Cinderella #2 pumpkin - A few years ago I grew out some seeds that were labeled "Blue #2" that came to be from a local seed swap. The resulting plant was a rampant vine that circled the yard several times and produced several pumpkins. None of them were blue. Instead they were Cinderella shaped, short and wide, in a waxy orange color. They were interesting and unlike anything else I'd come across. Clearly a cross-pollinated "mixed breed" squash. The pumpkins were beautiful, had good storage time, and made fantastic pie. This container has six seeds from one of those pumpkins. They're likely crossed with whatever else we grew that year, so it'll be interesting to see what we get. As long as it's edible, I don't care what color or shape it comes in. There are six seeds in this container.
Galeux D' Eysines pumpkin - Perhaps more easily identified as a variety of pumpkin covered in peanut-like warts. I got this pumpkin from Menards and didn't get to process it before it started to go bad. I saved the seeds, but have no way to know if they're cross pollinated, so I'm going to grow some out this year to see what we get. Again, it'll be an interesting surprise, but really, edible is all I care about. There are eight seeds in this container.
Blue Hubbard Squash - I bought a seedling two years ago from a local greenhouse, late in the season. It was one of several I brought home in July, and the lady at the greenhouse gave me a good discount because they were all leggy and some were covered in powdery mildew. Somehow this plant not only survived, but produced one gigantic squash. Again, the saved seeds are likely cross pollinated, and again, as long as the resulting squash are edible, I'm find with new colors and shapes. There are nine seeds in this container.
Jarrahdale pumpkin - I bought this one from Menards, and it was so delicious that cooked down in the crock pot it didn't need anything else to be the tastiest soup, all on its own. At the risk of being repetitive - possibly cross pollinated, I'm just hoping it produces some tasty squash. There are nine seeds in this one.
Big Moon pumpkin - This one is actual commercial seed. It's supposed to be really big - think in the range of 200 pounds. I'm not sure what I'd do with a 200-pound pumpkin, or how I'd even go about processing it. But can you imagine how many pies and soups just one giant pumpkin could make? There are nine seeds in this container, which means if they do well, I may have several giant pumpkins to try to get processed.
D' Anjou Pears - We've been saving seeds from the pears we've been eating this past month. From what I understand they require cold stratification before they will sprout, so I had to get these done soon. I only had 18 seeds and I put them all in this container. Hopefully we can get some Anjou pear trees to go with the Keiffer pear trees we just bought.
Jumbo Pink Banana Squash - Commercial seeds here. This will be my second attempt planting seeds of this variety from this company. Last time nothing came up, so the container got set aside. Then in September one seed sprouted, but by then it was far too late for it to grow. I'm hoping this time we might actually get to try this squash. It certainly looks interesting. There are five seeds in this container.
Connecticut Field Pumpkin - Originally from a commercial seed, grown the first year we had a garden in the front yard at the old house. Two plants produced a single pumpkin, that matured just in time for the first frost that fall. The seeds collected from it are likely cross-pollinated, but again - don't care, they're all edible anyway. There are four seeds in this container.
Table Queen Acorn Squash - We've grown this variety before with good success, so I figured I'd give it a head-to-head-to-head comparison with other colors of acorn squash. These seeds came from a trade, but I believe they came from a commercial source. There are four seeds in this container.
White Acorn Squash - We've grown this one before too, but it produced poorly. I'm giving it a second chance. Kind of. Again, seeds from our last grow, so originally commercial seed, but these seeds are probably cross-pollinated. There are five seeds in this container.
Golden Acorn Squash - A new one for us, this one was ordered on eBay from a seller overseas. It'll be interesting to compare it with the other two. Four seeds in this container (half the packet).
Japanese Black Pumpkin - Another purchase from an overseas eBay seller. This is said to be a pumpkin - roughly the shape of a kabocha, but with black skin over orange flesh. It wasn't terribly expensive, and I thought I'd give it a try. There are four seeds in this container (again, half the packet).
Giant Orange Cushaw Striped squash - Something new and different. This one comes from a commercial source, and is a variety that shouldn't be able to cross pollinate with the other squash varieties. There are five seeds in this container.
Concord Grapes - I bought these on Listia. We have grapes growing under the black walnut trees near the rabbit colony building, but I didn't see any grapes produced last year. I am hoping grapes that produce can be grown here, since they're listed on the "safe to plant near black walnut" list. It's worth a shot anyway. I planted 29 seeds in this container.
Chinese Cosmos - I bid on some penny auctions on eBay and won some seeds. Among them, mixed cosmos. We will see what we get. According to the listing there should have been 50 seeds in the packet, but it was closer to 150-200, and I put them all in.
Moss Roses - Another penny auction win from China. Who knows if they're actually what they're supposed to be. I tried staring at them with a magnifying glass, but I just can't tell. We shall see. I put a lot in there, probably around 500 seeds (they're tiny). Let's see what comes up! I love moss roses, so if I get tons of them, I'll be thrilled.
Giant Red Strawberry - Penny auction from China. Again, no idea if these are what they're supposed to be, but I put them all in. There were probably only about 20 seeds, but I'm all for more strawberries!
This brings our 2018 winter sowing total to 68 containers so far!
Which reminds me, today #3 told me the bald eagle pair was back, perched in the same tree just behind the bunny barn. She even snapped a photo of them. They're great to see, but I hope they don't stay too long. Later in the evening #3 said she'd also seen the Sandhill cranes. A sure sign it's spring now - all of our big native breeding birds are back.
I did get the left light gauged in to the right height to make the ground underneath it 100-degrees. The chick starter feed has been brought down and set beside the brooder, but I have not filled the feeders yet. The food and water will remain empty until just before the chicks are released into the brooder. I'm getting excited to pick out our very first chicks.
In the meantime, being the Aspergian that I am, I researched what breeds of chicken Tractor Supply usually stocks, and then cross referenced those breeds to the ones the hatchery will be shipping next month, to see which breeds might be coming. Then I made up a list of the breeds sold by Tractor Supply that meet our needs... Chickens (ducks and turkey) that are cold hardy, acceptable for a free-range environment, and are used primarily for egg production or dual purpose (egg and meat). With this list, I will be able to quickly evaluate what breeds are available when we go on Tuesday and make a better educated choice on which three to bring home.