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Post by farmermike on Jan 17, 2016 12:56:11 GMT -5
Don't know what this is. Must be kale but looks much different and tastes better than most of the others. Most of the kale just looks like red Russian but there are a few of these. This is the only one with a bud stalk. It looks like arugula to me. They have pretty hairy sepals in bud--unlike kale (usually). I grow a lot of that. Nice spicey, mustardy salad greens. Your garden sounds great Reed! I'm excited to hear more about it as the season progresses.
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Post by farmermike on Jan 12, 2016 1:37:04 GMT -5
My first experiment with lacto-fermenting was a great success! I just made a brine with 2tbsp of salt to a quart of water, added turnips, carrots and spices. The smaller jar just fits in there to hold everything under the brine. After just a couple days I could smell the lactic acid every time I walked by the jar. I took my first taste after about a week and it was delicious. I thought it could ferment a little more, so I left it out on the counter until today (19 days after starting), and then put it in the fridge. I will definitely be making another batch soon. Does it make sense to reuse the same--already fermented--brine and just put some more veggies into the same jar? How long should I expect a batch to last out on the counter vs. in the fridge? Thanks for all your expertise! Finding this thread finally gave me the confidence to try lacto-fermenting. I had heard of it before, but it just seemed too easy--like there must be some catch. I guess there's not. My wife even likes them, and my 2 year-old daughter keeps asking for "more pickled turnip"! Mike
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Post by farmermike on Dec 18, 2015 0:50:07 GMT -5
Looks so healthy too,do you not get much of the white butterfly Mike I did have a lot of the white butterfly larvae back in September and October--along with tons (ounces literally) of aphids. Fortunately, my garden is currently small enough that I was able to spend time picking off all the little green caterpillars. Our chickens were ravenous for them! I also fed them the worst aphid-infested leaves. Once we got some cold weather, in November, the aphids and cabbage whites slowed way down. A few are still there, but not doing much damage. I guess the timing of planting is important. I planted the seeds mid-July, put plants in the ground late-August, and picked first cauliflower mid-December. So, they got established during warm weather, and got to ripen during the cold when there was little insect pressure. This is really the first time I've ever gotten the timing right!
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Post by farmermike on Dec 16, 2015 20:49:14 GMT -5
I harvested my 1st head of cauliflower today. Amazing is the variety. I also have Sunset F1, Graffiti F1, and Sicilia di Violetto. I had been thinking of letting these varieties cross so I could select out a colorfully diverse cauliflower population. I considered leaving this head to mature and flower, but I couldn't stand to NOT eat one of the few ripe veggies in my garden. It was amazingly delicious! Maybe I will get side shoots that I can allow to flower. I will probably eat the heads from all of the 2 dozen total plants I have this winter, and plant a bigger population the next time I sow seeds. When I do finally let the cauliflowers cross, I'm not sure how I'll deal with the likelihood of cytoplasmic male sterility in the F1's. I have read that some varieties can act as "fertility restorer lines", and reverse CMS. I guess there's no way to know which these are, except by trial and error. I wonder if I would be able to select FOR the orange of Sunset F1, and AGAINST its CMS--assuming I could find a suitable pollen donor. I know a lot of people don't want to waste time and space growing/breeding such a relatively unproductive crop (long time in ground, and one time harvest) as cauliflower. I guess I do consider it a luxury crop, but it is also the number one thing my wife says we could never have too much of in the garden. So, that makes it a good choice as a breeding project! Mike
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Post by farmermike on Dec 13, 2015 21:03:46 GMT -5
I had a similar experience while I was studying agroecology in Prescott, AZ, in 2010. A friend gave me some little black beans, which he claimed were tepary beans from the Hopi reservation. Upon planting, I immediately suspected that they weren't actually P. acutifolius--by comparison to all the teparies we were growing at our school farm. They were however very vigorous, early-maturing, and pretty determinate (they usually dry up their crop and die very early, even if they are still being irrigated). They have been my favorite dry bean to grow ever since.
Maybe my friend was misinformed, and they are actually Black Mitla, but I wonder if there are other "tepary like", P. vulgaris black beans going around the southwest. NS/S has a few other small black beans, and the seeds look very unlike their black tepary listings (which are very angular and blocky). I also wonder if there are "tepary like" beans in other colors, or is that morphology unique to the black?
My experience with real teparies is very limitied, but now that I am gardening on sandy fast-draining soil, maybe I should do some trials.
Mike
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Post by farmermike on Dec 9, 2015 2:12:21 GMT -5
The radicchios: Castelfranco, Rossa Di Treviso, and Sugar Loaf (latter 2 pictured below), are showing signs of beginning to form heads. I believe they are all Cichorium intybus. The leaves were very bitter for a long time. Then we had our first frosty nights around Thanksgiving (when my one remaining basil plant was killed). About 10 days later the radicchio leaves were suddenly delicious. I'm looking to cross several of the head-forming radicchio/chickory varieties, and see what interesting forms and color patterns I end up with. I worry that I might see a lot of wild chicory traits coming out as dominant. I only have a few plants right now, so I'm hoping that I can let them form heads, harvest them an inch or so above the ground to eat, and then still have them survive and flower in the spring. Also, of course, the different varieties will have to flower simultaneously to get any crosses. I may try a slightly larger crop in the spring--to give this project better odds of success. The ones pictured above are supposed to be Variegata Di Chiogga (from Baker Creek), but they sure do look like dandelions. I'm guessing that they accidentally gave me their Italiko Rosso Dandelion seeds instead (which is actually a chicory). They probably won't fit in with this project, but maybe they'll win me over. Mike
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Post by farmermike on Dec 8, 2015 2:06:53 GMT -5
Yeah, they have beautiful curvy brown seeds. I accidentally sliced one in half there. Those are fully ripe, but I guess they're still kind of soft until they have a chance to dry out a bit. I got about 20 seeds from this batch. I will try to go back and get more from the same place next weekend, and hopefully she can direct me to the varieties that have seeds. She has both the astringent and non-astringent type, but I'm more partial to the "non". Richard, I glad to hear that you've had a few germinate. I'm hoping for quite a few trees too. In the mean time, though, I may break down and buy a couple trees from a local nursery. I may also try to get some cuttings to graft from the CRFG Scion Exchange.
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Post by farmermike on Dec 7, 2015 19:47:47 GMT -5
I got these persimmons from a woman in the hills of Martinez who has a nice orchard and sells them out of her garage for a few weeks a year. She planted the trees 40 years ago. I hope that I get enjoy the trees I'm planting now--in 40 years. The little ones in the front have seeds, but the medium sized are parthenocarpic. I think the little ones taste better, but that may just be the joy I get from finding the seeds. I'm assuming they are all D. kaki. The big one on the left is "Giant Fuyu". I'm going to try growing the seeds in the spring. I'm guessing it will take 10 years before those fruit, maybe less if I graft them onto something else. I'm also looking for more seeds--if anyone has extras! Mike
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Post by farmermike on Dec 2, 2015 20:29:18 GMT -5
Welcome! Looks like your veggies aren't your only breeding adventure. I suppose you know you're growing in a very un-rigorous environment; here in the SFBay area we are favored by such hospitable conditions (although not for things that want real heat or cold), but we can grow some things year-round. Children do especially well here. Ha ha! Yes, after all, I will need a bigger family to help eat up all the produce I can grow in these hospitible conditions.
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Post by farmermike on Dec 2, 2015 20:17:53 GMT -5
Thanks keen101 (Biolumo / Andrew B.)! That's Indigo Blue Beauty. I tried it for the first time this year and I think it's my new "favorite" tomato. I especially like the little beak on this one. I wonder if I could select for that trait. I'm in the SF Bay Area.
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Post by farmermike on Dec 2, 2015 1:21:17 GMT -5
I've been learning so much from you all these past few months, that I decided I should start sharing my experiences as well. These Brussels Sprouts, Cauliflower, and Radicchio are my only breeding projects currently in the ground. I just moved at the end of August, so I only got this one garden space prepared. The Brussels Sprouts varieties are: Roodnerf, Red Ball, Catskill, and Long Island Improved (seems like I've read that the last 2 are synonymous). I planted them on August 27th (right after I finished sanding the floors in the new house), and I'm hoping they will start to grow sprouts in early January. Hopefully the fact that we've been eating some of the leaves doesn't keep them from producing sprouts. But, my main goal is to get them all to bloom at the same time in spring, so I can get some crosses and start breeding a grex/landrace that will produce well in my area. I'd like to have a population that contains green and red leafed plants and can tolerate our summer heat and drought. Though these all performed fine during the many 104deg days in September. Brassicas have no problem overwintering here in the SF Bay Area. Any advice on breeding Brussels Sprouts? Other varieties I should add to the mix? Some of the Red Ball plants have a great purple color. The more vigorous ones only have purple stems though. I'll post more about the Cauliflower and Radicchio later. Mike
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Post by farmermike on Dec 2, 2015 0:16:38 GMT -5
Just a test. Looks like it worked finally! Oldmobie's postimage.org screenshot was helpful.
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