Several weeks ago, I noticed a little surprise in our yard, near the old stone barbecue:
Seedlings! Last fall, after the (whole, not carved) pumpkins on our porch began to rot, I threw them in a corner of our yard. I thought, "Well,
maybe they will sprout next year and we can have a little pumpkin patch...But probably the rotting pumpkins will just add nutrients to the soil."<
>
Well, surprise, surprise, we have a pumpkin patch!
Many of the foods we purchase give us seeds. Not all of those seeds will sprout, because genetically altered seeds are sometimes sterile. And not all will produce food exactly like the mother plant because they are hyrbrids. (
Check out this post for more about the difference between traditional and hybrid seeds.) You can use these seeds exactly like you would any other seeds - and sometimes you can use the actual, edible part of the food to grow more food. For details, I recommend the book
Don't Throw It, Grow It. Even if you're not a serious gardener, this makes for a little fun for the kids.
Try it!
Seedlings! Last fall, after the (whole, not carved) pumpkins on our porch began to rot, I threw them in a corner of our yard. I thought, "Well, maybe they will sprout next year and we can have a little pumpkin patch...But probably the rotting pumpkins will just add nutrients to the soil."<
>
Well, surprise, surprise, we have a pumpkin patch!
Many of the foods we purchase give us seeds. Not all of those seeds will sprout, because genetically altered seeds are sometimes sterile. And not all will produce food exactly like the mother plant because they are hyrbrids. (Check out this post for more about the difference between traditional and hybrid seeds.) You can use these seeds exactly like you would any other seeds - and sometimes you can use the actual, edible part of the food to grow more food. For details, I recommend the book Don't Throw It, Grow It. Even if you're not a serious gardener, this makes for a little fun for the kids.
Try it!
Makes me think of all the 'volunteer' cantaloupe we had when I was growing up. Almost every year, we had cantaloupe plants, and only rarely did we plant them. We didn't throw the seeds out, though, so we have no idea how they always managed to take off. To this day, my Dad usually gets a volunteer plant or two every year... and has to pester his co-workers to take the melons!
ReplyDelete