksburg southern exposure seed exchange organic
But a tomato tasting need not be such a large affair! A group of friends can get together in someone’s backyard or garden. Put up some tables, spread out everyone’s heirloom tomatoes and enjoy the taste. If this sounds like fun, here are some tips for organizing your own heirloom tomato party.

1. Pick a date when lots of tomatoes will be at their peak in your location. Here in central Virginia, that period starts around August 1 and ends on mid-September. If the organizer is a new gardener or new to the area, ask lots of experienced local gardeners.

2. Next you need tomatoes – lots of different tomatoes. You can either grow them all yourself or have group of your gardening friends each bring different varieties. If you host alone you can augment with different exciting varieties from your local farmers market, where you can depend on trusted local farmers to tell you exactly which tomato you are buying. Here are a few of the varieties that are perennial favorites for my friends and gardening neighbors: Cherokee Purple, Mortgage Lifter, Green Zebra, Garden Peach, Brandywine, Large Red, Amy’s Apricot, Matt’s Wild Cherry. Or you can see which varieties are favorites at the Monticello Tomato Tasting.

3. Make a plan and arrange the labeled tomatoes attractively. You will probably have a lot more than your guests can eat so only slice up one or two of each tomatoes of each variety.

Heirloom tomato tasting fredericksburg southern exposure seed exchange organic
4. Make sure you have enough of each variety for the crowd you expect. One very large tomato may do for a small tasting but your guests will love to see a whole beautiful intact example of the variety. So I try to have at least two fruits of large varieties, 3 or 4 of medium sized and a pint of pear or cherry tomatoes.

5. Make signs so everyone knows what they are trying. Labeling can be as simple as writing on white paper plates or index cards or, better yet, some recycled paper. I like to type up a little history and cultural info about each variety. You educate yourself and your gardening guests will love this bit of context as they taste.

Heirloom tomato tasting fredericksburg southern exposure seed exchange organic
6. Provide small plates, forks, napkins, and some plain crackers and water to “refresh the palate”.

7. You can make your tasting more of a meal with a fresh tomato salad with herbs, or by providing the fixings for fresh southern-style tomato sandwiches. If you are ambitious or have some friends helping, pull out the grill. And get someone to bring dessert.

8. To make your tasting all the more interesting, add some peppers or melons for people to taste. Or even some types of cucumbers. You don’t need a lot to make your party more fun. (These extras are especially helpful if some of the tomatoes you planned on aren’t available.)

9. Tomato Tastings are a great place to start seed saving with a new open pollinated variety you really liked. I usually use a wet seed fermentation technique when I’m saving tomato seeds (for higher germination rates). However, if you’re just getting started, you can just scoop out a few seeds onto a paper towel or into a small ziplock plastic bag. Don’t forget to label! As soon as you get home, spread out your seeds on a plate or screen to dry (skipping the fermentation step).

10. Other add-ons can enrich the event. Give tomato growing info if you and your guests are gardeners. Have guest share about seed saving techniques, if they have knowledge on the topic. (Saving your own seeds is an exciting part of growing heirlooms.) Where did you get your seeds? Which are your favorite catalogs? What was easy, or hard, about growing this or that variety this year?

Heirloom tomato tasting fredericksburg southern exposure seed exchange organic
If you have never been to a Tomato Tasting, stop by our booth at the Mother Earth News Fair in Seven Springs this year to say hi and taste some perfectly vine ripened tomatoes, peppers and melons. Or check our calendar for an event near you. Who knows, you may get inspired to host your own!

Harvesting Tips for 8 Summer Vegetables

Frequent rains and lots of sunshine makes for lots of produce. Here are a few hints for harvesting some of our most popular summer crops.

Beans

Pay attention to your pods. Fresh, juicy, bright green pods indicate tasty broad, lima, and green shell beans. Snap beans should snap easily and have crisp pods with pliable tips. Harvest full-size snap bean pods before the beans begin to bulge.
For Edamame and Greasy Beans pods should be green and bulging with seeds.
Pick daily for a continuous supply.

Fresh tastes best—harvest beans right before you use them.

heirloom cucumber southern exposure seed organic growing tips
Cucumbers

Frequent harvesting of cucumbers helps the vines produce new fruit.
Pick bright green, firm slicing cucumbers when they reach 6 to 9 inches long.
Detach cucumbers from the vine with a quick, upward snap.

heirloom eggplant southern exposure seed organic growing tips
Eggplant

Select glossy eggplants that spring back when pressed. Use shears to remove eggplants from the vine.

Lettuce

Harvest lettuce in the morning.
Immerse lettuce immediately into cold water after cutting; then rinse and refrigerate.
Cut leaf lettuce when outer leaves are 4 to 6 inches long; harvest “juvenile lettuce” when heads are moderately firm and only half size to avoid bitterness during hot weather.

heirloom watermelon southern exposure seed organic growing tips

Melons

Harvest most muskmelons when the stem separates easily from the fruit. The skin between the netting turns from green to yellow at full ripeness.
The belly of a watermelon turns from greenish white to buttery yellow at maturity; the curly tendrils where the stem meets the melon to turn brown and dry; the melon sounds more like your chest than your head when thumped.
heirloom Pepper southern exposure seed organic growing tips
Peppers

Personal preference dictates when you pick peppers.
Take care when picking—pepper plants damage easily.
Pick pimiento peppers when they’re fully red.

heirloom squash southern exposure seed organic growing tips
Summer Squash

Pick frequently: small zucchini and yellow squash (6 to 10 inches long) and scalloped squash (3 to 6 inches in diameter) have the best flavor.
Tasty fruits have tender rinds (they should puncture easily with a fingernail) and soft seeds.

heirloom cucumber southern exposure seed organic growing tips

Tomatoes

Pick fully ripe, but firm, tomatoes for juicing or canning.
Harvest green tomatoes before a killing frost and ripen indoors.
Store unbruised tomatoes out of the fridge for the best flavor.