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Post by prairiegarden on Sept 29, 2016 16:48:45 GMT -5
The forecast for this winter is that it's going to be very harsh, as opposed to last winter which was the mildest ever, planted tulips in November, unheard of here. But so far we are a month late for the first heavy frost, relatively few trees have lost their leaves, most of them haven't yet turned colour. So hoping we are in for another blissfully mild winter that the ground freezes just hard and long enough and we get just enough snow for dormancy requirements.
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Post by prairiegarden on Sept 29, 2016 15:28:45 GMT -5
Will have just keep cutting them down, cherry leaf/bark is toxic to most animals. It seems I just need to keep at them a lot more, these things really are like super sized quack grass. If they were on the edge of the property I'd let them just make a hedge but they're in the middle of the garden. Thanks.
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Post by prairiegarden on Sept 29, 2016 13:36:14 GMT -5
Does anyone know of a source for redfleshed potatoes in Canada? The only one I've found is EagleCreek and the one they list looks more purple than red. There seems to be at least half a dozen easily available in the US but getting them from there to here is a problem, not being Walmart or similar and thus forbidden to bring live plants including tubers in from " outside".
I'd like to raise an assortment of coloured potatoes blue, red, yellow and purple which are both visually striking and delicious - early and productive would also be a help but colour and cookability the main requirements.
If if anyone has favorites in any of these that might helpful too, then at least know what I'm looking for.
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Post by prairiegarden on Sept 28, 2016 20:40:38 GMT -5
In a fruit growing group in Alberta, one member who has been growing and breeding fruit trees for years and has donated fruit tree material to the Saskatchewan gene bank - I got one of his apples this spring (and he is the source of all the info from Russia), has just posted something about a new pear in Russia. It was rated as 5/5 for flavour and had no issues surviving the weather when it averaged -42 for a few weeks. Apparently the disadvantages 1)are the fruit is not always exactly pear shaped and 2)tends to be too big. There is a lineup forming in the group clamouring for trees or even scion wood.
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Post by prairiegarden on Sept 28, 2016 5:32:26 GMT -5
Anyone have an update on this?
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Post by prairiegarden on Sept 27, 2016 22:54:31 GMT -5
Try Nortons Naturals they have them and some interesting other stuff as well. I don't know how to copy/ paste on this thing so can't offer the link sorry.
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Post by prairiegarden on Sept 27, 2016 12:31:08 GMT -5
I saw one photo the tree looked to be only about 18 inches tall, with most of the branches resting on stakes, no room for branches to sag from the weight of fruit! Perhaps taller veggies could grow up and through the inner branches? Imagine being able to truthfully boast that you got a bushel of peaches from your tree but your pole beans were three times as tall so you had high hopes for them. You could make a fortune on EBay selling bean seed with a carefully positioned but true (not photoshopped) photo to support your super bean claim ! ( not that anyone here would do such a thing, just the thought amused me.)
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Post by prairiegarden on Sept 27, 2016 2:48:32 GMT -5
Giving small landholders a property tax break if they produce food is another. Other than that they've developed some really interesting techniques for growing things out of their normal comfort zone, I hadn't heard about bananas but about things like peaches in Siberia. They've got some really interesting fruit tree varieties there for cold short season climates, and have developed novel ways to prune so trees can be somewhat protected in winter, not really practical for a 15foot tree but doable for a tree only. 3 or 4 feet tall but 12feet wide.
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Post by prairiegarden on Sept 27, 2016 1:29:06 GMT -5
when I was experimenting with biochar a few years ago a bunch of junk mail got morphed into biochar. When biochar was all the latest "thing "a guy I think in Australia was biocharring all sorts of stuff including old tennis shoes. Hopefully he stripped any plastic off first...
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Post by prairiegarden on Sept 26, 2016 14:10:46 GMT -5
Three more sprouts have appeared and they also are the only ones in their pot. The first is unfurling its first leaf. Thinking I maybe should dig the extras that haven't sprouted out of all the pots , it might be easier now than later. It will be interesting to see if any of them are doing anything at all, it's just so strange how one plant per pot has shown signs of life when each pot had at least three chunks of rhizome, and one had about 6 smaller chunks but each bit had at least one eye. Thats one of the pots with one sprout.
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Post by prairiegarden on Sept 25, 2016 23:15:38 GMT -5
If you can find them , Red Wattle hogs are wonderful. They do well outside, although admittedly ours generally got supplemented with grain once a day. The meat is FABULOUS, never had a tough bite of pork and the favour is superb. They are on the Ark of good taste along with the Berkshire I believe.
Ours were really easy going, the boar who got to be fairly huge, loved to get his back scratched with a barn broom. Shortly after we got them, some of a recent litter from a York got underneath the fence and went to visit, when I found them there a 4 mo old gilt had laid down and was trying to nurse them, the others were paying no attention.
I had to compare that behaviour with a pen of Yorshire pigs in an auction house where a recently bought pig was put into a pen with a bunch of stranger pigs..the ones there first proceeded to attack and then start to eat him, he couldn't get away and his screams echoed through the auction house and nobody paid the slightest attention. Yorkshires are good producers but the one York sow we had was a bit dangerous to be around when she had young, she taught me pigs can bark and that meant " I'm telling you for the last time, get out NOW!! "
The RW you could go in any time and they would just grunt hello and keep on doing what they were doing. At least until you picked up a baby and they screamed, they'd get a little anxious then.
Red Wattles are super hard to get now though In Canada, I know of only one breeder and they won't sell live animals. There are a number of breeders scattered around the U.S. but I think the breed is rated at least as endangered, possibly critically so. The butchers don't like them because of the red skin and hair, and they carry more fat than the Yorks do. I doubt it would be easy to find better pork and bacon though, admittedly I haven't tried the Berkshire yet. There are quite a few of those around.
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Post by prairiegarden on Sept 25, 2016 15:07:19 GMT -5
There's apparently quite a variation between varieties, the sort we have around here is moderately innocuous, I don't even bother with gloves. Supposedly when the plants dry down for the winter the stings no longer have the formic acid but that's info from the internet so take it for what it's worth. In any case, long sleeved gloves are handy for people who are more susceptible.
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Post by prairiegarden on Sept 25, 2016 6:44:26 GMT -5
Something that's been used around the world is stinging nettle. Supposedly the Salish used it for cordage, in the Himalayas they weave with it and some guy in Britain made a whole set of clothes ( everything from the skin up ) with it. You can use the leaves for cooking or compost ( chickens?) and the pith can be used for paper making. The videos on you tube show for making it up for weaving or knitting the material is retted like flax, another shows using the fresh fiber for making cordage from mature stems. So another option.
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Post by prairiegarden on Sept 24, 2016 10:18:51 GMT -5
I'm in the Canadian Prairies so had no fantasies about growing it outside. It's under lights in the house. It's sort of interesting, I got way more bits than I expected so there are duplicates in every pot; so far only one has come up in each of 5 pots. They say plants communicate with each other, I have images of them discussing who will stay dormant and who will sprout : "after you", "no no I insist" "you go" lol I need a life .
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Post by prairiegarden on Sept 23, 2016 18:10:49 GMT -5
This is interesting, although I'm not sure any findings have any "teeth" it will certainly raise a great deal of awareness www.monsanto-tribunal.org/ It's got a number of fairly heavy duty people pushing it forward.
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