The Peasant Barn.....

Chicken coop in the new peasant barn



Guinea coop


Guinea Coop


"Dofer"blacksmithing shop


Almost Painted.




Thought I'd give you a quick view of some of the "Peasant Barn" I've been working on.

The barn, as mentioned before, was previously the old tobacco curing and striping barn for our small family farm. It was in rough shape when I started rebuilding it and still is given my limited carpentry skills and lack of funding. I'll be happy if I get 10 years out of it in order to build a new barn.

In the upper story not pictured here I built some floors for storage and I kept the old truss system so that I can still hang and cure my homegrown tobacco next season, we are actually looking into the legality of selling unprcessed raw tobacco leaf in coming seasons.

The lower shed (also not pictured here) is not finished here but will consist of two seperate rooms, one a proper blacksmithing shop which will house the family black smithing heirlooms from the Wilson side of my family, the second room will be a shop/hang out of sorts.

Early Winter Vermicomposting!

Being an intensive worm farmer and general advocate of all things compost related I thought I'd share a quick picture post with you guys since I haven't blogged about vermicomposting for a while.

Every year towards the end of Decembere-through sometime in early January I like to give my usually leissure faire worm composting method a little boost to increase production by spring when most of this material needs to be finished for the farm fields and potted plants.

I've tried any numberous methods of worm farming that you've likely ever read about and until a couple years back when I met my buddy Paul I was very intensive about my means and methods, since that time I've learned; keep them moist, watch the PH level and leave them alone, they will do just fine! I don't normally even flip the beds anymore and the population of worms in these bins being as high as it is, I very rarely, if ever really, have any issue with the bins going anearobic unless I've simply overloaded it with material.

Throughout the spring summer and fall composting goes on at full force, but come winter things slow down and the worms don't metabolize as quickly since the micro-organisms they rely on for food also slow down, so I wait until a stretch of warm weather (35-50 degrees) to turn the bins since the temperature at this time will push 85 degrees in "The Wyrm" house, at this time I flip the bins vigorously and water heavily, this will be the last bit of care the bins will recieve until they are harvested in spring, by which time 90% of the material in these bins will be of use to us.

Face Of The Earth Seed Bazzar: 2011 public seed list

2011
Face of the earth seed bazaar public catalog.
"Alchemacal seeds for archaiac times!"

An introduction: Here is the completed 2011 Face of the Earth Seed 2011 list. This is not the entirety of the seed collection or our work as Hip-Gnosis Seed Development over the preceding five years but instead a library of seed that we feel comfortable releasing as quality seed this season.

In the future we will be releasing many more collections than what is represented here; it is likely given the time constraints of conventional plant breeding and seed production by a single person that each year will see the release of 5-10 new collections. All seed collections represented below are public domain, unpatented, and open source as well as GMO free!

You will notice that most of these collections are not pure varieties, they are various admixtures of new hybrids, segregating original crosses, and new open pollinated accessions, most of which we have breed on our own in recent history, and which with some selection work give rise to new adaptavar landraces and individual folk varieties. We do not recommend these seeds to those who are concerned with high yield or with producing a large market crop; instead we offer these collections as an efficient and affordable source of genetics which would otherwise be cost prohibitive to the average gardener, farmer, or plant breeder to obtain. Unless otherwise noted there are no named varieties within each package with which to affix a label.

Conditions: By purchasing these seeds you agree to all terms and conditions and unconditionally agree that you understand these seeds are genetically diverse populations which are not catered to high production agriculture under all circumstances and that genetic diversity within each package is to be expected, we are not responsible for you not understanding what is expressly stated and we make no refund or remediation for customers who fail to read and understand these conditions.

Guarantee: Face Of The Earth Seed Certifies that the seeds we supply are fertile and correctly labeled. We are glad to reimburse anyone dissatisfied to the cost of the seeds and no more, or to re-supply given kinds. We are not responsible for the mis-use of the seeds or the plants that arise from them. Our seeds exceed state and federal germination requirements and in the rare case that germination is lower than expected we package extra seed. We list minimum number of seeds and often we supply extra. All seeds are grown "Eco-Logically" at Bishop's Homegrown here in Pekin Indiana using on farm produced composts and no chemical intervention.

In Regards to acquiring seed: All seed packets are 3.00 unless otherwise marked. For orders under $15 send 3.00 shipping and handling. Indiana residents add 7% sales tax per order. Seeds are sent on a first come and first serve basis.

Shipping Times: Since we do not employ seed packers and operate on a shoestring budget out of my own personal expense shipping isn’t quite industrialized but we strive to make sure that orders go out in a timely manner as they are received.

To the greatest extent possible we are trying to escape the interventionism of modern technology and as such we no longer will be offering an online ordering option, instead we accept cash and postal money orders and preferably well concealed cash where possible. Make checks and money orders out to Alan Bishop.

Send a list of your selections along with price of items and sales tax (if applicable)along with payment to:
Alan Bishop
5604 S. State Rd. 60
Pekin IN 47165

Seed may also be obtained here at our farm or farm stand.

Non specific requests: As mentioned above these collections don’t represent anywhere near the full scope of seed which we are producing for sale and instead just cover what we feel comfortable offering to the public at this time and seed which we had large quantities of. We do have many various other OP’s, Hybrids, and Populations on hand at any given time, if there is something which you are looking for but that is not listed here, please feel free to e-mail us and we will see what we have on hand. There is also the distinct possibility that more seed selections could be amended to this list later in the winter or early next spring if we add a variety we will republish the list on the web-site.


Regarding treated seed: There are occasionally a small percentage of treated seeds present in our grexes as we make use of many commercial lines in breeding. We do not approve of this but in order to offer certain genetic traits this is currently the trade off we have to deal with. It shouldn't’t have to be said but do not use these seeds for feed, oil, human consumption or any other absolutely idiotic perusal of death that you can dream of. WE ARE NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR YOUR STUPIDITY. Any treated seed will be labeled in description and on the package


Projects which we are pursuing and which will see release in the 2012 bazaar:
Cabbage Grex, Carrot Grex, Winter Cabbage Grex, Collard Grex, Mustard Grex, Perennial Rye, Perennial Wheat, Kazak apple seed, Raspberry grex, individual lines of soup and snap beans, Beet Grex, Chard Grex, Spinach Grex and many others.

Contact and ordering information:
homegrowngoodness.blogspot.com
alanbishop.proboards60.com
812-967-2073
To join our physical mailing list e-mail your address to bishopshomegrown@gmail.com
We will be mailing seed lists in coming years.


Tomatoes:

Mer De Noms Tomato - One of our very first and most noted breeding projects! 3-5 ounce red, juicy, globes. Highly esteemed by friends, family, and market customers as the perfect snacking or Saladette type tomato. Wonderfully sweet and slightly biting flavor. People have “fought” over these at home and market. Great for greenhouse culture or field culture, producing heavy trusses of reliable fruit. Quite a bit of disease resistance for an OP. Unfazed by late blight in 2009 and 2010. 15 seed.

Absinthe Tomato - Our unique green when ripe tomato is back for a second year. From a stabilized cross of Aunt Ruby’s German Green X Emerald Evergreen. Named after the famous drink favored by artists such as Picasso. Ripens to green with an amber blush. Drought tolerant reliable market or home garden cross. Spicy flavor which is great for BLT’s. 15 seed.

Jack White Tomato - Another of our unique new OP tomatoes. Jack white is a stabilized cross between White Beauty and White Tomesol, gaining the love of white tomato haters everywhere for it’s unique and delicious taste when compared to other white tomatoes. Named after Jack White, lead singer of the White Stripes band. 15 seed.

Phoenix Pink Tomato Landrace - Seeds from our favorite crosses, op’s, and homemade hybrids, saved together as a single variety over the past four years. The Pink Floyd Tomato we released several years ago is here as well. Lot’s of diversity, potato leaf and regular leaf. Tomatoes from 6 ounces up to two lbs or more. Trial this and select what you like, there are no named tomatoes in this mix other than Pink Floyd, these are literally all original unlabeled public domain works. 15 seed.


Sunspots Yellow/Orange Tomato Landrace - Seeds from our favorite crosses, op’s, and homemade hybrids, saved together as a single variety over the past four years. The Pac-Man Tomato we released several years ago is here as well. Lot’s of diversity, potato leaf and regular leaf. Tomatoes from 6 ounces up to two lbs or more. Trial this and select what you like, there are no named tomatoes in this mix other than Pac Man which was still segregating, these are literally all original unlabeled public domain works. 15 seed

Olde 101 Red Tomato Mix - Obtained from one of the local Amish communities known for selling extra high quality canning and slicing tomatoes in bulk. 25 lbs for $5.00! When we spoke to them we were told these were maintained not as individual selections of seed but as a collection of diverse types. 8-16 ounces, mostly slicers and juicers but also some larger paste types similar to or the same as Amish paste! A new workhorse for us. 15 seed.

Paradigm red tomato Landrace - Seeds from our favorite crosses, op’s, and homemade hybrids, saved together as a single variety over the past four years. Lot’s of diversity, potato leaf and regular leaf. Tomatoes from 6 ounces up to two lbs or more. Trial this and select what you like, there are no named tomatoes in this mix as these are literally all original unlabeled public domain works. DTM 70-90. 15 seed

OSU Blue Tomato - A high anthocyanin tomato bred at Oregon Stat University by Jim Meyers. Anthocyanin develops in proportion to the fruits exposure to sunlight and is only skin deep. Some complain about the flavor but we have found them to actually be favorable as a salad tomato as well as a juicing tomato and have had a ton of luck with them as a market crop. 15 seed.


Roller coaster Cherry Tomato Landrace - Five years ago we collected an absolute ton of cherry tomato, currant tomato, cheesmani tomato, and Hirustrum tomato seeds of all colors of the rainbow, mixed them together and direct seeded them to a field which tends to stay saturated in wet weather allowing them to interbred and give rise to new strains of “half wild” tomatoes. Fortunately or unfortunately they self seed the same field every year, surprising us with their diverse forms and colors as well as shapes and tastes, these are some of the best selections from those feral tomatoes. 15seed.


Beans:
Black Dog: A beautiful black bean with a wonderful flavor, bush/runner type, similar flavor to black turtle bean and a favorite here on the farm, deer ate our plants here on the farm last season but a friend luckily had a bumper crop! Excellent production of both shiny and flat black seeds as well as an ocassional purple type, fantastic in soups and stews and in hispanic dishes. 30 seeds.

Melons:

Absinthe Green Fleshed Musk Melon Mix - A mass cross of 9 distinct green fleshed muskmelon types. Great taste, good looks, better than orange fleshed melons. A big hit at the farmers market! A favorite breakfast item here at Bishop’s Homegrown! Selections from a mass cross of all commercially available green fleshed muskmelons and a few honey dews. Doesn’t set large fruit but masses of smaller ones. Expect off types including a few orange fleshed or honey dew types. Early season and quick cropping time make these great for short seasons as well as a fall planting. 15 seeds

Between the Sun and Moon Yellow/Orange/Red/White Watermelon Mass Cross - A mass cross of mostly yellow, orange, and white watermelons and an occasional high brix red icebox type. Too many varieties to name were planted in the field (close to 100). We saved seeds from the best in color, taste, and use! Check this out if you love watermelons! Select for those traits which fit your needs. We have consistently grown these in “weed patches” with better than expected results. 15 seeds.

Red Watermelon Gene pool - From an absolutely huge mass cross of red fleshed melons 3 years ago, very diverse in type, days to maturity, disease resistance ext. Seed is a couple years old so we over packed to compensate for any shortcomings regarding germination, should be plenty here to develop something great for your uses out of. 30-40 seeds.

Dionysus Melon Grex - Cantaloupes, Honey Dews, Tam Dews, Orange Fleshed Musk Melons grown in a mass cross situation for a couple of years. We ascribe to the plant orgy method of plant breeding from time to time, particularly in crops which due sub prime in our heavy clay soil anyhow. This is where the search for a truly great Ohio Valley Melon begins. Dionysus was the Greek god of wine and fertility and apparently a muse for non conventional plant breeders. 15 seeds.

Sweet Corn:Astronomy Domine Sweet Corn - A diverse gene pool from Hip-Gnosis Seed Development/Alan Reed Bishop. For those willing to give room and time to experimental plant breeding. Over 170 lines of open pollinated and hybrid (non-gmo) corn cultivars have been genetically folded together and selected in the direction of a mid season multi-color grex with great drought tolerance and a rainbow of color. Recent generations saw the inclusion of high yielding yellow hybrids, select away from yellow to maintain more diverse color in coming years. Lots of diversity and something here for everyone, survival food. Bulk too. 1 ounce

1/2 lb 15.00
1 lb 20.00


Turnips:

6 Turnip Root Grex - An excellent public domain project by the wonderful Dr. Alan Kapuler! Several years back “Mushroom” decided to run a trial on several varieties of turnips, he selected the best six performers to take to the next generation and allowed them to interbreed. Original seed provided by Peace Seeds. 100 seeds


Radish:

Summer Radish Grex - I took Kapulers idea along with a ton of seed from Kent Ettlingers work and from the local seed store and ran with it. The results turned out interesting; we included some Daikon types for the sake of diversity and ended up with some nice new types. Very good sellers at market and wonderful when young and sliced into a salad. 200 seeds

Peppers:

PerfeKt pepper landrace - We have grown and crossed a number of Italian type sweet frying peppers, bell peppers, and other sweet peppers together over the years, most are now out crossed and thoroughly integrated into this landrace which we maintain as one diverse variety. A utilitarian, everyday pepper mix, you may occasionally find one with heat, so approach with caution at harvest time. 15 seeds

Easter Everywhere Bell Pepper Mix - A collection of 9 or 10 bell peppers that we have made improved selections from over the past five years. Mature to multiple colors of the rainbow and contains genes for purple while green bells as well. Selection has been aimed towards productivity and large pepper size as well as ability to hold up well to stuffing and baking. 15 seeds


High Voltage Hot Pepper Landrace - We took our favorite heat stroke inducing peppers and folded them together into this unique grex of varieties. We don’t give much thought to the shape or color of the pepper, but more the taste and culinary uses of such. All of these are great for drying and use in Chilies, good in salsas as well, many are great for frying. 15 seeds



Okra:

Louisiana Red Cow horn Okra - Our neighbor Fred Bishop was kind enough to introduce us to this absolutely amazingly productive new to us cultivar of okra. The pods grow absolutely huge at more than a foot long often times and we have seen some approaching 20 inches. The pods stay amazingly tender even when large and the plants are extra productive. Doesn’t give most people the “okra itch” when you brush against the plant like traditional okras have a tendency to do. A new favorite and a Louisiana family heirloom that’s been adopted in the Ohio Valley by a different set of Bishop’s. 30 seeds. Bulk Too

Green Gumbo Okra Mix - We have been collecting Okra for a few years now. It’s an obsession trying to find more diversity and better textures in one of our favorite crops. Here we present the 14 best types we have found thus far. 30 seeds.


Squash:

Gold Standard Landrace Summer Squash - We do love summer squash, don’t get us wrong, but we also have issues with cucumber beetles and powdery mildew. Several yeas back Kent Ettlinger sent us seed for many diverse types of summer squash and we also purchased seeds for many others. We trialed them, tasted them, made selections and various crosses and started selecting from the mix which originally included zucchini types, crooknecks, scallops, and eight balls we have since pared it down to mostly crosses of zucchini and crooknecks which produce well throughout the season and don’t give us as many pest or disease issues. We have also had some luck in ferreting out a crookneck gene which allows the crookneck to get to a much larger size without developing a leathery skin or large inedible seeds, these we call gold standard, but since many off types still exist including the dominant zucchini we just maintain them as a whole for the time being. 20 seeds. Bulk Too

Dry Farm Acorn Squash landrace - a mix of acorn varieties from our own collection as well as that of Long Island seed grown on the absolutely worst piece of soil on the farm over the past couple of years. Hard and heavy read clay is the norm here. This year we didn’t even add compost, instead we allowed the squash to show us what they had and forwent any irrigation as well, and the best of the best survived and produced a bumper crop of acorn squash from small to large in size in a diversity of color. From there we have chosen seed from the best looking, best tasting, and best storing of the survivors. Not the same as our ornamental edible mix which will be back next season. 20 seeds. Bulk too

Cucurbrita Maxima Grex - A gene pool of mass crossed Maxima types, mostly of South American and African origin as well as some from the orient. Wonderfully flavored moist squash types in many shapes and sizes. 15 seeds. Bulk too.


Hip-Gnosis Butternut - A simple butternut selection which we think is far better adapted to the Ohio Valley. A little more diverse that Waltham. A utility variety with great culinary qualities. Probably the one time we will ever pursue line breeding here on the farm as I just don’t find it all that exciting. A good selection none the less. 15 seeds.


Cucumbers:

Hip-Gnosis Long green Slicing Cucumber - From a recurring mass cross of long white slicing cucumbers we pulled out this green variant. Incredibly mild tasting cucumbers born on viney water seeking plants with incredible production. Still pretty diverse. 15 seeds.


Bootleggers Best Seed (farm and feed crop)


Millet Mix - Selected from bags of scratch grain and bird seeds, includes several species of the grain commonly known as millet. Excellent high protein bird feed and forage crop, a favorite of game birds like quail, turkeys and guineas. Also makes a wonderful porridge.



El Diablo Tobacco Grex - A controversial plant for sure, tobacco provided us with the economic foundation we built our country upon and also wrecked the health of many great individuals. I obtained my formal agricultural training starting as a young boy working this very soil with my grandfather in his tobacco patch, without this formal introduction to the old ways and agriculture I wouldn‘t be doing what I do now. Tobacco use continues and there are many herbal uses for this sacred plant as well. When and if things ever go bad it wouldn’t be a bad idea to have this on hand for trade and barter. We have included several hundred original crosses here in this mix including burley types, shade leaf, Orinoco, Madole, Perique, Cavendish and others. Some of these genetics came directly from Castro’s Plantation. In the near future we plan on doing a feature regarding growing and curing tobacco at homegrowngoodness.blogspot.com
300 seeds




UK Tuxpeno Corn - Sent to us by our friend Jim Culpepper a couple years ago. Selectively bred by the University of Kentucky from a high yielding, high protein tropical lowland corn. Semi Flint. In trials here on the farm we have found the Turkeys prefer this variety as opposed to nearly all others. Grows close to 15 feet tall, prolific; two to three 6-8 inch ears per stalk, tight husk. Needs a bit of selection to breed out the tendency to produce a smut nose which protrudes occasionally through the end of the husk. Good breeding germ plasm. About 115-120 DTM. 1 ounce.

Amanda Palmer Landrace corn - We folded a ton of old mid southern and corn belt dents as well as UK tuxpeno into this new landrace this past season including: bloody butcher, Daemon Morgans Kentucky Butcher, Reids Yellow Dent, Lancaster Surecrop, JF3, UK Tuxpeno, Mammoth White, Boone County White, Jellicorse Twin and several others. Multi color dent to semi flint in type. We selected for numerous beneficial traits including large stocks with a smaller “core” for fodder as well as the prolific trait, midsize to large ears, a multitude of kernel types, stalk strength and stand ability, ear drop, drought tolerance, low fertility tolerance, germination in cool wet soils. Most importantly however we selected for animal and human preference in the first generation seed, we individual trialed selected individual cobs as well as block selections for animal preference and palatability with our turkey flock and also tested this dent for culinary qualities as a fine corn bread. The meal is yellow with flecks of purple, red, and blue with a slightly naturally sweet flavor, it has become a huge hit in our household, makes a fine “sticky” type of grit as well. Something for everyone and my proudest breeding project yet even in only its first year. There are also “Kculli” genes floating around in this landrace and we have made a fine Chicha from select ears. I hear from friends in the know that it makes a fine moonshine as well. J 90 - 115 DTM. Select what works for you. 1 ounce.

1/2 pound - 8.00
1 lb - 14
heavier bulk is available.

Survivalism Rice Grex - Not a dry land rice, though we plan to offer that next year in the lineup, this instead is a gene pool we created a couple years back from material furnished to us by the USDA, includes some “blue rice” genes as well as some glutinous rice genes. We started and grew to fruition in a kiddy pool. Fairly long season, give it a jump by starting in a greenhouse. Contrary to popular belief rice doesn’t have to be grown in water. We used worm castings and garden loam as a starting base, dibbled the seeds into the mix, added water to about 2” over the soil level, after the rice emerged we slowly drained the water off and kept evenly moist throughout the summer. Does require a pretty long season and isn’t as heavily productive as I would like, but there is something here to work with if you are interested. 120 DTM 20-30 seeds.

Wax corn grex - Our good friend and Chestnut breeder par excellence Castanea from Homegrown Goodness was kind enough to send us three separate 90 DTM selections of Waxy Corn from Lion Seeds. Two of these are hybrids and one is an OP, fortunately he sent more than enough seed to us to share them as a mixed accession giving you genetics to a rare genotype of corn not commonly seen outside of Asia. Waxy corn is well known in the orient as a wonderfully useful culinary corn which makes sticky flour, should be excellent for dessert dishes including a very “sticky” grit and more. Waxy corn is commonly used in the U.S. to make an adhesive; we find this a shame and would prefer to see it used more widely as human and animal food. In tests administered by the USDA in the 30’s and 40’s it was shown that wax corn was much more efficient as a feed grain that any of the other types of corn commonly used. All three selections are 90 DTM and their agronomic descriptions suggest that they should blend well into a new utility landrace making them excellent material for adventurous plant breeders. Which one of you wants to be the first to develop an independently bred waxy, human consumption grade, OP corn variety? 90 DTM 1 ounce.


Saucerfull of Secrets sunflower mix - A wonderfully diverse mixture of sunflower types, we started with nearly 100 and selected for large and medium sized single heads with of multiple colors as well as multi-branched poly flowering types. In recent years we have selected seeds based not only on looks but on seed production and preference based on the poultry flock when feed as a scratch grain or in admixture with our home grown and ground feeds. Excellent crop for cut flowers, decorative hedges, or a fed grain. 100 seeds
-ounce for $7.00.


Thanks: To all of my friends, both ordinary and extrodinary, to my family for their support, to Kim for all the love she gives and inspiration to get out of bed in the morning, to all of humanity and civilization and 10-20,000 years of unique cultures doing their best to improve the world they inhabited through seeds.....oh, and the band Rush!

The Tobacco Cultivators Handbook

I heard from the author, Bill Drake, today who is sending me a review copy of this book, definitely looking forward to it.

Just as important though, when I linked to the book the other day I used a link to a site that is selling an older edition of the book and has not updated, fortunately bill was kind enough to send me the link to the updated version of the book

The Tobacco Cultivators Handbook

Check it out when you get a chance friends!

Coturnix Quail as a highly sustainable survival/homestead animal.

A little while back our good friend Blanche was kind enough to gift us some wonderful Texas A&M and Jumbo brown coturnix quail.

I admit, at first I was hesitant to add such a small bird to our already growing animal repitoire for fear of how they would handle the cold, I also didn't like the idea of leaving them cooped and having to provide 100% of their diet 100% of the time, nor was I particularly fond of the idea of having to maintain breeder cages of trios. I also wasn't particularly happy about the fact that according to many experts caged quail have lost all sense of brooding and hatching capacity. Fortunately I have found some alternative solutions.

My frist solution was to create a quail aviary, easy enough, I simply consolidated the turkey flock to the larger of the two turkey coops after culling what was sold for meat for the holiday season and created a new seperate pen in the Peasant barn to house the guinea flock. This freed up the smaller of the two turkey coops for conversion into a coturnix quail aviary. Roosts are not needed for coturnix, so I removed the roosts, put down a heavy bed of straw and added an old scraped together doghouse as a communal laying box, to this I also added a couple of florescent light fixtures. Two days after the move the male coturnix started to belt out their characteristic "crow" and the breeding commenced. Unfortunately male coturnix are increadibly territorial so fighting commenced.

This was less of an issue than I figured it would be, simply because of the fact that I had included in my move all the male texas A&M white quail. I'm not generally a fan of any type of white poultry, both because they are easy prey targets, but also because they are terrible pickers towards themselves mostly so I simply culled out all but the two very best white males from the flock, allowing the genetics of the jumbo browns to move forward (dominant over white genetics). Since then I've been getting eggs consistently and regularly. High quality, delicious quail eggs which I've been enjoying for breakfast on a near daily basis.

The first thing you will notice about coturnix as a breed other than their meat to bone ratio (which is fantastic 12-14 ounces each) and the fact that the turnaround is quick (16 days to hatch, 8 weeks to maturity) is just how proficient they are at laying eggs and just how large those eggs are compared to the size of the bird, one egg can account for 7% of a females body weight.

As always I have been experimenting with feed and feed ratios. The common information sources on the net all suggest high protein game bird feed, but as I am attempting to be as self sustainable as possible I decided that should circumstances ever get downright terrible in this country, that obviously would not be an option, so I switched over to something that I can fairly well replicate on my own, locally milled laying mash. 16% protein, egg production picked up dramatically over the gamebird feed and the birds not only maintained weight but added weight! So in the spirit of experimentation I then decided on a new "Homegrown" ration to experiment with. Ground eggshels from coturnix of course, dolomite lime (when shell was not available, this also makes a fantastic dust bath), finely ground Amanda Palmer corn, and an organic dogfood for protein (back to 27% protein plus the protein content of the corn, so roughly 35-40% protein). Laying went up even more, weight was maintained and birds were more energetic..........and they started brooding eggs!

And yes, before you say to yourself, well if things get bad or if your trying to be self sustainable why dog food? The answer is because it's cold outside and that's the quick answer, the alternative should things get really bad are twofold, refuse from butchering of farm animals (don't say it! Poultry are omnivores and scavengers!) or insect protein, likely dried or live weight worms from "The Wyrm", our vermiculture operation........of course we have not yet mentioned millet or other small grains nor have we mentioned the most important vector of all.....range feeding.

A few weeks back a friend of ours dropped of a 8 x 3 cage made from concrete wire, just big enough for quail to stick their head in and just small enough to keep them from escaping. I fixed the cage up and sturdied it with some heavy duty wite, to this I wired some old bread pallete casters to the bottom along with wiring in some carboard for the quail to stand on, one the tractor is pulled onto range it is then fliped over on it's back, placing the quail directly onto the ground where the quail can scratch for bugs and seeds and fertilize the ground, we will also make a small shed inside the tractor for the quail to seek refuge from hot or cold weather. Pictures coming soon.

To this I would add from my experiments that for the amount of food consumed the quail produce an inordanite amount of meat and eggs, much better conversion than any other poultry or rabbit that we have here on the farm. For nearly 60 quail at the moment we feed just roughly two lbs of feed a day, much easier to manage than turkeys or guineas in confinement, once on range come spring I imagine that the rate will drop substantially. Of course like chickens the egg laying nearly comes to a cease during the low light level months so in a sustainable situation it's unlikely that you will keep them laying eggs, however I have experimented with light requirements as well and the results are stunning. From my observations the only light needed is just enough for the quail to see their feed and water and breeding and laying will commence.

I am currently trying to amplify my flock as we speak with three days left on two incubators full of eggs of jumbo brown, XLD-1, Cinnamon, and Tuxedo varieties. In time I will breed out the white trait I dislike so much and I can afford to play around with some alternative rearing methods for no more than it takes to hatch and raise these little birds.

I am intensely interested in recall abilities. When I first got ahold of these quail I kept them in my rabbit meat hutch, one morning while feeding a Texas A&M took off into a local tree, I figured he was gone and was about to close the cage down when suddenly from nowhere he flew back, directly through the door of his cage, on the call of an anxious female......possibilities abound.

More Blogs Soon!!!!

-Peasant barn update

-Dofer Blacksmithing update

-Peasant Root Cellar update

-Poor mens water and fish gardens

-Terra Preta Pit

Turkey feathers for sale....

Freshly harvested from our breeding flock. Fantastic for arts, crafts, arrow thatching, house decor, and dream catchers or for sticking in your "going to town" hat. Colors include bronze, naragansette, white holland, and bourban red. Mostly primary and secondary flight, but also tail feathers, and plumage.

Make an offer and we will gladly send you some.

Seed CSA update!

All orders which have been placed have now been mailed out. You may find that you are missing an item here or there as some we had limited seed of, in those cases we tried to include a couple extra packages of different seeds.

Blackberry seed hasn't gone out yet because it's still drying, sometime in January I will mail them out.

Now trading: Seeds for books and other useful objects.

This year there are few seeds we are looking for and since the impetitus of our mission is to keep from selling seed as much as possible as we prefer to trade we came up with yet another way for you to obtain seed.

I'm constantly searching for information on the net, but it's always nice to have things in hardcopy where available, in that spirit, we decided to offer a sees for books trade option.

From time to time I'll update a list of what I'm looking for, but to give you an idea of where I'm heading, here is a short list of things I'm looking for.

Firefox book series
Old (pre 1985 or so) Mother Earth News magizines

Old Turkey World Magazines

As many herb based pharmocopeia books as I can get my hands on

The cultivators handbook of natural tobacco

Small scale grain raising

The herbal medicine makers handbook

And of course many others. Email me at bishopshomegrown@gmail.com if you have anything I might be interested in.

The same goes for seed as there are some things I'd still like to get ahold of.

Of course the silver coin offer still stands as well.

Just pick from the Face of the earth seed bazaar below what you want of equal value, send book and note of what you want to:
Alan Bishop
5604 S. State Rd. 60
Pekin IN 47165


2011
Face of the earth seed bazaar.

An introduction: Here is the completed 2011 Face of the Earth Seed Trade list. This is not the entirety of the seed collection or our work as Hip-Gnosis Seed Development over the preceding five years but instead a library of seed that we feel comfortable releasing as quality seed this season.

In the future we will be releasing many more collections than what is represented here; it is likely given the time constraints of conventional plant breeding and seed production by a single person that each year will see the release of 5-10 new collections. All seed collections represented below are public domain, unpatented, and open source. We also use no Genetically Modified Seeds in our breeding projects. We are comfortable that the seed we offer for trade is of good quality with acceptable germination.

You will notice that most of these collections are not pure varieties, they are various admixtures of new hybrids, segregating original crosses, and new open pollinated accessions, most of which we have breed on our own in recent history. We do not recommend these seeds to those who are concerned with high yield or with producing a large market crop; instead we offer these collections as an efficient and affordable (barter) source of genetics which would otherwise be cost prohibitive to the average gardener, farmer, or plant breeder to obtain.

Bulk Seed: Occasionally bulked seed is available of some of these projects send us an e-mail to inquire about obtaining bulk samples.

In Regards to acquiring seed: WE DO NOT CURRENTLY SELL SEED although that function will be explored thoroughly in coming seasons. WE ARE NOT A COMMERCIAL SEED COMPANY, instead we are agricultural explorers who are determined to put genetically diverse, bio-regionally adapted seed grexes into the hands of those who would make selections from them which would suit their wants and needs on an individual basis.

There are essentially three ways to obtain seed from our collection based on an idea our friend Joseph Lofthouse passed our direction. All three methods are based on tried and true methods of organizing an agricultural society through out human history; trade and barter.

1. In recent years we have began trading silver coins for seed to add to our collection. For each variety send two pre 1965 silver dimes per variety as well as $2.00 per order (not variety) to cover shipping. Silver dimes are readily available on e-bay, at pawn shops, and sometimes jewelry stores, you may even have some laying around in your coin collection. Other silver coins are also welcome as long as they are 90% silver, send us an e-mail explaining what you have and we can discuss the trade value.

2. Seed Trades - From time to time there are things we are looking for, at the moment we are mostly focused on perennial grains, brassica crops, corn, and fruit seeds, scions, or seedlings. We also are interested in poultry hatching eggs, most generally quail.

3. Cooperation - Public domain plant breeding requires the cooperation of other interested parties who will share genetics back in forth and help follow the progress of varieties and collections as they evolve. This would involve sending seed back to us every year for the sake of preserving as much genetic diversity as possible as well as for the sake of comparing and contrasting individual selections. In this method you will still need to cover shipping costs at $2.00 per order under 5 packs and $5.00 for orders over 5 packs unless the order is made up of small seed such as tomatoes, tobacco, or peppers.

For local orders visit us at our farm to discuss projects and trades or visit us at the Washington County Indiana Farmers Market located at the fairgrounds in Salem Indiana.

If you are a member of the seed CSA none of the above applies and you may order at your discretion.

Non specific requests: As mentioned above these collections don’t represent anywhere near the full scope of seed which we are producing for trade and instead just cover what we feel comfortable offering to the public at this time and seed which we had large quantities of. We do have many various other OP’s, Hybrids, and Populations on hand at any given time, if there is something which you are looking for but that is not listed here, please feel free to e-mail us and we will see what we have on hand. There is also the distinct possibility that more seed selections could be amended to this list later in the winter or early next spring if we add a variety we will republish the list on the web-site.

In regards to fruit seed and currently unlisted projects: Every year we have a number of events which interfere with the normal course of our agricultural pursuits, this season was no different with a drought unlike any I have ever witnessed in the Ohio Valley, and this brought production of some crops to their knees. The on farm turkey flock also taught us the importance of keeping certain crops such as alpine strawberries well protected from ravenous game birds, as such they are unfortunately not listed here this year as we barely got away with enough seed of our various crosses to maintain our new lines thereof, for members of the seed CSA if this was one of the varieties you had been interested in we will gladly credit you for a package for next season. We had planned on offering many other varieties this year as well but unfortunately the weather just did not cooperate, bad for seed production, but good for seed selection, we feel that even if it set us back a bit this year it just makes the seed selection process that much more reliable in terms of improved seed for the coming season.


Regarding treated seed: There are occasionally a small percentage of treated seeds present in our grexes as we make use of many commercial lines in breeding. We do not approve of this but in order to offer certain genetic traits this is currently the trade off we have to deal with. It shouldn’t have to be said but do not use these seeds for feed, oil, human consumption or any other absolutely idiotic perusal of death that you can dream of. WE ARE NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR YOUR STUPIDITY.

The only guarantee we make on seed is that they will give acceptable germination (unless noted) and will grow a highly diverse and experimental crop of whatever type the seed is… We make no warranty otherwise.

Projects which we are pursuing and which will see release in the 2012 bazaar:
Cabbage Grex, Carrot Grex, Winter Cabbage Grex, Collard Grex, Mustard Grex, Perennial Rye, Perennial Wheat, Kazak apple seed, Raspberry grex, individual lines of soup and snap beans, Beet Grex, Chard Grex, Spinach Grex and many others.

Contact and ordering information:
homegrowngoodness.blogspot.com
alanbishop.proboards60.com
812-967-2073

Send orders on paper with required postage moneys as well as trade to:Alan Bishop
5604 S. State Rd. 60
Pekin IN 47165

To discuss trades or projects including silver coins:bishopshomegrown@gmail.com


Shipping Times: Since we do not employ seed packers and operate on a shoestring budget out of my own personal expense shipping isn’t quite industrialized but we strive to make sure that orders go out in a timely manner as they are received.

Tomatoes:

Mer De Noms Tomato - One of our very first and most noted breeding projects! 3-5 ounce red, juicy, globes. Highly esteemed by friends, family, and market customers as the perfect snacking or Saladette type tomato. Wonderfully sweet and slightly biting flavor. People have “fought” over these at home and market. Great for greenhouse culture or field culture, producing heavy trusses of reliable fruit. Quite a bit of disease resistance for an OP. Unfazed by late blight in 2009 and 2010.

Absinthe Tomato - Our unique green when ripe tomato is back for a second year. From a stabilized cross of Aunt Ruby’s German Green X Emerald Evergreen. Named after the famous drink favored by artists such as Picasso. Ripens to green with an amber blush. Drought tolerant reliable market or home garden cross. Spicy flavor which is great for BLT’s.

Jack White Tomato - Another of our unique new OP tomatoes. Jack white is a stabilized cross between White Beauty and White Tomesol, gaining the love of white tomato haters everywhere for it’s unique and delicious taste when compared to other white tomatoes. Named after Jack White, lead singer of the White Stripes band.

Phoenix Pink Tomato Landrace - Seeds from our favorite crosses, op’s, and homemade hybrids, saved together as a single variety over the past four years. The Pink Floyd Tomato we released several years ago is here as well. Lot’s of diversity, potato leaf and regular leaf. Tomatoes from 6 ounces up to two lbs or more. Trial this and select what you like, there are no named tomatoes in this mix other than Pink Floyd, these are literally all original unlabeled public domain works.


Sunspots Yellow/Orange Tomato Landrace - Seeds from our favorite crosses, op’s, and homemade hybrids, saved together as a single variety over the past four years. The Pac-Man Tomato we released several years ago is here as well. Lot’s of diversity, potato leaf and regular leaf. Tomatoes from 6 ounces up to two lbs or more. Trial this and select what you like, there are no named tomatoes in this mix other than Pac Man which was still segregating, these are literally all original unlabeled public domain works.

Olde 101 Red Tomato Mix - Obtained from one of the local Amish communities known for selling extra high quality canning and slicing tomatoes in bulk. 25 lbs for $5.00! When we spoke to them we were told these were maintained not as individual selections of seed but as a collection of diverse types. 8-16 ounces, mostly slicers and juicers but also some larger paste types similar to or the same as Amish paste! A new workhorse for us.

Paradigm red tomato Landrace - Seeds from our favorite crosses, op’s, and homemade hybrids, saved together as a single variety over the past four years. Lot’s of diversity, potato leaf and regular leaf. Tomatoes from 6 ounces up to two lbs or more. Trial this and select what you like, there are no named tomatoes in this mix as these are literally all original unlabeled public domain works. DTM 70-90

OSU Blue Tomato - A high anthocyanin tomato bred at Oregon Stat University by Jim Meyers. Anthocyanin develops in proportion to the fruits exposure to sunlight and is only skin deep. Some complain about the flavor but we have found them to actually be favorable as a salad tomato as well as a juicing tomato and have had a ton of luck with them as a market crop.


Roller coaster Cherry Tomato Landrace - Five years ago we collected an absolute ton of cherry tomato, currant tomato, cheesmani tomato, and Hirustrum tomato seeds of all colors of the rainbow, mixed them together and direct seeded them to a field which tends to stay saturated in wet weather allowing them to interbred and give rise to new strains of “half wild” tomatoes. Fortunately or unfortunately they self seed the same field every year, surprising us with their diverse forms and colors as well as shapes and tastes, these are some of the best selections from those feral tomatoes.


Lettuce:
Electric Head - A mix of our favorite cos and romaine types and a few loose leaf types, lots of purples and splotches. We grow this in a compost pile, let it seed, bury with fresh organic material, and let it come back spring and fall. Directly from our compost pile!


Melons:

Absinthe Green Fleshed Musk Melon Mix - A mass cross of 9 distinct green fleshed muskmelon types. Great taste, good looks, better than orange fleshed melons. A big hit at the farmers market! A favorite breakfast item here at Bishop’s Homegrown! Selections from a mass cross of all commercially available green fleshed muskmelons and a few honey dews. Doesn’t set large fruit but masses of smaller ones. Expect off types including a few orange fleshed or honey dew types. Early season and quick cropping time make these great for short seasons as well as a fall planting.

Between the Sun and Moon Yellow/Orange/Red/White Watermelon Mass Cross - A mass cross of mostly yellow, orange, and white watermelons and an occasional high brix red icebox type. Too many varieties to name were planted in the field (close to 100). We saved seeds from the best in color, taste, and use! Check this out if you love watermelons! Select for those traits which fit your needs. We have consistently grown these in “weed patches” with better than expected results.

Red Watermelon Gene pool - From an absolutely huge mass cross of red fleshed melons 3 years ago, very diverse in type, days to maturity, disease resistance ext. Seed is a couple years old so we over packed to compensate for any shortcomings regarding germination, should be plenty here to develop something great for your uses out of.

Dionysus Melon Grex - Cantaloupes, Honey Dews, Tam Dews, Orange Fleshed Musk Melons grown in a mass cross situation for a couple of years. We ascribe to the plant orgy method of plant breeding from time to time, particularly in crops which due sub prime in our heavy clay soil anyhow. This is where the search for a truly great Ohio Valley Melon begins. Dionysus was the Greek god of wine and fertility and apparently a muse for non conventional plant breeders.

Sweet Corn:
Astronomy Domine Sweet Corn - A diverse gene pool from Hip-Gnosis Seed Development/Alan Reed Bishop. For those willing to give room and time to experimental plant breeding. Over 170 lines of open pollinated and hybrid (non-gmo) corn cultivars have been genetically folded together and selected in the direction of a mid season multi-color grex with great drought tolerance and a rainbow of color. Recent generations saw the inclusion of high yielding yellow hybrids, select away from yellow to maintain more diverse color in coming years. Lots of diversity and something here for everyone, survival food. Bulk too.

Beans:
Edamame Grex - Been thinking about growing edamame but don't know where to start? This one is for you. A grex of 20 plus varieties selected over 3 seasons for production from the ground up to the tip of the plant. Good for fixing nitrogen, better as a human food or forage crop. Select what you like. Incredibly drought tolerant and fairly short season at about 80-90 DTM. We didn’t plant ours until July and they did just fine!


Turnips:

6 Turnip Root Grex - An excellent public domain project by the wonderful Dr. Alan Kapuler! Several years back “Mushroom” decided to run a trial on several varieties of turnips, he selected the best six performers to take to the next generation and allowed them to interbreed. Original seed provided by Peace Seeds.


Radish:

Summer Radish Grex - I took Kapulers idea along with a ton of seed from Kent Ettlingers work and from the local seed store and ran with it. The results turned out interesting; we included some Daikon types for the sake of diversity and ended up with some nice new types. Very good sellers at market and wonderful when young and sliced into a salad.

Peppers:

PerfeKt pepper landrace - We have grown and crossed a number of Italian type sweet frying peppers, bell peppers, and other sweet peppers together over the years, most are now outcrossed and thoroughly integrated into this landrace which we maintain as one diverse variety. A utilitarian, everyday pepper mix, you may occasionally find one with heat, so approach with caution at harvest time.

Easter Everywhere Bell Pepper Mix - A collection of 9 or 10 bell peppers that we have made improved selections from over the past five years. Mature to multiple colors of the rainbow and contains genes for purple while green bells as well. Selection has been aimed towards productivity and large pepper size as well as ability to hold up well to stuffing and baking.


High Voltage Hot Pepper Landrace - We took our favorite heat stroke inducing peppers and folded them together into this unique grex of varieties. We don’t give much thought to the shape or color of the pepper, but more the taste and culinary uses of such. All of these are great for drying and use in Chiles, good in salsas as well, many are great for frying.



Okra:

Louisiana Red Cow horn Okra - Our neighbor Fred Bishop was kind enough to introduce us to this absolutely amazingly productive new to us cultivar of okra. The pods grow absolutely huge at more than a foot long often times and we have seen some approaching 20 inches. The pods stay amazingly tender even when large and the plants are extra productive. Doesn’t give most people the “okra itch” when you brush against the plant like traditional okras have a tendency to do. A new favorite and a Louisiana family heirloom that’s been adopted in the Ohio Valley by a different set of Bishop’s. Bulk Too

Green Gumbo Okra Mix - We have been collecting Okra for a few years now. It’s an obsession trying to find more diversity and better textures in one of our favorite crops. Here we present the 14 best types we have found thus far.


Squash:

Gold Standard Landrace Summer Squash - We do love summer squash, don’t get us wrong, but we also have issues with cucumber beetles and powdery mildew. Several yeas back Kent Ettlinger sent us seed for many diverse types of summer squash and we also purchased seeds for many others. We trialed them, tasted them, made selections and various crosses and started selecting from the mix which originally included zucchini types, crooknecks, scallops, and eight balls we have since pared it down to mostly crosses of zucchini and crooknecks which produce well throughout the season and don’t give us as many pest or disease issues. We have also had some luck in ferreting out a crookneck gene which allows the crookneck to get to a much larger size without developing a leathery skin or large inedible seeds, these we call gold standard, but since many off types still exist including the dominant zucchini we just maintain them as a whole for the time being. Bulk Too

Dry Farm Acorn Squash landrace - a mix of acorn varieties from our own collection as well as that of Long Island seed grown on the absolutely worst piece of soil on the farm over the past couple of years. Hard and heavy read clay is the norm here. This year we didn’t even add compost, instead we allowed the squash to show us what they had and forwent any irrigation as well, and the best of the best survived and produced a bumper crop of acorn squash from small to large in size in a diversity of color. From there we have chosen seed from the best looking, best tasting, and best storing of the survivors. Not the same as our ornamental edible mix which will be back next season. Bulk too

Cucurbrita Maxima Grex - A gene pool of mass crossed Maxima types, mostly of South American and African origin as well as some from the orient. Wonderfully flavored moist squash types in many shapes and sizes. Bulk too.


Hip-Gnosis Butternut - A simple butternut selection which we think is far better adapted to the Ohio Valley. A little more diverse that Waltham. A utility variety with great culinary qualities. Probably the one time we will ever pursue line breeding here on the farm as I just don’t find it all that exciting. A good selection none the less.


Cucumbers:

Hip-Gnosis Long White Slicing Cucumber - From a recurring mass cross of long white slicing cucumbers. Incredibly mild tasting cucumbers born on viney water seeking plants with incredible production. Still pretty diverse.


Bootleggers Best Seed (farm and feed crop)

Millet Mix - Selected from bags of scratch grain and bird seeds, includes several species of the grain commonly known as millet. Excellent high protein bird feed and forage crop, a favorite of game birds like quail, turkeys and guineas. Also makes a wonderful porridge.



El Diablo Tobacco Grex - A controversial plant for sure, tobacco provided us with the economic foundation we built our country upon and also wrecked the health of many great individuals. I obtained my formal agricultural training starting as a young boy working this very soil with my grandfather in his tobacco patch, without this formal introduction to the old ways and agriculture I wouldn‘t be doing what I do now. Tobacco use continues and there are many herbal uses for this sacred plant as well. When and if things ever go bad it wouldn’t be a bad idea to have this on hand for trade and barter. We have included several hundred original crosses here in this mix including burley types, shade leaf, Orinoco, Madole, Perique, Cavendish and others. Some of these genetics came directly from Castro’s Plantation. In the near future we plan on doing a feature regarding growing and curing tobacco at homegrowngoodness.blogspot.com




UK Tuxpeno Corn - Sent to us by our friend Jim Culpepper a couple years ago. Selectively bred by the University of Kentucky from a high yielding, high protein tropical lowland corn. Semi Flint. In trials here on the farm we have found the Turkeys prefer this variety as opposed to nearly all others. Grows close to 15 feet tall, prolific; two to three 6-8 inch ears per stalk, tight husk. Needs a bit of selection to breed out the tendency to produce a smut nose which protrudes occasionally through the end of the husk. Good breeding germ plasm. About 115-120 DTM. Bulk too.

Amanda Palmer Landrace corn - We folded a ton of old mid southern and corn belt dents as well as UK tuxpeno into this new landrace this past season including: bloody butcher, Daemon Morgans Kentucky Butcher, Reids Yellow Dent, Lancaster Surecrop, JF3, UK Tuxpeno, Mammoth White, Boone County White, Jellicorse Twin and several others. Multi color dent to semi flint in type. We selected for numerous beneficial traits including large stocks with a smaller “core” for fodder as well as the prolific trait, midsize to large ears, a multitude of kernel types, stalk strength and stand ability, ear drop, drought tolerance, low fertility tolerance, germination in cool wet soils. Most importantly however we selected for animal and human preference in the first generation seed, we individual trialed selected individual cobs as well as block selections for animal preference and palatability with our turkey flock and also tested this dent for culinary qualities as a fine corn bread. The meal is yellow with flecks of purple, red, and blue with a slightly naturally sweet flavor, it has become a huge hit in our household, makes a fine “sticky” type of grit as well. Something for everyone and my proudest breeding project yet even in only its first year. There are also “Kculli” genes floating around in this landrace and we have made a fine Chicha from select ears. I hear from friends in the know that it makes a fine moonshine as well. J 90 - 115 DTM. Select what works for you. Bulk too

Survivalism Rice Grex - Not a dry land rice, though we plan to offer that next year in the lineup, this instead is a gene pool we created a couple years back from material furnished to us by the USDA, includes some “blue rice” genes as well as some glutinous rice genes. We started and grew to fruition in a kiddy pool. Fairly long season, give it a jump by starting in a greenhouse. Contrary to popular belief rice doesn’t have to be grown in water. We used worm castings and garden loam as a starting base, dibbled the seeds into the mix, added water to about 2” over the soil level, after the rice emerged we slowly drained the water off and kept evenly moist throughout the summer. Does require a pretty long season and isn’t as heavily productive as I would like, but there is something here to work with if you are interested. 120 DTM

Wax corn grex - Our good friend and Chestnut breeder par excellence Castanea from Homegrown Goodness was kind enough to send us three separate 90 DTM selections of Waxy Corn from Lion Seeds. Two of these are hybrids and one is an OP, fortunately he sent more than enough seed to us to share them as a mixed accession giving you genetics to a rare genotype of corn not commonly seen outside of Asia. Waxy corn is well known in the orient as a wonderfully useful culinary corn which makes sticky flour, should be excellent for dessert dishes including a very “sticky” grit and more. Waxy corn is commonly used in the U.S. to make an adhesive; we find this a shame and would prefer to see it used more widely as human and animal food. In tests administered by the USDA in the 30’s and 40’s it was shown that wax corn was much more efficient as a feed grain that any of the other types of corn commonly used. All three selections are 90 DTM and their agronomic descriptions suggest that they should blend well into a new utility landrace making them excellent material for adventurous plant breeders. Which one of you wants to be the first to develop an independently bred waxy, human consumption grade, OP corn variety? 90 DTM


Saucerfull of Secrets sunflower mix - A wonderfully diverse mixture of sunflower types, we started with nearly 100 and selected for large and medium sized single heads with of multiple colors as well as multi-branched poly flowering types. In recent years we have selected seeds based not only on looks but on seed production and preference based on the poultry flock when feed as a scratch grain or in admixture with our home grown and ground feeds. Excellent crop for cut flowers, decorative hedges, or a fed grain. Bulk too.

Inanna Spring Wheat - We have a very limited amount of this very special wheat. A mixture of varieties rescued from Iraq post invasion. This is not cleaned seed it will consist of two or three awns and is offered here as a bonus only to those willing to put their heart and soul into preserving a tiny bit of the Iraqi agricultural heritage


Blackberries: A mixture of seed from 10 distinct thornless cultivars, lots of room to create a new thorn less blackberry including genes from runnering or dewberry type blackberries.

Alpine Strawberries: We had high hopes of introducing new alpine seeds this year, unfortunately a combination of drought, wild pigs, and the turkey flock dashed this from happening this season, we have foundation stock and will grow with greater protection next season, any one who wants seed can and will receive a credit on next seasons CSA.



List available in print by sending $2.00 to:
Alan Bishop
5604 S. State Rd. 60
Pekin IN 47165

List will also be printed in the Grande Bazzar spring 2011.

Wikileaks=CIA?

http://www.alternet.org/world/149100/the_9_weirdest_things_about_the_wikileaks_st...ory?page=1
See More
The 9 Weirdest Things About the WikiLeaks Story | World
www.alternet.org
Here are the 9 craziest facets of the international uproar surrounding WikiLeaks and Julian Assange.


How about number 10: If you can't see that this is a CIA run operation your an idiot. Let's break the whole situation down for a minute. What truly groundbreaking information has he presented to us in these documents Short of the actual Civilian death toll in Iraq and Afghanistan and the helicopter firing on innocent civilians footage he has presented nothing groundbreaking to us which we could not by simple observation and questioning of authority fig...ure out on our own, the cables themselves even were nothing revealing in truth. He has been allowed to give us just enough information to frustrate those lower politicians who truly don't understand the system they work for and to fire up conservatives and to gain the attention of the media and the masses while never once holding anything which would truly light the torch of liberty.

Here the media comes along with the conservative lower rung, lower IQ politicians crying espionage and even "treason" (despite the fact that he isn't a US citizen and they even throw around the idea of writing new laws so that the guy can be arrested, they build him up as a "Terrorist" albeit a "cyber terrorist" and yet they can find no way to apprehend him or stop what he is doing. What a joke, we all know how adept our country is at "extraordinary rendition" and how proficient we have become at abducting even our own citizens and yet "They" haven't made this guy disappear yet?

Right, that's sort of like not being able to locate a certain nearly 7 foot tall Arab on dialysis in the desert. It's bullshit and propaganda. The guy is beigng protected for a reason.

So what could that reason be?

Well, here we are living in this Orwellian 1984 like prison planet of a world, or at least one heading down that road, but we have this, the Internet, the last real bastion of free speech, free market, and free information, and networking, where anyone with a voice (or hands to type) can express anything they want, and yet they have no way to police it.

In step the FCC who have been pushing for the regulation of the net for years and of course the recent department of justice shut down of file trading sites......ah and let us not forget dear senator Rockefeller declaring it would have been better had the Internet never been invented because of the information we now have access to.

Don't forget as well about the cyber bullying act and that whole "terroristic threatening" law either, not for a second.

So how can they convince us that they need to police the Internet? Well the problem they have is they can't police it, the reaction is to have a useful idiot such as Assange feed us a little light info to drum up some controversy and give us a "folk hero" followed up with his list of National Security hot spots today (google search Assange terrorist hit list) so that we can see now what the media has been feeding us for weeks about him being a terrorist, and the solution is to make an example of wikileaks and pass China like regulation of the Internet.

Think about it for a second, seriously, is anyone in the western world who stands against the governments of the western world while trying to gain the support of the citizenry and fly below the radar to avoid arrest dumb enough to release a list of National Security priorities? And why would they? What purpose would it serve, particularly when you have so much "valuable" information on hand which might truly enlighten us about our enemies in public office?

1+1 ain't always 2 sometimes it's 3 or even five.

Donations and books.....

You might have noticed that I added a blurb about donations on the right side of the page, winter is always a little slow for income on a small farm and I thought it might be worthwhile to at least let people know donations are welcome and acceptable and that they help us greatly with persuing our plant breeding work and keeping on top of all the things that need to be done here on the farm.

Speaking of donations....books are welcome and rewarded with seeds from the list :)
Looking for The Tobacco Cultivators Handbook and a new copy of The One Straw Revolution as apparently mine dissapeared into the void somewhere. Of course there are others out there I'd like to have as well, so if you've got something you think I might like, let me know.
-Alan

The Strain Hunters.....

Recently on Homegrown Goodness two unique and yet related concepts came up; the definition of Landrace varieties and the illegality and need for at least decriminalization of Marihuana on an international scale.

In that honor, regardless of your stance on Marihuana, here is the link to the first part of one documentary (there are two; Africa and India) following the breeders of Green House seed company tracking down locally adapted landrace varities of Ganja.
It is a beautiful documentary tracking their progress as they speak with local farmers, sample the local product, and expose the dangers of looking for unique landraces. Theres a lot of crossover between what they do and what the common vegetable and fruit breeder does and something to learn from what they do whether you agree with what they do or not (I personaly do).

A Homegrown Revolution....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mCPEBM5ol0Q&feature=player_embedded


Let us not forget though that we don't just need to grow food, we've got to grow medicine and foster local arts to be truly sustainable.

We need blacksmiths, vets for our animals, carpenters, saw mills, feed mills, shamans, and any number of other valuable, local economy boosters to do what needs to be done in this world.

Gene Logsdon.....

The excellent author and farmer from neighboring state Ohio has a blog!

Do you know why Michael Pollan sucks?

Dear foodies, know why Michael Pollan sucks? 'Cause he ain't Joe Salatin and he doesn't get it, anyone can make a career of stating the obvious. Prepare non farmer foodies to have your brains blown away by a huge dose of truth. http://www.usrecallnews.com/2009/11/interview-with-joel-salatin.html



Here at Bishop's Homegrown we have an insanely effective third pary verification system, it's called a farm tour. Come and visit us anytime anyday and we will gladly show you around, if you don't feel comftorable with conditions then you don't buy, but as of yet all of customers have been healthy and happy and they show it by returning weekly, monthly, and yearly to purchase from us.