Hip-Gnosis 2010 Status updates.

[Alan]

Here are a few lines I'll be working with in 2010, some of which will make the seed list for 2011 (which will actually be for the first time ever printed up and delivered via mail, along with posted here)

Mini Hubbard Mix - Four years into this experiment I am having some amount of success in breeding mini hubbard squash varieties with all of the cullinary greatness of their larger cousins along with color variations (7 types thus far) and powdery mildew tolerance as well as resistance to squash vine borer.


University of Kentucky Tuxpeno corn - Originally sent to me last year by Jim Culpepper of Tennesee, this corn highly impressed me as a livestock feed. Protein content near 20%, strong non lodging stalks, 6-8 inch, 14 rowed ears of yellow and white kernels with 2-5 ears per plant makes it a keeper. Bulking seed of this one big time.
backwater Field corn - A cross I made between boone county white, bloody butcher, and reids yellow dent threeyears ago. Tri-colored, 12 inch ears. Highly uniform in the f3 generation. One more year of selection will tell us if this is ready.

Large Hubbard Squash Selection - The sibs to the small collection. Hubbards of all colors but being selected for PMR and SVB resistance.

C. Peppo winter lines - From material crossed 3 and 4 years ago respectively. Hundreds of natural and hand crosses between mini pumpkins, hulless seeded pumpkins, and acorn squash. Segregating out the best of the best.

White Fleshed Watermelon selections - five lines being considered. Not much to say, just got to get rid of the explosive rind gene.

Astronomy Domine Selections including two headed dog sweet - Isolating particular traits into diverse op lines. Selection for DTM and color selections as well as selections for sugar modifying genes.

Tobacco numbered lines - from hand facilitated mass crosses of many varieties of tobacco. Will release a number of these including madole, burly, and orinoco, and Shade Leaf types next season.

Babylonian Wheat Grex - Wheat collected from Iraq. A huge grex with many selections made. Mostly bulking seed of these varieties.

other future lines without discriptors:
various romaine, butterhead, and leaf lettuce varieties bred for organic systems.
Spinach crosses of many types.
Kale crosses.
True breeding Turnip and Beet grexes.

These are just a few of the many experiments I have to "shore up" in the next couple years and from there it is on to a lifetime of fruit varieties.

[grungy]

Please keep us updated, as they all sound interesting. Oh to turn back the clock a few decades,

[flowerpower]

I bought a mini blue hubbard at a local farm last yr. They didn't know the variety. I wasn't impressed at all. Hardly any usable flesh and the taste was bland. Very seedy too. The pigs ate it. lol I also bought Ambercup, that was sweeter. And only 7-8 lbs maybe. Nice orange color too.

[Alan]

Yeah, some of the mini hubbard lines need heavy selection for better/more flesh qualities and smaller seed cavaties, I have some preliminary blue lines (some from material you sent flower ) which show some amount of promise, time will tell though.

[Alan]

A Few More Projects


-Pac Man Rainbow Chard, from crosses of various color chards to Fordhook Giant, very diverse.

-Hi-Brix icebox and large sized yellow and orange watermelons

-Green Fleshed muskmelon lines
- Cantaloupe and exotic melon crosses
-Cabbage grexes (winter and summer types)
There is still a ton on the table but I can't cataloug it all until I start planting.

All of these will be available from Face of the earth seed in time.