|
Post by iva on Jan 12, 2012 16:01:44 GMT -5
I'd also like to try some of your sweet corns. Will PM you again tomorrow
|
|
|
Post by Joseph Lofthouse on Jan 12, 2012 17:28:20 GMT -5
I just got back from the post office... Oh my heck! Thanks for all the seeds. I'm sending a public thank you, because many of the envelopes came without a return address. And even those with return addresses, it seems complicated to try to match up your screen name with your return address. The seed catalogs are arriving. I am most thrilled with: - "Fisher's Seeds" which is a Montana company specializing in varieties that thrive in cool gardens, and short seasons
- J.L. Hudson, Seedman, which carries a huge variety of mostly non-culinary species
It was interesting to notice that "Johnny's Select" had an article addressed to the question of "Why do you sell Monsanto seeds?"
|
|
|
Post by Joseph Lofthouse on Jan 12, 2012 21:25:24 GMT -5
I received tomato seeds in the mail today. The sender was extremely generous and provided more seeds than I will use in a decade. So I'm sharing: Send me a personal message with your mailing address.
They are:
Coyote: White/yellow prolific wild cherry tomato from Mexico
Primrose Gage: White/pale creamy yellow tomato from India. Medium-sized with very unusual skin texture, yummy flavor.
Silver Fir Tree: Silvery colored carrot-like leaves. From Russia. Large Fruited.
Kolea: Medium sized red slicer. Developed at University of Hawaii.
Orange King: Medium sized fruit. Open Pollinated. Developed at University of New Hampshire in ~1943.
|
|
coppice
gardener
gardening curmudgeon
Posts: 149
|
Post by coppice on Jan 12, 2012 21:50:11 GMT -5
Joseph, I'll never live long enough to use all the tomato seed I have now.
Thank you for your concideration.
I will make right (to the limit of my ability) any postage you expend on Robin.
|
|
|
Post by Joseph Lofthouse on Jan 12, 2012 22:23:51 GMT -5
Here's how the lavender (aleurone) seed segregated out this year... It happened to be the favorite corn of the wild animals and/or bugs, so harvest wasn't very prolific. Selection is much easier this year for two reasons... 1- I grew the lavender seeds in a semi-isolated patch so they tended to pollinate each other, and 2- I am selecting kernels from intact cobs, which makes it easier to select family groups that carry the lavender trait.
|
|
|
Post by iva on Jan 13, 2012 0:58:56 GMT -5
I'm taking a wild guess here, simply because I haven't done much researching regarding breeding corn (and genetics), but if you plant dark kernels, is there a bigger chance the offspring will have more dark kernels? I'm really interested in growing corn, but simply don't have the time to look into it more, maybe in a few years time...
|
|
|
Post by Joseph Lofthouse on Jan 13, 2012 2:02:19 GMT -5
I'm taking a wild guess here, simply because I haven't done much researching regarding breeding corn (and genetics), but if you plant dark kernels, is there a bigger chance the offspring will have more dark kernels? I'm really interested in growing corn, but simply don't have the time to look into it more, maybe in a few years time... Iva: Corn seeds are like people: They tend to resemble their parents. If you move to a new community, your family over the generations will tend to pick up the traits of the community. I am aware of 4 different ways in which corn seeds get their colors. They interact with each other and/or mask each other, but it's fairly simple once you acknowledge what the layers are and how they interact.... It can be difficult to look at a single kernel and determine where it's color is coming from. It's much easier to look at a whole cob. Starting from the outside.... You have the pericarp. It is mother only tissue and affects every kernel on the cob. It can be lightly colored so that the underlying colors show through, or it can be darkly colored so that it (mostly) hides the underlying colors. Pericarp colors are typically Red/Blue/Purple. Light red over yellow appears orange. Light blue over yellow appears green. Next is the aleurone: It's about 1 mm thick. It can likewise be lightly or heavily colored and can hide the underlying colors. Aleurone colors are typically shades of gray/brown/red/lavender. The colors in this layer are influenced by the pollen donor, so if a cob has multiple colors (other than white/yellow) it's due to the aleurone. Then there is the endosperm. It is yellow or white. The 4th color mechanism is what I call "sap color". It permeates every layer of the kernel, and the plant in general. The color is highly water soluble. This is the trait that colors my "Cherry flavored" corn.
|
|
|
Post by iva on Jan 13, 2012 2:52:32 GMT -5
Oh, Joseph, thank you so much for this quick 'lecture'. I'll admit, you got me intrigued! I guess I won't be able to wait for a few years, I'll be looking into corn genetics really soon... I've seen a pic of your Cherry flavored corn, it looks beautiful! Is it close to stability? I'd really love to try it some day... Itried growing 'normal' sweet corn we get seeds for in the store around here, but it simply did not produce much. Then I got some seeds for Purple Martian in a trade and said 'what the heck, I'll just dump the seeds in the ground'. And they did beautifly!!! I just loved the color! That is why I'm into all this color stuff, as I've never seen it before in my life! Thank you for your wonderful work...
|
|
|
Post by bunkie on Jan 13, 2012 10:21:34 GMT -5
joseph, does the 'sap color' include the color of the cob itself (without seed)? like the Red Miracle many times has a red core.
|
|
|
Post by Joseph Lofthouse on Jan 13, 2012 20:54:48 GMT -5
Regarding the cherry flavored purple sap corn... Yes, it's the same as what might be seen in Red Miracle corn. The main difference is in intensity of color. The purple color is in many parts of the plant: the cob, and the stem, and the kernels, (and sometimes the leaves). It is very water soluble, so it pretty much travels through all parts of the plant, though some parts have more of an affinity for the color than others. The colored sap trait can be picked out of a jumble of colored seeds because the tip of the seed will be red/purple.
Obtaining stability in the cherry flavored corn is slow because it is only manifest in the maternal tissue, and because I am transferring the trait from flour corn to sugary enhanced sweet corn. So far I have paid more attention to transferring the trait. Next year I can work on stabilizing it. (I think that there may be many traits working together.) Next year I should be able to plant a big patch, and detassel to eliminate any plants with green stems. I will know that early on before they shed pollen. I want to keep purple/red stems, because plants with red/purple stems tend to have purple cobs.
|
|
|
Post by justness on Jan 24, 2012 13:49:26 GMT -5
Joseph, wow, am fascinated wizhthe wegetables.That you like orange corn mmmm and yellow has ben tested:) If you could would buy all kinds of seeds from you.I am of you tomato seeds that ar donated for me, to thank you , thank you, wil be proud to grow in Croatia-Zagreb taun in my garden. hardly wait for the season:)
|
|
|
Post by rammstein on Jan 29, 2012 13:44:17 GMT -5
What an impressive listo of plant. I like very much your work with corn.I'd be interested in doing a bit of trading with you and i hope to have anything you're interested in.
|
|
coppice
gardener
gardening curmudgeon
Posts: 149
|
Post by coppice on Jan 31, 2012 8:58:03 GMT -5
Joseph would you be so kind as to notify folks when your seeds go out?
Thank you Tom C
|
|
|
Post by Joseph Lofthouse on Jan 31, 2012 11:12:28 GMT -5
I'd also like to try some of your sweet corns. Will PM you again tomorrow Sure thing.... I'm expecting to get most of them shipped this week. The situation with the ill family member has stabilized, so I'm expecting to be in town all week. I gotta remember that many of you are already planting your gardens.
|
|
|
Post by Joseph Lofthouse on Feb 3, 2012 20:02:10 GMT -5
I have more seeds to share... They are from my Cucumis melo hybrid swarm. I thought I had lost the seed, but a collaborator in northern Missouri grew it out for me and returned more seed than I could possibly plant!!! An incredibly diverse population of very short season C. melo melons. The 2010 super-early frost event that took out 75% of my butternut population was even more severe for the melons! Orange, green, yellow, and white fleshed. Smooth, netted, and fuzzy skin. Round, oblong, and banana shaped. This seed came out of one of my breeding programs. About 150 named varieties of melons may have contributed genes to the hybrid swarm. Several landraces also contributed.
|
|