Saving Okra Seeds & Garden Update

This is an 8.5" x 11" box and it is full of okra seeds I harvested.  I will be planting these next year and will have way more than I need.  

In order to save okra seeds you let some pods grow to their full size and dry on the plant.  Then just twist off the pointy end and split the pod open by sections over a box lid like this or a large, wide bowl.  They just roll out.  Make sure they are very dry before storing in a paper envelope in the refrigerator until spring.  

I only had 3 plants this year because the seeds I bought and planted never germinated.  A friend gave me his extra plants.  They did not produce enough at one time for meals but were added to other okra we got from the friend.  So I let most of the pods go to seed.

Right before the freeze I picked all the tomatoes.  That pile is about 2 tomatoes deep.  Lots more than I was expecting since we had such a pitiful summer harvest.  I'm hoping for better next year.  I have a batch of the Wild Texas tomato seeds my friend gave me, they are about the size of cherry tomatoes and oh so good.

I had 18 total watermelons from one plant, a big success.  I planted seeds twice and they failed to germinate so I picked up a Black Diamond plant from the nursery.  These were the last I picked before the freeze.  They are not totally ripe and will not ripen further but are still good, just pink inside and not as sweet.  If some of the smaller ones are more white inside they can be used like cucumbers.  

I saved seeds from the 2 largest melons and will plant with those next year.  Just save your seeds and wash them in a sieve to remove any melon and lay on paper towels to dry well before storing in a paper envelope in the refrigerator until spring.

Sadly the freeze killed my fall potato plants even though I had a -4 degree row cover on them.  

This was the harvest.  The potatoes I started with took forever to make eyes so I was about 3 weeks late to get them in the ground.  I planted 16 potatoes, 6 made it while the others rotted.  I have 3 of the original potatoes still good to eat plus these babies.  Small but at least I know they grew.  There were a lot of tiny potatoes too small to pluck off the root so if it had not frozen or if the row cover had worked better we would have had a decent harvest.  I've learned a lot this year.