the little wild kingdom

[flowerbug]

I ordered Sweet Dumpling for this upcoming season. DD15 loves acorn so I thought we would try.

the plants are more compact than the larger sprawling squash we grow plus the fruits are not as big. still good enough for a hungry person. being so sweet i wouldn't eat as much. used in combination with other things it adds good filler to a tummy on a cold day. did not notice any bug problems.

 

[flowerbug]

a picture of some Monster Children beans in the sun since it came out today. the red color and pattern i've been after for quite a few years. the more orange colored ones are still nice to see too.

and since i had the camera out and the sun was cooperating i took a few pictures of the beans that Russell Crow sent and i'm just calling these Santa beans for now.

 

[Trying2keepitReal]

So do you eat all the beans you grow? Or are there some you specifically don't eat ever or save to keep trying new crosses with?

 

[flowerbug]

So do you eat all the beans you grow? Or are there some you specifically don't eat ever or save to keep trying new crosses with?

yes to all of those questions. i can only grow so many kinds each year and i try to grow some bulk beans that we like to eat a lot of and then i have project beans that i'm trying to increase the count of seeds i have and i'm also trying to see if the bean is stable enough to get a name put on it. as of now i've cross bred quite a few varieties but they don't all work out, from those i've had a few worthy of continued growing.

last year i had a cross show up that i had eight beans total to work with and planted four this past spring and had three of the four plants survive and did well so i had a good harvest of seeds from them and was able to send some of those off overseas. some beans are more stable than others. i've had some beans that i've planted about a hundred seeds and gotten back about thirty different patterns and replanting those doesn't always mean those will come back either so it takes time to work though them.

the Santa beans pictured above are from someone who had them show up in his grow outs and he tried to grow them and didn't have great results but i have a different soil and climate than he does so perhaps some of them will work out for me. i'll find out. it may take a few years to get through the whole box he sent. i know the base plant type is sturdy and does well here so we'll see...

it's fun.

 

[flowerbug]

in last year's grow outs of Purple Dove i found exactly one seed that might be an out-cross or mutation. out of perhaps a few hundred thousand seeds i've grown of those. there are some selections from the seeds grown that i put aside to replant but they are not out-crosses just me trying to amplify certain traits in the seed coat pattern.

this one seed i may grow in a pot this next growing season but there are so many chances for troubles there too so it's always a worry when i've only got one seed to work with.

i'm trying to figure out the parent beans of Purple Dove and that is a mystery for sure, but it keeps me amused. at least i do know the person who released Purple Dove and i'm getting more clues as a learn more. i'm also in the process collecting more Robert Lobitz purple beans and trying them out too.

 

[Trying2keepitReal]

This is all very fascinating to me. I don't have the patience for it, but I think that it is totally cool and would love to get to this someday--maybe not beans but tomatoes

 

[flowerbug]

This is all very fascinating to me. I don't have the patience for it, but I think that it is totally cool and would love to get to this someday--maybe not beans but tomatoes

tomato seeds don't take up as much space.

i spent the morning getting a few shelves dusted and reorganized and i actually even threw away a few things that had been gathering dust for years so i had to warn Mom to sit down before i told her that.

i also cleared out a few square feet of floor space that was where i was storing seeds that will be planted for next time (be it next year or a year or two later at least the seeds have already been selected out from the rest - that saves a lot of time in the spring when i'm trying to collect my thoughts and seeds for planting that i don't have to go through them and find seeds to plant).

 

[flowerbug]

more cleaning today. cleared and reorganized a few more shelves and made more useful space up higher. got rid of some things that could go to the recycler. boxes restacked up in the high corner where they're stored until next bean picking and drying season. still quite a mess here but i'm making progress.

back in the far corner i had a directors chair with boxes stacked on it and i need to go through those boxes and get them winnowed down so that wasn't happening with them being back in that corner. so now they are out and in the way where i will have to deal with them. the directors chair Mom is going to try to use for her quilting - the chair she is currently using is a bit too creaky and wobbly and the directors chair is also more comfy. so we'll see how that goes.

it frees up a lot of space to have that stack of stuff gone. in a small room a few square feet of freed up floor space is nice to have. i have about five shelves on the book cases empty now so i have room for working on reorganizing the beans when i get back to that. in the shorter term i need to finish up going through some bulk beans and then i can get those put back up on top of the bookcases where i store them longer term. it's my bean pantry space for what we'll eat from the beans i grew out the past few years in enough quantities that i can do single bean batches or blend them if i want.

this is probably the most bare shelves i've had in here since i put the book cases up. so progress is happening, it just looks bad at the moment. haha...

 

[frustratedearthmother]

this is probably the most bare shelves i've had in here since i put the book cases up. so progress is happening, it just looks bad at the moment. haha...

I find that when I do deep cleaning it often looks worse before it loooks better!

 

[flowerbug]

I find that when I do deep cleaning it often looks worse before it loooks better!

ok, i'll just say that for now on, "I'm deep cleaning!" i'll make another dent in things today. it's warm, sunny and windy today outside and has been raining plenty so everything will be muddy again until it can dry out. only spot weeding to check out in the gardens and not much else to get up to. spending the time inside is ok with me as i really do need to get all this crud dusted and consolidated or i need to get rid of it.

i put stuff in the recycle bins yesterday that's been moved at least a dozen times, all of it was now old enough past the date when it would have been useful (travel maps and old technical books). i could have shredded them all for more worm bedding but i have buckets full of compacted shreddings already that i don't need any more. just putting them in the recycle bins means it saves me all that time spent shredding. i'm liking how this worked out...