Plants From The Produce Section of the Grocery Store

Plants From The Produce Section of the Grocery Store
http://www.bachmans.com/tipsheets/edibles/FunWithPlantsFromProduce.cfm
Some of the produce that it tells you how to grow: <
Lemon Grass, Ginger, Water Chestnuts, Peppers, Tomatoes, Pineapples, Citrus, Apples,
Mango, Avocado, Potatoes, Onions, Sweet Potatoes, Peanuts, Dried Beans, Wheat, Rye, Oats,
Sunflowers, Carrots, Turnips, Rutabagas

This is an excerpt from their web page, "Popcorn and Indian corn can be used as seed to grow more. Cherries, peaches and pears can all be treated just like you would apple seeds. Pumpkins and squash are filled with seeds that can be dried and saved for next season"

Judy

In my callow youth, I'd often try to grow plants from grocery store purchases. I'd try to grow orange, apple, and avocado trees. They never got very big, though, until they flopped over and died.

Are zucchini and squash seeds good for eating, just like pumpkin seeds? Has anyone ever tried growing squash from the seeds taken out of eating squash?

Perhaps you have more experience at gardening now and will be successful. All the "old-timers" here in the country save seed, but some hybrids don't come true so, I don't know but worth the effort I would think.

Judy

Note, many vegetables are eaten at an immature stage. Summer squash are for the most part inedible once the seeds develop, so the produce department is not a good place to acquire seeds. Any mature fruit, canteloupe, watermelon, winter squash will do ok. Squash and watermelon seeds can be eaten. Getting the tough hull off most of them is more trouble than its worth to me. There are thin hull "naked seed" cultivars grown for the seeds.

Farmerdill,

Thanks for the input!!!!

Judy

Judy, you must have more flavourful varieties available in your area's grocery stores. The produce in our local supermarkets these days seems like something grown more for its storage and shipping properties rather than taste or nutrition. Fortunately some of our market grower's are bringing some better varieties to the farmer's markets.

I totally agree, we stop at all the roadside markets and that's the place I would get the produce for seeds if possible, but things like mangos aren't grown locally.

We've gotten to the point that we only buy our meat at the local butcher shop which has USA produced pork and beef only. They try to obtain as much locally as possible.

(Confession... I love veggies, don't eat very much meat, not because I'm a vegetarian I just don't like the texture, but my DH, English Bulldogs, rescues, and 'the strays that came to stay' do. www.puppygal.com )

The best to each of you, every day of your life.

Judy

Love the photo series of the puppy and the cat!

This message was edited Aug 19, 2006 10:51 AM

Mr Cat is the greatest ever!!! It's his attitude that makes all the difference in the world in regard to his relationship with the dogs.

Confession... we had a stray that came to stay and after awhile he got aggessive with Mr. Cat, so I paid a $25 finders fee at the vet's for them to place him in a home without cats.

Judy

Not to discourage your impulse for seed saving (because I think it is something more of us should do or learn to do if we don't already) but I guess I wonder about the wisdom of trying to save seed from produce aisle vegetables or even from the local farmer's market. There are so many great sources of genuine heirloom seeds (many of them described and rated on this website in "Garden Watchdog"). I know it would delay your efforts by a season, but what about getting some heirloom seeds, planting them, seeing which ones you like, letting them grow to maturity, and then saving some of those seeds?

BDale60,

Great input and solid information.

But for some of the unusual items some of which are listed above (Pineapple, Lemon Grass, Ginger, Water Chestnuts) it's a fun thing and the produce sections of the groceries is an alternative souce.

All I've grown so far has been Taro root (6 ft giant elephant ears which are much cheaper with than any other source) and Ginger from Wal-Mart, interesting to grow my own. A friend purchased the Taro from an oriental market for me, but I don't plan to eat them. I've gotten some unique peppers from a local Mexican market which I'm going to attempt to sprout next spring.

For the serious veggie grower your suggests are very sound indeed.

--------------------------
Sorry to have started this thread in this Forum since most if not all of the comments are negative.
I would appreciate it if you all would just let it go away now.

Thanks,

Judy

This message was edited Aug 19, 2006 11:34 AM

Sorry Judy, sure wasn't trying to be negative. Sounds like you are having success with your approach and I wish you all the best. Happy gardening!

I didn't see that much negativity, truthfully. But I, and many gardeners, have been warned against planting seeds from supermarket fare. I can see the problem in my own potatoes. When one company didn't send me my seed potatoes, I got desperate and bought a couple potatoes from Whole Foods. I ordered seed potatoes from another company and planted those a couple weeks later. My seed potato plants are doing wonderfully. My storebought potatoes have started to get malformed leaves and stems.

So I'm pretty much sold on getting my seed from seed sources.

Judy, I apologize if you found my comments negative.
I've actually enjoyed this thread and was happy to hear the *somewhere* there were varieties at the produce market that someone actually wanted to grow! We used to do that when I was a kid - making carrot top gardens, sweet potatoes on toothpicks in a glass of water, with vines snaking all over the kitchen window sill etc. The variety and quality of produce in my areas have declined dramatically over the past 20 or 30 years.
Supermarket produce is now treated with a variety of chemicals and radiation to prevent or delay sprouting, so I didn't want you to be dissappointed if you planted from the market and then did not get a good return for your efforts.

I'm jealous of your taro plant. I LOVE taro!!!! That is one of my comfort foods.
Are you growing wetland or dryland taro?