(Part 2) Top products from r/vegetablegardening

If you want to breed veggies you want to breed sth. that you personally like eating (because you will need to taste all the trial grow outs), or sth. that doesn't exist yet.I grow dwarf tomatoes for window boxes and urban gardening that do not exist in Germany yet, black ones with old school flavours etc. The available varieties have little to no taste. In the US there are such varieties but not here. I also try to grow my own Pak Choi variety, a large green one that is hardy to both heat and very low temperatures, so I can grow it almost all season. Pak Choi is very expensive around here, and so I want to create a nice variety for the home gardener. I do some corn and potato breeding aswell, but this needs too much space, I am very limited at the moment.Secondly there are plants that are easier to breed than others. Or that need a higher number of individuals and thus much more space. The easiest plants to breed are such that are self-fertile and do not show inbreeding depression. Tomatoes and Chillies for example. Because if you want to stabilize a variety you need to make all your plants look the same, have the same genes. The fastest way to achieve this is by pollinating the plants with themselves, grow out the seeds, select what your looking for, take the self-pollinated seeds from this plant, grow them out again , select again... and so on. With every generation the traits become more and more stable, all the seeds from these plants look more and more alike. Corn for example is more difficult, because they quite quickly suffer from inbreeding depression. In other words, if you pollinate the plant with itself too much, or you just have too few plants to cross it with (a small gene pool) then the plants basically go retarded, their growth stunts, the fruit do not develop properly, they get sick. So here you need a higher number of individuals because they need to be outcrossed, somewhere between 100 and 500 individual plants, so this would need a small field already. Also, you would need to control pollination with bags and such, so they do not pollinate themselves, or get pollinated by plants from a field nearby that would destroy your efforts.

Another thing that can give you quick results are plants who are usually propagated by clones. Things you do not multiply from seed. Strawberries or potatoes for example. For example, If you want to make your own potato variety then, all you need to find are two compatible potatoe varieties that can produce viable seeds (many varieties have lost this ability) then you grow them into plants, and then you can plant the resulting small tubers for another generation and taste test them. If by chance, and there is large variability in potatoes because most are tetraploid, you created a variety that you really like then you do not need to stabilize the variety at all, just plant and multiply the potatoe tubers. They are literally clones of your first plant.

So yeah, there is alot to read about selection methods, pollination tactics, genetics... I heard good things about a book I might buy myself one day called "Breed Your Own Vegetable Varieties: The Gardener's and Farmer's Guide to Plant Breeding and Seed Saving, 2nd Edition" by Carol Deppe" , that's a good start I think. Other than that just pick sth. you like and find out how it is being bred professionally, all plants have their unique quirks and need different strategies to be bred.

I use two things. One of them is deer netting which I cut a length of and use zip ties to attach to short bamboo posts (you can order them online for pretty cheap). It's actually almost invisible from a distance so it doesn't look bad. The only thing is it tangles easily so be really careful when you're putting it up. The holes are small enough to keep squirrels and small animals out.

The other thing I use is a spray. I've had really good results with Liquid Fence which is safe for vegetable gardens. I found that if I'm really diligent about spraying on a regular basis at the start of the season I can train the deer and other critters to think my tomatoes and other container plants are not things they're interested in.

Have you just drilled holes for water, or have you actually added in drip irrigation heads? The heads will help prevent oddities in water pressure and will better regulate everything. You can even pair them with 1/4 tubing and couplings to get the water where you want it to go. In my experience, the heads are better than the soaker hoses.

The Vegetable Gardener's Bible, 2nd Edition: Discover Ed's High-Yield W-O-R-D System for All North American Gardening Regions: Wide Rows, Organic Methods, Raised Beds, Deep Soil https://www.amazon.com/dp/160342475X/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_vyl7Cb55Z3W69

I’m a new gardener. I love this book. Full of pictures, tips and easy to read format to look up what you want to read about

This system from Rain Bird lets you put the water where you want it. Put the supply hose between the source and the target then connect the dripper where you want the water. Pair this with something like the timer that /u/kittenplusplus shared and you're good to go.

With low covers and a small hoop house you can grow spinach all winter long.

I love this book https://www.amazon.com/Winter-Harvest-Handbook-Deep-Organic-Greenhouses/dp/1603580816/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1473282231&sr=8-1&keywords=eliot+coleman

Where r you... you can order it online
https://www.amazon.com/Super-Bat-Budswel-Liquid-01-1-01/dp/B00286OP4G/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?keywords=budswell+bat+guano&qid=1562220191&s=gateway&sprefix=budswell+bat+&sr=8-3

For rabbits you an use this https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000RZCI30/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 -- in store is cheaper than amazon.
I'm still anxious to see if the rabbit in my neighborhood can jump this or dig under. I cut it in half so it's only 1 foot high all around.

Deer can also eat kale, squirrels can be a PITA I hear. Best bet is to go all around with row covers or make this https://www.reddit.com/r/gardening/comments/8fna35/the_raised_garden_bed_i_designed_is_finally_done/