Tiger's Eye Beans

Four days ago I started some seed germination tests to determine whether seeds in my stash are still viable. I wrote about testing pepper, Chinese cabbage, and Abraham Lincoln tomato seeds, but didn’t mention the test I started on Tiger’s Eye beans.

Tiger’s Eye beans are a delicious heirloom variety that is grown only for dried beans because their shells are inedible. Cooked, the dried beans have tender skins and creamy interiors. They are called Tiger’s Eye because of their unusual markings.

The last time we grew Tiger’s Eye beans was 2009. Last week I cooked some with a ham shank, celery, and onion. This soup was so good that I vowed to plant Tiger’s Eye beans this year. I have enough left to plant a couple of rows, but doubted that the beans were viable because they have been sitting on my kitchen counter in a big canning jar for five years now.

A germination test was in order. I put ten beans on a wet paper towel and put the towel in a plastic sandwich bag. This morning I opened the towel to find that all ten of the beans germinated in less than four days.

Given a decent growing season, we will be harvesting Tiger’s Eye beans again next summer.

Copyright 2014 by Shirley Domer

January Gardening

The latest Arctic blast has subsided and retreated as a south wind came up this afternoon. This morning’s 9º F temperature has risen to 45º F and the air feels almost balmy. It’s a fool’s paradise and bound to end soon, but for today, I had the itch to garden. Certainly one can’t dig in the garden and plant seeds yet. We still aren’t finished with January, for Pete’s sake.

Instead, I sorted through our seed collection that I keep in a plastic box in the basement. I was looking for seeds that I will start indoors in a few weeks. I found a bit of paper towel with twenty seeds dried onto it. The label says, “Abe Lincoln, 2008.” Oh, I love the Abe Lincoln tomato and plan to grow some this year. Will 6-year-old-home-saved seeds be viable? I decided to do a germination test. I picked off ten of the seeds and arranged them on a piece of wet paper towel. (Ten is a good number of seeds to test. It makes figuring the percentage of germination easy later on.)

I folded the towel in half to cover the seeds and put the towel in a plastic sandwich bag with a label.

I also started a germination test on some home-saved seeds labeled “Favorite Pepper.” No date. Then I found a packet of Chinese cabbage seeds with the sell by date of Dec. 2012. There are a jillion seeds in that package, so I started a test on them, too.

I put the bags on top of the refrigerator where it’s a bit warmer. The seeds, if viable, won’t germinate for a few days, but I’ll check them frequently. I especially hope the home-saved seeds will germinate. They are acclimated to Kansas’s summers and might succeed in the garden when plants from other states or regions wouldn’t.

So, there it is, my January gardening project. It gave my sagging winter spirits a lift to look forward to spring and gardening again.

Copyright 2014 by Shirley Domer