Unexpected volunteers

[Hal]

That's sort of what I would like to see as well....sort of a sorting the wheat from the chaff on these heirloom seed plants. Do they still retain their hardy vigor that made them into an "heirloom" variety after all these years of pampering? I'd like to find out.

I do the same with my chickens and I'd like to start having a garden that's more self sustaining as well.

Well it depends what intentional or unintentional selection criteria the cultivar has gone through before you have obtained it. It could have deteriorated or even improved in some respect.

 

[journey11]

I'm so glad to have found this thread, as this is an experiment I am going to undertake for next year. The guy that promoted this BTE gardening method plants his next year's potatoes each year when he harvests his potatoes...he picks out the biggest one and puts it back in the ground. Been doing that for 11 yrs now? Using the same potatoes in the same place in all that time. Impressive!

Anyhoo, I'd like to take that further and plant many of my veggies that are known to grow as volunteers in the spring. I had started tomato seedlings inside this year and, after setting them out, found a tomato volunteer outside my chicken coop that was the same size and condition of those I had nurtured inside. Clearly, they don't need my nurturing, as this one was growing in some very hard packed clay soil, though it was getting some good nutrients leaching from the coop.

So, I'm going to bury a rotten tomato from each plant right next to that plant at the end of the season and cover that soil with wood chips. Come spring I will rake back those chips and see what comes up. Same with the squash, taters, sweet onions, peppers, lettuce, spinach, radishes, carrots, and even corn will be planted in the fall, covered over and then uncovered in the spring to let grow as they can and to see if it can be done. I've had volunteers from a lot of these in the past except the onions, but I plan to order the seeds themselves to plant this fall so that I'll get an early growth of sweet onions in the spring.

I've already got row markers on hand so I can label the rows and where they are so I can tell where to uncover in the spring.

If they don't come up, no harm, no foul--you'd still have time to replant, so I think it sounds worth trying. Keep notes on what works out and let us know. I experimented with wintersowing in milk jugs this year with good results on most things. Many veggies can be wintersown, even without the extra protection of the jugs.

 

[Smart Red]

"Found" a bed of potatoes today. I've been re-weeding some raised beds (after the weeks of rain) so they can be planted when I found nearly a dozen potato plants up and growing well in one bed. I haven't checked last year's records to see what variety was planted there, but I am surprised that they are growing after what was a colder than normal winter.

There just might be something to be said for planting in the fall and letting the veggies start themselves in the spring.

 

[digitS']

I was just doing a bit of weeding before I turned on some sprinklers this morning. What do you suppose I found?

Two eggplants ..! They weren't where I have had eggplants before. I'm fairly sure the seed came in with kitchen scraps to the compost but I think it's the first time I've seen eggplants volunteer. By the way, the greenhouse started eggplants are really enjoying this warm spring. Maybe I will see what a couple of volunteers amount to.

The volunteer pole beans survived transplanting and are sending out runners .

Steve

 

[so lucky]

Why don't those healthy volunteers ever show up in the right place?

 

[Chickie'sMomaInNH]

going through my garlic bed, which was tilled before they went in last fall, and yesterday i noticed a few Purple Viking spuds have put up leaves in with the garlic!