Skirret (Sium sisarum) is a plant that is very flexible about harvest. It is a perennial, so you can harvest it at any time of year, after any number of years of growth. It also doesn’t keep very well out of the ground, so it is a plant best harvested whenever you want to eat […]
I know from reading that oca (Oxalis tuberosa) begins to form tubers around the time of the fall equinox and I know from experience that it forms tubers of good eating size about ten weeks later, but what happens in between? Is the rate of growth of the tubers relatively constant, or does more of […]
I have a confession to make. I no longer rush out every morning to scan the oca (Oxalis tuberosa) patch for pods. In fact, I often let a week go by without looking at them. What a difference a couple of months makes! Back in July, I was checking them twice a day, pollinating by […]
The 62 new oca (Oxalis tuberosa) plants that grew from this year’s seeds continue to surprise me with their huge difference in growth rates. Unfortunately, it seems that about 55 of them will be destined for the compost pile, as they are not putting on much growth and will certainly not reach the size necessary […]
It is easy to save seed from your achocha (Cyclanthera pedata, also commonly known as caigua) plants, although you might wonder at what stage they are ready to harvest. These instructions will also work for the closely related Cyclanthera brachystachya and probably for other Cyclantheras as well. I had been trying to time things so […]
I have been swapping potato seed with other growers for a while now and there is always a hunger for pictures and information about the seeds that I offer. I’m trying to get a little better at documenting the new varieties as they come out of the ground. Maybe this blog will help me to […]
This little blog is getting a lot more attention since I announced ulluco (Ullucus tuberosus) seeds and the stats show that ulluco is very popular among ulurkers. Unfortunately, demand seems likely to exceed supply. This is probably the last I’ll have to say on the subject for a while. I have pulled the confounding potatoes […]
I’m sure that this will get boring soon, but here are some more close ups of ulluco (Ullucus tuberosa) nuts. This time, we’re looking at immature seeds. The first two are probably about two weeks from full maturity and the second two a week or a little bit less. Ulluco nuts are bright yellow when […]
Introduction This is the procedure that I use to extract potato seeds. It is not necessarily the procedure that you would want to use. This procedure is suitable for extracting large amounts of seed while maximizing germination and minimizing potential for disease transmission. I extract seed from as much as 400 quarts of berries in […]
It was only seven weeks ago that I posted about what then seemed a significant achievement: the collection of 1,000 oca (Oxalis tuberosa) seeds. This week, I passed 10,000. My better (and funnier) half frequently teases me because I said at the beginning of the year that I would be satisfied if I got just […]