Category: Plant Breeding

Good Garden Reads—What’s on my Bookshelf

 

If you find yourself with any extra time these days, you know, because there’s a pandemic, check out one of these inspiring garden reads. Here’s what’s on my book shelf.

Books reccomended in this article on a bookshelf.

Recommended garden reads

The Garden Classroom by Cathy James is an excellent resource for teachers, parents, or those involved with children. It’s intended for kids aged 4 to 8 and has all sorts of fun, creative ideas for integrating learning with the garden whatever subject is the focus (math, science, reading, and art).

Brenda Adams, is an award-winning landscape designer in Southeast, Alaska and has written two books: There’s a Moose in My Garden and Cool Plants for Cold Climates. Although you’ll need to filter her plant recommendations through the lens of an Interior gardener, the books are inspiring, beautiful, and backed by a very experienced Alaskan landscaper. They will help you whether you’re designing a new flower bed or an entire landscape.

Not only will Breed Your Own Vegetable Varieties  by Carol Deppe spark your interest in saving seeds, it might also inspire you to develop a new vegetable variety. Deppe explains it’s easier and more fun to develop new varieties to suit your own desires and location. We live in a unique climate and have a relatively small population so it’s worth trying! If you’re inspired, then check out the Ester Seed Library and ‘borrow’ some seeds that other local gardeners have been adapting for Interior Alaska. The seeds are free, but you’ll be expected to save and replenish the seeds. While you’re there, look for books on this reading list at the John Trigg Ester Library or other books on sustainability and agriculture. Continue reading

The Biggest and Sweetest is NOT Always the Best When it Comes to Fruits and Vegetables

 

When compared with many foods, fruits and vegetables are unequivocally healthy. But look more closely and you’ll find a wide variation in how nutritious they are. This variation is given short shrift by most health campaigns, which focus on nudging people toward eating fruits and vegetables and less junk food, period. Unfortunately, the devil is in the details. I think most of us, including my 4-year-old, are adept at distinguishing between unhealthful junk food and the merits of fruits and vegetables. But we don’t give much thought to which types of fruits and vegetables (and which varieties) are most nutritious.

Tote of multiple varieties of cauliflower.

If you’re like me, you think just because something is a fruit or vegetable then you can eat as much of it as you want to. For instance, mandarins and super sweet corn, albeit a fruit and a vegetable, veer toward junk food in terms of sugar content. One medium mandarin has 9 grams of sugar, on par with one standard Reese’s cup, which contains 10 grams of sugar. One large white ear of corn contains just about as many carbohydrates (25 grams) as half of a bagel (27 grams). Granted, they do contain more fiber and nutrients than junk food.

Simple slogans from the U.S. Department of Agriculture encourage us to fill half of our plate with fruit and vegetables each meal (a little more vegetables than fruit). This gives us the idea that as long as we eat a certain amount of any fruit or vegetable at each meal, then we have our bases covered and will be healthy. Continue reading

Saving Seeds and Breeding Your Own Vegetable Varieties

 

In the not-so-distant past, if you gardened, you also saved seeds. You don’t have to now, but you still might want to. Saving seeds is like the black belt for gardeners. If you want to take your garden and your gardening skills to the next level, then start saving seeds. Next, select seeds from the most prolific, aesthetic or tastiest plants and suddenly you’re a plant breeder.

photo collage of bean, sunflower, basil, and celery seedlings

Clockwise from top left, bean, sunflower, celery, and basil seedlings.

Saving your own seeds can be a fun challenge. It’s also a great way to teach kids how genetics work. Gregor Mendel, considered the father of genetics, made most of his discoveries while breeding peas. When you breed your own vegetables, you become the author of your own garden.

Maybe you’re looking for a particular characteristic in a crop and you haven’t found that in an available seed variety. For example, much of the snap bean breeding has been focused on bush beans. Johnny’s Seeds sells 23 types of bush beans but only seven types of pole beans. Mechanically harvested beans must be grown in a bush form. Since commercial interests drive breeding efforts, new bush bean varieties are developed more often than pole bean varieties. When you engage in plant breeding, you can grow and breed crops that lack commercial value but hold tremendous value to gardeners. Continue reading