Ray’s breeding projects

[Raymondo]

I started off five landrace type projects this growing season: flint corn, moschata squash, maxima squash, melon and watermelon.
Flint corn: a complete wash out due to drought. All plants died without setting any seed.
Moschata squash: three fruit from about 20 vines. Too early to tell if any have seeds.
Maxima squash: four fruit from 20 vines. Not ripe yet.
Melon: six fruit from 40 plants. None ripe.
Watermelon: one fruit from 30 plants. None ripe.
Not a great start to any of the landraces, except perhaps the melon. It will be some time yet before I know if there are any seeds to be had in these fruits and another year before I'll know if there are any crosses. Next season I'll plant out a mix again, as well as any seeds I get from this year's fruits.
The flint corn project will restart next year with a slightly different mix as I lost one this year. I'm replacing that one with a popcorn, and adding a few others in as well. Most are not flints but once the hybrids start emerging I'll start selecting for flint.

[reed]

Sorry to hear your crops didn't yield. Did you leave them to their own on the drought, not try to do any watering? I don't think our recurring droughts are as bad as your's might have been but since I never in the past had much need for regular irrigation I'm not set up for it. As a result I often have results below or even far below what they should be.

[Raymondo]

I prefer to grow without irrigation so I have to accept that in very dry periods some things just won't yield. I figure that whatever does survive and produce seed will make a great base for my landraces. I'm working on soil that has great potential but was sadly mismanaged for many years. There's no organic matter to speak of but each year I intend to build it up. For example, in the corn bed I sowed a green manure mix of cowpeas, flax, buckwheat and sunflowers. They didn't do all that well either but I expect next year it should be a lot better, at least I hope so.

[Steve1]

Hi Ray, sorry it hsan't been a good year for you landrace wise.
I've been putting some flints aside for projects.
PM me and I will get you some.

Cheers
Steve

[Richard Watson]

A tough summer to start off some breeding projects Ray, the monsoon has certainly been weak for southern Queensland and NSW, fingers crossed you get a better growing season next summer.
If you could irrigate is water expensive.     

[gmuller]

Ray, let me know if you need any melon stock. I got some mixed up varieties from AllyH and some F1 Farthest North. I've also got some corns stashed away somewhere - not sure if I've got flints.
Hope your projects accelerate like Joseph's did.

[Raymondo]

...
If you could irrigate is water expensive.   

One boundary is a creek but it would be expensive setting things up to irrigate from it. I'm glad, in a way, because I'd rather do dryland farming. As you say, it was a bad summer to start these projects off. It's just made me more determined to get plenty of organic matter into the soil. a winter green manure mix will follow the summer mix!

Ray, let me know if you need any melon stock. I got some mixed up varieties from AllyH and some F1 Farthest North. I've also got some corns stashed away somewhere - not sure if I've got flints.
Hope your projects accelerate like Joseph's did.

Any additions to the melon mix are welcome. At least two of the six melons that grew have nice plump seeds so that's a good start I think.

[Diane Whitehead]

Tim Peters' Farthest North Mix  was always a mix, so wouldn't be considered F1.  The description I have on Tim's original packet  is:  "Charentais, cantaloupe and citrus ( occasional) types are to be found in the mix of 1/2 to 3 lb  melons. These are some of the best for maturing fast in cool coastal or mountain climates.  Good sugar levels. Origin PSR breeding programs"

[gmuller]

Tim Peters' Farthest North Mix  was always a mix, so wouldn't be considered F1.  The description I have on Tim's original packet  is:  "Charentais, cantaloupe and citrus ( occasional) types are to be found in the mix of 1/2 to 3 lb  melons. These are some of the best for maturing fast in cool coastal or mountain climates.  Good sugar levels. Origin PSR breeding programs"

Yeah, I meant it was not the from the original seed packet I acquired, but seed from my first grow out - so probably without the full complement of diversity - sorry for the inaccurate shorthand. Nice to have the original description. Thanks.
GM

[Raymondo]

Harvested two melons so far. Both had nice plump seeds so that's a start.
More moschata have set but night temps are dropping so growth will really slow down. Fingers crossed.