flowerfood:biodiverseed:hqcreations:I can’t believe I found some red and gold New Zealan
flowerfood: biodiverseed: hqcreations: I can’t believe I found some red and gold New Zealand tamarillos. Come to think of it, the first and last time I had them was 15 years ago in NZ. These guys are in the nightshade family - yup, cousins to the tomatoes, potato, peppers eggplants! They actually taste like a cross between a beefy San Marzano and a physalis. I scooped out the flesh into some gazpacho, because the skin tends to be too thick and acrid to eat. After some research, and it looks like the seed saving approach is very much like what is done with tomato seeds - yer gotta ferment them. There is a gooey coating on these seeds that prevents germination, and the easiest way to remove that goo is to simply rot it off through fermentation. Gross, I know, but it works. Anyhoot, it’s a little bit late to plant this year, but I try it next spring. #solanums / nightshades #seed saving I’ve heard about this fermentation drying method, but it seems counterintutive (and icky, especially while living in a small apartment with a lady friend who has Virgo on the ascendant). I’ve always just spooned out tomato/pepper/physalis/tamarillo seeds, plopped them into a fine-mesh strainer, rinsed and massaged off as much pulp as possible (not really necessary with peppers), then spooned the seeds onto a paper plate or folded paper towel. I’ll let the seeds sit uncovered, out of direct light, for at least two weeks. Then I’ll pull/gently scrape the seeds off of the paper and put them into coin envelopes or clean baby jars. Germination rates are just fine the following season. -- source link