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Post by Joseph Lofthouse on Nov 22, 2010 21:32:54 GMT -5
Here is a photo of my cover crop for the winter. It's expected to stay until the end of March. Two days before the snow arrived I planted the field to winter peas. They will be sprouted by the time the snow melts. There are also some garlic, Egyptian onions, lettuce, and spinach which will start growing under the snow. For those of you in warmer areas, we are expecting below zero (Fahrenheit) for turkey day. And while I'm uploading photos here's what some of my butternuts looked like today. (If I'd thought I'd be uploading the photo I would have washed them first....) garden.lofthouse.com/open-pollinated-butternut-moschata.phtmlRegards, Joseph
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Post by flowerpower on Nov 23, 2010 6:05:15 GMT -5
Those 2 orange ones in the center are butternuts? Cool
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Post by ottawagardener on Nov 23, 2010 6:55:20 GMT -5
Love the variety in the butternuts. Mother nature is sending that covercrop to us shortly.
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Post by Joseph Lofthouse on Nov 23, 2010 12:13:12 GMT -5
The orange pumpkins are a close relative of the "Libby's pumpkin". They have very orange flesh which colors the typical tan butternut skin an orangish color. I took the photo with a cell phone, and I think it exaggerated the colors. I'll cut one open and send another photo.
One of the breeding projects I am working on is to incorporate the deep orange flesh into a squash with the butternut or necked-squash shape.
Regards, Joseph
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Post by spacecase0 on Nov 23, 2010 14:23:02 GMT -5
if snow is your cover crop, do you till it in to the soil in the early spring before it melts ? or do you do it now before the ground freezes ? or just let it melt in the spring on its own ?
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Post by DarJones on Nov 23, 2010 16:25:54 GMT -5
I suspect he waits until it is a bit deeper before he does anything. Then maybe he lets his kids make snow angels.
DarJones
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Post by Joseph Lofthouse on Nov 23, 2010 16:37:56 GMT -5
A typical pattern for me is:
Till in the fall about the first week of November. (If I am able to get the fall tilling done it really improves the soil texture and moisture retention capacity by spring.) Snow arrives about a week later and stays until the end of March. (We already have a foot, and 18" is expected tonight.) Within days of the snow melting, I plant early spring crops like radishes, peas, swiss chard, onions, without another tilling.
I mostly let the snow melt on it's own, though I have been known to scatter some wood ashes around where I want to plant peas... Just to get them in the ground a few days earlier.
Due to the clayish nature of my soil, I don't do any type of tilling when it is damp. I continue planting into the fall tilled soil until it has dried out enough to till. Then I till immediately before planting until all crops are planted. So the areas that are planted latest might have as much as 12 weeks worth of weeds growing on them as a cover crop. I really like the creeping clover as an early spring weed cover crop. (If I had seed I would plant it intentionally.) I am not too thrilled with morning glory as a cover crop.
If there is a patch of Johnson grass I might till it under several times even though I am not planting the area immediately.
This year I planted the field to winter peas, hoping that they will smother the morning glory in the spring.
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Post by Joseph Lofthouse on Nov 23, 2010 23:36:31 GMT -5
Here is what the buckskin pumpkin looked like compared to more a traditional butternut squash. And what they looked when I cooked them for supper tonight.
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Post by flowerpower on Nov 24, 2010 5:58:47 GMT -5
That does have a nice deep color. I like the shape of the fruit too. Very melon-like.
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Post by mnjrutherford on Nov 25, 2010 7:18:45 GMT -5
I think you should submit that photo to Goggle Doodles. It's perfectly laid out!
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Post by Joseph Lofthouse on Oct 18, 2011 22:06:42 GMT -5
A year ago I made a post showing off a Dickinson pumpkin and a butternut squash. Here is what the buckskin pumpkin looked like compared to more a traditional butternut squash. And what they looked when I cooked them for supper tonight. In the 2010 growing season I made an open pollinated cross between a Dickinson pumpkin and a long-necked butternut. (The long-necked has the same yellow colored flesh as the butternut pictured above.) My hope for the cross being to transfer the orange colored flesh into a squash shaped like a butternut or a long-necked butternut. Here is what the F1 hybrid looked like: Looking good. It's got the orange flesh of the Dickinson, and the general shape of a butternut. I'm looking forward to seeing what segregates out of it next summer. The taste was very good, except that it was watery like the Dickinson. I'll be looking for firmer flesh in the segregating population. Might do something wild like cross it with a black Futzu to get dry flesh. I ate a Naples long over the weekend. Wow! What a lot of food from one squash! And so easy to handle. Again, I'd prefer a dryer flesh.
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Post by oxbowfarm on Aug 27, 2012 21:26:10 GMT -5
Hey Joseph, Have you still been keeping the Dickinson project separate or is it mixed into the rest of your moschata landrace?
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