Seed Scarification

Seed scarification can be an important part of learning how to garden. Do you have any idea what it is? This week, we will talk about it so you can start incorporating it into your seed planting. David has recently started using this garden concept in our personal planting.

Seed Scarification - 1/29-2/4/2024

Monday, January 29, 2024

Good Monday morning. The temperature got down to 38° overnight. It is now 7am and 40°. It will be a very busy day. Of course, there are many orders. Weekends seem to do that. Sundays are the day of the week when we receive the most online orders. Also, we went shopping and we bought a lot of new soft drinks and new snacks for the store. Many times, our customers have driven a long way when they get here and they need a snack and/or a drink so we have them. I have to unpack and price them all today.

Plus, we just got in a shipment of pecan whole bean coffees and pecan treats. They were supposed to send us some of the ground coffee but did not.

Eggs

I now have dozen eggs in my Farm Store fridge. For quite a while, they were being purchased on a regular basis. Now, very few people are buying my farm fresh, pretty colored packages of eggs that I am selling for $4 a dozen. I was selling them for $5 a dozen last year and they sold very well. There are several other sellers within 20 miles or less of me who sell their eggs for $5, $6, and $7 a dozen. Same eggs from their chickens. They are selling them out of stock and always need more. I am selling my fresh eggs for $4 a dozen and no one is buying. Why is that? It hit me yesterday that it has to be because my eggs are so cheap when everyone else around here is selling them for so much.

While I was collecting the eggs on Sunday afternoon, I decided that I am through listening to folks who tell me they will buy if I lower the price. I did lower it and they have not bought any. Meanwhile, they are buying the higher priced eggs as if mine are inferior. My eggs are wonderful, delicious, and it is not cheap to buy the good feed for my chickens. Therefore, starting today, my price is back up to $5 a dozen. Of course, Walmart has the cheaper eggs where they are $2.67 a dozen for eggs that come from crowded, caged chickens with light yellow yolks instead of the dark yellow to orange yolks that mine produce.

Today was a busy day. It is now 6:11pm and I just finished the orders that were pulled. There are more but those will have to wait until tomorrow. We had extra help today in pulling the orders. There were just so many. The mailman took three full bags plus a box.

I also unpacked all of the snacks for the store and put them in the snack baskets in there. I sold two plants this afternoon and then continued to work. Now the sun has gone down and I need to feed the dogs and cat and make dinner.

It was payday so I wrote all of the checks plus more to pay bills. Then I sent in a check to renew our nursery license.

Our TV commercial should start playing on MeTV tomorrow afternoon through the evening so look for it. It is different than the one we played two years ago.

Seed Scarification

This is the plastic coffee can that David is doing seed scarification in.

What is seed scarification? Seed scarification is the process of changing the outer part of the seed so that it will absorb water faster and germinate easier. Some seeds have very hard outer shells. Some seeds are perfectly fine just the way they are and germinate easily. That has been our experience with most of the seeds that we plant but there are some very difficult seeds to germinate.

Here is how David does seed scarification:

David puts a strip of fine sandpaper inside the coffee can, adds the seeds, adds the lid, and shakes for about 60 seconds. That is really all the help most seeds need.

David places the seeds in an old plastic coffee can along with a fine piece of sandpaper. Then he puts the lid on the can and shakes it for about 60 seconds. This scratches the outer portion of the seeds allowing them to take in water faster, which in turn means the plant will come up out of the dirt quicker.

Tuesday, January 30, 2024

Good Tuesday morning! There is so much going on right now. David and I left at 8am with Pamela and Sue Ellen. We took them to a new vet for their yearly shots. We also got them each a box of combination heartworm and tick and flea chews that will last each puppy for six months. Those cost $221 each. Total spent at the vet today was $797! That is nuts.

Then we stopped off at Morales Feed for six bags of Eggmaker feed for the chickens and that was $108.00. The truck's gas tank was down to 1/4 full so we got gas for $54. It has been very expensive!

We got back to the farm and Seth and Nacho were mowing the new four acres. Jon has been pulling up turnips and carrots.

David and Nacho took off to get rabbit manure from another farm who is getting rid of all of their rabbits. We bag it and sell it because rabbit manure is great for your garden and great for your plants. You do not need to compost it first. It will not burn your plants.

All of the orders have been pulled and all of the Amazon orders have been mailed. I have to ship the website orders. DaLaina is here helping again today as are our two teen helpers so we have a full house.

No customers have graced our gate yet today but it is going to be a beautiful, sunny day with a high of 72°. Right now it is 58°.

We ended up having several customers today but not the onslaught that usually accompanies a beautiful day. We also got the ground coffee in and I put that on display in the Farm Store. I will be adding them to the website so we can start selling them online. If you want some of our pecan coffees, we have five ground flavors and six whole bean at the store right now.

Well, after just getting the riding lawn mower fixed after months of it not working, it was broken yesterday again. Normally, the people who come to cut the property use their own mowers but for some reason, one of them used ours and that is that again. I just don't understand.

Seed Scarification

The purple stalk is Purple Passion asparagus. Asparagus seeds will benefit from seed scarification. Take good care of your asparagus bed and it can last for 20 years!

All seeds do not need seed scarification. If you have been planting garden seeds that come up very quickly and easily, they do not need it. Some seeds have a harder outer shell to protect the inner seed, also known as the embryo, from harm during adverse winter conditions.

Some fruit and vegetable seeds that do need it are:

Asparagus
Beans
Corn
Gourds
Melons
Okra
Peas
Spinach
Strawberry Seeds
Tomato
Winter Squash

Some flower seeds that need seed scarification are:

Bluebonnets
Lupine
Milkweed
Moonflower
Morning Glory
Nasturtium
Sweet Pea

Herb seeds that need to be stratified include:

Mallow
Licorice
White Sage

Wednesday, January 31, 2024

Good morning. Our commercial never came on yesterday or Monday. David will call and find out what is going on. I was under the impression that it would not start until tomorrow. It is hard to say what is going on.

It is 10am. Our order helper has already pulled orders and gone home. Nacho is here again working. All of us are doing various things around the place.

I have cleaned the pond and refilled it. Nacho and Seth actually cleaned all of the filters yesterday so the water is looking nice and clear.

Our Beautiful Tomato Plants

Our homegrown, greenhouse raised, seeds planted by hand Tomato plants are ready to sell. They will sell for $7.95 a piece. We have Tycoon, Celebrity, Sun Gold, Supersweet, Juliet, Cherokee Green, Cherokee Purple plus more!

If you are in South Texas and you have not yet started your tomatoes, you are late. We have some for you here at the Farm. I know the price is higher, but all of our costs have gone up including heat, water, equipment, seeds, and fertilizer. The big box stores are selling a bit cheaper, between $5 and $7 but they were planted by machine and they don't have the variety that we have.

As you can see, the tomato plants are a good size. They are not to be planted outside until the danger of frost is past in your area but they are available for purchase now. No, we will not ship them. You actually have to come to the farm to get them.

Here is what David says about the cost of tomato plants this year:

David's Garden Seeds® has tomato plants ready to sell. This year they will $7.95 no matter the size or how many you purchase.

Before you accuse us of highway robbery keep the following in mind.

We grow our own which means we do it by hand instead of by machine like the big boys do. This is labor intensive. Labor is not cheap.

Due to the cold snap, and the fact that we have to keep the temperature at least 55 degrees for the plants to grow, we have added electrical and propane gas charges. Electricity has gone up from last year and so has the propane gas.

We added more electrical outlets for more heat and other improvements to the greenhouse. Added more heaters.

We had to replace the pump on the water well.

Property taxes have gone up. No matter how many times Texans vote to decrease the rate, the tax people just raise the value to cover the difference. Something they and politicians think Texans are too stupid to figure out.

Seeds, planters and trays have all gone up in price.

The germination mix we use has gone up in price.

Fertilizer has gone up in price.

There are many other miscellaneous expenses that go into maintaining a greenhouse.

Our price will be $7.95.

But you have to look at the value. One plant has the ability to produce at least 15 pounds of home grown, great-tasting tomatoes. Not like the wax tasting stuff you buy in the store.

This is about 55¢ per pound. When was the last time you paid 55¢ for a pound of tomatoes?

The value far exceeds the price of the plant.

I hope you have a great growing season.

Our plants are really looking good now.

I spent the rest of the day pulling and filling orders. Matt finally got the new rim for his tires. A local tire shop ordered it over two weeks ago and it finally came in with the right new tire. David and Nacho went to pick up a trailer full of rabbit manure from one of our friends so we are going to cover our gardens with rabbit manure this year. We have rabbits, but not enough to fertilize all of our growing areas. If you need some rabbit manure for your garden, come by the Farm Store. We sell it in ten ounce bags. It won't burn your plants. We ship it as well.

Seed Scarification

Seed scarification does not have to be done just using sandpaper. Some people put the seeds in a jar with actual sand or gravel and shake it. However, then you have sand along with your seeds. It does work but is not as neat as the sand already attached to the piece of paper.

Some use a knife or some nail clippers to cut nicks on the outer portion of the seeds. Others use a metal nail file to file parts of the outer portion of seeds.

You can soak the seeds in hot water to water scarify them. To do this, boil water, soak the seeds in the hot water overnight. Plant the next day.

You can chemically scarify seeds by soaking them in sulfuric acid. This can be dangerous because you can get burned by the acid so we do not recommend this. This is something that some commercial growers do. Again, we do not recommend that you try this method. Shake your seeds with some sandpaper. It is the method we use and is quite effective.

Thursday, February 1, 2024

Today is already February and it starts Black History Month. Good morning and welcome to Thursday! Where on earth did the rest of the week go? Where did January go? Today, I have no help with orders. Fortunately, I pulled everything last night before closing up. However, today, there is a whole new group of orders to pull, one is $308! We are excited and grateful to you all.

David made me a delicious breakfast of bacon and eggs with toast while I added the ground coffees to the website and made some other changes. Nacho and Seth are here again. I am not sure what David has them doing today. I need to finish getting ready so I can get out there.

Well, I went out there and opened the store. One of our teen helpers was there as well as Nacho and his helper. There was no one to help with pulling the website orders today but one of our team members pulled the Amazon orders and filled them. I closed the orders I pulled last night and I waited on customers. I also priced a lot of seed packets over in the store.

One of our customers today bought seven dozen eggs and another lady bought a dozen. That made a little room in the fridge for the brand new eggs from this week.

We still have not heard back about our commercial.

Seed Scarification

We grow these luffa gourd seeds right here on our farm. They definitely do not need seed scarification.

Seed scarification can also be done through nature. Of course, outdoors, the wind blows sand against the seeds. Rain hits seeds. Extreme heat and freezing weather can break seeds down. Animals and humans step on the seeds. All of this helps to break away some of the outer coating of the seed. Some seeds get eaten by animals or birds and travel through the digestive tracts, being scarified along the way.

Friday, February 2, 2024

Today is Groundhog Day. The groundhog did not see his shadow so we are in for an early spring! That is good news for gardening companies, including ours. So, order your spring seeds while we still have plenty!

It is currently 10am and 63° with sprinkles and an overcast sky. We heard it might rain tonight but I heard nothing about during the day. The orders are pouring in and we already have two full bags for the mailman to take. Thank you all so much. Don't forget we are open and I have a lot of fresh eggs in the fridge and ground and whole bean pecan coffees are ready for you to take home today. We will be open until 5pm. Come on by. Oh, don't forget to pick up your garden seeds for spring while the supply is good.

We almost always have Friday customers but not one person came by today except for delivery drivers and the trash man.

I started setting up the little village in the store. There will be more to it than what there is right now. Hopefully, no unruly kids will tear it up until we get plexiglass in there to protect it.

All the orders we have are pulled. It is 5:40pm and our staff is just now leaving. We got a thunderstorm warning until midnight so the weatherman is expecting a bad storm. The wind is high. I need to take the animals out before the rain starts.

I have a roast and our garden fresh purple carrots in the crock pot. It looks like my sourdough is about ready to use. I am planning to bake bread tomorrow with it. We got a lot of orders done today.

We still have heard nothing about the commercial except that they have it in the correct format but we have no idea when they will play it, even though it should have started this past Monday. I specifically asked today but no response to the question.

Seed Scarification

Edible sunflower seeds found on the 6 foot tall Mammoth Grey Stripe. They do not need seed scarification but they sure do taste good roasted with salt!

Once you have scarified seeds, they need to be planted. When the coating has been damaged, there is no longer a way to protect the tiny plant embryo inside the seed so do not hesitate to plant the seeds. If you wait too long, the embryo will die and the seed will not germinate. Let's get them in the ground within a few hours, not longer than 24 hours after you have scarified them.

Saturday, February 3, 2024

We had a good day at the store plus I have been busy closing orders all day long. Matt came in and pulled orders while I closed them. Then some of the customers wanted tours and others wanted to go out to the greenhouse to buy some tomato plants so both Matt and David were busy with customers. I rang everyone up. We sold eight tomato plants this morning and they all looked and smelled amazing. We also sold a lot of seeds, pots, and one germination kit. Spring has arrived.

At 2:30pm, I went in the house and made a loaf of sourdough bread which is now rising (I hope). Then David called me back out because two customers called and said they were each on their way after we had closed. They never showed up. It is now 4pm and I need to go in the house and do some things. On Saturdays, we open at 10am and we close at 2pm. That is it!

So my sourdough did not rise. I think it was too cold in the house. I have the loaves in a heated oven now, trying to get them to rise. We will see...I have cut up sweet potato and turnips from the garden into fries and I will be air frying them in the oven. The bottom oven has a built in air fryer. I have the bread in the top oven. Matt is on his way and he will be grilling ribeyes for us. I just locked everything up. I got another huge amount of eggs today from our chickens. They do work hard when they are not molting.

The orders continue to come in and some are huge. We are grateful for all of them and we are especially grateful to all of you who came to visit us today. We met some super nice people and thank you all for your purchases.

I made fries out of sweet potatoes and our garden fresh turnips. Matt grilled steaks. My sourdough did not rise so it was a flop. We watched Svengoolie and the movie was Revenge of the Creature. It was pretty good. To our surprise since we still have not heard from KSAT and MeTV, they played our brand new commercial twice during the first hour, once during the second hour, and once during Svengoolie's third hour! After that, we turned the TV off. We were very excited about the way it looks on the TV. Did you see it?

Seed Scarification

This bag of zinnia seeds from the Farm Store garden beds does not need seed scarification. Zinnia seeds come up easily.

Keep in mind that for the vast majority of vegetable seeds, seed scarification is not necessary. Think back to how easily most seeds have come up for you in the past. Then think about the seeds you could not germinate. Those seeds are probably the ones you want to shake with sandpaper. David recommends using this method on most smaller seeds.

Sunday, February 4, 2024

Good morning! It is 60° and sunny but windy with a chill in the air. It started yesterday afternoon and got progressively windier and is supposed to stay windy until 6pm.

We just took our pre-spring discount for seeds down because the spring season is finally here. We sold eight beautiful tomato plants yesterday so if you want gorgeous tomato plants in quite a few varieties, they are $7.95 a piece, hand grown from our seeds by David himself and they are ready! Just don't put them in the ground yet. When you buy them, we do give you a sheet that tells you how to harden off plants before planting them in the ground.

It is time to go to church so we will catch you later. Remember that our store is open six days a week and this is our one day off so please do not make the long drive out here today. We will be open tomorrow from 9am to 5pm with lots of eggs, seeds, coffee, and tomato plants.

It stayed windy all day. It is now 7pm and 63° but chilly outside. Time to serve dinner. I made a ham and we will have it with eggs since we are drowning in eggs over here. I put out all over social media that we have a ton of eggs. Come and get them in the morning! Good night!

Seed Scarification

Strawberry seeds are difficult to germinate and they can benefit from seed scarification.

To review what we've learned about seed scarification this week, some seeds have a very hard outer shell. To speed up the germination process, you need to be able to break some of the shell up so that water and air can get into the embryo inside the seed. This can best be achieved by shaking the seeds in a container with some fine sandpaper. Once you can see some lighter colored marks inside, it is time to stop and plant the seeds. This will allow the seed embryo access to water and air, letting it come to life much quicker than waiting for endless weeks before the shells goes away.

Return from Seed Scarification to Year Five On The Farm

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