Seed saving 101

Gardeners! If you’re in a temperate climate like we are (zone 5b), you’ve likely noticed that most, if not all, of your annual flowers and vegetables have either set seed or are well on their way to doing so. We’ve had an exceptionally warm autumn this year; normally by now we’d have seen overnight lows into the mid- and high 30s, but we haven’t yet dropped below 40 degrees. This means that many annuals have simply kept on producing and haven’t yet been triggered to set seed and then die; while day length has of course decreased, temperatures have remained unusually high. This is terrible news for the massive wildfires burning in Utah and Wyoming (we are once again coughing under smoky, hazy skies) but great news for those of us focused on saving seeds, since our window of opportunity is still open – for at least another week or two here.

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Farm update: September 16

We are on the cusp of autumn here on the Western Slope and the weather is truly spectacular; any Colorado resident will tell you that September here is like nowhere else. Most days remain warm and bluebird sunny, but the overnight lows routinely drop into the mid-40s, and our morning and evening chores require an extra layer. A hard freeze is in our near future – three to four weeks, at most – and this year I won’t be too sad about letting the crops go. It has been a tough season of learning, and we need time to rest and regroup.

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