Hello from Cape Coral, FL - Zone 10a

Thegulls 6/10/2016, 5:17 pm

Hi, everyone. We are excited to learn everything possible about emergency prep gardening...total newbies. Thanks for all your efforts, and most importantly, sharing your hard-earned knowledge.

**sanderson** 6/11/2016, 4:43 am

Hello to the Gulls, Welcome to the Forum from California! $glad you\'re here$ SFG is a good way to grow a lot of produce in a relatively small area. This Forum is loaded with information (Search Box and Home) from seed to growing to harvesting, from drying to canning to blanching for freezing. Check out this thread on food preparedness: https://squarefoot.forumotion.com/t17882-emergency-preparation-gardening

Please share your journey, and we love photos!! Very Happy

**AtlantaMarie** 6/11/2016, 7:20 am

Hello Gulls! Welcome from Atlanta, GA!

You will certainly find that knowledge here... You might check out the archives section. Just put whatever you're looking for in the Search area. Chances are, you'll find it!

countrynaturals 6/11/2016, 12:41 pm

Thegulls wrote:Hi, everyone. We are excited to learn everything possible about emergency prep gardening...total newbies. Thanks for all your efforts, and most importantly, sharing your hard-earned knowledge.

Welcome, thegulls. I know nothing about emergency prep gardening, but I just watched The Martian, so your post did resonate. rofl

Looking forward to following your adventures. In your zone, you can grow ANYTHING! cheers

**sanderson** 6/11/2016, 2:37 pm

While you can grow almost anything, including bananas and papaya, you should check in with the country extension to see what varieties are best suited for the climate and what season(s) they do best.

countrynaturals 6/11/2016, 3:27 pm

I just looked up "emergency prep gardening." I never paid any attention to hybrid or heirloom on my seeds. pale

I wanted to start collecting my best-producing seeds this year. Now I'll have to go back and figure out if they're heirloom or not. Live and learn. Thanks for the eye-opener. cyclops

BeetlesPerSqFt 6/11/2016, 10:14 pm

countrynaturals wrote: I just looked up "emergency prep gardening." I never paid any attention to hybrid or heirloom on my seeds. I wanted to start collecting my best-producing seeds this year. Now I'll have to go back and figure out if they're heirloom or not. Live and learn. Thanks for the eye-opener.

Welcome, Gulls! I'm in central Pennsylvania. I have some garden knowledge, but I don't think any of it is specifically emergency prep related.. .

Suz - Just so you don't discard varieties out of hand -- varieties labeled as "open-pollinated" should also breed true. All heirlooms are open-pollinated, but not all open-pollinated varieties have been around long enough to be considered heirloom.

countrynaturals 6/11/2016, 11:02 pm

BeetlesPerSqFt wrote:
countrynaturals wrote: I just looked up "emergency prep gardening." I never paid any attention to hybrid or heirloom on my seeds. I wanted to start collecting my best-producing seeds this year. Now I'll have to go back and figure out if they're heirloom or not. Live and learn. Thanks for the eye-opener.
Suz - Just so you don't discard varieties out of hand -- varieties labeled as "open-pollinated" should also breed true. All heirlooms are open-pollinated, but not all open-pollinated varieties have been around long enough to be considered heirloom.

I won't discard any, but I will be disappointed if I can't collect seeds from my faves. Sad

BeetlesPerSqFt 6/11/2016, 11:57 pm

countrynaturals wrote:
BeetlesPerSqFt wrote:
countrynaturals wrote: I just looked up "emergency prep gardening." I never paid any attention to hybrid or heirloom on my seeds. I wanted to start collecting my best-producing seeds this year. Now I'll have to go back and figure out if they're heirloom or not. Live and learn. Thanks for the eye-opener.
Suz - Just so you don't discard varieties out of hand -- varieties labeled as "open-pollinated" should also breed true. All heirlooms are open-pollinated, but not all open-pollinated varieties have been around long enough to be considered heirloom.
I won't discard any, but I will be disappointed if I can't collect seeds from my faves.

You *can* collect seeds from hybrids. They are (usually) viable, not sterile like a mule, because it's (usually) different varieties of the same species being crossed. BUT - the results probably won't be like the hybrid plant your grew in the first place. Some offspring may be like the hybrid parent, but many will be like the hybrid's parents in various ways. You can select the best offspring from those (most like whatever features you most appreciate about your faves), let them go to seed, and then do it again, (and again, etc.) and see if you can get to a consistent result.

The reason most people don't collect seeds from hybrids is that the results are a gamble, and most people want to know what they're getting/growing.

countrynaturals 6/12/2016, 12:54 am

BeetlesPerSqFt wrote:
countrynaturals wrote:
BeetlesPerSqFt wrote:
countrynaturals wrote: I just looked up "emergency prep gardening." I never paid any attention to hybrid or heirloom on my seeds. I wanted to start collecting my best-producing seeds this year. Now I'll have to go back and figure out if they're heirloom or not. Live and learn. Thanks for the eye-opener.
Suz - Just so you don't discard varieties out of hand -- varieties labeled as "open-pollinated" should also breed true. All heirlooms are open-pollinated, but not all open-pollinated varieties have been around long enough to be considered heirloom.
I won't discard any, but I will be disappointed if I can't collect seeds from my faves.
You *can* collect seeds from hybrids. They are (usually) viable, not sterile like a mule, because it's (usually) different varieties of the same species being crossed. BUT - the results probably won't be like the hybrid plant your grew in the first place. Some offspring may be like the hybrid parent, but many will be like the hybrid's parents in various ways. You can select the best offspring from those (most like whatever features you most appreciate about your faves), let them go to seed, and then do it again, (and again, etc.) and see if you can get to a consistent result.

The reason most people don't collect seeds from hybrids is that the results are a gamble, and most people want to know what they're getting/growing.

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Hello from Cape Coral, FL - Zone 10a

Hello from Cape Coral, FL - Zone 10a

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Re: Hello from Cape Coral, FL - Zone 10a

Re: Hello from Cape Coral, FL - Zone 10a

Re: Hello from Cape Coral, FL - Zone 10a

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Re: Hello from Cape Coral, FL - Zone 10a


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