question about bloomsdale spinach seeds

[Dave Ridley]

http://www.millingtonseed.com/Vegetable/Bloomsdale%20Spinach.htm

is all bloomsdale non-hybrid?  I hear it referred to as long standing and/or heirloom seed.

it appears to grow best in cool weather, in winter greenhouses, and contains a lot of vitamin A which can be hard to find in a crisis.
it becomes edible fast. 

but can you retreive seeds from the completed plant?

[jshmukatelli]

I haven't seen an offering of Bloomsdale that hasn't been heirloom.  The "long standing" means it resists bolting well (sending up seed in warmer weather).  You can google it and find the history of the variety, it sure looks like an heirloom exclusively.  If you get it through an heirloom company you'll be pretty safe.

You really should get the book "Seed to Seed" by Ashworth and Wealy (you can pick it up on Amazon or from most heirloom seed dealers).  It's pretty much the bible of growing, storing and planting heirloom seeds.

Some seeds are very simple to do (beans, for example, which have perfect self-polinating flowers)...others are more difficult due to a variety of reasons (like leeks, which you must preserve alive until their second year when they'll send up seed stalks).

Get the book...it has all the knowledge you'll need.  - Joe

[NJLiberty]

Yes, you can retrieve the seeds from the plant at the end of the year. Most of your greens develop seeds the same year if you let them "bolt." There are some plants, mostly root crops, that don't seed until their second year.

There are a number of good books about saving and raising vegetables from seed. Any of them should help you out.

If you do want to keep your own seeds from year to year you need to avoid hybrids. If you plan to grow more than one variety of a particular crop (or sometimes things within the same family) you need to keep them far apart or you might accidentally end up with your own hybrid!

If you keep your seeds in a cool, dry, dark place, you can save them from year to year. Some keep better than others obviously. Most seed packets you order will give you many more seeds than you will need for one season unless you are planning a very large garden.

George

[Beth221]

Raphanus bipinnatus

http://www.seedsofchange.com/enewsletter/issue_45/spinach.asp

Seed Saving:
Spinach is easy to save seed from and, if saved from your first spring crop, can provide you with all the seeds you'll need for fall planting. Identify 12-20 of your strongest plants and allow them plenty of space to mature. After the plants "bolt" you'll notice the female plants producing seed pods, while the males wither and die. Once the pods turn brown, the seeds are ready to harvest. I like to strip off the pods into a tub then crush them up to separate the seeds from the pods. You can run them through a seed cleaning screen or winnow to clean the seeds from the chaff. While it takes some extra time and garden space to do this, it is rewarding to grow from your own seed and develop a strain specific to your own soil and microclimate.


Bloomsdale Spinach (Raphanus bipinnatus)
Introduced in 1925, this classic, savoy-leafed spinach has tasty, thick, dark-green leaves. Grows well in spring or fall and can overwinter if protected with mulch. Dependable and cold hardy. Direct seed in early spring, as soon as the soil can be worked, for a spring crop, and in early August for harvest in the late fall.

[Dave Ridley]

wow that info really hit the spot beth..thanks!

[Dave Ridley]

one thing i dont know much about...
do these seeds have an indefinite shelf life? 

i saw one on ebay today that said it was "packaged for 2008"

is there some type of seed packaging you have to get to ensure an indef shelf life?  or is that even possible?

[Beth221]

you can not insure a seed life, i have seen old seeds sprout way after the date stamped on them.  There is seed loss the more years you wait.  To get the most out of your seeds, is to pant them the next growing season, to extract the most out of your seed collection, waiting a few years, expect to loose half of them if not more.  Dont let them get to hot, wet, moldy, too dry even.  Some seeds do not germinate the first year, they need to be planted a full year to feel the seasons before they sprout.  I have a seed book, and I am going to research seed saving for spinach for you, along with consulting my master gardener friend.


books-Seed to Seed by Suzanne Ashworth and Saving Seeds by Marc Brown.

some seeds require to be stored in mesh bags to breath, some in mason jars, some frozen to mimic winter, some in the fridge for a constant cool temp.   DRY them out is the key or you will loose them all to mold.

back to research.