If you refer to the recent listing of this bean in a historian's seed collection - I asked my friend, a Mohawk Elder seedkeeper, his thoughts on the subject and he disputes the historical fiction narrative. Perhaps, yes, the bean resembles a bean in GRIN that was donated by Chile (and yes in...
Sicilian Cicerchia have sturdy, yet wispy trailing branches that do not climb. Planted with a 4"-6" spacing, they are self supportive though I suspect they'd appreciate tomato cage support to help keep the branches off the soil. They are aboard Slow Food's Ark of Taste and are wonderful in soup...
IMHO the emergence of a wickedly devastating new seed borne tobacco mosaic virus, Tomato brown rugose fruit virus or ToBRFV, and the significant measures countries are taking to protect their tomato and pepper industries from it calls into question the wisdom of casually trading seeds across...
I've done it both ways, planting 2-3 seeds per cell and thinning when starting inside and probably sowing double that if direct seeding. I direct seed last part of May / early June depending on the weather - essentially when I do our rice and other warm season crops.
We grow sesame. Once established the plants essentially grow themselves. Flowers open from the bottom up on the stalks so the seed pods follow sequentially in the same order. As the pods brown I monitor them typically harvesting individual pods with scissors into an organza bag as its tip is...
Don't despair! Eat it!
A prime example of Mother Nature's guerrilla gardening - its leaves are a whopping 24.86% protein!
Source: Nutritional Properties of Native Plants and Traditional Foods from the Central United States https://ojs.ethnobiology.org/index.php/ebl/article/download/1219/642
As a pro-environmental biologist that lived and traveled extensively in China for nearly a decade, experiencing wet markets all over the country, including probably Wuhan's, I have never seen bats offered for sale. It is urban legend and I assert a dangerous xenophobic one at that. There is...
Beans and peas are very beginner friendly.
For peas the advice I give is avoid planting them too early. Yes, they do like cooler temperatures but at a soil temperature of 41° F it takes peas roughly 36 days to germinate, at 50° F 13 days, and 7 days at 68° F. By using a simple meat probe...
Yes, she is keynote at both events. Coming from Wisconsin takes you near enough / through Kalamazoo to get to Midland. Saturday's Kalamazoo event will most likely be less frentic and more personal than Sunday's - far less centered on the free seed distribution aspect that draws many and more on...
I've always had succcess with Fedco and Indiana Berry. MajorCatfish's suggestion about speaking with your extension agent is sound advice. I know this time of year our area conservation districts are holding their spring plant / tree / bush sale that feature varieties suitable to the region...
If you are looking to break up your drive a little there is an event on Saturday at Kalamazoo College with some great seed people that might be of interest: Seed Swap and Story Share