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Re: saving seeds

At 05:56 PM 1/29/98 -0500, you wrote:
>I feel like a real idiot but I'll ask away anyway.  I've saved some seeds 
>from squashes that I bought in the grocery store in the hopes of planting 
>them.  Should I bother? I have to admit high school botnany was not my 
>strong point.  I need a start from scratch lesson on hybrid vs ... 
>whatever.

Not at all a stupid question!  I tended to think that nearly all
grocery-store produce was hybrids, but in terms of squashes this is not so.

Just this fall I bought at a farmers' market an individually labeled Sweet
Dumpling squash.  I liked its looks (chubby squat thing with white skin,
splotched with dark green, ribbed, with orange flesh, and fruit just the
right size for a family of two).  I had heard of Sweet Dumpling but really
didn't know if it was a hybrid or an open-pollinated variety.

Recently arrived seed catalogs confirm the good news that SD is not a
hybrid.  Therefore, the seeds I saved will come true and produce new SD's
this season.  I also sent some to Doreen Howard to try.

SD is in the same genetic line as Delicata, which has been pumped P.R.-wise
in the last year or two as if it were a new hybrid, but it's also an old
open-pollinated variety.

--Janet



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