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Post by ferdzy on May 17, 2018 19:32:13 GMT -5
richardw, we had a very cool, rainy summer. We did get a better harvest than I expected, but that's because we kept them covered in plastic for much of the summer and also early fall was reasonably mild so we could leave them in the ground until quite late. But none of the more heat-loving plants did really well last year. The tomatoes in particular were absolutely dismal.
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Post by ferdzy on May 10, 2018 7:50:21 GMT -5
It looks good!
I'm surprised about the raccoons. I thought they were strictly North American. I suppose some idiot let some loose. They get hit by cars here a lot, much more than other animals except skunks. Skunks are convinced it's YOUR job to get out of their way, so that's understandable. We hit a raccoon once. It was at night and it was like someone throwing themselves in front of a train - no way we could miss. I think it saw the light on the road (from our headlights) and thought, "good time to cross - I can see!" Wrong.
Interesting it is getting more wild. Fewer farmers and more urban dwellers?
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Post by ferdzy on May 9, 2018 11:13:23 GMT -5
Nice photos! Really happy to see "my" watermelon, looking like a watermelon.
You have raccoons!?
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Post by ferdzy on Mar 18, 2018 19:18:23 GMT -5
shmack1, as far as I know it is not.
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Post by ferdzy on Mar 17, 2018 21:19:34 GMT -5
For either approach, consider using Amsterdam Maxi in your breeding. It is marketed for baby carrots, but gets to be a decent size if you let it. What makes it good for baby carrots is that it turn orange at a very young stage. That may help with transplanting. It definitely is pretty good about being underthinned, and standing a whole lot of crowding (you can over-do it, of course.)
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Post by ferdzy on Mar 17, 2018 21:15:18 GMT -5
Yeah. I don't worry about it too much. The proof of the pudding (or watermelon) is in the eating, (and growing), and I'll just keep going as long as I continue to get closer to what I want. And your right about it really being pink! I guess I was using "red" as a code for "not orange"!
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Post by ferdzy on Mar 17, 2018 21:02:17 GMT -5
keen101 (Biolumo / Andrew B.) , well I suppose it is possible that I am wrong, and there is contamination! But I just felt, on examining last years red melon, that the leaves, and the shape of the fruit, and the seeds, and the pattern of the rind, etc, all made it look like it was a cross between my two starter melons. Only thing "off" was the colour. The other parent melon is Sweet Siberian, for what that is worth. They are both pretty similar tones of orange to my uneducated eye. And there it is... sorry about the ridiculous size. Those white seeds with little brown spots on the neck are pure Orangeglo. More at Watermelon Projects Update for the Year.
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Post by ferdzy on Mar 16, 2018 11:20:07 GMT -5
richardw, after 10 years of pulling it there is not too much in bloom within, say, 50 meters of the main beds. However the minute we don't mow the "lawn" for a week the "lawn" is blooming. It's everywhere. Southern Ontario is completely blanketed in the stuff.
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Post by ferdzy on Mar 15, 2018 7:50:20 GMT -5
richardw, that's lovely! Was hoping to plant peas this week but 3 or 4 inches of snow and looks like below freezing temperatures for another week or so. Impatient as I am this is probably all to the good.
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Post by ferdzy on Mar 15, 2018 7:47:51 GMT -5
Aw, keen101 (Biolumo / Andrew B.). That is too bad. I have started digging up my carrots for seed and replanting them. I had originally thought I could leave them in the ground since I always have a bunch that overwinter very nicely. But I have found that although the deer have not eaten them (yet, other than the tops) the big ones in particular do get eaten by something - voles? - or else water sits on their tops and they rot. In any case, my survival rate of really large carrots outdoors overwinter was pretty much zilch over 5 or 6 years, and I have given in. This year they are sitting in the fridge and will get planted out. We will put them in a bed where we have overwintering spinach, which is covered with plastic now and will continue to be into the spring. I hope this will get them up and flowering before the Queen Anne's Lace, which will also be a bonus.
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Post by ferdzy on Mar 13, 2018 8:53:09 GMT -5
Thanks, diane! I will send you a message.
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Post by ferdzy on Mar 12, 2018 14:37:13 GMT -5
Woah! That middle orange one sure looks like what I am aiming for! I hope it came out of my seeds!
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Post by ferdzy on Mar 12, 2018 14:34:58 GMT -5
Thanks diane, that sounds like something that could be useful in the mix. Now to convince Edwin we need to order more seeds... ha ha ha hmm maybe. billw, I doubt we will get any Aussie varieties around here! But I will keep an eye out for Italian varieties. Good luck with yoiur endeavors.
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Post by ferdzy on Mar 12, 2018 8:25:02 GMT -5
Yeah, that's what I'm thinking. Start them within the week, coddle them inside for a month or so, then out into Ontario early spring they go! Bwahaha! Poor little suckers.
Well, nothing to do but try.
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Post by ferdzy on Mar 11, 2018 13:15:05 GMT -5
I'm shocked that no turnips made it as at least a few always do and all are descended from those that did in prior years. It only got to -14 F last year which isn't quite as cold as the year before but it did it twice with a warmer period between. Lots of stuff still looked pretty good after the first spell but the second one took it all down. Yeah, the freeze-thaw-freeze-thaw cycle is what gets stuff. This is the time of the year, here, where I go out and gloat over all the things that survived the winter; but in another month 90% will probably be gone and that's why. I'd rather a good hardish winter with lots of snow cover to a "mild" one with freeze-thawing see-sawing.
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