Friday, April 6, 2012

April 6, 2012 journal


Although the weather continues to be cool, there has been quite a bit of sunshine this week to keep the greenhouse warm. That said, the sun has been too bright for the seedlings, so I have been growing them indoors in the tents. This afternoon I found an unused shade cloth from a small greenhouse that I had several years ago, and I decided that it would be perfect for protecting the seedlings from the direct light on the south side of the greenhouse. So, the tomatoes and peppers are sunning themselves on the south side of the greenhouse and the seedlings are happily thriving under the shade cloth on the unused north side of the greenhouse.


A few weeks ago I did a germination test on some seeds that have been in the freezer since 2009; as ninety percent germinated I decided to plant some. It has been so long since I have grown this variety I had forgotten how nice it is. It is an Italian variety called: Dark Red Lollo Rossa. There is an interesting post online concerning this variety and I thought I would share it:

In 1999, scientists at the University of Glasgow found that Lollo Rosso has 100 times more antioxidants than common lettuce. It also contains the antioxidant quercetin, which is believed to help prevent asthma and allergies by acting as a natural antihistamine.


Also a few weeks ago. my wife brought home a package of tomatoes that caught my attention, because the tomatoes were almost brown, and perfectly uniform in size. I found that it is a variety grown in greenhouses in Europe, and according to Wikipedia it is not a patented variety, so anyone can collect the seeds and grow their own. Here is a direct quote from Wikipedia: "anyone can retrieve seeds from a Kumato and grow plants for private use." That was enough to get me to collect seeds and ferment them.


After the seeds were
fermented, cleaned and dried; three seeds were planted as a germination test. Within just a few days the seeds have germinated, so I plan on growing the best of the seedlings in the greenhouse just for fun.




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