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Post by farmermike on Jan 19, 2017 13:29:03 GMT -5
I was wondering how other people here do germination tests. I usually only test seeds that I suspect may sprout poorly (sometimes my suspicions are proven right; other times totally wrong), but I am finding the "paper towel in plastic bag" method very tedious and difficult -- and the seeds always want to stick to the wrong part of the paper towel when I unroll it to check them. I am trying to figure out an easier way to do it, and I figured the wise people here may have some suggestions. Forest Fire Tomato (at the bottom of the photo) has been the champ of my germ tests so far.
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Post by farmermike on Jan 18, 2017 20:50:03 GMT -5
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Post by farmermike on Jan 18, 2017 20:15:14 GMT -5
richardw, I just pack them in a jar of brine (along with some carrots), and add spices (turmeric, mustard seeds, garlic, paprika, etc.). The little jar on top just holds them down, so they don't float and get moldy on top. Usually takes a week or 2 to reach the right level of acidity -- then I put them in the fridge. It works great at this time of year, but I didn't have much luck during summer. It seems that if the room temperature gets above 75-80F (24C), they don't ferment right, and have an off taste or a slimy texture. Sure wish I had a cellar. It will likely be a few years before I can dig one. My 3-year-old thinks pickled turnips are candy!
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Post by farmermike on Jan 18, 2017 16:25:40 GMT -5
steev, this is the stump from that radicchio head. The little red bits in the middle are the new shoots that had already started to grow. Some varieties will actually make second head (if not cut too low) that can be harvested, and still make seeds. Sugar Loaf (Pan di Zucchero), in particular, does this. I'm sure they would make more seeds if I didn't steal so much of their stored energy, but with my limited space this strategy is working out nicely. They still make tons of seed. I have found radicchio to be a very resilient crop, that is prone to volunteering, and can be grown with almost no irrigation during our rainy season. I have many seeds to share if anyone is interested.
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Post by farmermike on Jan 18, 2017 1:29:22 GMT -5
Harvested our first-ever rutabaga today. It is destined to be lactofermented! Also cut the first radicchio head of the season for a salad tonight. Got a few dozen more radicchios coming along. They are part of the landrace project that I started last year. I will be culling any of them that don't form a decent head, and saving seed from the rest -- after harvesting the head, of course.
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Post by farmermike on Jan 17, 2017 20:47:43 GMT -5
That is a project I've been thinking about for years, but never gotten around to starting. I have made several wild seed collections over the years, but have had only moderate success growing them. This is likely because I've always tended to plant it in a rock garden (which seems similar to it's natural habitat) or on steep neglected ground with heavy weed competition. I had only minimal reseeding, although some sources claim that it does. I had one or two volunteers (originally from commercial seed) last year in that steep garden, but neglected to collect seeds from them. I'll have to check it again this year. I'd be interested in collaborating on this project. I probably still have some of my wild collections; I'll have to see if I can find them (and if they're still viable). I live within the native range, so I can always find more. And, I'm always looking for an excuse to visit the San Jacinto mountains (gotta love a place where you can hike out of the desert and find Sugar Pines!). The trick is finding them while the seed is ripe, though sometimes a few seeds hang around in the dry inflorescence if the site is not too windy. I imagine that some steps toward domestication have already been taken by the nursery industry. That local nursery I linked sells it in 4" pots. In my experience, there is always some selection that has to happen when convincing a wild plant, from rocky mountainsides, to grow in commercial potting soil. Those may not be all the same selections you would be making for domestication as a food crop, but some of them may be. Though, in all likelihood, Annie is getting seed from Larner Seeds. I have found that, even plants from wild sourced seeds, transplant very easily in the rosette stage -- and in cool weather. William, I'll have a look through my seed stash and PM you soon about that and other possible trades.
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Post by farmermike on Jan 14, 2017 20:13:42 GMT -5
Brussels sprouts that grow a bunch of little broccoli or cauliflower heads along the stem, instead of sprouts, would be pretty cool. But if it was possible, I imagine someone would have done it already. Well, I guess I spoke too soon. The mother of this plant was Sunset F1 cauliflower, which is male sterile. The father was presumably a Brussels Sprout. From the top it looks pretty much just like Collard Greens. From the underside you can see that, along the stem, it has a bunch of little sprouts that each have a little cauliflower head growing from the middle. I generally cull CMS from my garden, but it sure is an easy way to see what wide crosses within B. oleracea will produce. I won't include CMS germplasm in any of my landraces (primarily because I want to share seed with other landrace gardeners), but I will admit that I'm not entirely convinced that it would cause any detriment in a Brassica landrace. I had previously presumed that the presence of CMS, within a population, would result lower seed production, but this Sunset F1 (flowering alongside Brussels Sprouts and Broccoli) produced a tremendous amount of seed. It seems that it would actually increase the rate of outcrossing, although that might be totally unnecessary in species that are generally self-incompatible. Are there other potentially detrimental results CMS could produce? In any case, I may keep playing with a few CMS varieties for educational purposes. It makes it so easy to test wide crosses -- without needing to do any bagging, tagging or hand pollination. If nothing else, this experiment has inspired me to try crossing some fully fertile cauliflower and Brussels sprouts, and see if I can stabilize a strain similar to the specimen pictured above.
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Post by farmermike on Jan 2, 2017 20:30:32 GMT -5
Today I harvested...orach seed. Joseph Lofthouse, do you have any tips on processing orach seed? I have a whole bag waiting patiently to be dealt with.
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Post by farmermike on Dec 17, 2016 17:41:42 GMT -5
Thanks, toomanyirons! I've been admiring your tomatoes since you first posted them on this thread. You have a few other things I'd be interested in trading for as well. I'll send a PM after the holidays.
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Post by farmermike on Dec 14, 2016 22:01:24 GMT -5
Well, my tomato season is finally over, and I thought I’d share some of the thoughts the season has given me. Anthocyanin “Blue” colorationI’m ever more convinced of the value in anthocyanin production in tomatoes. One of my biggest problems with large, “heirloom” slicing tomatoes has always been sunburned fruit. True Black Brandywine was highly susceptible to sunburn. It seems that the blue/anthocyanin coloration acts as tomato sunscreen. Conveniently, its production also seems to be triggered by sunlight exposure. Some of the older blue varieties (like Indigo Rose) demonstrate extreme antho coloration and are not very tasty. The best blue varieties only produce it when the fruit is exposed to sunlight, and are otherwise just like any other delicious tomato. Blue Beauty on the left, and Lucid Gem on the right, are currently my favorites. The fruits without the blue coloration were shaded by foliage. Antho varieties also seem to consistently keep longer on the plant, or on the kitchen counter, than the average tomato. Red acidic paste tomatoesReed and toomanyirons, I now understand what you mean about using acidic, red tomatoes for sauce. This summer I had a bunch of Pineapple tomatoes ripen at once and I made a batch of sauce from them -- it was so sickeningly rich and sweet as to be almost inedible. Now I need to acquire a bunch of good red paste tomatoes to trial. I grew Opalka for the first time this year and it was wonderful. That may be the standard by which I judge all other pastes. Pineapple is a very sweet and delicious slicing tomato, but I won’t use it for sauce anymore. Green tricolor tomatoesMy pleasantest surprise this year was Berkeley Tie-Dye. It is mostly green with some swirls of red and yellow running through it. I have not enjoyed other fully “green-when-ripe” tomatoes, but the addition of a little red and yellow seems to make all the difference. It tastes almost like it was dipped in balsamic vinegar (which, incidentally, is a popular way to eat tomatoes around Berkeley, CA). Ananas Noire is another which has similar coloration and complex flavors, but is different in other ways (larger and lacking striped skin). Tough skin and fuzzy skinI have noticed that some tomatoes have very tough skin AND excellent flavor (i.e. Japanese Black Trifele). This seems undesirable for many uses, but may be great for stewing whole or halved tomatoes, as the skins could be easier to fish out once cooked. I grew Red Furry Boar this year and thought it had great flavor, and very thin and tender skin. It was susceptible to sunburn didn’t hold well on the plant when fully ripe, but seemed resistant to insect damage (stink bugs etc.) when many of my other varieties were getting attacked. Perhaps the fuzzy skin acts as a pest deterrent; time will tell if this theory pans out. Next year.I imagine all of these traits will play parts in my tomato landraces. If anyone has seeds that carry some of these traits, I would be interested in trading for them.
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Post by farmermike on Dec 10, 2016 14:21:56 GMT -5
I was looking at Glacier tomato, what do you think of the flavour? I believe the flavor was good -- though not particularly memorable. It was definitely good enough that I will be growing it again, considering the earliness and overall productivity. It was described as semi-determinate, but turned out to be one of my tallest, viniest tomato varieties. I will not be planting it in my determinate patch again next year. The seed I bought last year also produced some plants with yellow/orange fruit, but were otherwise identical to the red Glacier -- a welcome surprise!
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Post by farmermike on Dec 9, 2016 14:02:30 GMT -5
I never got around to posting my trade list last year, so this time I got prepared early. This will be my first time trading seeds by mail, so any guidance you can give me would be much appreciated. I have been trading with people in-person for years.
I am growing most things in a grex/proto-landrace style. In parentheses, I have listed the parents (or known phenotypes) that contributed to the grex. In most cases, I am still saving seeds separately from individual phenotypes/varieties. If you are interested in certain parent varieties in particular, I am happy to send them, but they will likely be crossed. I’m not sure whether I will continue saving varieties separately next year.
A few things on the list were actually isolated enough that I would consider them “pure” varieties -- they are marked as such. Nearly everything on the list was grown in 2015 or 2016. Most of the proto-landraces are in their first or second generation. Let me know if you have any questions about my seeds.
I have a pretty substantial “wants” list. For many crops, I already have a good stock of germplasm, but would still like to add diversity to the mix. Landrace varieties would be highly appreciated. In most cases, I am only looking for small quantities of seed to add to diverse plantings. That is what I’m expecting to send in trades, but I could send larger quantities of some things...depending on how many people are interested.
Cucurbitaceae -Watermelon grex (FLESH: yellow, orange, red; SKIN: grey, green striped, yellow when ripe, always yellow, moon and stars; SHAPE: round, elongated) -True Melon grex (Sharlyn, cantaloupe, honeydew, charantais, small Asian) -Sharlyn x Painted Serpent (Armenian) F2 (not isolated from other C. melo) -Maxima grex (North Georgia Candy Roaster, Blue Banana, Red Kuri, Blue Ballet, Oregon Homestead Sweet Meat, Sunshine F1, Buttercup) -Moschata grex (Butternut, Chirimen, Thai Rai Kaw Tok, Penn. Dutch Crookneck, Honey Nut) -Naked Seed Pepo grex (Kakai, Styrian, Lady Godiva; grown with delicata grex) -Delicata grex (Candystick Dessert, and others; grown with naked-seeded grex) -Pickling cucumber grex -Slicing cucumber grex (Suyo Long, Mideast Peace, Muncher, Tendergreen, Telegraph) -Bush Summer Squash grex (yellow crookneck, green zucchini, yellow zucchini) Poaceae -SE Sweet Corn grex (Top Hat, Candy Mountain, Who Gets Kissed?, Painted Hill, Ruby Queen F1, and many other SE F1s) -Parching Lavender Mandan (mostly isolated; small population, ~60 plants) -Parching Starburst Manna (mostly isolated; small population, ~100 plants) -Orange Rox Sorghum (isolated) -Baart Wheat (isolated) Solanaceae -Slicing Tomato grex (Ananas Noire, Cherokee Purple, Blue Beauty, Lucid Gem, Chocolate Stripes, Berkeley Tie-Dye, True Black Brandywine, German Johnson, Pineapple, and many others) -Snack/Cherry Tomato grex (Indigo Kumquat, Chocolate Cherry, Sungold F1, Indigo Rose, Tomatoberry Garden F1, Amethyst Jewel, Dark Galaxy, Red Furry Boar) -Early Tomato grex (Forest Fire, Red Glacier, Yellow Glacier, Siberian, Coldset, Silvery Fir Tree, and others) -True Black Brandywine Tomato (isolated) -Forest Fire Tomato (isolated) -Asian Eggplant grex (Japanese Black, Ping Tung, Antigua, Thai Long Green) -Ancho/Poblano Pepper grex (Poblano, Chilhaucle Negro, Mulato Isleno) -Sweet Pepper grex (Marconi Red, Georgescu Chocolate, Midnight Dreams, and others) -Hot Yellow Hungarian Pepper -Black Hungarian Pepper -Shishito Pepper -Chiluacle Negro Pepper -Pasilla Bajio Pepper -Tomatillo grex (Purple, Amarylla) -Aunt Molly's Ground Cherry (isolated) Fabaceae -Pole Dry Bean grex (Hopi Yellow, Hopi Red, Rattlesnake, Cannellini, and others) -Pole Snap Bean grex (Trionofo Violetto, Kentucky Wonder, Anasazi Cave, Blue Lake) -Bush Snap Bean grex (Provider, Red Swan, Royal Purple, Yellow Wax, Blue Lake) -Beefy Resilient Grex -Sacaton Brown Tepary (isolated) -Cowpea grex (red, blue/gray, tan, black-eyed, black/white, red/tan) -Long Bean grex (Red Noodle, Orient Wonder) Brassicaceae -Giant Red Mustard (isolated) -Canton Bok Choy (isolated) -Brussels Sprouts grex (Long Island Improved, Roodnerf, Red Ball, Catskill) -Arugula (Eruca sativa) -Wild Arugula 'Wasabi' (Diplotaxis erucoides) Asteraceae -Radicchio grex (Sugar Loaf, Treviso, Castelfranco) -Lolla Rossa Lettuce (diverse strain) Apiaceae -Cilantro -Carrot grex (mostly short and orange, with some purple or red) Malvaceae -Okra grex (Louisiana 16", Star of David, Clemson Spineless, Jing Orange, Burgundy, Texas Hill Country Red) Portulacaea -Garden Purslane Amaranthacaea -Triple Purple Orach (some off types)
Wanted List Parching corn varieties (other than Lavender Mandan or Starburst Manna) OP Sugary Enhanced sweet corn (or descendants of SE+ F1 hybrids) Aztec Red flour corn Malting barley Upland rice Naked-Seed C. pepo (esp. with tasty flesh) C. maxima with dry, sweet flesh C. moschata diversity Crookneck or Elongated cushaw squash (C. argyrosperma) Slicing cucumber (thin-skinned) Cucumis melo diversity Okra diversity Early tomatoes (saladette size or larger) Paste tomatoes (esp. sausage type) Anthocyanin/Blue tomatoes Promiscuously-pollinated tomatoes Ancho/Poblano type peppers Medium heat peppers (~1000-10,000 scovilles) Any black or brown peppers Shishito peppers or anything similar Capsicum pubescens peppers Storage onions (any type) True Garlic Seed (or bulbils/cloves from TGS) True Potato Seed (or tubers from TPS) True Sweet Potato Seed (or tubers from TSPS) Tepary Beans Lima Beans Cowpeas Long Beans Dry Bean diversity (bush or pole) Snap Bean diversity (bush or pole) Cutshort/greasy Beans Edible pod peas Shelling/soup peas Edamame soybeans Peanuts Radicchio diversity (reliably heading) Daikon Radish Turnip diversity Fennel (reliably bulbing) Beet diversity Carrots (esp. colorful) Rutabaga Cauliflower (incl. Romanesco) Brussels Sprout diversity Gai lan Brassica rapa diversity (esp. colorful) Zha cai or "stem mustard" Large-seeded sunflowers
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Post by farmermike on Nov 23, 2016 2:01:31 GMT -5
steev, I had been wondering whereabout you had your farm. That sure is off the beaten path. I've been to (or through) most areas of our state...but not that one. Sounds dreamy! What made you decide to get a place out there? I've always admired (while driving up I-5) that, perfectly straight, longitudinal line of hills just east of your place. Is there a name for those? I may have to plan a trip up that way, one of these days. Yeah, I was pretty happy with the Mandan Lavender too, and my family seems to love parched corn, but I'm tired of growing short corn varieties. Next year I'm thinking I'll mix in some taller parching varieties too, and re-select down the road.
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Post by farmermike on Nov 21, 2016 16:56:08 GMT -5
Joseph, is that your whole breeding stock for medium maximas? How many of those were good enough to save seeds?
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Post by farmermike on Nov 20, 2016 22:30:18 GMT -5
My earliest tomatoes this year were:
1. Forest Fire 2. Silvery Fir Tree 3. Glacier (these were also very tall and viney, and kept producing all season long).
I'll be starting Forest Fire very early this spring!
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