tips for brassica success (even brussels sprouts!), impatiens disease hope, and irruptive birds |
Hello ,
The other day as I was plotting who to ask for help outsmarting the coming season’s cabbage worms, and coaxing the Brussels sprouts to fatten up for holiday meals, I got an email from
organic seed farmer and breeder Don Tipping of Siskiyou Seeds in Oregon.
You might remember Don, when he taught me to grow onions from seed. Well, apparently Don had somehow heard what was on my mind, because he wrote to suggest a chat about what he calls "Brassica success tips." Serendipity.
On the subject of Brassicas, we talked about:
- How thinking back to the
Mediterranean origins of the plants (who knew?) offers clues to success.
- Why stingy soil volume in tiny cellpacks doesn’t suit the likes of broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts.
- How to satisfy these hungry crops naturally, so they thrive.
- What to do to try to outsmart flea beetles and cabbage worms.
- What in the world a “tree collard” is, and who can grow one.
links i liked: impatiens disease update, overwintering ticks, irruptive crossbills The disease that dethroned Impatiens as the top annual in the nursery industry—Impatiens Downy Mildew—continues to take its toll. But a breakthrough reminiscent of advancements we hear about in medical research, involving gene sequencing, was announced this month by industry giant Ball Horticultural Company. Plus:
I’m on the lookout for “irruptive” crossbills perhaps straying
south from Canada in search of food this winter, and speaking of winter...
Do deep freezes like the recent “bomb cyclone” really help kill off ticks (or stink bugs, or fill in the blank) as we always say hopefully when we are in the throes of one?
recap: easy sunflowers, plus sweet
peas, frothy nigella & more
Joseph Tychionievich, a backyard plant breeder and passionate flower grower, is on a binge, declaring it his personal Year of the Sunflower. We chatted about Helianthus,
large and small—even one native to the Southeast’s beachfronts—and how he lets his all cross-pollinate to come up with new ones.
Joseph shared favorite catalogs for annual flowers like zinnias and even Nigella—and also for sweet peas,also front-and-center on his wishlist this year.
Enter to win a copy of his book “Plant Breeding for the Home Gardener,” too, and learn to shop the catalogs like a plant breeder: on the lookout for exciting
genetics.
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