|
|
Post by castanea on Nov 16, 2011 20:29:20 GMT -5
People interested in chestnuts ought to inquire about the ongoing breeding programs to produce blight-resistant American Chestnuts or very similar looking & tasting hybrids. A google search found this example. www.fs.fed.us/r8/chestnut/restoration.phpYes, this is surely a long-term project, but the odds of getting a winner aren't bad if you have the room to plant enough seedlings. A good many years ago I bought a small handful of hickory nuts from a member of the NNGA. They were a large and thin-shelled variety named "Stevens". Planting them under chicken wire to protect the nuts (during the first winter) from our energetic squirrels got me a dozen or so seedlings. Most of the seedlings grew up to be very average or worse, but two were unusual. One had the largest nut I've ever seen, and with such a thick shell I've never seen a worm inside any of them. (despite that, it's an easy cracker - with care the kernels will come out in halves) The main drawback is that so far it has been a shy bearer. The second tree fits my definition of a winner. Thin shelled, prolific, and the kernels pop right out as halves or even entirely intact if I'm careful. While not as big a nut as the first, it's still very large. A winner! The same luck could happen with the American Chestnuts for those with the land and lots of patience. The problem with growing the American chestnuts is that they have small nuts. If you want to grow chestnut trees for the nuts, there are better nut trees than the Americans. |
|
|
|
Post by castanea on Nov 16, 2011 20:50:19 GMT -5
Don't forget seeds of those bad boys Pueraria lobata, Nicotiana tabacum and Cannabis sativa, all three very useful plants. I have the first 2, but have been unable to find seeds for the last one, I would like the fiber version With respect to cannabis seeds, they are a lot easier to find than kudzu seeds. All cannabis varieties have some fiber potential, expecially the really tall sativa varieties. Assuming you live in a country, or state, where growing cannabis is legal, here is a seed source for various varieties: www.herbiesheadshop.com/For pure fiber, this is a hemp variety developed in Finland: www.vancouverseedbank.ca/product.php?id=15 |
|
|
|
Post by spacecase0 on Nov 17, 2011 0:26:38 GMT -5
the kudzu is wild now (I hope) and came with some hay
not legal to grow here for the others, so I can't just order it., I think,
I wonder if the seeds are legal to have ? I thought not...
I am in california
|
|
|
|
Post by castanea on Nov 17, 2011 0:46:54 GMT -5
the kudzu is wild now (I hope) and came with some hay not legal to grow here for the others, so I can't just order it., I think, I wonder if the seeds are legal to have ? I thought not... I am in california Kudzu is legal in California. Cannabis seeds are legal here if you have a dr's permissioon. |
|
|
|
Post by spacecase0 on Nov 17, 2011 2:26:49 GMT -5
I have fibromyalgia and b12 issues, but no doctors permission,
good that someone I know can order them and grow them,
I can trade for fibers....
|
|
|
|
Post by stylemichelle21 on Nov 17, 2011 14:59:36 GMT -5
welcome to the forum davidafarmer! great thread johno, and great thoughts all. we're experimenting with grains also, and different varieties of corn and beans and squashes, etc...saving enough to eat and enough for seed for the next year. love 'the resilient gardener' also. as for the pantry, i read about having enough of something canned for using one jar a week, ie, canning 52 jars of green beans and 52 jars of carrots, etc... at least to get one through a year. it's working as a good base for us, and we always try and have extra for bartering, people visiting in need, etc... this can be used for dehydrating also. we have a solar panel and solar pump for our well. just discovered that we can also use the pump on a car battery if need be. it's so wonderful to have water pumped by the sun! we'd like to have solar for the house too, eventually. keep the good thoughts coming! My grandmother who I lived with growing up always had a full cellar of canned foodstuffs. I was young, so when she told me she kept it in case "anything happened", I always thought she was kind of crazy. However, she was of that old Great Depression mind set, so it makes sense now that I'm a bit older. |
|
|
|
Post by synergy on Nov 20, 2011 15:47:03 GMT -5
Good challenge Johno, I do not think the world is going to end but it is time for a new paradigm of local non GmO food grown as organically and low input as possible . We should be transitioning as fast as possible in my mind I just do not have the income to keep up to rising oil prices . I am going to be planting seeds and trying to start cuttings for a hedgerow that I can coppice wood for fuel as well on my wee farmstead. I planted two Colossal chestnuts and have an order for nut trees coming in spring, (2 more chinese chestnut and 2 japanese chestnut) so my little hedgerow planting and ' mini food forest' counts as progress to me but it is not going to factor in this challenge.
I am in for trying to produce my own poultry and increase my garden another 30 % and adding rabbit production in 2012 and start canning. I started three ponds this year so , maybe working up to having some carp in 2012 would be a logical step as well though I might have to start with regular pond goldfish . Any step forward in producing your own materials for food or fuel , or medicinal is a huge step forward in my estimation .
|
|
|
|
Post by castanea on Nov 20, 2011 15:51:26 GMT -5
Good challenge Johno, I do not think the world is going to end but it is time for a new paradigm of local non GmO food grown as organically and low input as possible . We should be transitioning as fast as possible . I planted two Colossal chestnuts and have an order for nut trees coming in spring, (2 more chinese chestnut and 2 japanese chestnut) so my little hedgerow planting and ' mini food forest' counts as progress to me but it is not going to factor in this challenge. I am in for trying to produce my own poultry and increase my garden another 30 % and adding rabbit production. What chestnut varieties have you ordered? |
|
|
|
Post by synergy on Nov 20, 2011 15:59:06 GMT -5
2 Castanea mollissima and 2 Castanea crenata on order from Rhoras nut farm in Eastern Canada, I am on the west coast outside of Vancouver.
Besides offering that fuel production should be part of the doomsday challenge and most here save seeds, I will offer that another aspect to look at might be growing your own source of rooting stocks for future production might be another facet to having some freedom to produce for our own needs.
|
|
floricole
gardener
39 acres, half wooded half arable, land of alluvial
Posts: 108
|
Post by floricole on Nov 20, 2011 17:35:24 GMT -5
Good challenge Johno, I do not think the world is going to end but it is time for a new paradigm of local non GmO food grown as organically and low input as possible . We should be transitioning as fast as possible in my mind I just do not have the income to keep up to rising oil prices . I am going to be planting seeds and trying to start cuttings for a hedgerow that I can coppice wood for fuel as well on my wee farmstead. I planted two Colossal chestnuts and have an order for nut trees coming in spring, (2 more chinese chestnut and 2 japanese chestnut) so my little hedgerow planting and ' mini food forest' counts as progress to me but it is not going to factor in this challenge. I am in for trying to produce my own poultry and increase my garden another 30 % and adding rabbit production in 2012 and start canning. I started three ponds this year so , maybe working up to having some carp in 2012 would be a logical step as well though I might have to start with regular pond goldfish . Any step forward in producing your own materials for food or fuel , or medicinal is a huge step forward in my estimation . You should try Salix viminalis here in Quebec it's in use to make granule. Fast growing and can be cut to ground every 3 years. the school in st-rock- L'achigan is heat with it. And they do edge for sound on the side of highway. I have some on my land, now the low branch have 8 inch in diameter. I use it as fire wood. Very easy to start by cutting.  www.lacoop.coop/cooperateur/articles/2008/03/p32.asp |
|
|
|
Post by castanea on Nov 20, 2011 17:53:45 GMT -5
2 Castanea mollissima and 2 Castanea crenata on order from Rhoras nut farm in Eastern Canada, I am on the west coast outside of Vancouver. Besides offering that fuel production should be part of the doomsday challenge and most here save seeds, I will offer that another aspect to look at might be growing your own source of rooting stocks for future production might be another facet to having some freedom to produce for our own needs. Chinese generally won't produce well in your area. They need more heat in the summer. The Japanese should do fine. If you bought the Gellatlys which Rhora sells as Chinese, they should also do OK because they are not really Chinese. The first generation Gellatlys are American x Japanese hybrids. |
|
|
|
Post by synergy on Nov 20, 2011 18:45:21 GMT -5
Thank you for the insight. I thought it was pretty funny to buy nut trees from B.C. stock I have to order from the eastern half of the country, I know of none selling them here and I tried contact Gellatly park but no answer about buying tree stock.
|
|
|
|
Post by steev on Nov 20, 2011 19:16:31 GMT -5
Thinking about producing rootstocks for grafting; as a result of planting cheap grafted trees just ot see what will cut it, I've had a number that have failed, the grafts dying, but the rootstocks persisting. Rather than digging them out for discard, I'm stooling them to multiply rootstocks for grafting.
|
|
|
|
Post by castanea on Nov 20, 2011 21:29:26 GMT -5
Thank you for the insight. I thought it was pretty funny to buy nut trees from B.C. stock I have to order from the eastern half of the country, I know of none selling them here and I tried contact Gellatly park but no answer about buying tree stock. Last I heard Gellatly Park does not sell trees or nuts. But if you visit Gellatly park in the fall, you can pick up nuts and plant them later. |
|
|
|
Post by castanea on Nov 20, 2011 21:31:02 GMT -5
Thank you for the insight. I thought it was pretty funny to buy nut trees from B.C. stock I have to order from the eastern half of the country, I know of none selling them here and I tried contact Gellatly park but no answer about buying tree stock. Burnt Ridge nursery in Washington state sells some of the Gellatly trees as well as many other nice Japanese x Euroepan hybrid chestnuts. |
|
