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Post by Alan on Aug 28, 2008 21:07:55 GMT -5
Mike, I'll get you some seed packaged up in a little while after it cools off and get it out to you.
That damn squirrel is evil. He isn't afraid of anything. He plays games with the dog. Steals my seed as it drys, robs miniature ears of corn. Steals chicken feed and throws things at me. I'm not joking when I say he has half a tail and one eye. We call him wolf.
I'm not even wasting a bullet to eat a squirrel. Not nearly enough meat on one of those things and I never had a taste for it. You'll be suprised what people will eat. A guy at market that I know was praising the virtues of raccon, possom, and groundhog recently. I'll just stick to deer, turkey, and most importantly (and a food group all it's own) rabbit!
-Alan
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Post by johno on Sept 20, 2008 1:55:39 GMT -5
I think we have another member interested in growing Astronomy Domine next year in West Virginia. I know I can send her seed, surely Alan is game - did anyone else grow it this year who has enough seed to throw in the mix so she can get a diverse stock?
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Post by canadamike on Sept 20, 2008 3:16:07 GMT -5
Don't count on me guys. NONE of my corn is at the eating stage yet, but 3-4 AD I had last week or so. It probably won't make either. So, as far as maturing the seeds...put me on a list for some new seeds for next year, please, it has been an ANNUS HORRIBILIS here for corn
Hey, I had more than an acre seeded and I bought 5 dozens to can kernels, and I need 5 more to can some creamed corn... not much for a whole year, but at least I will have a taste of home canned corn...
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Post by Alan on Sept 25, 2008 21:33:02 GMT -5
Johno, I think we are it!
You know what that means right!
Time to send out some small samples. I've got about five lbs, I'll need two for my own stock but will divide up the rest.
Please, if you have an interest in plant breeding and sweet corn, take up this seed offer when it comes up shortly on the available seed list, it's important that as many regions as we can get it out to have access to this corn so as to develp it to suit their needs for the coming years as the mix is still veriable.
I promise you there has never been a sweet corn bred with this amount of genetic material, this could be something great one day!
-Alan
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Post by johno on Jul 16, 2009 15:11:45 GMT -5
This year's harvest is drying at present. The conditions this time around were lean - very little fertilizer (soybean meal and alfalfa), no supplemental water whatsoever, planted in otherwise unimproved field with (apparently) very low OM content. The plants were small, few as tall as I am. Most of the ears were small as well, but there were several notable exceptions. Some ears were average sized, and some were big and fat - good genes! The solid ruby colored ears/plants did notably well, as did the dominantly purple/white ears. Also getting some pearly and some mottled kernals that I wish to continue selecting for beauty alone.
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Post by Alan on Jul 16, 2009 15:50:58 GMT -5
Awesome, I'm fighting the vermin in one field for every bit I can latch on to, I did make a selection this year though, a very nice one, even somewhat strangely uniform, probably an F1 from last years new gene mix. 8 rows, 7 inch ears, bi-color yellow and white kernels at first milk, as it progresses purple emerges at roasting stage along with shades of blue, at drying blood red is apparent, excellent husk cover and extremely tightly husked, definitely an SU. I'm going to ferret this one out in the next few years.
If you have a bit of seed Johno I'd love to have another small sample of it for comparison. Thanks buddy!
_alan
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Post by silverseeds on Jul 16, 2009 16:12:00 GMT -5
You guys are awesome. Im so glad I found this site, as Iplan to start my own projects next year, and will now have some people to ask for advice. I think Im looking for more specific things then you guys though. I want cool tolerance, due to my elevation, SHORT season due to my short season, and now that Iknow about it I want multiple ears per plant.
Ive got two types of sweet corn I will be breeding together next year, and three types of flour type corns.
If you guys do end up selecting out, a short season multiearred corn, I would be happy to mix it into on of the two types Im woring at. and now that I am thinking about it, I think I might get a few more varieties for even more variety.
If you guys know of a source for seed preferably that checks for GMO's that has short season multi earred plants let me know. Ive got most of my stuff from native seeds. I forget the other place I got a sweet corn called triple play, and anther triple play was selected out of hookers.
KEEP IT UP
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Post by mnjrutherford on Jul 16, 2009 17:17:46 GMT -5
My corn is drying as well. We picked a few ears for dinner a few days ago and it was tough as nails with the exception of 1 ear which I believe was either Country Gent or White Ice. A few weeks earlier I spotted about half a dozen HUGE ears that were well on their way to drying out, had lost their tassels, and seemed pest free. I "marked" them for seed by braiding the husks.
Now my question is this, when do I pick the drying corn?
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Post by grungy on Jul 16, 2009 17:45:00 GMT -5
You guys are killing me. Drying corn? We are at the just tassled, tassling, and first silk. Wahhhh!
By the way Alan if you would like we can do a small trial run for you next year. Let you know what at least it will do in our climate.
Cheers,
Grungy / Val
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Post by mnjrutherford on Jul 16, 2009 20:29:03 GMT -5
 VAL! I feel so sad for you! ESPECIALLY with a belly full of Moon & Stars watermelon!!!  Tell you what, I'll save you some of the melon seed? As for the corn, does it help to know that it is SO starchy not even the bugs are after it anymore? By the way, how do you save watermelon seed?
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Post by Alan on Jul 16, 2009 22:58:10 GMT -5
Grungy, I'll make sure you get the newest selection of Astronomy Domine I get, it should be very cold tolerant, relatively short season, smallish type plants and I'll get silver seeds some as well.
As far as drying and saving corn seed, more or less you can either let it completely dry and allow the husks to dry down on the plant unless your in a moist climate where mold might effect that outcome then you will want to pull it as the stalk begins to brown and the husk begins to brown and after the seeds have finished completely the milk stage (poke them with a fingernail, they should not bleed) then husk the corn and put it somewhere warm and out of direct sun to dry for a bit, shell it off the cob using your thumb and allow to dry a bit more or place in a food dehydrator set at 95-99 degrees overnight or up to a day, it should be dry and ready for storage.
Watermelon seed saving, you can either save the seeds as they mature and use some palm olive original (just a dab) to wash down the seed and remove impurities and the slight sugar husk that covers the seed and place out of direct sunlight to dry or in a dehydrator or the better method is to leave a few melons until they become overripe (not rotten is the keyword here, nothing smells worse than that I promise you!) and then collect the seeds whereupon you will get a higher germination rate and more mature seeds.
Hope that helps.
-Alan
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Post by silverseeds on Jul 17, 2009 14:41:07 GMT -5
Alan Id be happy to try it seperate, to acclimate the and select out genes for you, for this area, if thats what your after. Or mix it right into what I plan to use already. Two sweet corns of the 70 to 80 day range. Both with cool tolerance, one with DROUGHT tolerance.
Ive been reading about this project on a few of your threads. Id like to ask you or one of the other experts here if they know the answer jump right in of course.
How variable is this corn? I know you said what 150 types? youve been adding to it and adding to it. Can corn really hold all those types in one? Do you mix previous years seed back in to get the older genes? Might it loose certain rarer genes to the dominants? Is selection enough or wil dominant genes simply take over? How different does it grow in different locations? and how long until it is a stable variety or for that matter 20 different stable varieties?
also when you talk about the sweetness of it, whats this SU stuff. I never heard of a SU type. It seems you related that to ancient genes?
Are you getting multiple stalks? this is a trait Id like as well as cool tolerance and relatively short season like you said. But if not Id still like some, because I can just mix it witha variety that DOES have multiple stalks
okay I guess thats alot of questions. feel free to ignore me , atleast till post harvest, lol.
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Post by silverseeds on Jul 20, 2009 14:42:12 GMT -5
There is a guy posting to IDIG who calls himself corn freek. who said last year he saw what appeared to be a corn tree, over 20 feet tall. He saved seeds, from only a few plants, and this year claims to have corn 24 feet tall, hoping to beat a world record. Anyway, With corn being notorious for imbred depression I think its called, wehn you dont save seed from enough plants, is it possible this guy stumbled across corn which doesnt have this issue? Meaning maybe only a few plants would be neccessary possibly with this gene? Or is it most likely that, in a year or two his corn will loose all its vigor, and just peter out. Is it possible? or a fluke so far....
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Post by canadamike on Jul 20, 2009 17:02:19 GMT -5
If it has been crossed somewhat it will give it vigor, otherwise it is only a matter of time and generations.
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Post by Alan on Jul 22, 2009 17:12:27 GMT -5
Alan Id be happy to try it seperate, to acclimate the and select out genes for you, for this area, if thats what your after. Or mix it right into what I plan to use already. Two sweet corns of the 70 to 80 day range. Both with cool tolerance, one with DROUGHT tolerance. Ive been reading about this project on a few of your threads. Id like to ask you or one of the other experts here if they know the answer jump right in of course. How variable is this corn? I know you said what 150 types? youve been adding to it and adding to it. Can corn really hold all those types in one? Do you mix previous years seed back in to get the older genes? Might it loose certain rarer genes to the dominants? Is selection enough or wil dominant genes simply take over? How different does it grow in different locations? and how long until it is a stable variety or for that matter 20 different stable varieties? also when you talk about the sweetness of it, whats this SU stuff. I never heard of a SU type. It seems you related that to ancient genes? Are you getting multiple stalks? this is a trait Id like as well as cool tolerance and relatively short season like you said. But if not Id still like some, because I can just mix it witha variety that DOES have multiple stalks okay I guess thats alot of questions. feel free to ignore me , atleast till post harvest, lol. LOL, lots of questions, all good ones. This corn has all of that and more! Anything you want to use it for is why it has been bred, so that those that can and will have the opporotunity to select what they like and will use and adapt to their climate and I would be glad to send you a sample for this fall. You will find a lot of variation, large plants, small plants, large kernels, small kernels, multiple stalks, single stalks, colors in the milk stage, colors at dry down. Everything, very diverse. When I refer to SU I am speaking about the gene that controls the conversion of sugar to starch. SU basically means normal sugary endosperm. Associated mostly with open pollinated sweet corns and the earliest hybrids. Dominat Gene. SE means Sugary Enhanced sweet corn which is a mutation of Sugary and lends itself to a higher Brix as well as enhanced tenderness. SH2 means Super Sweet, a not so tender but overly sweet variety like most canned corns, of some merit to breeders but must be isolated from the other varieties least you end up with flint corn who's gene is mutated to give us SH2. You will find SE and SU varieties and combinations in Astronomy Domine. This fall I'll make sure and get you some. There will be plenty here to adapt to your environment including genes sourced through Native Seeds/SEARCH |
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VAL! I feel so sad for you! ESPECIALLY with a belly full of Moon & Stars watermelon!!! 