Yesterday, Stan made me a real nice seedling light setup. He put eyebolts in the ceiling and hung shiny new chain. He bought a 4 bulb florescent fixture, hung it from the chains, and we set up the folding table legs and set a 2x4 piece of metal grate on it. Now the plants can get all the light they want, 24 hours a day. It even has full-spectrun plant bulbs in it. The cabbage and broccoli raab babies are really happy with their new digs.
I have some broccoli seed from 1996. I grew it that year, and the variety, Southern Star, was the best broccoli I ever grew. Very nice heads. I hoarded the seeds remaining, and grew some out 3 or 4 years ago. I don't succeed in getting plants started in time every year, have to start them in late January, hence the seeds lasting so many years. Now that I'm playing with plant breeding, I want to take this hybrid and make it open pollinated so I can save seed. The variety was only offered in one catalogue for that one year. Hence my hoarding it.
So I put five seeds in each of 7 rockwool grow cubes. I can see the seeds have swelled up since sowing last night. Now, if they will just please germinate! I know 9 years is a long time for seed to be stored, but here's hoping it's in the nick of time!
Tuesday, February 08, 2005
Monday, February 07, 2005
A Birthday pruning
Today is my Birthday. I'm half way through my 40's now. Hurray! It also makes me aware the first half of my life is over, and I don't want to waste any of the future.
Today I noticed that the arbor was leaning over very badly. The grape vine that flows into the dead tree was pulled taut. The top branches are at a noticeably different angle, and some branches now rest on the ground. It is slowly falling over. It can injure an apple and a plum tree if it falls on them.
I pulled free many of the grape vine branches. Some larger ones I had to cut free, and they bled sap. I felt bad that I had to injure such gloriously wild growth. It was a happy vine and it covered the tree profusely. They were happy vines. Two were involved, the Einset and the Venus. But I did pull free some whole long vines, and I gathered them all along the rail of the upper garden. Grapes truly do well here.
I guess the remaining thing is to get someone with a chain saw to come and cut up the tree and remove it. I have been saving and cutting into lengths the water sprouts that grow so straight. I can make tomato cages and cucumber trellises with them. Or bean supports. I think I should prolly saw off the larger branches for larger trellising. But I don't know if I have the time to do it.
I still have to get the remaining vines tied to the trellis in new shape. They all bent north into the tree before, now they have to go straight.
Today I noticed that the arbor was leaning over very badly. The grape vine that flows into the dead tree was pulled taut. The top branches are at a noticeably different angle, and some branches now rest on the ground. It is slowly falling over. It can injure an apple and a plum tree if it falls on them.
I pulled free many of the grape vine branches. Some larger ones I had to cut free, and they bled sap. I felt bad that I had to injure such gloriously wild growth. It was a happy vine and it covered the tree profusely. They were happy vines. Two were involved, the Einset and the Venus. But I did pull free some whole long vines, and I gathered them all along the rail of the upper garden. Grapes truly do well here.
I guess the remaining thing is to get someone with a chain saw to come and cut up the tree and remove it. I have been saving and cutting into lengths the water sprouts that grow so straight. I can make tomato cages and cucumber trellises with them. Or bean supports. I think I should prolly saw off the larger branches for larger trellising. But I don't know if I have the time to do it.
I still have to get the remaining vines tied to the trellis in new shape. They all bent north into the tree before, now they have to go straight.
Sunday, February 06, 2005
My Pink Saladette Tomatoes
These are my Pink Saladette tomatoes, bred from our garden. You can see more of my varieties for which I'm distributing seed through the Seed Savers' Exchange. Visit www.saladette.com to see more photos and learn about my garden.
These are my Pink Saladette tomatoes.
These are my Pink Saladette tomatoes.
Hybrid, Heirloom, or Open Pollinated?
When vegetable seed catalogues say "hybrid", what does that mean? And what are the other two terms? What should you as a home gardener be concerned about?
A hybrid variety is the result of pollination of one genetically uniform variety with pollen from another specific genetically uniform variety. A seed company chooses parent varieties that wiill produce first-generation "offspring" (F1 hybrids) with the special characteristics they desire. Hybridization or crossing, is done in a very controlled manner so that all of the plants grown from the seed will be genetically identical, and from the same cross. The pollination is often done by hand and under controlled conditions. Hybrids may be bred to be more adaptable to environmental differences such as cold soil, disease, or high altitude, more uniform in ripening, growth, and more predictable in quality. And hybrid plants may have what is called "hybrid vigor". All the best qualities with vigorousness.
But hybrids do not "breed true". They do not produce seeds that will produce plants exactly like themselves. This means home gardeners cannot save seed from hybrids, and must buy seed each year.
Open pollinated or heirloom varieties tend to be less uniform in growth than hybrids, but they remain consistent and the seed can be saved and replanted by the home gardener. Heirlooms are just that, seeds handed down through generations of gardeners from around the world. Open pollinated varieties are stabilized from years of culling and breeding.
Most lettuce, bean and pea varieties are open-pollinated, while most modern cabbages, broccoli, tomato, cucumbers, melons, and brussels sprouts, are hybrids. Hybrid summer squashes, cucumbers, corn, and carrots, dominate the US market, and farmers love hybrids for their uniformity of ripening and of size and color.
In future installments here I'll go further into the merits of both. I plant both hybrids, and I save seed from heirlooms.
A hybrid variety is the result of pollination of one genetically uniform variety with pollen from another specific genetically uniform variety. A seed company chooses parent varieties that wiill produce first-generation "offspring" (F1 hybrids) with the special characteristics they desire. Hybridization or crossing, is done in a very controlled manner so that all of the plants grown from the seed will be genetically identical, and from the same cross. The pollination is often done by hand and under controlled conditions. Hybrids may be bred to be more adaptable to environmental differences such as cold soil, disease, or high altitude, more uniform in ripening, growth, and more predictable in quality. And hybrid plants may have what is called "hybrid vigor". All the best qualities with vigorousness.
But hybrids do not "breed true". They do not produce seeds that will produce plants exactly like themselves. This means home gardeners cannot save seed from hybrids, and must buy seed each year.
Open pollinated or heirloom varieties tend to be less uniform in growth than hybrids, but they remain consistent and the seed can be saved and replanted by the home gardener. Heirlooms are just that, seeds handed down through generations of gardeners from around the world. Open pollinated varieties are stabilized from years of culling and breeding.
Most lettuce, bean and pea varieties are open-pollinated, while most modern cabbages, broccoli, tomato, cucumbers, melons, and brussels sprouts, are hybrids. Hybrid summer squashes, cucumbers, corn, and carrots, dominate the US market, and farmers love hybrids for their uniformity of ripening and of size and color.
In future installments here I'll go further into the merits of both. I plant both hybrids, and I save seed from heirlooms.
Friday, February 04, 2005
Strawberries
Last night I ordered 75 strawberry plants from Raintree Nursery in Morton WA. I ordered 50 plants of Seascape, and 25 plants of Tristar. Both are day-neutrals, meaning they bear fruit from June til October, rather than one big crop like June-bearers. The Seascape variety has been pretty fantastic in CA. It really thrives on the West Coast. Our local truck farmer, famous for his Farmers' Market display of fantastic crops, swears by Seascape. But Tristar is the most popular variety overall across the nation.
So today I am going to clean out our Mexican terra cotta strawberry pots. We have 6 of them. They are full of old dirt and pea gravel. That old dirt is going into other large pots, for growing Horseradish roots on the deck. I am not planting them in the garden again, as they took over the whole carrot bed before Loren dug them all up for me. They don't need prime dirt to grow. They need to be contained! The strawberries will get premium dirt.
The first crocus is blooming in the front yard, in the new hillside planting area beside the front door. It is a pale purple. 300 yellow, white and purple crocus are planted there, and all of them have leaves up and ready to bloom. There is also at least 100 miniature daffoldils planted there in clumps. It gets a lot of shade, and is cooler than other yard areas that get sunlight this time of year, so this area is slow to bloom.
So today I am going to clean out our Mexican terra cotta strawberry pots. We have 6 of them. They are full of old dirt and pea gravel. That old dirt is going into other large pots, for growing Horseradish roots on the deck. I am not planting them in the garden again, as they took over the whole carrot bed before Loren dug them all up for me. They don't need prime dirt to grow. They need to be contained! The strawberries will get premium dirt.
The first crocus is blooming in the front yard, in the new hillside planting area beside the front door. It is a pale purple. 300 yellow, white and purple crocus are planted there, and all of them have leaves up and ready to bloom. There is also at least 100 miniature daffoldils planted there in clumps. It gets a lot of shade, and is cooler than other yard areas that get sunlight this time of year, so this area is slow to bloom.
Wednesday, February 02, 2005
Planting first seeds
A few days ago I put cabbage and broccoli raab seeds into grow cubes to sprout for the hydroponics unit. The cabbage seeds were fresher, and came up fast. But they got leggy on me. The raab sprouts are short and stumpy. So I may start another set of cubes with new cabbage seed, and keep them outdoors to grow slower and shorter. the leggy ones will get planted in dirt, deep enough to cover their long stems.
New Tiller
Well, last night I ordered the new tiller online. I love ordering stuff online, it's so easy and convenient. Anyways, I ordered the Mantis Electric tiller. 21 pounds, plenty of rpms with the tines, and it's suppsed to be easy to use. It is going to ship on the 4th. I can't wait to begin reclaiming the backyard garden from the weeds and stickers.
The weather has been lovely, sunny with some wind, but very Spring-like. February is often a good time to start pruning and getting ready for Spring, as the weather is moderate. The narcissus and tulips are coming up, and soon the front yard will be ablaze with color and flowers for a few weeks. I have to prune back and retrain the grape vines, as they are out of hand. The apple trees need to be pruned back, and I have some drip irrigation to the new plum tree to lay out and assemble.
I haven't even begun to lay out the lower garden this year, but the onion plants will be here the first weeke of March. So I have to figure where to plant them, since they will be in the ground for a while and tie up that space. I can plant a late crop after they get pulled. I ordered Burmuda onions. They are hard to find. I hope they grow well here, our days are a bit longer than they are bred for, so that means my bulbs will be a bit smaller.
The weather has been lovely, sunny with some wind, but very Spring-like. February is often a good time to start pruning and getting ready for Spring, as the weather is moderate. The narcissus and tulips are coming up, and soon the front yard will be ablaze with color and flowers for a few weeks. I have to prune back and retrain the grape vines, as they are out of hand. The apple trees need to be pruned back, and I have some drip irrigation to the new plum tree to lay out and assemble.
I haven't even begun to lay out the lower garden this year, but the onion plants will be here the first weeke of March. So I have to figure where to plant them, since they will be in the ground for a while and tie up that space. I can plant a late crop after they get pulled. I ordered Burmuda onions. They are hard to find. I hope they grow well here, our days are a bit longer than they are bred for, so that means my bulbs will be a bit smaller.
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