2011 Garden Talk

glo said:
Sounds like the approach of a true vegetable breeder to me, Mustafa! :)
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I was thinking Burbank now has some stiff Competition. My Brother Mustafa has been given a remarkable insight into the principles of plant breeding.
 
thank you for the tips. i knew there was a reason why the plants didn't grow when i planted seeds.
 
I am not much of a gardener but I would love to grow some lavendar and roses, especially for my mum, may Allaah bless her abundantly.
 
Thank you Glo and Brother Woodrow, but really I am just playing with the sweet corn breeding. Since corn is open pollinated I am able to really only select the female with it being pollinated at random. I have kept track of the pedigree over the years. Since I had been selecting until last year only on plant and ear type, I was surprised at how similar the kernel size was on plants from related rows. I want to maintain as much genetic diversity as I can and yet have as uniform plant growth and flowering as possible. My intention is to develop a good open pollinated type that I can use instead of having to buy hybrid seed each year.

Insha'Allah, my next project is to cross an excellent pole lima bean that has a maroon seed (Persian) with other varieties with a green or larger seed. We have grown 4 other varieties that we like, but they don't produce nearly as much as the Persian. Last year we saved seed and I noticed a few green seed that could have been derived from an unintentional outcross (bees). I am hopeful that these seed produce productive plants.
 
MustafaMc said:
Thank you Glo and Brother Woodrow, but really I am just playing with the sweet corn breeding. Since corn is open pollinated I am able to really only select the female with it being pollinated at random. I have kept track of the pedigree over the years. Since I had been selecting until last year only on plant and ear type, I was surprised at how similar the kernel size was on plants from related rows. I want to maintain as much genetic diversity as I can and yet have as uniform plant growth and flowering as possible. My intention is to develop a good open pollinated type that I can use instead of having to buy hybrid seed each year.

Insha'Allah, my next project is to cross an excellent pole lima bean that has a maroon seed (Persian) with other varieties with a green or larger seed. We have grown 4 other varieties that we like, but they don't produce nearly as much as the Persian. Last year we saved seed and I noticed a few green seed that could have been derived from an unintentional outcross (bees). I am hopeful that these seed produce productive plants.
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Going back to the farmer's of old. (My grandfather's era) they swore by when planting corn for eating, not for seed purposes. To plant a row of popcorn every 4th row Actually a thin row with the plants about a foot apart. They claimed it made for better pollination, better tasting and fuller ears with bigger kernels. But, such corn was only good to eat, very poor germination if you tried to plant them and poor ears if they did grow.
 
yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay!!! The snow is melting here!!!!!!!!!!! =D

We got some raspberry trees outside... They are awake in summer only though...
 
glo said:
Here is what we did this morning.
The flower bed looks quite bare at the moment, but hidden in the ground are dozens and dozens of summer bulbs! :shade:





Apart from digging it over and adding plenty of compost, we edged the bed with willow sticks. I think it looks quite nice. Natural and a little informal - just how we like it!
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Peace Glo
I Think your flower bed looks quite nice and I really like the use of the willow as the border, that is so creative! I do hope you will continue to post pics as the flower bed progresses, God willing.
 
Thank you, Barbara.
Unfortunately, the quirrels - which are abundant in the church yard - have cottoned on to the hidden bulbs and are trying to dig them out. Every day we find a few dug out, sometimes nibbled and then discarded ...

Any ides of how I can squirrel-proof the flower bed?
 
glo said:
Thank you, Barbara.
Unfortunately, the quirrels - which are abundant in the church yard - have cottoned on to the hidden bulbs and are trying to dig them out. Every day we find a few dug out, sometimes nibbled and then discarded ...

Any ides of how I can squirrel-proof the flower bed?
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This may sound strange, But it works. Sprinkle hot Cayenne pepper over where the bulbs are. You may have to repeat after each rain for a while. But it does discourage them. To further discourage them set up a squirrel feeder far from the flower bed and quite soon you will have both a happy flower bed and happy squirrels
 
Woodrow said:
This may sound strange, But it works. Sprinkle hot Cayenne pepper over where the bulbs are. You may have to repeat after each rain for a while. But it does discourage them. To further discourage them set up a squirrel feeder far from the flower bed and quite soon you will have both a happy flower bed and happy squirrels
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Thank you, Woodrow. I might just try that.

Squirrel and cayenne pepper ... now that's giving me another idea ...
 
member X said:
I am not much of a gardener but I would love to grow some lavendar.
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Do you grow your lavendar from seeds or do you buy them as plants? I tried growing them from seeds and failed they got to a certain point and just died tips please

found an old pic they got a lil taller then this and then died :(
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Sine we live in the city we usually grow a few veggies and fruit on our patio inshallah if we do it this year ill post pics

here are some from last year

spinach
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strawberries
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Salad Mix
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onions (we got not one onion though)
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tomatoes
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carrots
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Your pictures put me miss summer even more I missed it before - specially when I saw that one about carrots I swear I smelled how they smell at summer morning in my own little garden...

And here is now tons of snow left on the ground and cold raining outside. :cry:
 
Salaam =)

So we now have a baby peach tree to add to our collection of trees. I'm not sure it will survive English weather...Any advice ?
 
Our garden is still covered with snow . . . with the spring snows and rains and cold weather, it will be around the end of April before I can consider planting. But insha'Allah the flowers that dropped their seeds last fall did most of the job.
 
This weekend my wife and I planted 994 linear feet of our garden including:

1) 2 plants each of 12 different tomato varieties/hybrids in a raised bed
2) 120 ft of pole lima beans mostly one variety (Persian), but a few seed each of 6 other varieties
3) 180 ft of bush lima beans - 4 varieties
4) 180 ft of bush green beans - 4 varieties
5) 180 ft of cowpeas - 4 varieties
6) 80 ft of bush dry-shell beans - 4 varieties
7) 18 ft of peanuts - 2 varieties from Virginia
8) 165 ft of sweet corn - 24 selections I have made from a hybrid
9) 28 ft of colored (purple and red) sweet corn from a contact in Utah
10) 4 collard plants

Our temperature today was in the low 80s and sunny. We had perfect moisture and soil conditions. It is forecast to rain tomorrow and turn cooler. Insha'Allah, it will not affect our seedling emergence. Insha'Allah, we will plant the rest of the garden next weekend.
 

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