New Seeds and A Old Hobby

[HPD]

Well now that the indoor cultivation is a risk I've decided to try some new seeds , Annuals, perennials,grasses and sedges,shrubs,vines,and trees. I now read Garden design and am going to grow some of the top 100 plants for 2006. Still studying and deciding which to get first. Now all of these will be grown from seed and the greenhouse will get some use, and the flo's the hps is busy so it wont be used. Im going to use the same ferts I used in previous gardening and hope thing work out. Annuals will be first to try as i would like them to self seed and come back every year. Bulbs will be getting into the action as well .....ill keep you abreast when the seeds arive and updated as before.....HPD

[BravoC.D.]

hey HPD good to seee u out and about. i can't wait to see or hear what u plan on growing out. i'm sure it will keep your green thumb. enjoy the weather,bravo

[HPD]

http://www.swallowtailgardenseeds.com/annuals/asterann.html is where ill start ordering first see any you like let me know......love in a mist was one I liked although isnt the one in garden design magazine those must be some rare ones..

[BravoC.D.]

my moma loves the snap dragons. easy to grow with a very light fragrance.

[c-ray]

cool, gardening is fun
I just planted a cherry tree with 4 different cherries grafted onto one tree, also planted a few blueberry bushes and just bought a little turkish brown fig tree

[BravoC.D.]

i can picture myself as a little kid going around eatting berries through ur hard labor c-ray haha

[Lrus007]

cool HPD i got a grafting tool this winter
i have allready took some grafting branches
they are in frige till june
1st time trying and got right tool and supplys
if it works lol next year will do a bunch on 1 tree
can see it now the 25 diff. apples on 1 tree lol

[freeheeler]

Hey HPD,
Don't know if you sympathize with their organic efforts but ... seedsofchange(.com) has taken a lot of action to preserve as many heirloom seed lines (veggies as well as non consumables) as is possible. Open pollination, biodiversity, preservation of centuries of work... etc.

Here's what they're about
http://www.seedsofchange.com/about/default.asp?

Sorry if this seems like a spam, it's not. I say vote with your dollar and reward those who are doing the right thing right?
just a thought, best of luck in tweaking your thumb a little! It's all so rewarding isn't it?
take care
freeheeler

[c-ray]

picked up a meyer lemon tree, an olive tree, an orcas pear and a desert king fig tree today

we are pushing the limits of what we can grow at 50 degrees N

the place I got the trees from had over 200 different mature fruit trees on 3/4 of an acre, easily the most intense fruit garden I've seen...the apples, pears and plums were trained to grow at a 45 degree angle aligned north and south leaning away from the sun and pruned down to one main stalk about 8 feet long with minimal branching, they had them pruned so tight that you could pick all the fruit without a ladder...they had all sorts of citrus trees with overhanging glass and x-mas lights wrapped around them to keep them warm in the winter, and there was plenty of ripe citrus, really wish I had a camera it was amazing

[Bram]

C-Ray, that place sounds like I will have to go check it out for some fruit trees. You will have to PM me the name of the place if ya don't mind.

[BravoC.D.]

wow that does sound like heaven and quite the info. thatnks for sharing cray. bravo

[c-ray]

I started some pumpkins (2 types), watermelons (2 types), muskmelons (2 types), tomatoes, chili peppers, cilantro, borage, angelica, gingko, tea tree, passion flower, lavender (4 types), sunflowers and cabbage seeds on tuesday...figured it was a good time since planting around the new moon promotes root growth

going to turn the tomatoes, chili peppers and cilantro into salsa, guess I need to grow some onions and maybe some corn and beans too but they can wait since ideally I want it all to finish at the same time so I can chop it all up fresh...going to try growing some ginger too, since it will grow here as an annual

the cabbage will get turned into sauerkraut, I can use some of that ginger and some carrots, beets, garlic, cumin and kale

I'm going to attempt a little mad science breeding with the pumpkins, I have some of the atlantic dill giant pumpkins and another variety called styrian an oldtime heirloom from spain I believe,..the styrian makes a hulless seed and is supposed to be richer in certain oils, so I'm going to pollinate the styrian pumpkins with some atlantic dill pollen, and/or vice versa depending on pollen availability, I want to grow them out next year and make F2s and see if there are some pumpkins that have the big seed trait from the atlantic giant but are hulless from the styrian side

the watermelons I have are both 75 day finishers (fast!!) one is from idaho (blacktail mountain) and the other from saskatchewan (cream of saskatchewan)..the cream of saskatchewan is a yellow flesh heirloom, both are supposed to have great taste, I might cross pollinate to see what kind of traits are in the offspring

also made some seedballs ( http://seedballs.com ) containing red clover, white clover, crimson clover and buckwheat seeds, and then spread them around some bare patches, new beds and around fruit trees
I soaked the seeds overnight first, then strained the water and mixed in some rhyzobium inoculant which helps the clovers fix nitrogen, then I added clay powder, compost and bit of worm castings and rolled into balls, this is not exactly how it's supposed to be done, usually you use dry seeds and add just enough water to allow them to be rolled into balls, but I see a window of rain here so they will all sprout nicely right now
incidently the clovers that I have chosen stay fairly compact so I can go in later and transplant other plants like corn or sunflowers right into the clovers and they will grow up and over the clovers, while the clovers should stay perennial and will continue to fix nitrogen for many years, at least that's my theory...the buckwheat will build below ground soil mass (food for earthworms) but it is an annual so I will collect some seeds for next year from the more robust plants and chop the rest of the buckwheat and let it drop to the ground and become mulch

[Bram]

Damn, C-Ray thats quite the garden you got there. I still need to make my garden space at my dads place. But I think I will start out my carrot and beans soon. I wanna get some more herbs and veggies too. I am thining maybe some squash.

[BravoC.D.]

i'm getting envious all u with your fruits and vegetables and me with flower and indoor plants lol. no fear i have my catologs coming.

[Bram]

Bravo, you might wanna check out Salt Spring Seeds for some veggies seeds. They are based on Salt Spring ISland. I am planning on making an order from there sometime in the relatively near future.

[Tug]

Did you know that Peach trees are started on the roots of other species, a dwarf in particular, because the hormones in the root-stock keep the Peach tree short, and the roots will survive much better in the cold winter (my grandfather has an orchard, and my uncle works at a research lab).

I wonder if this works for other plants as well?

peace - tug

[Bram]

what I would like to see is a pot plant with branches grafted on from some other varietys all budding at the same time. For example: a afghani IBl with a blueberry branch, a superskunk branch, a C99 branch, etc.

[BravoC.D.]

lol that would be something to see. a research lab i'd build my own shack lab and start on my work ok one chosen females and males