Dan's Gardening and Birding Blog: January 2016

Friday, January 29, 2016

Bird Photos/Great Backyard Bird Count is Coming!

Welcome back and as always thank you for visiting my blog.

It's hard to believe, but the Project FeederWatch season, which runs from mid-November to mid-April, is nearing the half way point. For those of you unfamiliar with Project FeederWatch, refer to my post of November 4, 2015 (http://dansgardening.blogspot.com/2015/11/its-time-for-project-feederwatch.html). There is still time to sign up and participate in this very worthwhile citizen science project. I will discuss the Great Backyard Bird Count, which begins on February 12th, later in this post.

So far during this bird watching season, I have captured some nice bird photos. I posted some of the photos in my post of January 3, 2015 (http://dansgardening.blogspot.com/2016/01/bird-photoshappy-new-year.html). Below are some more for your enjoyment:

Northern Cardinal

Mourning Doves

Blue Jay

The Great Backyard Bird Count is Only Two Week Away!

This bird count is fun to participate in and is a great family activity. Unlike Project FeederWatch, it only lasts for four days. I have been participating for four or five years. It's very simple to get started, the following is taken from the website (http://gbbc.birdcount.org).

Join Us for the Next Count, February 12-15, 2016

It’s as easy as 1, 2, 3!

1. Register for the count or use your existing login name and password. If you have never participated in the Great Backyard Bird Count or any other Cornell Lab citizen-science project, you’ll need to create a new account. If you already created an account for last year’s GBBC, or if you’re already registered with eBird or another Cornell Lab citizen-science project, you can use your existing login information.

2. Count birds for at least 15 minutes on one or more days of the GBBC. You can count for longer than that if you wish! Count birds in as many places and on as many days as you like—one day, two days, or all four days. Submit a separate checklist for each new day, for each new location, or for the same location if you counted at a different time of day. Estimate the number of individuals of each species you saw during your count period.

3. Enter your results on the GBBC website by clicking “Submit Observations” on the home page. Or download the free eBird Mobile app to enter data on a mobile device. If you already participate in the eBird citizen-science project, please use eBird to submit your sightings during the GBBC. Your checklists will count toward the GBBC.

Until next time. Still to come in future posts, blight resistant tomato strains, winter sowing, seed selection for 2016, hydroponic gardening, and much more.

Friday, January 15, 2016

Try an Heirloom Hybrid Tomato/2016 Seed Catalogs

Welcome back, and as always thanks for reading.

It's that time of the year again, the new seed catalogs are arriving daily, It reminds us of the growing season to come, even though at this point it seems so far away.

If you notice, many of the catalogs feature tomatoes on the cover. Usually the seed companies will showcase a new variety, as an attention grabber. It just goes to show how popular tomatoes are among gardeners.

In the past few years, I have focused mostly on heirloom tomatoes, since I have come to love the taste and beauty of these gems. For example, I talked about heirloom tomatoes in my post on January 24, 2015 (http://dansgardening.blogspot.com/2015/01/talking-heirloom-vegetablestomatoes-and.html.

However, there are many good hybrid varieties also. In this post, I will showcase some new hybrids along with a relatively new concept in tomatoes, heirloom hybrids. Yes, heirloom hybrids.

So what exactly is an heirloom hybrid? Growers have discovered that by hybridizing heirloom tomatoes, the best of two worlds can be achieved. Since they are hybrids, they will tend to produce more uniform and numerous fruits, while being more resistant to diseases. However, they will retain the wonderful heirloom flavor.

For a great article regarding the development of better tomato varieties, see this article from the Washington Post : (https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/home/the-perfect-tomato-is-just-around-the-corner/2015/09/15/70909c22-57d4-11e5-b8c9-944725fcd3b9_story.html),

First from Burpee (www.burpee.com), the Madame Marmande hybrid, which is an heirloom hybrid:

Madame Marmande Hybrid -72 Days

From the Burpee catalog:

Gourmet tomato with a French accent. Juicy. Succulent. Extraordinaire! A culinary star in France, where a favorite instant feast is a scooped-out Marmande brimming with a mild cheese. Hefty, broad-shouldered, scarlet and light-ruby, Madame Marmande’s 10 oz. fruits are loaded with rich flavor. Fruits won’t crack like other Marmande varieties. Indeterminate.
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From Park Seed (www.parkseed.com), the Sugar Rush hybrid, a new grape variety:

Sugar Rush Hybrid -53 days

From the Park Seed catalog:

Though classified as a grape tomato, Sugar Rush actually looks like a cherry and grape combination, with plump, rounded fruit in long, elegant trusses all over very vigorous plants. It is indeterminate, so it keeps going all season long, but the plant is more stocky than vining, reaching 5 to 7 feet high and perhaps 3 to 4 feet wide. You will be astonished at its productivity over a long summer!

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From Burgess Seed (www.eburgess.com), the Amish Paste heirloom tomato:

From the Burgess catalog:

The ultimate paste tomato with world class flavor! A large, meaty, great tasting paste tomato. Long, pear shaped paste variety, produces 10 oz. red fruits on a vigorous indeterminate plant. One of the few paste tomatoes that also tastes great fresh. Excellent for use in canning, pastes, or sauces.

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From Johnny's Selected Seeds(www.johnnyseeds.com), the Cherry Bomb cherry tomato:

Cherry Bomb Hybrid - 64 Days

From the Johnny's catalog:

Cherry Bomb is perfect for the organic grower who needs strong late blight protection. Vigorous plants produce high yields of uniform, vivid red fruits with ideal cherry size (15-20 gm.) for harvest and snacking. Classic cherry tomato flavor - firm, sweet, and well-balanced. Unique calyx makes an attractive display when left attached to fruit. High resistance to late blight. Indeterminate.
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Finally, from Jung Seed (www.jungseed.com), the Cherokee Carbon heirloom hybrid. This is another example of the new heirloom hybrids:

Cherokee Carbon Heirloom Hybrid - 76 Days

From the Jung catalog:

Large, 10 to 12 ounce beefsteak-type fruits deliver a rich, robust flavor perfect for sandwiches, salsa, sauces and more. A cross of Cherokee Purple and Carbon.

Thanks for reading my blog. In future posts, I will research blight resistant tomato varieties.

Sunday, January 3, 2016

Bird Photos/Happy New Year!

Welcome back. I hope everyone had a great Holiday Season. After a warm December and Christmas, the weather is finally coming back into the normal range for this time of the year. The colder temperatures and light snow have also brought back the birds in larger numbers.

After a busy year of working on my blog, this week I will take a break and just let you enjoy some bird photos I have recently taken.

I look forward to another busy winter of bird watching and also preparing for the upcoming growing season. I already have received seeds catalogs in the mail.

There is much more to come in the coming weeks and months, so stay tuned.