From: songbird@anthive.com   
      
   Boron Elgar wrote:   
   ...   
   >  I'll plant anything from seed or that I think I can grow.. Right now   
   > I have some rambutan pits that have started to come up with shoots,,   
   > two date palms starting from packaged dates I got at Trader Joe's, a   
   > chunk of galangal that is coming up, so that I have some fresh all   
   > winter.   
      
     unfortunately i live with someone with a very bland   
   set of preferences and requirements so growing odd things   
   like that just doesn't work.  also i don't have space or   
   light enough inside for winter tender anything.  if i can't   
   grow it outside during a normal season it just doesn't   
   work here.  :(   
      
      
   > Squash and melons are all in the past. The critters get them, even   
   > when a rise them in bets onto frames. Too much effort and too much   
   > disappointment. Breaks my heart, but I have learned to live with it.   
      
     i tried melons for the first time many years ago and did   
   not get very good results and then a friend sent me some   
   melon seeds last year and those were fantastic.  so i've   
   planted them again this season.  being inside a fence i   
   had no issues from animals getting them, but a few bees   
   and ants did find them good enough once they started to   
   split.  we ate melons for weeks and even the ones that   
   weren't fully ripe at the end of the season were still   
   good enough to eat if i put a little honey on them.  one   
   day alone i had to give away 7 melons because we could not   
   keep up with them.   
      
      
   > I have had failures due to critters- like the just-before-a-frost   
   > Brussels sprout stalks stripped clean by the groundhogs. I now do   
   > almost all my growing in tubs up on the deck. It cuts down on some   
   > predation, but not all. Mouse and rat traps placed around likely   
   > targets scare off some critters.   
      
     we tried to grow some broccoli and cauliflower last year   
   but the groundhogs kept eating it.  wasted space for the   
   most part.  i tried to talk Mom out of growing it because   
   of past experience with the groundhogs getting into those   
   sorts of vegetables, but she wanted to do it anyways.  ah   
   well, at least she didn't want to repeat that again this   
   year.  if i put out rat traps they tend to get lost as   
   the critters get snapped and then take the trap away until   
   they manage to get it off.  years later i might find it   
   rotting in a hedge or under some trees.  once i found out   
   where the mice were getting into the walls and sealed that   
   up i haven't had to put any more mice traps out.  it's   
   otherwise a continual thing i'd have to do there are so   
   many hiding places around here outside for mice.  we don't   
   have a rat problem at all.  there's a fairly regular group   
   of kitties that hunt here.  no idea if they are pets or   
   feral or semi-feral kitties, but they're usually able to   
   catch something when they come through.   
      
      
   > One of the most wicked diseases, though, is the wilt that I get on   
   > cukes and tomatoes. I am diligent about keeping leaves off the soil   
   > and watering, but I cannot control the heat, humidity and rain. I   
   > experiment with varieties each summer and save seed from plants that I   
   > think do best.   
      
     the worst disease we get is also on the tomatoes but i   
   don't do anything to treat it or prevent it because it   
   doesn't keep us from getting a crop.  by the time the   
   plants are badly effected most of the crop is ripe enough   
   and we can that and then keep going until the season is   
   done.  the plants can look terrible but it doesn't matter.   
   i'm sure resistant tomatoes would be nice to find but so   
   far the best have been the ones we used to grow that we   
   can't get any longer so we just try new ones each year   
   and see what happens.  we really like beefsteak varieties   
   for juice and chunks.  the amount of umami flavor (in the   
   juice around the seeds) and acidity is what we're after.   
   some of the newer varieties aren't acidic enough for   
   canning.   
      
      
   >>  i work mostly with growing and cross-breeding beans.  i   
   >>have a lot of different gardens and different soil conditions   
   >>so that makes me able to evaluate a lot of different varieties   
   >>and to try things out.  this past spring someone from Poland   
   >>adopted two of my cross-breeds so this has been fun to see   
   >>my babies blooming on another continent.  :)   
   >   
   > I have seen your many posts about the beans you grow. They are always   
   > interesting reads.   
      
     it's a lot of fun.  :)  i need to get out in the gardens   
   tomorrow and check for some beans to pick.  i hope some are   
   ready.   
      
      
     songbird   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)