GARDENbasics

Preserve Your Garden Produce for Delicious Winter Meals

By Melinda Myers

All your hard work is paying off with a bountiful harvest. Fresh produce is filling your garden, countertops, and refrigerator while the garden keeps producing more. Preserve some of your harvest to enjoy throughout the winter with some tried-and-true or updated variations on food preservation techniques. Hanging bundles of herbs to dry is a long-time practice that works. Harvest herbs in the morning just after the dew has dried off the leaves. Rinse, allow them to dry, and remove any damaged or dried leaves. Gather the dry herbs into small bundles and secure with a rubber band. Use a spring-type clothespin to hang the bundles from a clothesline or hanger in a warm, dry, airy place away from direct sunlight. A modern twist on this tradition is the space-saving Stack!t Herb Drying Rack (for sale at gardeners.com or https://amzn.to/3D0jkFf), hung from the ceiling. You will be able to dry large quantities of herbs in any narrow, outof-the-way space. Extend the life, flavor, and nutritional value of squash with proper harvesting and storage. Only store unblemished and damage-free fruits and vegetables to reduce the risk of mold and decay developing during storage. Harvest zucchini when the fruit is 6 to 8 inches long and scalloped squash when 3 to 6 inches in diameter. Store these in a plastic bag in the vegetable crisper drawer in your refrigerator for several days. Wait to harvest winter squash when the fruit is full-sized, and the rinds are firm and glossy. The portion touching the ground turns from cream to orange when the fruit is ripe. Use a pruner to harvest the fruit, leaving a 1-inch stem on each fruit. Cure all winter squash, except for acorn, in a warm, humid location. Then move to a cool, dry, well-ventilated area to store for several months. In the past, gardeners stored these, potatoes, onions, and fruit in wooden racks that maximized storage space and allowed air to reach each layer of produce. An updated version, the Gardener’s Supply Orchard Rack, adds convenient drawers to this traditional storage system. Boost your cabbage harvest with this trick: Remove firm, full-sized heads but leave the lower ring of leaves and roots intact. The plant will form several smaller heads. Harvest cucumbers based on how you plan to use them. Pick the fruit when it is 1½ to 2½ inches long if you plan on making sweet pickles. Allow the cucumbers to grow a bit bigger, 3 to 4 inches, if dill pickles are on the menu. Harvest those for slicing when the skin is firm and bright green, and the fruit is 6 to 9 inches long. Turn a portion of your harvest into something delicious. Fermentation is a relatively easy preservation technique used for thousands of years. Preserve some of your cucumbers as pickles, cabbage as sauerkraut, and berries as preserves with fermentation. Store fermented fruits and vegetables in a cool, dark place or extend their shelf life by canning the finished product. For most projects, you just need the fruit or vegetables, water, salt, and spices. Place the desired ingredients in a covered vessel, like Gardener’s Supply Fermentation Crock (https://amzn. to/3y4mi7R). Use weights to keep the fruit and vegetables submerged in water throughout the fermentation process. If your garden is still producing when frost is in the forecast, extend the harvest season. Cold frames and cloches are tried-and-true techniques for extending the growing season. A modern method employs floating row covers. These spun fabrics allow air, light, and water through while protecting plants from frosty conditions. Cover the plantings and anchor the fabric in place. Lift to harvest and enjoy several

Wooden orchard racks maximize storage space, while allowing air to reach each layer of produce. Photo courtesy of Gardener’s Supply Company.

more weeks, even months, of gardenfresh produce. Select the storage and preservation methods that work best for your garden produce, growing location, and lifestyle. Once you enjoy homegrown produce in winter meals, you will start growing more produce to eat fresh, share, and preserve. o

Melinda Myers has written numerous books, including Small Space Gardening. She hosts The Great Courses “How to Grow Anything” DVD series and the nationally syndicated Melinda’s Garden Moment television and radio program. Myers is a columnist and contributing editor for Birds & Blooms magazine and was commissioned for her expertise by Gardener’s Supply to write this article. Her website is www.MelindaMyers. com.

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#SavetheSeeds: What To Do with Old Seeds

By Elizabeth McGovern Assink

My husband and I bought our first home together in Northern Virginia nearly 10 years ago. One of the first things we did was build six box frames for an ambitious vegetable garden. The home also came with a modest old greenhouse, so we decided we would start our veggies there from seed. Over time, we picked up seeds here and there and eventually found ourselves at one of the Washington Gardener Magazine-sponsored seed exchanges at Green Spring Gardens in Alexandria, VA. Attending the Washington Gardener Seed Exchange was like being a child let free in a candy store. We happily overindulged. We took our dozens of packets home and sorted them, made plans for them, and even grew some. We happily returned the following years with our homemade nametags, won garden prizes, and collected more seed packets. While we increased our seed inventory, I cannot say that our vegetable garden grew more—but we diligently continued to collect the seeds. When this past spring came around, we pulled out what is now lovingly called our “seed library.” We discussed throwing most of them away because they were getting old. Perhaps discard only the ones that were more than two years old? As we were re-sorting by year, I saw the historic seeds from Monticello and Mount Vernon. Well, we cannot throw those out! I then saw the seed packets from the swap where local gardeners had lovingly harvested and created homemade packaging. We cannot throw away Turks Turgan Squash or Crosby’s Egyptian Beets, and what about these marked Satan’s Chili Pepper—how hot are they really? I then saw some seeds from our first vegetable gardens—the lemon cucumbers, the sesame seeds I harvested, and all the tomato varieties... It just seemed wrong to throw them away. Instead of throwing them out, we decided to do an experiment: With the pandemic time on our hands, we would try them all! If they did not sprout, then we would let them go. We proceeded to try to propagate 39 types of vegetables (including herbs) representing 148 varieties that were three to 10 years old. This included: • 71% from 23 seed companies • 6% historical seed varieties from Mount Vernon and Monticello • 23% hand-collected by local gardeners Overall, we grew anywhere from four to five seeds to dozens (tomatoes) of each kind. We also had an additional control group of seeds from 2020–2021 including 12 types representing 17 varieties. We got some of these newer seeds from our local Little Free Library (#104242) this spring where we sponsored a seed swap, hoping to give some seeds away. Considering most seeds were more than two years old and some as old as 10, we did not expect to have a high yield. We were certainly wrong. Here is what we learned in our homegrown experiment. • Keep your seeds! 81% of all seeds from 2010–2019 sprouted. We learned that tomato seeds sprouted 100% regardless of seed age among 10 varieties. Many varieties of cucumber, beets, basil, tea, mustard, and zucchini sprouted above the overall 10year average. The cucumbers, beets, and mustard were particularly robust plants, sprouting right away. • Try seeds from multiple years. We also grew squash, basil, lettuce, and hot peppers from four or more different seed harvest years with excellent results. We noticed that 90% of the 10 varieties of basil thrived since 2012 and 100% during a five-year period from 2014–2018. Along with tomatoes, these were some of our greatest successes. • Not all did well. Lettuce only had a 27% success rate among 15 varieties—although the Bok Choi and Pak Choi notably thrived. Perhaps we are not using the right soil? Was it too warm? Chervil, chives, parsnip, and tarragon were the only ones out of the 148 varieties that did not sprout at all. Sweet peppers did better (100%) than hot peppers (57%). So, what do you do with a few hundred sprouts? Now that we had all these sprouts, we needed to find homes for them. We created “garden containers” for friends. We gave away tomatoes to neighbors, our fitness trainers, and colleagues from work. We hosted a plant swap in our neighborhood, advertised on the local Buy Nothing group, and arranged for a local community food bank to take the rest. Of course, we have kept some to grow ourselves and are looking forward to that heirloom squash this year. It has been a great exercise in learning to love what you have. If you have your own seed library, we encourage you to try out your own study and renew your garden. Let us know how it goes, and see you at the next Seed Exchange! o

Elizabeth McGovern Assink gardens in Fairfax Station, VA. She can be reached at eamcgovern@gmail.com and uses #savetheseeds on social media.

Horticulture Therapy at Pathway Homes Event

By Jackie DiBartolomeo

Pathway Homes, a Northern Virginia nonprofit providing mental health services, especially stable housing, to individuals affected by poverty and inequity, launched its first community garden in Herndon, VA, on July 22. Karrie Delaney, delegate; chairman Jeffrey McKay, Fairfax County Board of Supervisors; and Kathy Smith, Fairfax County Board of Supervisors member were among those at the garden unveiling. Volunteers from Bernstein Management came to install six garden beds. The garden beds are raised, providing easier access to residents with mobility challenges. The raised garden beds will also allow for more flexibility in plant choices and quick changeovers to new crops, depending on the season and weather conditions. “Our community garden program is exciting and multifaceted. For our residents who deal with mental health challenges, gardening is empowering and will bring joy, physical activity, and a sense of accomplishment while also providing nutritious food,” said Pathway Homes CEO Sylisa Lambert-Woodard at the event. The community garden provides not only nutrition and physical health to residents, but socialization and mental health aid as well, through horticulture therapy. Horticulture therapy is “the use of plants and plant-related activities to improve a person’s health and overall well-being,” said Hannah Berisford, an ASHS Certified Professional Horticulturist and founder of BotaniGal, a company based in Reisterstown, MD, that makes fun and unique house plants more accessible to everyone. Horticulture therapy is typically done in a group setting, with a specific goal in mind, such as help with anxiety or overall mood, Berisford said. Mental health conditions such as OCD, anxiety, and depression can all be aided by horticulture therapy, explained Berisford. This is because it specifically targets the “feel-good” neurotransmitters dopamine and serotonin, she said. “Horticulture therapy is based around the biophilia hypothesis, which states that humans have an innate draw toward nature and want to be around green spaces,” Berisford said. “In my opinion, this is why horticulture therapy works. Individuals have a natural draw to it.” Along with benefits for mental health, there is much more that horticulture therapy can assist in. Things like improved muscle tone and motor skills, better socialization, improved memory and cognition, and more can all be gained, Berisford said. A community garden isn’t the only place where horticulture therapy can be effective. Passive horticulture therapy, which does not require physically interacting with the environment, also has benefits. “Horticulture therapy can be implemented in our everyday lives by surrounding ourselves in as much green space as possible. This can be done by going to a park, going on a hike, or just walking around a garden center,” Berisford said. Pathway Homes hopes to use the community garden to further their focus on the intersection of mental and physical health. For many residents, this intersection is a real benefit to their stay at Pathway Homes. “I really like to cook, and nothing would be better than fresh spices and vegetables that I could make. Gardening is something that can keep my mind occupied, and I really do better when I have something to occupy my mind. I am really excited to have the garden,” said James Settle, a Pathway Homes resident. Another benefit to horticulture therapy can be a sense of accomplishment from giving back to the planet. “The best part about gardening is giving the care and watching the transformation into something good from the earth,” said Tim Turner, a fellow Pathway Homes resident. In a second phase of the community garden, Pathway Homes plans to help clients sell their produce at local farmer’s markets to earn extra income from the harvest. Pathway Homes also plans to add community gardens to more of their properties in the future. o

Jackie DiBartolomeo is a journalism major at the University of Maryland, College Park, and an intern this summer with Washington Gardener. She is also a staff reporter with The Campus Trainer.