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2022 Squash Bug Resistant C. moschata Landrace Grow Report
Summer 2022 held some challenges in the garden... ...as we experienced over a month of drought mixed with temps in the upper 90s, many days even over 100! It was very difficult to keep everything alive and many plants stalled in growth. Flowers bloomed and wilted before they could set fruit and many fruits dried on the vine. That said, the squash hung in there! I did water more than 2021- for some weeks in June and July even watering every day or every other day simply to keep things alive.
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Mushroom Log Cultivation Workshop
Purchase tickets here! Come join us for an immersive afternoon learning how to transform trees into high quality, gourmet and medicinal mushrooms. We will get hands on with the entire process from tree selection to inoculation and stacking. You will learn the context, skills and tools you’ll need to engage in this life giving activity to produce high value mushrooms. We’ll be working with shiitake and lion’s mane spawn and learning totem and log inoculation. You will also get to take home an inoculated log. 12 spots available. $50 per person. Purchase tickets here. RSVP to reserve your spot, email ozarkmountainjewel (at) gmail (dot) com. Workshop takes place at Mountain…
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Ozark C. Moschata Grex 2021 Season Wrap Up
2021 was an exciting year in squash growing. I started the year off with anticipation toward the squash project. I was curious as to how the genetics I had crossed in 2020 would fare in relation to the squash bugs. You can read my beginning of the season post to get an idea of the specifics of the project. In short summary of the project’s goals and aims for 2021: I created a Cucurbita moschata grex which is a flock of genetics crossing at random (think pollinators: we thank our 6 honeybee hives, among other populations of native bees, for their ample pollination). I didn’t manage for squash bugs at…
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Community Squash Tasting Day
Saving seed and growing food is inherently place based. The characteristics of the seeds you save becomes the nourishment that fills your and possibly others’ bodies. It is one of the great gifts of growing food. Cooking it and sharing it brings us together and infuses us with a sense of place.
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Pawpaw: From Forgotten Woodlands to Center Stage
Could you imagine a tropical-esque fruit tree native to 26 states falling into obscurity? A fruit with flavor profiles ranging from melon to citrus to custard and a texture akin to mango. Sounds unbelievable but pawpaws nearly suffered this fate and are now enjoying a resurgence in popularity, and for good reason! Once as common and well know as apples are today, pawpaws were nearly forgotten until recently. A massive cultural shift away from land based living compounded upon development and habitat destruction reduced pawpaws’ place in the lives of the common folk. We stopped going to the woods for food and medicine, began participating in a more globalized economy…
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Breeding C. Moschata for Squash Bug Resistance (Introduction to SARE Grant 2021)
If you’ve gardened anywhere where there are squash bugs (Anasa tristis), you know how hard it can be to grow squash when they’re present. The greyish brown armored bugs will mate profusely all over squash and cucumber plants, laying neat rows of eggs on the leaves which spring forth in masses of bright blue young ones. Known for not only damaging the plant itself from feeding on it and sucking sap, they also can spread Cucurbit Yellow Vine Disease (CYVD) which causes the plant to wilt and die. Many farmers spend a lot of time managing this pest whether picking or vacuuming them off, using row covers, planting trap crops,…
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Introducing Air Potatoes
Given our shifting climate, increased drought and flooding events and general instability, I think it is wise to start allying with a myriad of crops- especially those that are notably vigorous. I love potatoes and sweet potatoes a lot, and they do really well for us here, AND diversity is key in creating resilient systems. After a few seasons growing D. batatas and one growing D. bulbifera, I feel encouraged to continue experimenting with these plants. The batatas especially, given its cold hardy nature, would do well in and amongst shrubs and trees. In this instance, it has even taken a liking to one of our common food forest nitrogen…
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Growing Yardlong Beans: Easy Gardening Success
This year in growing the yardlongs we are “staying on top of” our bean harvest, enjoying faster prep time in the kitchen and delicious homegrown meals. We will be saving these seeds and growing them again!
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Building a Duck Coop for (Basically) Free
Learning how to build (especially incorporating waste stream salvage) has been an amazingly empowering process for us both. Before moving here we had a little building experience, but out of necessity we have learned a lot in a few short years. If building is intimidating for you fear not! It usually involves hard work and learning new things, but the results are so rewarding.
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Growing Pawpaws from Seed
When growing out from seed, fruit quality can be expected to be similar to that of the fruit from which it came. A Susquehanna fruit will yield seeds with a high quality fruit, although not identical to its parent. Choosing seeds from selected cultivars means you can grow high quality fruit without the fuss of grafting and increase genetic diversity. For pollination purposes it can be helpful to have a wider variety of individuals too.
