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Garden Gate:  Cross-Breeds  |
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CabinCreek-Kentucky
True Blue Farmgirl
8529 Posts
Frannie
Green County
Kentucky
USA
8529 Posts |
 Posted - Jul 01 2006 : 06:24:58 AM
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i had lots of yellow squash and green zucchini that i planted in the garden .. and ohhh yummm .. we ate off the harvest like kings and queens .. of course, i've planted more this year .. but a 'volunteer' was the first to come up (before i planted the others) .. it is quite large now .. and is bearing WHITE squashes .. at first they had pale green ends on them .. and i wondered if some of my 'gourd' seeds had been dropped in the garden by birds. but they sure look like big white squashes! do you think the squash and zucchini cross-bred? i saw on one of the picture-trails (can't remember which though .. the very same thing in my garden!) are they 'edible' ... 'tasty'? should i just pluck them and put them in a big bowl for decoration for a few days while they are still 'prime' .. or shall i slice them up and cook 'em?
also have a BIG volunteer (or it came back somehow) cherry tomato plant. lots of little flower-ettes on it .. but no cherry tomatoes yet. when these come back (i thought they were annuals!!!) .. are the robust and delicious ..or shall i just pull them up and make room for newly planted tomatoes? halp! xo
True Friends, Frannie
My KENTUCKY RAMBLINGS 'blog':
http://cabincreekfarm-kentucky.blogspot.com/ |
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LJRphoto
True Blue Farmgirl
760 Posts
Laura
Hickory Corners
MI
USA
760 Posts |
Posted - Jul 01 2006 : 07:00:39 AM
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I don't know about the squash, Frannie, but I've had volunteer tomatoes before that were just wonderful. Tomatoes are annuals but probably some of the fruit got left on the ground in the fall and now you have a free tomato plant. I read an article once about a guy who had an entire garden of volunteer tomatoes. He said he finally quit doing it because he couldn't use or give away the hundreds and hundreds of pounds of tomatoes he got every year. I guess having a volunteer tomato garden is a "thing."
"I would feel more optimistic about a bright future for man if he spent less time proving that he can outwit Nature and more time tasting her sweetness and respecting her seniority." -E. B. White
http://www.betweenthecities.com/blog/ljr/
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Phils Ann
True Blue Farmgirl
1095 Posts
Ann
Parsonsburg
Maryland
USA
1095 Posts |
Posted - Jul 01 2006 : 10:32:59 AM
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Frannie, we have had a lot of crosses occur with summer squashes and winter squashes. They've always been sad...and eventually had to be pulled up. In Steve Soloman's book, Gardening in Hard Times, he writes about the various seeds that can be collected for following years (seedsaving) and notes that squash (and I believe cucumber) don't come true for long, so maybe one year later it will be okay, but the following year it will be something else, and not as good as the original. A long-winded answer to your question, I know. An hour ago I actually pulled up all the volunteer squash plants myself, and did it more because we have squash bugs all over them (with eggs and nymphs, etc.) than due to their not being productive.
Cherry tomatoes are one of the best volunteers to have! Enjoy them... :)
Ann
There is a Redeemer. |
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Aunt Jenny
True Blue Farmgirl
11381 Posts
Jenny
middle of
Utah
USA
11381 Posts |
Posted - Jul 01 2006 : 12:11:21 PM
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But if you have chickens..they even like the not so hot crosses for treats! Bet Mona would too. We had some zuchinni or something mix with spaghetti squash one year..very pretty..not very tasty..but the animals loved it just the same..so I guess that wa a good thing.
I agree about cherry tomatoes..and I LOVE them!! Yellow pear cherry tomatoes are my favorite. I planted 5 plants of them this year and I know I will get volunteers for quite awhile..but THAT is a good thing!!
Jenny in Utah
Inside me there is a skinny woman crying to get out...but I can usually shut her up with cookies
http://www.auntjennysworld.blogspot.com/ visit my little online shop at www.auntjenny.etsy.com |
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CabinCreek-Kentucky
True Blue Farmgirl
8529 Posts
Frannie
Green County
Kentucky
USA
8529 Posts |
Posted - Jul 01 2006 : 3:19:37 PM
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well, i'm guessing the only 'critter' here at cabin creek farm that i might convince to eat them would be honey hunk hank .. doubt that those two dogs would go near them. a gardener friend of mine saw them today (and they are BIG and BEAUTIFUL said she honestly thinks they are gourds). I had a HUGE gourd garden last year but not near this particular garden .. yet NOT ONE volunteer gourd or pumpkin sprouted in that garden this summer.
i swear .. the two things that surprize me the most about gardening is the SURPRIZE element of what does and does not come up .. and the PATIENCE gardens teach!
hey .. that might make a fun 'thread' to hear what everyone says about gardens .. think i'll go post it! xo
True Friends, Frannie
My KENTUCKY RAMBLINGS 'blog':
http://cabincreekfarm-kentucky.blogspot.com/ |
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Garden Gate: Cross-Breeds |
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Cross-Breeds
