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Post by johninfla on Feb 14, 2012 12:10:58 GMT -5
Hi folks, I finally registered and joined you all. I've been following many of your messages for about a year....in fact I found out about my new favorite OP sweet corn through this board (Hawaiian Supersweet #9) and ordered it from U of Honolulu. I grow a garden which is about 2/3 of an acre. I grow my sweet corn, maiz morado (my wife is Peruvian and we love chicha),red and white potatoes, aguaymanto (from my wife's country), tomatoes (nothing fancy:turtle eggs, tropics, and san marzano), aji amarillo (causa), rocoto, blue lake bush beans, tigger melons (for juice sweetened with sugar), and this year I am trying some new ones: zapallo macre (a huge winter squash from my wife's hometown), charantais melon, and piel de sapo melon. I am impressed by the level of expertise and experience that you folks have. Last weekend my wife, three daughters (9,7, and 2.5), and dog planted ten pounds of potatoes....next time I'm going to cut a pvc pipe like I saw one of you had done to make a planter!
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Post by Joseph Lofthouse on Feb 14, 2012 12:30:14 GMT -5
I grow my sweet corn, maiz morado Welcome: Can you tell us more about the growth patterns of maiz morado?
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Post by johninfla on Feb 14, 2012 13:55:49 GMT -5
Hi Joseph, I'm not sure what to tell you about my maiz morado.... I originally got the seed from the market and have grown it out about four years...because we make so much chicha morada I usually end up supplementing my seed supply with more seed from the market. My soil is originally pure white sand, but through the years with a lot of manure, burned brush piles, leaves and grass clippings it is now somewhat grey The reason I say that is to explain why I fertilize as I do. I side dress with ammonium nitrate twice a season, first when the corn is about four inches high and again when it is about eighteen inches more or less. The maiz morado takes about a week and a half to germinate (depending on temperature). It is about two months to tassle and then probably another month before it is ready to pick. To be honest I never counted the days so I could be way off. You can pick and boil the corn for chicha before it is dry. I think that most of the color comes from the cob because we have made chicha from ears which did not have many kernals on them. The corn grows from ten to twelve feet tall and the ears are usually about eight inches long. The purple color comes through on the corn stalk too. I hope that helps.....
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Post by stratcat on Feb 14, 2012 18:24:31 GMT -5
Welcome to HG!
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Post by steev on Feb 15, 2012 0:44:31 GMT -5
Loche Macre squash sounds interesting. Spare seeds?
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Post by johninfla on Feb 15, 2012 8:35:08 GMT -5
Hi Stratcat and Steev, thanks for the welcome! Steev, I actually mistyped...it's supposed to be zapallo macre....there is another winter squash (much smaller) called zapallo loche....it's specifically from my wife's home town (Chiclayo) the archaeologists have traced it back to the Moche (they lived there about 400 AD more or less)....Anyway, the seeds I had from the macre are in a ziplock bag...hopefully germinating. If they make it this year, I'd be glad to send you some seed! I think I'll try to get my mother in law to send us some loche...I tried it last year but it didn't do so well.... The north coast of Peru is a lot drier than we are here in north Florida so I'm not sure whether the loche or the macre will do so well....BUT it's always fun to try!
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Post by raymondo on Mar 4, 2012 0:41:19 GMT -5
I keep forgetting to check here. Sorry John. Hope you're enjoying the forum.
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Post by ferdzy on Mar 4, 2012 9:52:00 GMT -5
Hello! I'm newish here too... *waves*
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Post by 12540dumont on Mar 4, 2012 12:44:23 GMT -5
Johnny, Can you save seeds from the Morado this year? About 200 seeds from the top of the ears. I'm trying to get this corn earlier. Nothing from Peru finishes up here, but maybe after it's been in FL for a year, I'll have better luck.
Regards, Holly
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Post by Joseph Lofthouse on Mar 4, 2012 13:06:08 GMT -5
Johnny, Can you save seeds from the Morado this year? About 200 seeds from the top of the ears. I'm trying to get this corn earlier. If thinking that you want the bottom of the ear for earlier, and the top of the ear for later. I saved seed this year to do the experiment. With a cob of Astronomy Domine sweet corn, I saved some seeds from the middle of the cob, and the top, and the bottom. I intend to plant it on the same day and see how much difference it actually makes.
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Post by johninfla on Mar 6, 2012 11:10:20 GMT -5
Sure, I'll be glad to save you some seeds. I'll wait for input from the group to see where to take them from. Holly, your mix of zukes went into the ground yesterday. The church doors are locked and barred against me so I hope the hens will be hungry! John
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Post by steev on Mar 6, 2012 22:21:13 GMT -5
I suppose, you being in Florida, the church doesn't have a chimney. Maybe if you rub your zukes on a cat, you can get the pythons to eat them.
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Post by oxbowfarm on Mar 7, 2012 4:26:50 GMT -5
Don't Burmese pythons taste like chicken? Have one for Thanksgiving and start a new tradition. Welcome John.
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Post by johninfla on Mar 7, 2012 7:29:25 GMT -5
Now if we could only skip the feeding stage and get the zukes to taste like chicken maybe Monsanto would cut me a check......... John
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