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You may not get anything stable enough to market to seed companies for 10 years (but who cares? They won't pay you much anyway). But you could get something good in your second year that your family willbe able to enjoy for several years even before public distribution. So go for it! I am going to breed some annual edibles as well, although I am in the early stages.The nice thing about fruit tree breeding is you can clone once you get something good.
Future,I wanted to get into breeding, was going to try breeding some Opuntia sp. Also wanted to breed some overlooked veggies with potential, oca (Oxalis tuberosa), black salsify (Scorzonera hispanica)
I'm not doing a breeding project, but for winter squash (in Florida) I ran into an old breed Seminole Pumpkin. I ran into it doing some research and started my hunt. I found two starter plants at a local garden show in September '11. One quickly died being in the shade and maybe a little less water. The other one planted six feet away is still growing 12 months later. In the time, it has produced two 14-16 pound pumpkins and three 8-10 pound pumpkins. One pound converts roughly to one cup cooked. I was about to pull the vine out as it takes up over 20 square feet of space, except I found two more of the smaller pumpkins and one that looks like it will become the larger. Further inspection shows at least 2 more female flowers.The best thing is that I rediscovered (as pointed out by research) that these pumpkins will last at least five months once picked. Then you freeze the remainder once cooked, even more time. We've been eating roast pumpkin, pumpkin/ potato mash, pumpkin bread, and even pumpkin cookies regularly since January.Here's a link to an article on Seminole Pumpkinshttp://www.eattheweeds.com/cucurbita-muschata-seminole-edible-2/
Quote from: nullzero on September 06, 2012, 01:46:04 AMFuture,I wanted to get into breeding, was going to try breeding some Opuntia sp. Also wanted to breed some overlooked veggies with potential, oca (Oxalis tuberosa), black salsify (Scorzonera hispanica)Oca produces seed?
Quote from: Future on September 07, 2012, 08:24:29 AMQuote from: nullzero on September 06, 2012, 01:46:04 AMFuture,I wanted to get into breeding, was going to try breeding some Opuntia sp. Also wanted to breed some overlooked veggies with potential, oca (Oxalis tuberosa), black salsify (Scorzonera hispanica)Oca produces seed?From what I have read and looked up, yeah it does. Its a shy bearer of flowers, but it does produce them. More varieties the better, I would want to focus on getting a day neutral variety.http://oca-testbed.blogspot.com/search/label/Oca%20flowers
Future- have you tried ECHO in Fort Meyers for seeds? I am going to visit next Saturday. So excited!