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Post by jondear on Feb 8, 2017 21:00:04 GMT -5
Those are very nice looking squash rangardener. It's nice to get the back story 🙂
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Post by richardw on Feb 8, 2017 23:48:21 GMT -5
Good report rangardener taking seed form the best tasting surely must in time take you closer to your own landrace line.
I'm currently crossing two maximas, Whangaparoa Crown pumpkins and Green chestnut, but when you look online the Green chestnut you will see looks nothing like the GC which came from Koanga Gardens, who or where they came from before they were given to Koanga i'm not sure of. The reason i'm crossing these two is GC is very dry, dark orange but thin flesh where the Whangaparoa Crown is thick flash but not as tasty, i'm hoping these two features will marge in time.
I'll get a few photos of the pumpkins beds tomorrow, they are looking so good considering the summer has not seen many hot days, but then it hasn't been cold at night either which might explain why they are such good best plants.
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Post by richardw on Feb 10, 2017 18:20:46 GMT -5
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Post by rangardener on Feb 10, 2017 19:00:49 GMT -5
richardw , that is nice looking!! I also found the photos of Green Chestnut you posted in another maxima thread. Very interesting! Upon re-reading several maxima threads on this board, Piacentina really piqued my curiosity, and it turned out to be readily available in our area. I’ll probably try it in a patch in my orchard, far away from my usual maxima patches. Since so far I mainly paid attention to taste, it is not surprising that Uncle Dave’s Dakota Dessert is one that I want to add to my mix. My wife uttered a “Wow!!” the first time she tried it. My UDDD seeds were from Fedco, they grew OK but were not productive. Keeping quality was so-so, which is not a news as I learned from reading this board. I did not mention what did not work for us. The prominent two - grew well, beautiful squashes, but “Huh???” taste-wise: - Sweetmeat Oregon Homestead (from Adaptive) - It was re-selected ~20 miles from our place. OK, shame on me.  - Eastern Rising (from Fedco) Well, it is all too subjective. A “Huh??” for us might be a “Wow!!” for others...
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Post by gardensup on Feb 10, 2017 21:51:48 GMT -5
Richard, your pumpkins are so contained and tidy. What is your secret to keeping such a long, straight row?
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Post by richardw on Feb 11, 2017 3:01:22 GMT -5
Richard, your pumpkins are so contained and tidy. What is your secret to keeping such a long, straight row? They were planted in two's together (each variety) and once they reach the sides of the beds i just lift the growing stems and chuck them back over the bed |
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Post by troppo on Jul 3, 2018 1:29:37 GMT -5
I aim to start a C.maxima breeding project after re-reading this thread. I tried steves idea of using Blue Banana as a zucchini alternative and actually quite like it although its not very productive when used in this way. So my goals are to select for a plant type that is semi-compact (bush) and pumps out fruit like C.pepo zucchini's whilst still being able to produce some mature fruit, good eating quality/flavour in the immature (zucchini) stage as well as in the mature stage (dry flesh, good storage etc.). This coming spring (winter here in Oz at the moment) I'm aiming to initially cross as many banana-shaped varieties to Golden Nugget (for the bush trait) and then let them interbreed in subsequent generations. I may even work in some kabocha/buttercup crosses to increase the eating quality of mature fruit.
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Post by richardw on Jul 19, 2018 23:41:33 GMT -5
Richard, your pumpkins are so contained and tidy. What is your secret to keeping such a long, straight row? They were planted in two's together (each variety) and once they reach the sides of the beds i just lift the growing stems and chuck them back over the bed Dont remember if i posted here or not, if not - each 6x4 has two mounds of compost with 9 plants planted in each mound, the 4x4msq have one mound 9 plants = 78 plants. To keep in check when a runner grows over the pathway i just left it and point it back onto the patch. |
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