Cy Cobb

I once saw a video clip of a person that used dried corn cobs as a mushroom plug.  They drilled holes in a log, then placed the tip of the cob over the hole, and struck the cob, mashing it into the hole.  They did this a few times until the hole was full.  I assume the cobs were innoculated with spore as I've seen with wooden dowels.  Does anyone here have experience wth this?  I've always just tossed my cobs back in the garden to decompose, but I have a pile of mostly oak firewood (no resinous woods) that's been covered and aged, but not rotten.  I'm thinking it might be nice to cultivate some mushrooms that can be dried for year 'round use this way.  

Doeas anyone here have experience with this?  

What mushrooms would be a good choice for drying?

Will 18" long logs work for this if I stack them log cabin style?

Am I missing something critical here with this idea?

Thanks in advance for your advice!

Sharon,

I just bought a seedless yellow fleshed watermelon & cut it up yesterday.  Nice color, crisp & firm, but no flavor and only the slightest hint of barely sweet.  Needless to say...disappointing.  The only good thing about it was I did get one large plump mature seed to add to my "seedless watermelon saved seeds project."  I came across a deal on some commercial seedless watermelon seeds, so I have a supply to try growing them at home to see if it's just a matter of commercial growers picking before ripe or if they're just lacking in flavor.  I've had the occasional great one, so I think it's just they harvest the whole field on a scheduled number of days after planning to forecast then the stores can expect shipment.

Conversely, I gave my Dad some saved seeds from a commercial hybrid long sweet pepper, and what grew was so delicuiosly sweet, thin walled & crisp, I could've eaten them like apples right off the plant.  I was genuinely surprised at how good it was.

As far as strawberries, I used to have a large patch that I maintained for many years.  While store bought berries are larger, it's because they're full of water, not concentrated flavor.  I actually had to reduce the sugar in my strawberry jam recipe due to the higher natural sugar in perfectly ripe berries.

I agree with you on the eggs as well.  Give me the orange yolks over the pale yellow ones any day.

Very cool!

Can you tell us what the growth characteristics are for the glass gem?  

Does it produce multiple ears?  

Is the stalk thin like popcorn?  

Do you plant more seed in the same space as your bigger corn, or do you just mix it in & treat it the same?  TIA

The only one I can loosely identify is the white bean with red speckles on it.  Try looking up Mayflower bean or Turkey Craw bean.  Since it's from a GTS pack, there's no saying it's pure, but it might be.  

Thom Bri, those are some nice looking ears!  I see your migration toward flinty is going well.  Thanks for posting.  

I know many people here have landrace corn with influences from an untold number of historic or exotic sources.  

I recall hearing stories of some Native American varieties that were very long, but in my searches, I can't find any specific varieties by name.  There seems to be a yellow dent from Mexico that normally goes 15"+, but the story I read about it says it was longer in the past than it has been in many years.  The world record is something like just over 3', but is obviously not a consistent producer of long ears or we'd have heard about it, I'd think.

I would love to hear stories or see photos of the longest ear of corn you've grown to date.  Was it a rare occurrence for you, or does it show up with regularity if the rainfall is perfect?

I appreciate all the info from everyone, some really good perspectives here.  Thank you for sharing your first-hand experiences.

Sorry, I should have clarified. I don't intend to grow them during the winter as they will surely die. What I call "winter squash" is simply squash that has matured & is shelf stable to store & eat throughout the winter months.

I have a new contemplation regarding the subject of traditional summer squash varieties that can also be used in their mature forms.  I'm aware that zucchini types can be used as marrows, and some pumpkin types can be stored for later use, but what about other varieties of summer squash like scallop squashes or yellow crookneck?

I have seeds for 6 varieties of yellow crookneck summer squash, with 4 of them being hybrids.  My plan was to grow them all together to jumble up the genetics (you know, "Landrace everything") and since I'd have very mature squash for seed collecting, what can be done with the squash?  

I also have a packet of scallop squash seeds of many colors, but all the same shape.  Same idea for planting together; same question of can they be used in mature form?

I have touched on the subject of some Pepo's as winter squash before here https://permies.com/t/226879/Pepo-Winter-Squash-list-prospects, but this year's pepo's were contaminated with a very prolific warty gourd that was supposed to be an edible pumpkin, so this years' pepo crop didn't advance as I'd hoped.  

Does anyone have experience with the Going To Seed Pepo mix?  I don't recall what was supposed to be in it?  What did you get when you grew it out?

Always glad to see these updates!  

I've had quite a few disappointments this year as I tried to expand my growing space to trial more seed.  I lost a lot of time & high-value (to me) landrace/grex bean seed from various sources due to weather, rodents, birds, & insect pests.  I was successful in expanding the breadth of genetics in my 3rd year watermelon and C. Moschata (pumpkin phenotype) grexes, so they are both coming along very nicely considering the hardships they've survived.  

Now, I'm adjusting plans for next year and ready to get planting!

Keep the updates coming!