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Post by gray on Jan 26, 2013 16:50:36 GMT -5
I am definitely going to space mine out in the rows a bit. I think yield could be pretty incredible for a small kernel corn if you gave it plenty of room, fertility, and water.
Many of my multi earred stalks only matured two or three cobs, the others would not mature.
I also got a widely spaced maturing on my plot. I will keep more exact times this year.
Most of my stalks got ten foot plus. Some of my stalks on the end of the rows also did well, with two main tillers as large as the main stalk.
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Post by Joseph Lofthouse on Jan 30, 2013 0:36:36 GMT -5
I winnowed glass gem corn seed today... I left a hundred bucks worth scattered on the porch if anyone wants to sweep it up. Maybe $300 worth at the prices it's going for on eBay. There's that much more on the floor of the kitchen if you feel really motivated.
Hee Hee. First time in my life I ever pondered about whether it was worth bending over to pick up small amounts of spilled corn seed.
I'm taking a yoga class this winter, and even with my improved flexibility, it didn't seem worth the effort.
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Post by steev on Jan 30, 2013 22:04:28 GMT -5
I always look forward to when I'll stop fretting over every seed of some crop; it's a very liberating point to get to.
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Post by Andre on Jun 24, 2013 9:52:32 GMT -5
This year, I saw 85 cv of corns (mainly old french cv) on my field and of course I will have a lots of intercrossing (but I will also do some controlled pollination with bags on ears and tassels). Last year, some of my dented ears (cross of oaxaca green) looks a little bit like this glass gem corn but I also had nice ears with my Blue Hopi crossed with strawberry corn. Here are samples of my 2012 harvesting : This year I sow a pink pop cv so with blue, red, pink, orange and green cv, I hope I'll have something very similar to glass gem. If not, maybe I'll ask one of you to do some trading with me. ;-)
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Post by raymondo on Jun 24, 2013 16:36:48 GMT -5
Nice looking mix Andre.
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Post by Andre on Jun 24, 2013 17:14:54 GMT -5
Thank you Raymondo ! From left to right, down to up, these are Hopi blue, French Millette, unpure Green Oaxaca x Syngenta Spirit F1 (Su 68 days), Strawberry pop corn in red, yellow, white and blue version and Oaxaca green x Hopi Blue I will try to sow the Oaxaca x Spirit kernels this week to see what comes from this...
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Post by wingnut on Jun 25, 2013 16:24:51 GMT -5
I planted out an ounce from siskyou seeds. It was given to me by a friend. I got 100% germination and it is doing well. I will be bagging the ears and tassles to maintain purity. I hope to get alot.
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Post by gray on Jan 24, 2014 20:22:02 GMT -5
Wingnut how did the glass gem you planted this summer do?
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Post by steev on Jan 24, 2014 21:14:25 GMT -5
And what will you do with it?
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Post by oxbowfarm on Jan 25, 2014 14:18:18 GMT -5
The one nice thing about the Glass Gem foolishness being over is that we can now grow it out and compare it to other corns and actually get a sense of what it is best for.
The only person I am aware of that has actually eaten much Glass Gem is Gray. He said his family loves Glass Gem corn meal, with great flavor. So that's a vote for good flavor as meal.
Joseph can tell you it is an extremely poor popcorn on average, but could be selected to be a better one.
The problem I see is that it is still being promoted as a Cherokee heirloom corn that must be treasured as sacred when IMO it is a recently created, semi-stabilized ornamental flint that Carl Barnes bred in the last decade or so. It has some interesting genes, but I'm sour on it because of the hype and outright lies still floating around from when the bubble was going on.
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Post by gray on Feb 9, 2014 21:37:54 GMT -5
Tim it should have never been hyped like it was. I would have sent seed to anyone on this site that asked, and did, and sent some to folks that it was obvious joined HG just to try to get the seed. All people had to do was ask.
Some folks PM me and asked for the seed and all I asked was a self addressed envelope. They were to lazy or not serious to send it.
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DebTheFarmer
grub
Market Gardener, Heirloom Veg Lover, Novice Permaculturist, Future Vegetable Breeder.
Posts: 70
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Post by DebTheFarmer on Feb 10, 2014 1:02:32 GMT -5
I found an supplier online the other week. Smart Seed StoreI've never grown it before (not sure it would mature in my zone). Think it's the real deal?
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Post by Joseph Lofthouse on Feb 10, 2014 1:22:03 GMT -5
I found an supplier online the other week. ... Think it's the real deal? Prices on that site are too high. Since they did not take their own photos, but are "using" other people's photos I wouldn't buy from her. I got very discouraged about this variety last winter. I can't even begin to count how many people stole my photos, and lied to me about why they were trying to get the seed. At least tonight nobody is using my photos to sell this corn on usa-eBay. Last winter I gifted hundreds of packets of this seed to people. Some of them turned around and sold it for $1 per seed on eBay. Current eBay prices are around $0.06 to $0.08 per seed. So if I didn't accomplish anything else last winter I got glass gem seed widely distributed and into the hands of enough growers that the price could plummet this year. I find it fascinating to observe the different strains of glass gem that are for sale on eBay tonight. There are those that are obviously descended from Native Seeds/SEARCH (which seem atypical to me), and there is the Gray strain (which I think is the prettiest and most iconic), and the cableguy strain (which were sold as individual cobs so the new populations have strong founders effects already visible). Another interesting thing about the current crop of photos on eBay is that many of the growers harvested the corn before it had dried down completely. I suppose that may imply that it was too long season for their gardens just as it was too long season for mine. (But then they are claiming 110 days to maturity: Go figure.) Edit: I've been reading the descriptions of glass gem on eBay. Plenty of people stole my ad-copy, but at least they have taken their own photos this year. It's fascinating how many sellers are recommending that you "get the real Glass Gem here, don't be duped by other sellers". I know where that line originated, and it wasn't with me.
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DebTheFarmer
grub
Market Gardener, Heirloom Veg Lover, Novice Permaculturist, Future Vegetable Breeder.
Posts: 70
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Post by DebTheFarmer on Feb 10, 2014 2:01:39 GMT -5
I like that it got people talking about growing their own food and saving seeds. Not so happy that a variety could be damaged by people trying to make a quick buck.
Should be interesting what it looks like in 5 years after it's been in the hands of capable breeders/seed savers for a while.
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Post by Joseph Lofthouse on Feb 10, 2014 2:57:53 GMT -5
Should be interesting what it looks like in 5 years after it's been in the hands of capable breeders/seed savers for a while. I have a jar of Glass Gem that contains seed from the 4 strains that were available in 2011/2012. I wonder: in light of the multiple founder's effects that the variety has been subjected to, if I aughta throw that jar of seed into the freezer to preserve it. I'm not much of a preservationist, but I have a unique resource that might be hard to recreate later on. I don't expect to grow Glass Gem again, but I am so fickle sometimes, and sometimes I'm not, unless I am.
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