Day
gardener
When in doubt, grow it out.
Posts: 171
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Post by Day on Aug 4, 2017 19:24:25 GMT -5
Hello all!
I've been lurking around Homegrown Goodness as a guest for a while, as it seems every time I find myself researching vegetable genetics or new/rare plant varieties, my searches lead me straight to a board on this forum! It's been an absolute pleasure to read through some of the threads here. There is a wealth of information, experience and insight between you all, and I wouldn't understand half of what I do about cross breeding, genetics, rare species, landraces, and general botany if not for Homegrown Goodness and its contributors. So before I do anything else, I just wanted to take a minute to to say thank you to everyone here for making this forum an absolutely fantastic resource for the world.
Happy Friday!
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Post by philagardener on Aug 4, 2017 19:53:55 GMT -5
Welcome, Day ! Looking forward to hearing more about your crossed Magpie beans! |
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Day
gardener
When in doubt, grow it out.
Posts: 171
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Post by Day on Aug 4, 2017 20:36:08 GMT -5
philagardener - Thank you! And so kind of you to check out my blog -- warm fuzzies abound! I'm very excited about that project, and am greatly looking forward to checking out the phenotype of the dry beans, as well as planting the F2 later this season. I also want to thank you for your input specifically on this site - in fact, just a few days ago I came across your response on the following thread: alanbishop.proboards.com/post/118104/threadI had no idea! That was both fascinating to learn, and potentially very useful practical knowledge (as were the results andyb 's initial bean root surgery).
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Post by steev on Aug 5, 2017 0:07:22 GMT -5
Good to see a new, obviously up-to-speed, poster; like our crops, we always need new input to avoid inbreeding depression.
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Day
gardener
When in doubt, grow it out.
Posts: 171
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Post by Day on Aug 5, 2017 9:25:38 GMT -5
steev I don't have formal education in botany or agricultural sciences (or anything near the amount of first-hand growing experience many of you have), but I am an information gobbler and have a I love for experimentation. So while I won't claim to be fully 'up-to-speed,' I've definitely been revving the engine for a while now and doing a few donuts in the parking lot. And that's a fantastic and humorous analogy. Might I even say, a bit corny? Though hopefully the forum depression here doesn't get that bad.
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Post by walt on Aug 5, 2017 13:35:33 GMT -5
Hello all! I've been lurking around Homegrown Goodness as a guest for a while, as it seems every time I find myself researching vegetable genetics or new/rare plant varieties, my searches lead me straight to a board on this forum! It's been an absolute pleasure to read through some of the threads here. There is a wealth of information, experience and insight between you all, and I wouldn't understand half of what I do about cross breeding, genetics, rare species, landraces, and general botany if not for Homegrown Goodness and its contributors. So before I do anything else, I just wanted to take a minute to to say thank you to everyone here for making this forum an absolutely fantastic resource for the world. Happy Friday! Day. I've 2 years grad school in genetics, 3 years profession work vegetable breeding, 4 or 5 years breeding grain.. But I still learn a lot from this group. Different people go off in different directions and find out new things and share them. It's fun and useful. |
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Day
gardener
When in doubt, grow it out.
Posts: 171
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Post by Day on Aug 5, 2017 22:19:54 GMT -5
walt That's damn impressive resume, I must say. And I agree with you entirely. I look forward to reading more of your insights and experiences, especially with corn, which is something I'm focusing heavily on this year myself.
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Post by richardw on Aug 6, 2017 2:56:27 GMT -5
No formal education in botany or agricultural sciences here either, just years and years of bending over chucking seeds in the ground... think i'm getting the hang of it now
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Day
gardener
When in doubt, grow it out.
Posts: 171
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Post by Day on Aug 6, 2017 9:20:08 GMT -5
richardw - That's the most amazing thing about plants (if you'll allow me this fanciful personification): they don't care how much education we have, or how little. They have no idea (and don't care) what our bank accounts or our bodies or our business cards look like. They only want two things: to be born, and to live long enough to procreate. That's it. If we want to help along the way by scattering seeds, or poking these flower bits into those flower bits, it makes no differences to them. All our elaborate language of hybrid, landrace, triploid, grex, etc. only comes down to one thing for them: Did I make baby? So while the nitty-gritty science of plant breeding can get as complicated as a cuneiform crossword puzzle, the simple act of dropping something in the dirt, observing, selecting, and occasionally playing matchmaker, is the heart of it all. Because the ultimate tool, the most valuable thing we could posses in our craft, isn't an electron microscope or an interstellar space probe or a large hadron collider. It's a seed. And a desire to (as you say) chuck it in the ground.
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Post by steev on Aug 6, 2017 19:13:03 GMT -5
I think I took only one semester of bonehead Botany, but I've played in the dirt since learning to walk, back when everybody had a backyard garden and getting corn from stalk to boiling water took minutes.
I think my plants care about my body; if it isn't up to working with/for them, they will drop me like a bad habit.
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Post by reed on Aug 6, 2017 19:22:23 GMT -5
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Day
gardener
When in doubt, grow it out.
Posts: 171
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Post by Day on Aug 6, 2017 21:59:39 GMT -5
steev Hey now, there's plenty of us sub/urban seed chuckers rockin backyard gardens. My corn's only twenty feet from my front door - race you to the pot?  reed thank you! Reading about your corn projects has been truly fascinating. I recently got caught up on your garden report. Looking forward to the next installment!
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Post by steev on Aug 7, 2017 0:56:49 GMT -5
No, I don't run for pot anymore.
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Post by keen101 (Biolumo / Andrew B.) on Aug 7, 2017 1:37:05 GMT -5
Welcome! Always glad to see someone new! Even better when they are enthusiastic to start experimenting of their own! Looking forward to hearing about your projects, questions, and ideas!
Seems like it's been quite a while since anyone new chimed in. Though seems like it's been quite a while since anyone had chimed in. Maybe it's been a busy year. Maybe a busy couple of years.
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Day
gardener
When in doubt, grow it out.
Posts: 171
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Post by Day on Aug 7, 2017 9:15:21 GMT -5
keen101 (Biolumo / Andrew B.) Thank you! And I also look forward to learning more about your projects: I've been enjoying your tomato crosses, but the real fascination for me has been your Peas 2017 thread. A red podded pea with brick red seeds would be dynamite! I love experimenting with summer crops first and foremost, but you're making me crave some cooler weather so I can start playing with peas and favas. I can't speak from experience on this particular forum, but I've been a part of and even moderated several different forums. Regardless of which one, there did always seem to be this 'ebb and flow' to the activity: a circus one year (or one week), a graveyard the next. Then the cycle would repeat. One of the forums was notorious for fluctuating seasonal involvement - The other moderator and I joked that it was like hosting a nightly Gatsby dinner party: House would be empty. Then a few early, 'the invite said 8pm so let's get there by 7:30' guests would arrive. Then the 'on-timers.' Then the 'fashionably lates.' Then the 'genuinely lates.' Then the curious neighbors. Then half the state because someone tweeted the address. Then the tide would change - people would start to trickle out. And the more that left, the more that would leave. By sunrise, it was an empty house again, save the few revelers who never actually left, just sorta passed out on the sofa and waited until the next evening. (Those were always my favorite.)
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