Thank you for that reference, @meadow . I knew someone had continued working with the original Little Greenseed line, but my link to that effort (from several years ago) had expired. I was unaware of the release of Emerald Naked Seeded. I found it interesting that Holly Dumont was involved, I knew her casually on another forum (and through SSE) and had exchanged seed with her.
It appears that Emerald Naked Seeded was selected for many of the same traits I am seeking. However, based upon the photos & descriptions, they appear to have arrived at a slightly different result... and apparently still unstable. Everyone selling the seed appears to be charging a lot, for a relatively small amount of seed (Ken originally sent me almost 100 seeds).
IMO this parallel breeding project is still worthwhile - and who knows, we could end up with a better Northern-adapted cultivar. The results of this years 2nd generation grow out - if it shows improvement - should demonstrate whether my goals of a fully-stable variety are realistically attainable. If not... well, at least we'll get a lot of pumpkin seeds to eat.
Chances are that unless you hand-pollinated, the seeds you plant will drift further off type - with more hulled seeds.
I don't believe that their effort necessarily went in the same direction, or I would not waste the time of others, or my own limited resources. The original seed was highly variable (even containing hulled seed) and could have been selected in many directions depending upon chance, and the preferences of the breeders. Furthermore, the seed I distributed was from my own 4-variety trial, which added further variation... as could be seen in the 2021 results. Given the fact that the current descendants of Little Greenseed still appear to be unstable, I believe there is a chance for us as a group to create something better.
not having hulls makes them a winner right there, just wish the flesh of the fruit was also edible - i hate wasting anything (not that the worms minded ).
The very low amount of waste in Little Greenseed is what first jumped out & grabbed my attention. I had previously grown Styrian, and two similar varieties (Kakai and Streaker Jack). While the seeds from those were good, the pumpkins were mostly empty space, surrounded by a large amount of basically inedible flesh - a lot of waste for someone without animals to feed them to. The Little Greenseed from my first trial was just over softball sized, surprisingly heavy, and densely packed with seed within a 3/4" rind (the one in post #40 is almost identical). There were other traits I find desirable, such as the ability to root along the vine, and a short DTM. And based upon my observations in 2021, where I saw moths hovering around the plants & no later signs of damage, it may even be resistant to Squash Vine Borer. (Can't say that about my kabocha, which was completely destroyed).not having hulls makes them a winner right there, just wish the flesh of the fruit was also edible - i hate wasting anything (not that the worms minded
The very low amount of waste in Little Greenseed is what first jumped out & grabbed my attention. I had previously grown Styrian, and two similar varieties (Kakai and Streaker Jack). While the seeds from those were good, the pumpkins were mostly empty space, surrounded by a large amount of basically inedible flesh - a lot of waste for someone without animals to feed them to. The Little Greenseed from my first trial was just over softball sized, surprisingly heavy, and densely packed with seed within a 3/4" rind (the one in post #40 is almost identical). There were other traits I find desirable, such as the ability to root along the vine, and a short DTM. And based upon my observations in 2021, where I saw moths hovering around the plants & no later signs of damage, it may even be resistant to Squash Vine Borer. (Can't say that about my kabocha, which was completely destroyed).
i had to laugh...
with squash the questions to me have usually been how much room do i have and what might fit in where? last year we had some varieties/vines going off into the pathways for 30ft. the green seeded ones seemed to be ok with 10-20ft, but probably could get done in 4-5ft.
