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Post by steev on Oct 11, 2011 0:18:54 GMT -5
I just got 12 varieties from GRIN to add to the 16 I already had for growing next year. It's going to be a very busy Winter, tilling and amending beds to eliminate weeds and boost water retention and fertility, so the space is ready to plant these out not later than the end of May.
With luck for a good seed increase, I'll then have plenty of material to play with thereafter.
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Post by 12540dumont on Oct 11, 2011 15:39:13 GMT -5
So, do tell what numbers did you get?
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Post by steev on Oct 11, 2011 20:24:07 GMT -5
Had: Bidwell Casaba boule d'Or Burpee Hybrid Canteloupe Casaba Golden Beauty Crane Edisto 47 Green Machine Honey Rock Isleta Pueblo Israeli Kazakh Navajo Yellow Old time Tennessee Piel de Sapo Rocky Ford Sweet 'n Early hybrid Tendral Valenciano Yellow Canary 3
Got: Ananas El-Dokki Blenheim Orange Canteloup de Bellegarde Golden Thin-Skinned Hong Xin Cui Kharboza Melon de Olor Melon de Poche 850 12903 Peponic Xian Thin-Skin
I know, I know, I've listed names as far as possible, not numbers. "THX1138" doesn't speak to me as much as does "Thex". The GRIN accessions shall have their numbers in the records, but in my fields, they shall have names. A rose is a rose by any other name, be it "Mister Lincoln" or "Thorny Numbat"; a number just won't do.
I'm trying to devise a way to deny rodents access to these melons; perhaps some modification to the system I'm contemplating for chickens. I'm very disgruntled about the number of melons the rodents destroyed this year, 100% of some varieties.
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Post by steev on Oct 29, 2011 22:13:57 GMT -5
Saw one of my farm neighbors today; she gave me two melons, a hot pepper, and an eggplant; they're all from seed she brought from Thailand, and she says they'll be good seed, so I'll give them a shot next year. I look forward to eating the melons. She says one of them keeps six months; it looks all crinkled like a Crenshaw, but deep green, very hard rind.
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Post by 12540dumont on Oct 29, 2011 22:43:08 GMT -5
Steev, I put numbers in the field, but not the PI numbers. They're too long. I use the same #stakes every year, and just move them around in plots. With some, I attach a name to the stake. But I also have a map. Just in case wild voles decide to take up a game of steal the flag and run off with the stakes. My new favorite labels are cut from bleach, soap, or cat litter jugs, I punch a whole in them and can tie them on trellis' or staple to a stake. They're easy to write on with Sharpies, and they last all season. You can see the stakes and numbers in the onion trial. I'm very excited about your melon trial. For the last 2 years my favorite melon has been Golden Honeymoon, it's a honey dew. I love the name. Good luck with your trial. When I sort my seeds, I'll see what I have left for melons and send them on. I may have already sent the works to Joseph. I just harvested the last basket of melons yesterday. It was a good season for them. Peas Friend. Attachments:
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Post by johno on Oct 30, 2011 1:17:08 GMT -5
Saw one of my farm neighbors today; she gave me two melons, a hot pepper, and an eggplant; they're all from seed she brought from Thailand, and she says they'll be good seed, so I'll give them a shot next year. I look forward to eating the melons. She says one of them keeps six months; it looks all crinkled like a Crenshaw, but deep green, very hard rind. Keep me in mind if you have good luck increasing the melon seed!
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Post by steev on Oct 30, 2011 11:43:18 GMT -5
For sure, johno. Of course, I expect plenty of seed from the melon in hand, but I don't know. That neighbor is very pleasant and a gifted gardener, but I am utterly ignorant of Thai, so her accent is difficult for me. I would never have picked that fruit, it being so dark green and hard, more like a winter squash than a melon; I have no idea whether it is scented, having a cold. Whatever, I must trust her judgement of seed viability in these fruits, as well as varietal purity; nothing ventured...
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Post by steev on Oct 30, 2011 12:06:25 GMT -5
holly, I admit your label system is efficient, even official; neither of those adjectives necessarily applies to me. I do map my plantings, label perennials with permanent tags. My veggies, however, get marked in their plantings with Sharpie-written Costco plastic spoons, printed inside the bowl, facing North for less sun-fading. I expect checks in the mail for my unsolicited corporate endorsements, or a case of the cited product, at the very least.
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Post by 12540dumont on Oct 30, 2011 21:57:58 GMT -5
Costco just called, they want you to pay extra for the spoons. You're coloring out of the lines of their intended use. If they thought you were going to do something else with them, they would have put them in the garden aisle and jacked up the price. ;D
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Post by steev on Oct 30, 2011 23:45:06 GMT -5
Wow! They did? Guess it's a good thing they don't know I include one ( for use like a tongue depressor ) with a hand-mirror in my mail-order home proctology kits, or they'd put them in medical supplies; what a pain...
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Post by 12540dumont on Oct 31, 2011 0:39:33 GMT -5
I didn't think you could say proctology in public form....
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Post by steev on Oct 31, 2011 9:31:40 GMT -5
It usually applies to politics.
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Post by steev on Nov 2, 2011 20:11:55 GMT -5
My cold having subsided enough that its scent was calling me, I ate the smaller of the two Thai melons ( the large hard one has no scent ). I will assume that it was too late for that melon to mature properly, as it had no sweetness and a very pasty texture. I've saved the seeds for next year, to give it a fair shot, but it has room for a great deal of improvement. I suspect it's really a cucumber, being totally full of seeds enclosed in those jelly-ish sacs. Very pretty when I cut it open, but so insipid.
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Post by steev on Nov 2, 2011 20:14:47 GMT -5
My cold having subsided enough that its scent was calling me, I ate the smaller of the two Thai melons ( the large hard one has no scent ). I will assume that it was too late for that melon to mature properly, as it had no sweetness and a very pasty texture. I've saved the seeds for next year, to give it a fair shot, but it has room for a great deal of improvement. I suspect it's really a cucumber, being totally full of seeds enclosed in those jelly-ish sacs. Very pretty when I cut it open, but so insipid.
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Post by steev on Nov 2, 2011 20:15:26 GMT -5
Oops.
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