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Originally Posted January 16th 2011

1/25/2011

Sasha

I know this guy in Siberia. Well, I wish I knew him – I feel like I know him. He grows tomatoes and so do I. In fact, I grow his tomato – a beaut called “Sasha’s Altai”. A luscious tomato with exactly the right amount of juice and meat and flavor.

I hit a milestone as a gardener recently, I planted my first saved Sasha seeds – saved from my own garden at 8,120 ft. Sasha lives in the mountains too – mountains that look much like the Rockies – and even colder. He developed this big, juicy tomato after saving the seeds for many years.

I know I will cry when I see germination – I almost did when I planted them but I was too busy giggling at how many seeds I had in my ‘seed cake’ – (the dry seed caked together), and I only planted a few really early ones – hoping to adapt them to the cool winter greenhouse for an even tougher Sasha.

I am connected to this person – I grow his tomato – it’s personal. I love his tomato. What if I could meet him someday? What if I could talk tomato talk with him? I’m starved for a serious tomato freak to really get down and dirty with me. Sasha is somewhere in the Altai Mountains in Siberia – perhaps not even knowing his tomato became one of the best tasting tomatoes in the world – winning taste tests far and wide. I am in the Rocky Mountains in Colorado – thinking about Sasha and those delicious tomatoes we ate for months this year.

To read an amazing story of tomato love go to the Seeds Trust website and read the story of Sasha – and fall in love. I dare you not to.

Mountain gardeners- Sasha’s big, red tomato is so early – and so good and he’s done all the work for us by adapting this tomato to high cold conditions and sharing it with the world.

We are all family in the tomato garden – fascinating fruits they are. I’m friends with a guy I’ve never met in Siberia – all over a tomato – not just any tomato - but I still thank Sasha every time I bite into that glorious juice.

Next year I will seriously grow him for seed and spread it far and wide. I happen to have a Peep or two who might be interested in some as well as my mountain gardener friends.

Here’s to you Sasha – who knows – one day perhaps we’ll meet, on your mountain or mine, I’ll try not to cry when I do – just laugh instead and talk tomato talk.

Saved Tomato Seed in Coffee Filters

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Originally Posted on January 12th, 2011

1/25/2011

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Seed Day

I played with seeds all day. This picture was created for a seed article I just finished. I had fun gathering a bunch of seed and trying to make it look good. Those are even fermenting tomato seeds in the front.

After getting these pictures I went throught the seed pile and pulled all the stuff I need to start now. For the first time – I used my own saved tomato seeds. To celebrate, the first one planted was – you guessed it – Sasha’s Altai – a truly great tomato.

I also planted onions, leeks, chives, parsley’s, kan tsai, celery’s, celeriac, pansies, violas, snaps, bok choy’s, chinese cabbages, broccoli’s, and cauliflowers. I grouped the quickies to one end and the slowies to another. I will be plucking tomatoes and bok choys out first – the other stuff will wait in the flat.

I’m going to slap it in the greenhouse for conditioning and cool germination. If these Sasha’s are born in a cool greenhouse – they will adapt while they are in there – right from the beginning. I also started a few Moscow, Galina’s, and New Big Dwarf – just for starters. I was good – only a few of each. Any I start now have to continue their momentum until they can go in the greenhouse or the garden. That means potting them up repeatedly and baby-sitting them all winter long.

Mostly I start tomatoes in February – the 14th – Tomato Day. We plant Love Apples. But onions, pansies, celery – they take a long time – all in one flat.

I had fun photographing a group of home-made seed packets – all different kinds. I started using legal sized junk mail envelopes to hold seed. Soon I will download a pattern for making them with paper. Hopefully I can get some used paper for the job.

Recently I scored big on some seeds. A friend of mine nonchalantly gave me a tin full of “seeds from the 80′s” – he didn’t want them anymore. As if!!! I was so excited to get home with that tin. I ripped through it to find cool stuff – some things I hadn’t seen, mostly stuff I had, but the best find was in the bottom. An old, dirty envelope filled with Asparagus seed! Who knows where it might have come from – perhaps the mountains? I can’t wait to find out.

Seed is gold – I keep saying it but it sure was fun to get so excited over some old turnip seeds. Now I see all the potential seed has to make new seed. Whenever I find something I don’t see on the market – I’m really excited to find it now. Because I feel the power of the seed – and know once I have it – I will always have it. That is one of the best gifts I learned from Bill at Seed School.

So here is a pic of some seed packets – ThunderfooT’s are the manilla envelope ones – cool huh? I even included the corn on the cob – talk about easy cheesy – and prolific! I especially love knowing I will always have corn seed.

Notice the cool new threshing screens Cord made me in the above pic? Can’t wait to give them a try – I just got them for Christmas and it is time for seed cleaning soon.

I made it through the cold today by fondling seeds – one of my very favorite things.

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Origianally Posted Dec. 24th 2010

1/25/2011

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Total Eclipse of the Moon

They said it was going to be colorful and they weren’t kidding. I was alone with my scratched up glasses trying to stay still enough to get these shots. It was a brilliant night with some cloud cover – only high flying and moving fast so I could see the moon plenty. When it was finally covering the moon – or almost it hung like a big orange ball in the sky with hints of red to taunt us. As a friend said, I wonder what people thought was happening before we knew what we know now.

My guess – two takes – fear and wonder. I found myself laughing out loud – not too strange for me but to be there – looking up at it with millions of people across the world – was pretty special. I guess I wasn’t alone.

Whenever the clouds would clear I would try again to see through the camera to get a steady shot. But to stand there and take it in as it grew darker and darker was the best way to capture it. The stars sparkled and danced like a dazzling decoration to celebrate it. My memory will serve – a breezy, almost balmy night on top of our mountain in December will stay with me forever.

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Originally Posted Dec. 8th 2010

1/25/2011

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Roadside Bighorns

I love Colorado!!!! This is on the way to the eye doctor – with a boy. We pulled over to watch them fight for a good 15 minutes. Another car was there with a big old camera and lens – they were having a great time. Others whizzed by not even noticing. This picture was taken with Max’s phone – I would wait for them to take the first step toward each other and press – and barely make it in time. Finally I got the shot. I have more pictures I’ll share later because they are stuck on the boys phone.

It was amazing to see them go and hear them crack! It echoed through the mountains. They were in the usual place – The Hardscrabble – and could care less about all of us. Many times right after the crack I would giggle with happiness and they would look at me – then go back to what they were doing.

They would wander off and graze nonchalantly until it was suddenly time to crack again. If they both looked at each other at the same time they would crack heads. But if only one looked and the other one ignored they would graze.

At one point a big truck slowly went by, taking pictures and they cracked right along side them. There were three more sheep up on the side hill – witnessing the contest. I guess it doesn’t mean anything if there isn’t anyone there to report.

This is why we live here – this is what we encounter on our way to an appointment. At any moment something ‘wildernessy’ can be happening. It’s nice to know also that a few other people watched with us in the same place in the same moments – something all of us will never forget.

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Originally posted on Dec. 6th 2010

1/25/2011

5 Comments

Garden Iron

Through here to Penn's Garden...

Garden iron has been most soothing to me. Whenever there is nothing blooming in the garden, the iron always looks great. To have a master blacksmith for a husband is so decadent – from tools to art to repairs – it’s all right here. This gate is a family heirloom. Cord and both of his parents designed and built it before the family disbanded over 25 years ago. The gate was built as a spec piece with some adobe builders who built the arch to hold it. It was a beautiful way to advertise.

Not long after I met Cord he was showing me around up near Woodland Park and he said, “You know, the adobe guys are long gone – I want to go see if I can find the gate.”

The first arch wasn’t built strong enough to hold it so the builders stashed it behind the fire house. They intended to build a wall and install it there. Cord decided we better go check before someone else made off with it. We found the gate laying in the dirt, abandoned and a bit worse for wear. Cord stood it up and I stared in awe. This beautiful, gorgeous work of art was abandoned in the dirt up Ute Pass – the last piece the family had made together.

He loaded it up in the truck and we drove away feeling like we had just won the lottery. We brought the gate to our mountain when we moved here and it leaned unceromoniously up against the white truck for around 15 years. We would take it to shows and for 6 years we mounted it to the blacksmith shop at the Renaissance Festival as a draw.

I insisted we would never sell it – a family heirloom, but Cord actually considered it a couple of times. He can make another just like it – but this one is ours.

Every year on Mother’s Day Cord loans himself to me for the day – usually 8 hours of straight hardship. Of course I create a fabulous list of honey-do’s starting the year before. Usually expanding the deer fence is the priority but Cord had wised up to this request a few years before and expanded my fence so far I still haven’t caught up and filled it all. So I started thinking about that gate, decorating an old, 1960′s box truck in the yard. Blasphemy!

We started prepping the weekend or so before Mother’s Day. Cord and the boys dug holes and poured concrete to set the posts. The next weekend they mounted the gate. He made hinges, attachments and improved the handle. He oiled it and swung it and I tried not to cry too much – I didn’t want to distract him.

We all stared and stared as if to say, “What took us so long?” It looks different every day and changes with the light. I have gorgeous shots of it and it’s always in the background of my life.

Besides hand made cards from my boys or Cord telling me I’m a good mom, this was the best Mother’s Day gift of all.

Not long after that I looked around and said, “Well, this will never do,” and started cleaning up and organizing the entryway to my garden. Two beautiful mossy rocks adorn either side as well as a pair of concrete lions from my family home. Two whisky barrels flank it and I fill them with food, herbs and flowers every year with the colors contrasting against the black iron beautifully.

Here are a few more lovelies to enjoy – in all its forms.

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Winter Greenhouse

1/25/2011

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Inside Cord's Greenhouse

Winter Greenhouse

I remember the smell of lots of tomatoes ripening on the vine from my childhood. There is this sweet, tomatoey earthy smell that is so intoxicating. I taught myself to like tomatoes as a child because I loved the plants and the fruits so much I wanted to like the taste. So I would pick a sun-warmed cherry tomato and scrunching up my face, I’d pop it in and eat it – not sure whether I could stand it or not. It didn’t take long and I was on board. All of that flashed though my head as I smelled that smell in Cord’s greenhouse the other day.

The greenhouses are so yummy right now. Mine is the typical late fall jungle and Cord’s is hanging with giant tomato trees. These are the same tomatoes he planted March 1st! They are ripening and going strong. Even the tomato up against the glass is fine and continuing to ripen. We shared them at the Harvest Feast and at Thanksgiving. I got out a cutting board and we taste-tested. The black Russians had juice running down our chins. My niece said, “I think that was the best tomato I ever ate.”

Ah yes, it makes me feel a little rush of tomato love to hear that. I am fully addicted to the little suckers. Oh yeah, Cord grew many over 1 lb. It was total decadence and still is. I really love this plant and all it does. The flowers are beautiful – the plants are vibrant and strong and the tomatoes taste so rich and full it’s astonishing.

We try not to get a belly ache eating too many at once. You have to pace yourself – you could get drunken and have to go to bed. I tell you the Russians and Siberians know how to select a tomato. It was the best year we’ve ever seen and it is still going strong. All of the green tomatoes I brought in from the hoops are not only red – but threatening to become sauce whether I get them in the pot or not.

We have been saving so many seeds that we were only eating the carcasses – sans seeds and juice. But then when there were mis-marked or unknown or already saved tomatoes – we started eating in earnest. It is too fun to bring out a bowl of tomatoes from around the world to taunt the masses with. I know it’s naughty but I can’t help it. I have learned to have a pinchy bowl of salt nearby for those who need it.

This is an indulgence in tomato talk – I could go on about other plants but since it is so wonderful to have tomatoes in winter in greenhouses we never heat – what else should I talk about?

1 lb. + !

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Harvest Seed

1/25/2011

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Harvest Seed!
Posted on October 12, 2010
There is so much to do – so much to harvest. This time of year is wild for us – hunting, harvesting, foraging, gathering, and seeds. Cord and I just got back from Seed School with Bill McDorman in Arizona. Man on man was it amazing. We had many awesome experiences all the way there and back. So my garden is bursting – still, even after many frosts – due to covering certain plants but mostly because seeds don’t mind waiting. And seeds are all I can see now.
Don't forget to harvest some – they are part of the magic of a plants ability to reproduce itself – so take what’s offered.
I like to use brown paper bags I can write on easily – I fold the tops over. My friend uses plastic bags and props them open if the seed/plant is still green. Often we just tip the seed-pods in and catch the seed in the bag. Be careful not to snap the dried stalk if you cut with a scissors – the seeds will fly, cut carefully and it will help.

I usually throw these bags in the corner until a snowy day just right for seed threshing. I’m too busy in the fall to do it then and late winter is the perfect time.
ability to reproduce itself – so take what’s offered. I like to use brown paper bags I can write on easily – I fold the tops over. My friend uses plastic bags and props them open if the seed/plant is still green. Often we just tip the seed-pods in and catch the seed in the bag. Be careful not to snap the dried stalk if you cut with a scissors – the seeds will fly, cut carefully and it will help. I usually throw these bags in the corner until a snowy day just right for seed threshing. I’m too busy in the fall to do it then and late winter is the perfect time.

Even if you don’t think you know how – save some seed. Marigolds are very prolific – save some – even if they reseed – you can use them to swap with. I know a lady who took 3 seeds of my cottage red marigold. She grew all 3 out and got compliments on her long-stemmed red marigolds, and now has seed for life. From 3 seeds.

It’s not just Marigold’s – try Beans or Peas or corn if you only grew one kind – something really simple. Calendula, sunflower, marigolds, zinnias, morning glories are all fun to save. California Poppy is easy as pie. When the seed pod is dry and cracking open, it is time to collect. Let the seed ripen on the plant. You can distribute some around while you collect.

I will be collecting seed of Magenta Spreen Lamb’s Quarter, Red Orach, Ruby Orach, Golden Orach, Mizuna, Beetberry, Apricot and Pink Zinnia’s, Nicotiana, Ebony Shoo-fly, Integrata de Wild lettuce, lotsa Tomatoes, Tomatillos, Potato Seed Balls, Purple, Gold and Green Pole Beans, Purple, Gold and Green Bush Beans, Peas, Spinach, French Breakfast Radish, Bronze Fennel, Basil, Sorrel, Salad Burnet, Penstemon, Columbine and Chamomile.

Seed is life- our future, our food. Learn to save seed – start now – your garden is full of earth’s generous gifts – just waiting for you to come and take them

Ebony Shoo-Fly Seedpods

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Stoned Bobcat

1/25/2011

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Posted on September 19, 2010
Stoned Bobcat
Every morning I amble to my garden to open and close the greenhouse and the hoops and to say hello to the garden. I always know if someone has been in it, if someone left the gate open by taking compost up late or if a deer wandered in in the middle of the day – the proof is all there.

So on this morning about 5 days ago I approached the greenhouse door and stopped short. What is that? I stared at a fairly dry catnip plant with all the tops bit off – it actually looked like some deer action. But then I started to do my detective work – putting it all together. I had recently cut a mass of nip to the ground to share with a friend and this was not me – I don’t just cut off the tops – so now I had freshly cut nip, a marauder and a mystery. Next stop, tracks. I looked down and immediately found what I was looking for and jumped off the trail.

Cord and I love to figure this stuff out so I looked on the sandy trail going down through my garden and saw some more of what I wanted. I went to get Cord and brought him. We like to let the other one have a minute to figure it out before we tell all so I showed him the nip and then I showed him the track. No claws. Round balls – much bigger than Samuelson The Garden Cat and we had our culprit. Cord said, “Bobcat.” I said, “Bingo!”

Bobcat! Big kitty is getting high. Man – I wonder how that affects the hunting – does it become paranoid? Ha! I’m sure the freshly cut nip attracted him, it was no problem leaping our 7′ fence and he/she came in for a bite. What fun! I love this intruder. Go for it – happy to help.

Later that day Samuelson The Garden Cat kept showing me that behind the greenhouse was scary – she would look, puff up and bolt, looking behind her as she scurried towards the house. I knew it had probably sprayed and that's what she feared, but I dreamed he was just out of sight, up in some tree – sleeping it off. Only thing more fun would have been to bust him at it – with a camera! Naughty Bobcat! You be careful not to overdo it – no staggering into the street – happy dreams.

Bobcat will be added to the IPM list along with Lion and Bear in the garden. Welcome.

Samuelson and a glorious Nepeta cataria ('Nip)

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Penn's Intro To Blogging

1/25/2011

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Penn and the National Forest.

Hi World! Not only have I created a website - but now a blog as well. I had started a blog last fall somewhere else and after much thrashing, decided to move all my entries here. So I will post the original dates with the entry - and then we'll catch up to real time. I hope you like it.

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1/25/2011

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Author

Penn Parmenter is a high altitude gardener, seedswoman and student of the earth. She is married to Cord Parmenter - an awesome gardener, gorgeous man and a master blacksmith. Together they own and run a sustainable greenhouse design company, Smart Greenhouses LLC and Penn grows seed for her seed business, Miss Penn's Mountain Seeds. She is a mother of three sons and an outdoorswoman. Penn forages wild food, hunts big game, fishes, preserves, maintains a huge organic forest garden and occasionally makes dinner. At home you can find her in her greenhouses as well as in the wilderness - nose to the ground, butt in the air, trying to identify Colorado natives.