Gathering Seeds

I have been bitten once again with the gardening bug this year. Slowly learning more and more, and hopefully getting better at it. This year I have been collecting seeds. I have many ounces of arugula seeds from our prolific patch. Just recently I have begun collecting poppy seeds from California poppies that grow along Kincross under the pine tree.

What a silly hobby, right? Anyone with $10 can go to Home Depot and buy a bag of CA poppy seeds, huge bag, perhaps 8 ounces. So why bother collecting seeds at all? Well, hobbies tend to be things that take time and could easily be replaced by spending money. But it is the act of the hobby that is its own reward, and the satisfaction that you did it yourself.

I went out one morning with Sean to collect some poppy seeds. I got a few dozen pods that were turning brown, and put them in a plastic bag. I noticed that there were many pods that were open and whose seeds had fallen out already. Later that evening I went to the poppy patch to pick some more. Almost immediately, when I went to grab a brown pod, it exploded and sent seeds everywhere! I reached for another, and the same thing happened. I pushed up a fallen poppy plant and could hear numerous pops as brown seed pods "popped" open. And so I learned why poppies are called poppies. You would never learn that from a $10 bag from Home Depot.

Then I wondered - why are they popping now, when I did not notice this in the morning? The next morning I went out, and sure enough, the pods were not popping. I noticed that they felt moist. That evening when I went to pick them, they were popping once more, and felt dry. So it is related to humidity, and moisture content of the pods. I don't know if the plants themselves remove moisture from the pods on purpose during the course of a day, or whether the moisture is wicked out by the air against the attempts of the poppies to retain moisture.

But at least I have learned an important lesson. The bag I was using was a plastic zip-lock , bag, and I had sealed it after putting in the pods that first morning. When I opened the bag later that day, the pods inside were moist, and not popped open. I now store the unpopped seed pods in a plastic bucket for a while, so that they can dry and pop. Then the seeds will go into a plastic bag until I plant them.

I also have numerous Oriental, Shirley, and Mexican poppy seeds, whose pods look like little pepper shakers. But we are not too sold on these flowers. They are beautiful, but grow so tall that they fall over and look messy. CA poppies are shorter and less prone to falling over. So now we have a choice of what to plant next year.

Books Read, May 07

May 07
Secrets of Plant Propagation
Great intro to this subject. Got me experimenting with making cuttings and trying to get them to root. I would like to propagate a number of bushes this way: red lake currant and mums from our yard; wild currant found near Teller Lakes on Valmont; Va Creeper from Scott Carpenter Park.

Seeds and Cuttings by H. Peter Loewer
The book is from 1975, so dated. But the art of gardening and propagation has not changed much for the average gardener since then! Good overview of plant reproduction, sexual (seeds) and asexual (cuttings, division, &c)

Oracle Database Essentials 2nd edition, O'Reilley
An old book for its topic (3rd ed is out), but free from the library. Like mant O'Reilley books, gives a great overview of the architecture of Oracle DB which is great since my experience is with Sybase and Sql Server. Good to see what the heck the difference is between an instance and a database! And as I grow more experienced with Oracle, the book remains relevant, so I would recommend this to anyone who uses Oracle databases. 

Earlier Readings:

Mountains Beyond Mountains by Tracy Kidder
A Journalist writes about Dr Paul Farmer and his work in Haiti helping to establish health care system in the poorest nation in the western hemisphere. Farmers' example and dedication is inspiring. Soon after we read this, Paul Farmer actually came to speak at St John's Cathedral in Denver, and we went. The actual man himself does not come off as arrogant as he comes off in the book. Not that he comes off bad in the book, but without knowing him personally, I did associate his dedication with similar dedication that I've seen in other professionals, which can harbor a very annoying arrogrance!


Amazing Grace by Johnathan Kozol
About a neighborhood in the Bronx and the trials and tribulations of the families there.

Compassion by Henry Nouwen

The Working Poor

Journal, more or less

I I'm not sure why I want to blog here, other than it seems that putting a file on my local computer is lame in this internet age.

I went running this morning for the first time in a few weeks. My cholesterol was high at my last physical, so along with reducing fat in my diet, I have resolved to exercise more.

It was cold, in the 20s this morning. Clear sky with high clouds that put shadows on some parts of the distant Rockies. Snow covered part of the trail still, but it was packed down, so was easy to run on. I went out of my front door and west on the CottonTail Trail.

I saw two Northern Flickers on atop a dying tree. They were bobbing their heads at each other; maybe the tree is their nest. I read that they nest in hollowed trees.

Anyway, that's my first blog. Woo hoo!