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Post by farmermike on Jan 5, 2018 11:45:33 GMT -5
4.5 temblor at 2:40AM; does that count as weather? steev, we need to have a broad definition of "weather": earthquakes, wildfires, light frost...traffic jams.
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Post by farmermike on Jan 3, 2018 23:02:51 GMT -5
We are trying to visit my wife's relatives outside of Charleston, SC and arrived just in time for winter storm grayson. Landed in Charlotte and tried to drive, but the unusual amount of snow closed many roads and important bridges. Had to stop for the night in Summerville (name seems ironic today). Locals tell us it hasn't snowed here since 2010, and they haven't gotten this MUCH snow in 30+ years. Being from CA, my kids were very excited by the snow, until they realized it was cold .
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Post by farmermike on Jan 1, 2018 11:45:47 GMT -5
Wow, toomanyirons, that's great germination! How did you store those seeds to preserve their viability?
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Post by farmermike on Dec 30, 2017 18:17:18 GMT -5
I would like to learn more about this free gamma mutation breeding service. I am thinking about starting a cilantro breeding project to rid cilantro of the horrible soap tasting genes. Since no one i know of hates the taste of cilantro more than me and so many restaurants insist on putting this vile weed into EVERYTHING it makes sense that no one is better to start such a project than i. The only thing is i would want lots of cilantro seeds with as many mutations as possible to help screen for any strains that might be palatable. P.s. does anyone know of any heirloom strains of Cilantro (or the seed used as an herb Coriander which does not taste terrible like the plant)? I doubt it, but it never hurts to ask.I might be interested in other radiated plants in the near future as well. EDIT (specific to this thread): since i am looking for as wide a gene pool and variability as possible i would be grateful to anyone who is willing to gift me cilantro / coriander seed for my potential "anti-cilantro-flavor breeding project". grex or landrace seed is also welcome especially if highly variable. keen101 (Biolumo / Andrew B.) , Adaptive Seeds offers a cilantro called Rak Tamachat from Thailand. They claim that "flavor is a little more mellow", and the leaves are particularly large. That might be a good place to start. I've been thinking I might purchase some, but haven't done it yet. I have a bunch of cilantro seed, I've been maintaining for a few years, which I could share. But it's not particularly diverse -- just some "slow-bolt" varieties that I've continued to select for slow bolting. My seed also has 8-10% of seeds showing signs of infestation (a tiny hole on one side of the two-seeded pod); maybe these are from chalcid wasps. The infestation hasn't bothered me much. I still get perfectly good germination for my needs. I've been hesitant to share seeds though. I wonder if I could actually break their infestation cycle by the liquid nitrogen method (my wife just hinted that she could get small amounts from work ), or would they just re-infest from the local environment?
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Post by farmermike on Dec 21, 2017 23:48:51 GMT -5
Well, I had a small amount of unexpected success with TSPS this year. Last year I received ~25 seeds from reed in a trade. In early spring I planted only 4 seeds as a test. (I had never grown a sweet potato in my life until 2017, and I didn't want to waste too many precious seeds.) I waited and waited, and nothing came up, and I kinda forgot about them. Then, in early July, I noticed these 2 seedlings pop up in a flat of languishing pepper seedlings (I had run out of garden space at that point.) Apparently, I had gotten mixed up and double-planted those cells. Oops! Oh well, not the first time that's happened. But I was pretty excited to find them and planted them up into a big pot along with slips I grew from grocery store tubers. I dug the tubers a few weeks ago, just before frost killed the vines. I stuck the vines from the seed-grown plant in water to try to keep them through until next spring. One plant had 2 seed pods! I just opened those dried pods. The smaller one had 2 seeds that don't look promising; the larger pod had 2 seeds that look pretty viable to me. These seed-grown plants, and the slip-grown, all had many flowers during summer, but only the one plant produced any pods. I think part of the problem was that I didn't give them anything to climb on, and all the vines just trailed down around the big pot they grew in. They were crowded by other potted plants, and somewhat hidden from sunlight and probably from pollinators. In any case, I'm hooked on growing sweet potatoes, and will give this project a lot more attention and garden space next year. I have a warm climate and a very long growing season, so I think I should be able to get good seed production here.
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Post by farmermike on Dec 20, 2017 1:30:07 GMT -5
Want some Mandan Lavender parching corn? Thanks, steev! Well, I did grow Mandan Lavender in 2016, and I still have some of the seed resulting from that growout (that hasn't all been eaten yet). When I grew a small patch of that seed in 2017, it grew weakly -- maybe due to inbreeding depression from my small (70 plants) 2016 population. I think I've heard that variety is prone to ID if not properly maintained. So, an infusion of new genes might be just what I need! It is a nice short season corn.
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Post by farmermike on Dec 19, 2017 22:01:04 GMT -5
How did you plant your different varieties? Spacing , rows or blocks? I wrote earlier that wind that would be necessary for heavy crossing is not a real problem for me but seeing yours , wow, I have never ever had any crossing near that degree. Basically, I planted them in blocks of rows, but without any extra seperation between varieties. I think the rows were around 30" apart, and plants thinned to 1 foot spacing. Here is a photo of the field on August 25th. Those rows are about 15-20 feet long. Each row was split between 2 varieties. Each variety had 2 adjacent rows. I set it up like that to maximize crossing. I also spent some time carrying pollen around the patch a couple times during flowering. On the far right of the patch you can see the 2 rows Open Oak Party tasseling much earlier than anything else. Of your types, Open Oak is the only one I have never planted, where did you get it? Open Oak Party was bred by Adaptive Seeds in Oregon. I bought it from them. They describe it as a "semi-flinty dent type". It is definitely more flinty than anything else in this patch. It has both flint and dent parents in its background. I would highly recommend it, if one is interested in a flint/flour corn.
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Post by farmermike on Dec 17, 2017 17:48:41 GMT -5
farmermike I think I can hook you up with some high carotene/orange endosperm corn and some good flour corns if you want. I've also got zha cai and er cai (nine hearts mustard) and some nine hearts/Golden Frills crosses of various filial generations that I got from CesarZ in NZ. I've also got some naked seeded pepo that raymondo bred. Let us PM. Thanks, oxbowfarm! PM sent. I had been wondering if anyone had seeds, or is still working on raymondo's naked seeded squash project. I'll have to go back and read that thread again.
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Post by farmermike on Dec 17, 2017 13:34:33 GMT -5
Here is the entirety of my 2017 grain corn harvest. My largest corn patch this year was devoted to a dent corn trial. I planted Open Oak Party, Pencil Cob, Trucker's Favorite Yellow and White, Bloody Butcher, Kentucky Rainbow, Silvermine, Tennessee Red Cob, Hickory King, McCormack's Blue Giant, and Virginia Gourdseed. I let them all cross freely. I'm intending to use these primarily for cornmeal and hominy. I'm hopefully doing my first batch of hominy this week. I decided to work on dent corn because I wanted cornmeal (containing flint & flour), which I add to wheat bread, among other things. And because dents seem to be traditionally used for hominy -- although I know other types of corn work for that as well. Also, dent (or flint/flour) types have a reputation for increased productivity, though that could easily be a myth. I was happy with the productivity of these dent corns, but I haven't grow enough other grain corns for a fair assessment. I don't necessarily plan to continue selecting for dented kernels in particular. I would be just as happy with flint/flour corns with a cap of flint over the top instead of a dent. Interestingly, the Open Oak Party I grew had almost no dented cobs, even though all the seeds I planted were dented. Maybe that had something to do with ripening early during very hot weather (100F+). Unfortunately, I don't think they crossed with any of the other varieties. The Open Oak Party was about a month earlier than everything else. The Gourdseed was a couple weeks later than the rest, on average. Everything else was pretty much on the same schedule. The overall average DTM ended up around 115 days, which was pretty much what I expected. I didn't really keep track of the varieties while harvesting, and just divided them up roughly by phenotype for the photo (which is why Kentucky Rainbow doesn't have its own group). So, the labels are not entirely accurate. Most interesting are the crosses onto the Gourdseed. I am fascinated by the gourdseed phenotype, and have ideas of breeding other colors/flavors into it, as well as shortening up its DTM a little. It had excellent resistance to ear worm, which took its toll on all the other varieties (mostly by introducing mold). I wonder how easy it will be to reselect that kernel type out of the crosses. Pencil Cob also has gourdseed shaped kernels in light yellow. It didn't perform great for me, but it may have just been on a patch of poor soil. I didn't fertilize at all; I just tilled a small patch of clay soil that had been fallow for many years (with wild oats, bromes, vetch, etc.). It was very compacted in some places. Of course, the crosses are easiest to see on the white varieties. As I shell these out, I am setting aside most of the crossed kernels for potential breeding projects. I'm not planning to grow mixed color varieties, long-term, so I'll probably group the kernels into single colors for future plantings -- although I'm sure it will take many generations to eliminate off-type kernels. I'm okay with that. I'm also planning to try some pure flint and pure flour corns (for polenta and flour/parching) next year so, who knows, I may decide to scrap the whole flint/flour idea. I'm definitely still learning about corn, and how I want to use it -- and I have some chickens that would love to eat the rejects!
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Post by farmermike on Dec 16, 2017 17:39:40 GMT -5
Here is my trade list, if anyone is interested in seed trades this year.
Although I am growing most crops landrace style, I am not comfortable labelling them “landraces” (yet), because they still feel more like collections of diversity, rather than “varieties” adapted to my garden and my tastes -- they are getting there though. For now I am using the term “grex”; maybe next year I’ll call them landraces.
A few varieties on the list were actually isolated enough that I would consider them “pure” -- they are marked as such. Everything on the list was grown in 2016 or 2017. Most of the proto-landraces are in their 1st through 3rd generation. Let me know if you have any questions about my seeds. I am happy to send or post photos of the crops (if I have them).
I have a pretty substantial “wants” list. For many crops, I already have a good stock of germplasm, but would still like to add diversity to the mix. Landrace varieties would be highly appreciated. In most cases, I am only looking for small quantities of seed to add to diverse plantings. That is what I’m expecting to send in trades, but I could send larger quantities of some things...depending on how many people are interested.
I am particularly interested in pure flour or pure flint corns, true potato or sweet potato seeds, and in segregating hybrids of any crop.
Cucurbitaceae -Watermelon grex (2016/17 seeds) -True Melon grex (2016 seeds) -Maxima grex (2016/17 seeds) -Moschata grex (2016 seeds) Poaceae -Dent Corn Grex (2017) -Orange Rox Sorghum (2016; isolated) Solanaceae -- Tomatoes -- (not isolated, but I haven't observed any crosses in the past) -Slicing Tomato grex (2015-17) -Snack/Cherry Tomato grex (2016/17) -Early Tomato grex (2016/17; mostly determinate) -Paste Tomato grex (2017; mostly indeterminate) -True Black Brandywine (2016) -Forest Fire (2017) -Silvery Fir Tree (2017) -Blue Beauty (2017) -Berkeley Tie-Dye (2017) -- Peppers -- (may be crossed with other peppers of similar heat level) -Poblano Pepper (2016) -Sweet Pepper grex (2016/17) -Medium hot pepper grex (2016/17) -Hot Yellow Hungarian Pepper (2016) -Black Hungarian Pepper (2016) -Shishito Pepper (2016/17) -Chilhuacle Negro Pepper (2016) -Pasilla Bajio Pepper (2016) -Padron Pepper (2017; hot unless picked very early) -Pasilla Bajio x Mulato Isleno F2 (2017) -Pasilla Bajio x Hungarian Yellow F2 (2017) -Poblano x Jalapeno F3 (2017) Fabaceae -Pole Dry Bean grex (2016) -Bush Dry Bean grex (2016/17) -Pole Snap Bean grex (2016/17) -Bush Snap Bean grex (2016) -Brown Tepary (2016/17) -Beefy Resilient Grex (2016/17) -Cowpea Grex (2016/17) -Purple Pod Shelling Peas (2017) -Cowpea grex (2016/17) -Long Bean grex (2017; red pods and green pods) Brassicaceae -Giant Red Mustard (2016; isolated) -Brussels Sprouts grex (2016) -Arugula (2015/16; Eruca sativa) -Wild Arugula 'Wasabi' (2016; Diplotaxis erucoides) Asteraceae -Radicchio grex (2016/17) -Lolla Rossa Lettuce (2016 diverse strain) -Large-seeded sunflower grex (2017) -Papalo (Porophyllum ruderale) Apiaceae -Mantovano Fennel Bulb (2017) -Carrot grex (2017; mostly short and orange, with some purple or red) -Pusa Asita Black carrot (2017) Asparagaceae - Triteleia laxa (2017; Ithuriel's Spear -- wild edible bulb) Malvaceae -Okra grex (2016/17) Portulacaea -Garden Purslane (2016) Amaranthacaea -Triple Purple Orach (2016; some off types) -Beet Grex (2017) Phrymaceae (Scrophulariaceae) -Erythranthe guttatus (Mimulus guttatus - Creek Monkey Flower: edible leaves, medicinal?)
Wanted List Pure flour corn (white, yellow or mixed; or parching varieties) Pure flint corn (orange or yellow; some colored pericarp is fine) Orange Endosperm corn Aztec Red flour corn Zea diploperennis (or Z. diploperennis x Z. mays) Malting barley Naked-Seed Squash (C. pepo) Buttercup Squash (C. maxima) C. moschata diversity (esp. Long-necked, or asian types) Crookneck or Elongated cushaw squash (C. argyrosperma) Okra diversity Early tomatoes (saladette size or larger) Paste tomatoes (esp. sausage type) Anthocyanin/Blue tomatoes Purple Tomatillos Ancho/Poblano type peppers Medium heat peppers (~1000-10,000 scovilles) Any black or brown peppers Shishito peppers or anything similar Capsicum pubescens peppers Storage onions (any type) True Garlic Seed (or bulbils/cloves from TGS) True Potato Seed (or tubers from TPS) True Sweet Potato Seed (or tubers from TSPS) Tepary Beans Lima Beans Cowpeas Long Beans Dry Bean diversity (bush or pole) Snap Bean diversity (bush or pole) Cutshort/greasy Beans Edible pod peas Shelling/soup peas Edamame soybeans Radicchio diversity (reliably heading) Turnip diversity Fennel (reliably bulbing) Rutabaga Cauliflower (incl. Romanesco) Brussels Sprout diversity Gai lan Brassica rapa diversity (esp. colorful) Zha cai or "stem mustard" Large-seeded sunflowers Parsnips Skirret Salsify
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Post by farmermike on Dec 8, 2017 13:14:43 GMT -5
The one problem with some of the more exotic diploid TPS I planted was much of it had essentially zero dormancy. If I found them already sprouting when I dug them then they weren't any good to me. I just washed them up and took them to market and tried to sell them as mixed potato "Adventure Packs". They didn't sell that well, but I did sell a few. Need to work on the marketing? I am no expert, and I'm not selling anything at market (yet), but it seems that a little bowl of cooked sample diploid potatoes (and toothpicks to skewer them) might be the ticket. If customers realize they're tasty, that may overcome the unusual factor.
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Post by farmermike on Dec 6, 2017 16:23:32 GMT -5
No dormancy is the norm with diploids. If you time it so that they are ready very late in the year, you can usually keep them alive for spring planting by storing them at about 38F. What about for eating? Are the diploids still edible if they have already sprouted before harvest? When I read "The Resilient Gardener", it seemed Carol D said that any amount of sprouting or green skin renders the potato inedible. Of course, when I search online "are sprouted potatoes edible?", most sources say to just cut off the sprouts and the green skin and they are fine.
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Post by farmermike on Dec 5, 2017 1:16:24 GMT -5
I hear a barn owl shriek almost every night in my suburban neighborhood. We still have a burgeoning rat population, though I suppose it would be worse without the owls.
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Post by farmermike on Dec 4, 2017 21:41:34 GMT -5
All day was hard, cold wind; not pleasant to work in. Right! The air was billowing with thistle seeds all day -- also unpleasant. We had our first light frost of the season this morning. A few weeks later than usual. Still not enough to kill off my remaining peppers and tomatoes.
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Post by farmermike on Dec 4, 2017 20:55:14 GMT -5
I had no problem registering with the same info I use on HG. The forum looks good rowan. The only thing I feel is missing is a section for homesteading projects (for things like landrace chicken breeding threads, etc...). The most important thing is that the community of plant breeders is maintained. Though I guess if a forum is geared towards breeding, that community may develop naturally. I also wonder if some of the most valuable and informative threads on HG (like: Understanding Corn Genetics) could just be copied & pasted into a thread on a new forum. Might be a lot of work to do that with lots of threads, but if it was just a chosen few it might be doable.
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