CoralReefs Grow blog- 2013

[CoralReefs]

Greetings everyone!
Its that time! The tobacco growing season is right around the corner! Last night I sowed some tobacco seeds in some flats (yeah yeah, I got a little bit of a late start... but hey, its California- I have a really long growing season to work with here!). I am not really sure how much garden space I will have to work with yet as the boss of the house has decreed that this year we are doing the raised planter bed thing.... I have sowed 8 varieties (2 or 3 of which are ornamental) and will be doing smallish grows for each:

For my cigars:
- Madole
- PA Redleaf
- FL Sumatra
- White Flower (Thank you for those seeds Don)
- Havana 608

For ornamental purposes:
- Nicotiana Alata ("Jasmine scented tobacco"/"flowering tobacco")
- Nicotiana Rustica (The supposed 1000 year old seed strain I mentioned here: http://fairtradetobacco.com/showthread.php?802-Ancient-Tobacco-Seeds, Growing ornamentally but might add to a cigar or two for kicks...)
- Nicotiana Sylvestris

I am tempted to get some good pipe tobacco seed varieties as well and grow a plant or two- especially since I got a new pipe for Valentines day. We will see...

Pictures will follow when something interesting happens.

And... in case anyone is interested, I will have a nice vegetable garden going as well (which I will not update here for obvious reasons):
- Carrots: Solar Yellow, Atomic Red, Cosmic Purple, got another variety for my daughter as well
- Tomatoes: Yellow Pear, Brandywine, Black Krim, Green Zebra, Red Currant, Juliet Hybrid, Marvel Stripe (Some will be in containers of course)
- Kale: Red Russian, Siberian Blue
- Peppers: I definitely plan to do Jalapenos, Cayenne and Thai Chilies, on the fence about some others
- Peas: Sugar Ann Snap Peas
- Beans: Gonna try garbanzo beans- first time. Will probably do some pole beans and dry bean varieties (Would like to do Anasazi in particular)
- Grains: 'Asia Red' amaranth, Might try rice again this year, I am tempted to try growing a small plot of wheat- we have the perfect climate for it
- Garlic: Spanish Roja
- Asparagus: Mary Washington (new crowns), might get some Purple Passion crowns as well
- Broccoli: Romanesco
- Cauliflower: On the fence.... love the stuff, not the space it takes up. If I do I will go for a colorful heirloom variety
- Brussels Sprouts (not sure of cultivar if any)
- Celery: Giant Red (If I can get the damned things to germinate)
- Onions: Red and Yellow (Like the kind you get in the store)
- Scallions (bunching onions): Red Robin, Green Feast
- Beets: Red Sangria, Golden, Candy Striped Chioggia
- Potatoes: still figuring out which type- this will be the first time trying
- Some kind of squash, probably summer squash for day to day eating during season and Acorn for longer term storage, might do zucchini as well
- Some kind of melon- likely cantaloupe or watermelon
- Cucumber: Have not bought seeds yet- going for a variety that is good for pickling.
- Corn: Not sure if I will have space left, if I do I have some Golden Bantam corn seeds

If anyone has suggestions of course, I am all ears! Always looking for interesting new garden adventures.

P.S. Sorry I have not been around in sometime. Some family stuff (plus work commitments) came up months ago so I have had to cut back on my participation in all of my forums.

 

[Knucklehead]

hey CoralReefs welcome back. Sounds like all your lacking is a milk cow, chickens, rabbits, quail and a hog pen. You have it going on. You even have corn and potatoes for your own spirits.

 

[CoralReefs]

Lol, if I do rice this year, I will have be able to make Sake too!

 

[Knucklehead]

or Korean Soju. Just leave off the formaldahyde.

 

[CoralReefs]

or Korean Soju. Just leave off the formaldahyde.

Why? Adding formaldahyde would increase the shelf-life!

 

[SmokesAhoy]

Pepper, Check out fatali, only pepper I found worth growing, the rest can all be bought for next to nothing in bulk.

 

[CoralReefs]

Pepper, Check out fatali, only pepper I found worth growing, the rest can all be bought for next to nothing in bulk.

Hmmm... Thanks for the suggestion! Doing a quick google search, sounds like a good pepper. One of the companies I usually order my seeds from has it, I'll have to throw that in with my next order.

On a different note. One thing I find very impressive is the diverse growth habits among cultivars within a species. With regard to tobacco in particular, with the seedlings I have going right now, I am seeing the same thing I always see. PA Redleaf and FL Sumatra have already germinated and are showing green. Madole, is kinda poking along... This is the first year I have ventured out into other species in the genus, so it will be interesting to see how that goes (hmmm..... Come to think of it, we could start a whole thread about the non-tabacum species!).
So far, I have noticed that the N. rustica, N. alata, and N. sylvestris all germinated before the N. tabacum seeds did. Of course, the seeds could have been fresher- the N. alata and N. sylvestris were acquired within the last month.
Still, I have always found that very interesting about Madole. It always seems to be the slower starter.