BVV garden 2023

[BigVanVader]

I figured I'd post a few pics on here, finally getting back around to growing some stuff. I have a lot more time to focus on doing the things I enjoy now so I've went down the landrace gardening rabbit hole.

I'm currently growing the GTS (going to seed) corn mix, my own muskmelon landrace originally from Joseph Lofthouse, and a watermelon grex from Minnesota.

My long-term plan is to breed my own varieties of everything I enjoy to eat without any special care and very little water.

For example 22 of my cantaloupe plants are from one cantaloupe that survived long enough to ripen last year as I had a extreme pickle worm infestation. 2 are from last year's seed, and 2 came up from melons that rotted on the ground. The seed from the one surviving melon is already setting cantaloupe, while the seed from last year is not. In just one season of letting pickle worms select I have shortened the time till fruit set.

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[bower]

Looking awesome BVV!
Landrace gardening is a very cool rabbithole to go down.

[Whwoz]

Awesome stuff BVV, love the look of the corn. Melons we are not eaters of,but can see the benefits of what you are doing.

[Greenvillian]

Looks great! Keep sharing! Tell us about the okra you are growing.

[Barb_FL]

How will you keep the pickleworms from the melons this year? I grew melons one year, I had 25 Ambrosia Melons that were ready to pick. All but 2 had tiny holes in them, so ruined. Another year I tried growing a few Minnesota Midgets thinking I could grow them earlier. Same thing with another variety thinking I would spray Dipel regularly. Gave UP.

However, a few years back, I successfully grew cucumbers and covered the plants with tulle at dusk and removed early in the am, and beat the pickleworm problem.

[BigVanVader]

I won't do anything, the idea of land race breeding is to let insects and diseases and poor weather and unfertilized soil select only those that are strong enough to survive so that they will develop resistance and/or immunity to destructive things in your environment. If however you wanted to make sure you get your cantaloupe the safest and most effective spray would be spinosad.

[BigVanVader]

Looks great! Keep sharing! Tell us about the okra you are growing.

The okra is called Annie Oakley. It came from the experimental farm network and is a discontinued commercial variety that was thought to be an F1 hybrid, but was later found to grow true. Supposedly a dwarf variety with no reduction in production. I'll likely start an okra Landrace eventually, but I already had these seeds and wanted to make sure I had okra this year.

[BigVanVader]

Some of the corn tillers are producing these little eyeball corn cobs. We got over an inch of rain the other day and the muskmelons have really taken off. Some of the corn should be ready to pick any day now. Watermelon arer flowering, but so far mostly male flowers. My tomatoes were planted late but the Wes are doing great as usual.

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[MissS]

Well everything looks great. You are far ahead of me here in Wisconsin. I have forgotter your location. I think that you are in the Carolina's but I could very well be wrong. Would you please add your location to your profile. It makes it easier for old ladies like me to understand your growing conditions. You can do this from your contol panel under 'profile'. Thanks!

[BigVanVader]

Well everything looks great. You are far ahead of me here in Wisconsin. I have forgotter your location. I think that you are in the Carolina's but I could very well be wrong. Would you please add your location to your profile. It makes it easier for old ladies like me to understand your growing conditions. You can do this from your contol panel under 'profile'. Thanks!

Yes ma'am, it's updated now. To save you some time: I'm in Upstate South Carolina, zone 8. About 35 minutes from the North Carolina border.

[BigVanVader]

Awesome stuff BVV, love the look of the corn. Melons we are not eaters of,but can see the benefits of what you are doing.

Thanks, but you don't eat muskmelons? Are you ok?

[Whwoz]

Awesome stuff BVV, love the look of the corn. Melons we are not eaters of,but can see the benefits of what you are doing.

Thanks, but you don't eat muskmelons? Are you ok?

Wouldn't know what they are. It has only been in the last couple of years that different types of melons have started to reliably appear in shops around here. Have never really liked the taste of rockmelons, so have not bothered to try the others