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Post by farmermike on Aug 1, 2016 0:00:24 GMT -5
Yes, definitely hops! Some of those "cones" looks pretty close to ripe too. Grab a few and take a whiff if you get a chance. They should be very aromatic if they are ripe.
Looks like a very vigorous plant. Mine are scrawny compared to that -- though they are only 2 years old. I think they get more vigorous every year as they get older. Once, when hiking on the outskirts of Yosemite National Park, I saw a giant wild hop plant that had completely enveloped a large cottonwood tree. Of course, they die back to the ground every winter, so that is all one season's growth.
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Post by farmermike on Jul 27, 2016 18:55:04 GMT -5
We're in the middle of another heat wave now.
I was just looking back at the observed high temps for this summer and it appears we've had 17 days over 95F, including 10 days over 100F (~38C) since late May. Maybe this is the new normal, but it sure seems shocking to me to have this many heat waves -- and we can expect them to keep coming through September. My runner beans haven't even thought about producing a pod yet.
On the bright side, now 85F (~30C) now seems luxuriously cool!
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Post by farmermike on Jul 18, 2016 20:45:11 GMT -5
The crops that animals seem to bother least in my garden are, fava beans, herbs (including fennel bulb), spicy greens (like arugula, mustard, diplotaxis),...and of course horseradish.
Timing also seems to be important in avoiding predation of new seedlings; between May 15th and June 15th, I seem to be able to plant almost anything without the new plants being disturbed (I figure that is when there is the most wild forage available for critters). But if I plant seeds in April or July, I have to protect them vigorously. In May our overwintering sparrows head north, and in July as the hills dry out rodents head into my irrigated "oasis" garden. In the middle of a very dry winter, every seedling, weed or crop, will be devoured by desperate birds.
Placement in the garden seems to matter as well. Plants near the edge of a fenced garden get eaten by winter-foraging sparrows, while the ones in the back, near the solid wall of the chicken coop are fine. Wide open beds near pathways, where I and my dogs pass frequently, are safe, but those obscured by tall wildflowers get munched.
Right now I'm dealing with predation by roof rats, pocket gophers, California towhees, and voles (it is a boom year for voles). I have been very successful trapping the gophers with Macabee type traps, but it takes much persistence. I seem to have the best luck with rats when I use both live and snap traps -- though it is very unpleasant to drown the ones caught in live traps. I think the rats traps are catching voles too, but they usually get eaten before I see them. The towhees I get with a pellet gun when I can.
My empathy for pest species seems to be waning at the same rate I increase my garden space. I refuse to use poisons, because I don't want to kill predators that eat the dead pests. I have been thinking of building a few owl boxes.
I also think that reducing habitat (hiding places) for animal pests would help a lot. Clearing out woodpiles, brush piles, brambles/thickets, tall grass, run-down sheds and the like may make the biggest difference, but they are often the most labor-intensive option.
In my youth, as a native garden designer/landscaper, I used to tell everyone how important it was to have "structural habitat", such as rotting logs, brush piles, rock piles, etc. in their gardens to encourage biodiversity. But as I have shifted my focus to food crops, it is getting harder to justify that stance -- since rats seem to be the most frequent occupant. I recently inherited a hillside garden with terraces built out of urbanite (pieces of broken concrete) and the voles have created a thriving metropolis in the excavated spaces between the concrete rocks.
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Post by farmermike on Jun 9, 2016 11:47:03 GMT -5
This plant appeared near a row of Giant Red Mustard (B. juncea) from a seed crop I saved in 2010. The seeds had spent the past 5 years in a storage unit until I rediscovered them last winter. It seems to have characteristics of the red mustard and Red Russian Kale (B. napus), or maybe rapini (B. rapa). It is likely I was growing both of those in 2010. It has both the sweetness and mild bitterness of the Russian kale AND the spicy, mustardy flavor of the red mustard. It has the whitish green ribs and purple veins of the mustard, but the thick succulent leaves of the kale. The red mustard behind it in the photo is all in full flower, but this plant seems to be in the same stage as my spring planted russian kale. I really like this one! So, I need some advice on how to attempt to continue this line. Anyone have experience growing out a cross like this? There is only one plant, so will it be able to pollinate itself and create a population from a single plant, or should I try to get it to back-cross with my Russian kale?
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Post by farmermike on Jun 4, 2016 10:00:41 GMT -5
We had a high of 102F (~39C) yesterday! My family hated it, but my growing summer crops didn't mind a bit. The heat also helps my Brassica and Fava seeds to dry down very quickly. After yesterday, today's predicted 93F (~34C) seems quite tolerable.
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Post by farmermike on May 21, 2016 12:36:32 GMT -5
reed, why till under the corn? Wouldn't it start growing again once your weather finally warms up? Also, wouldn't it be a good chance to select for plants that tolerate cold, wet weather? I guess you would need a large enough surviving population to get good pollination though. I hope you didn't lose all you best corn seed.
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Post by farmermike on Apr 21, 2016 23:58:08 GMT -5
Inspiring work, templeton! How can you recognize the dwarf trait so early in the seedling stage?
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Post by farmermike on Apr 11, 2016 12:26:40 GMT -5
Thanks all! That is encouraging. I think I should at least get back as many seeds as I planted of the Cascadia and Sugar Lace II. The Sugar Lace II, though, did overlap in its flowering, with the Swedish Red soup peas (4' away). Should I expect some crosses? Joseph, good luck with the pea crosses this year! I had been wondering recently if wider spacing would also help a lot when selecting and culling peas in general. Seems like it would be easier to identify productivity or disease resistance, than when many plants are intermingling. Incidentally, the snap pea harvest coincided with potty training of our toddler. So, it caused a lot of confusion around our household, that "I want a pea!", and " I want to pee!", sound exactly the same out of the mouth of a 2 year old.
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Post by farmermike on Apr 5, 2016 19:07:52 GMT -5
I would like to attempt some pea crosses, but first I need to figure out to actually save some seeds. For the past 2 years, something (I'm assuming rats) has eaten all of my snap pea pods just as they start to turn leathery. Yesterday I noticed that all the Cascadia pods I had been waiting on are suddenly gone. So, today I picked all the fully formed pods in that patch. My question is: Can I get viable seed from pods that have not started to dry down at all? These are a few of the Cascadia. Any potential? Most of these are as full and ripe as they get, but are still crisp and juicy. Or maybe I should just choose a larger number of pods to save for seed (instead of eating them myself), so that the rats can't get them all before they begin to senesce. My 2 year old also eats a lot of the pods, but I don't think she takes them when they are past their prime eating stage.
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Post by farmermike on Apr 1, 2016 23:49:41 GMT -5
Great explanations keen101 (Biolumo / Andrew B.) and philagardener! I was surprised to hear you mention Sugar Magnolia having the hyper-tendril trait. None of the plants in my small plot have that. I checked the Adaptive Seeds website and their description doesn't mention hyper-tendril either, and their photo of the variety shows only regular tendrils. I noticed that Peace Seeds does say hyper-tendril though (as well as some other sources). It will be interesting to see what my fall sowing of the rest of the Sugar Magnolia seeds looks like. I am now thinking I might save the tendril-less seeds separately, and see what comes of them--just out of curiosity!
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Post by farmermike on Apr 1, 2016 17:51:19 GMT -5
I am growing Sugar Magnolia snap pea for the first time this spring and 4 out of the 18 plants are completely tendril-less. The seeds came from Adaptive Seeds last fall. I know a lot of people here have grown this variety. Has anyone seen this phenotype in the variety? This seems like an undesirable trait, so I'm assuming I should not save seeds from these plants, or maybe even cull these 4 if I decide to save seed from this batch (I still have more seeds I could plant in the fall). The really odd thing, is that the 4 tendril-less plants are all right next to each other near the middle of the 7' row. So, I guess my real question is: Could this trait be environmentally triggered (by some extra stress such as chemical contamination or much rockier soil in that tiny section of row), or was it genetically predetermined in those seeds. The odds seem very low that I would have unknowingly planted all 4 tendril-less seeds right next to each other. Thoughts?
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Post by farmermike on Mar 27, 2016 13:37:54 GMT -5
Good question! I am breaking a lot of new ground this year and I hadn't attempted to tally it up yet. After a little measuring I came up with a rough estimate. Between my new 1/3 acre suburban lot, and the 20 acre (8 hectare)--mostly steep hilly--ranch where I work, I think I will have around 3000 square feet (280 square meters) in cultivation this summer. That is more than double what I had last year, so I'm feeling rather ambitious with my plans.
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Post by farmermike on Mar 27, 2016 13:21:55 GMT -5
I have been trialing some chicories this past winter, and hoping to get some crosses between the different varieties, but I believe they are all Cichorium intybus. According to ISSI, C. intybus will be pollinated by C. endivia, but not the other way around. Of the varieties I grew (Sugar Loaf, Castelfranco, Rossa di Treviso, and Variegata di Chioggia), Sugar Loaf was by far the winner. It was the only one to make reliable heads, and even grew a new head after the first was harvested. The upper green parts are kind of bitter, but the lower white stems and ribs are very sweet. It seems to be the same as Pan di Zucchero. Now I'm wondering if I can breed some color into it, while retaining the reliable heading quality. I think it may have just been a bad year for heading crops here; a lot of my cabbages failed to produce heads too. One packet of Variegata di Chioggia turned out to be Catalogna/Italian Dandelion. The leaves are very bitter, so we haven't eaten much of them yet. But, I was just reading that they need to be soaked in cold water and then become more mild. All the chicories did seem to sweeten up after a little frost, but we didn't have much of that this winter.
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Post by farmermike on Mar 26, 2016 1:01:07 GMT -5
These are the tomatoes and peppers I have sprouting already--as well as some unnamed varieties I have acquired or found growing in my garden last year. Tomatoes Early: Glacier, Siberian, Coldset, Silvery Fir Tree, Gypsy, Forest Fire. Slicers: True Black Brandywine, German Johnson, Cherokee Purple, Ananas Noire, Black Krim, Pineapple, Indigo Blue Beauty, Lucid Gem, Berkeley Tie Dye, Chocolate Stripes. Heart/paste: Giant Oxheart, Brad’s Black Heart, Aunt Ruby’s German Green, Berkeley Tie Dye Heart, Striped Roman, Opalka. Cherry: Chocolate Cherry, Sungold F2, Indigo Kumquat, Tomatoberry Garden F1. Misc.: Japanese Black Trifele, Ukrainian Purple, Sweet Tooth, Black Icicle, Red Furry Boar, Indigo Rose, Lovers Lunch, Dark Galaxy, Long Keeper, Michael Pollan, Amethyst Jewel Peppers Hot/mild: Yellow Hungarian, Bulgarian Carrot, Vallero, Chimayo, Sweet Heat F1, Poblano, Mulato Isleno, Chilhuacle Negro, Black Hungarian, Pasilla Bajio, Shishito, Pepperoncini, Jalapeno, Chiltepine “Texas”. Sweet/bell: Marconi Red, Mini Chocolate Bell, Midnight Dreams, Georgescu Chocolate, and a mysterious extra-large sweet that showed up in my garden last year. I am trying to keep them loosely segregated by use type and ultimately combine each type into a colorfully diverse landrace. I am also hoping to do something similar this summer with: okra, eggplant, basil, maxima squash, moschata squash, pole snap beans, bush snap beans, edible seeded sunflowers, summer squash, naked-seeded pumpkins, cowpeas, melons, and watermelons (particularly yellow skin and yellow/orange flesh). Hopefully, I’ll have lots of seeds to share next year. I’m planning to grow plots of Lavender Mandan Parching and Parching Starburst Manna corns--for flour and parching. Also, some trials of se sweet corns, possibly including: Top Hat, Who Gets Kissed, Candy Mountain, Trinity F1, Precocious F1, Sugar Baby F1, Buttergold F1, and Spring Treat F1. I’m not sure exactly which ones yet. My ultimate goal with the se sweet corn is to be able to save my own seed and have good keeping ability after harvest. I assume that I will need a diverse population to avoid inbreeding depression with my small scale plot. Not sure if I should start with an OP variety, or mix a bunch together and select out my own to increase genetic diversity. Oh yeah, I also have a new baby due April 3rd! So, all my well-laid plans may go right out the window before they get started.
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Post by farmermike on Mar 22, 2016 0:43:31 GMT -5
My Fulstaff brussels sprouts do this. I sell the little 'flowers' in punnets and people love them. It turns out some of my Catskill Brussels sprouts did this to. They didn't make any real sprouts, but only little loose ones. I had thought they were a total failure, but after reading this I tried one and it was really tasty!
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