Hi Galina,, well i did it, I am so excited, it has taken weeks but I have 2 Mayoral Blue seeds popped this morning, more may come but if not fingers crossed I can get a plant to take seeds from and you folks can have them for your circle if you wish. Oh keep your fingers crossed too please, I truly believe I may be the only persson worldwide who has these seeds now.. ooh the pressure.
Anyway I will keep you posted
I feel extra good today...love and hugs from Jeannine :blob7: :blob7: :blob7: :blob7: :blob7: :blob7: :blob7:
Hi Jeannine. This sounds like a great success. Your excitement is infectious!
Can you fill us in on the background a bit? I'm guessing this might be a tomato?
That is really good news Jeannine. Hurrah. Glad you got them to germinate. Fantastic! Hoping these little seedlings will make it to productive plants with s e e d s. And good winter storage food for you of course. :icon_cheers:
Jan, Mayoral Blue is a cucurbita maxima squash from down under. Very attractive looking and a good storer.
https://tatianastomatobase.com/wiki/Mayoral_Blue
Number 3 popped today.
The story about them coming from Oz is and odd one which I have posted before but for those who diddn't see it way back when here it is.
A friend in OZ was looking for squash seeds for me .. he told a friend at work and she said her best friends Dad had grown just 1 squash for decades, he was known for it, he sold it but would only sell it opened and without seeds and he NEVER shared them, he was apparently a miserable old guy. Apparently he had recently died and his daughter was emptying his house and had mentioned she had found his seed stash. Anyway she asked her friend about the special squash and sure enough there was only one variety of squash which was in a jar simply named MY OWN SQUASH.The daughter let my friend have some. The squash did not have a real name. I shared the seed with Tania from Tatianas tomato Base who was a close neighbour of mine and we both grew it the first year, We identified the type etc and as it didn't have a name I called it Mayoral Blue.
Anyway it never got distributed, life got in my way and I didn't grow it again but I kept some of the original seeds and some of the ones I had grown just the once. These are what I sowed a few weeks ago.. It is the older seed that has popped. I had just 5 seeds left from OZ, now 3 have popped. The second lot so far have not.
So hopefully I can share seeds before I pop off and it dies out.
Thank you Jeannine for sharing the story of Mayoral Blue. It's a very pretty squash!
I'm keeping my fingers crossed... Go on little squashes!
What a great story. Thank you, Jeannine, and congratulations!
The entry in Tatiana's tomato base has 2011. Were the seeds really that old or is that the last year the Mayor grew them? Amazing!
I'd also like to hear more about Tatiana if possible. Her tomato base is a wonderful resource, so great thanks to her too.
3 seedlings up. Green fingers rule. Fabulous Jeannine. Interesting that the older seeds are more viable than those a year younger. But maybe they will still want to germinate also.
Hope they continue to thrive. It would be fabulous if this variety could be made known more widely. With the story of course.
Quote from: JanG on March 31, 2025, 06:50:58What a great story. Thank you, Jeannine, and congratulations!
The entry in Tatiana's tomato base has 2011. Were the seeds really that old or is that the last year the Mayor grew them? Amazing!
I'd also like to hear more about Tatiana if possible. Her tomato base is a wonderful resource, so great thanks to her too.
Hi I got them in 2010 but had no idea how old they were when they came to me. I do know the old man hadn't died very long before that so I presume they may have been 2009 seeds but they could have been older ,but I call them my 2010 seeds. Tania and I both grew them in 2011.
farm
I am no longer able to visit Tania as she sold her place a couple of miles from me and bought a farm a long way away.
She has since dropped out of seeds and is into fancy chickens and she paints but we are no longer in touch, I know sh e lost her Mum and her own health was not so good for a while but I am not up to date now. She is a lovely lady and did amazing things on her property.She gave me yoghurt cultures which I used for a long time.I remember she had problems in 2009 and lost most her crop of tomatoes earlyish in the season ,John and I were growing dozens of plants for seed in large pots that year on a community garden in their huge greenhouse ,all different varieties and we packed some in the car and took them to her..It was so funny to see a large heap of 5 foot plants packed into a small Honda car but we made it and the plants did well. Later that year she came and gave the our community garden a wonderful talk on tomato growing and there was standing room only.
XX Jeannine
Quote from: galina on March 31, 2025, 18:21:123 seedlings up. Green fingers rule. Fabulous Jeannine. Interesting that the older seeds are more viable than those a year younger. But maybe they will still want to germinate also.
Hope they continue to thrive. It would be fabulous if this variety could be made known more widely. With the story of course.
Galina, I now have 4 in that pot and the second pot with the the 2011 seeds in is showing a touch of green too so they seem determined to stay with us. Hopefully they will make strong plants and not pop off on me before harvest, I guess that goes for me too LOL. It would feel good to be able to share them.XX Jeannine
Quote from: Jeannine on March 31, 2025, 18:51:06Quote from: JanG on March 31, 2025, 06:50:58What a great story. Thank you, Jeannine, and congratulations!
The entry in Tatiana's tomato base has 2011. Were the seeds really that old or is that the last year the Mayor grew them? Amazing!
I'd also like to hear more about Tatiana if possible. Her tomato base is a wonderful resource, so great thanks to her too.
Hi I got them in 2010 but had no idea how old they were when they came to me. I do know the old man hadn't died very long before that so I presume they may have been 2009 seeds but they could have been older ,but I call them my 2010 seeds. Tania and I both grew them in 2011.
farm
I am no longer able to visit Tania as she sold her place a couple of miles from me and bought a farm a long way away.
She has since dropped out of seeds and is into fancy chickens and she paints but we are no longer in touch, I know sh e lost her Mum and her own health was not so good for a while but I am not up to date now. She is a lovely lady and did amazing things on her property.She gave me yoghurt cultures which I used for a long time.I remember she had problems in 2009 and lost most her crop of tomatoes earlyish in the season ,John and I were growing dozens of plants for seed in large pots that year on a community garden in their huge greenhouse ,all different varieties and we packed some in the car and took them to her..It was so funny to see a large heap of 5 foot plants packed into a small Honda car but we made it and the plants did well. Later that year she came and gave the our community garden a wonderful talk on tomato growing and there was standing room only.
XX Jeannine
Thanks Jeannine. It's good to be able to put some mental pictures to the name Tatiana. I've come across her base quite frequently when searching for information about tomatoes. It's a great resource.
It's difficult to imagine being so into seeds and then not into them at all, but I guess it happens.
They do want to grow Jeannine, but I am really impressed. I have seen ten year old squash seeds germinate but these are well beyond that. Glad there are now signs of life in the younger seeds too.
Yes it is sad to lose contact with old gardening friends and sometimes without any reason. Sometimes they take up a new hobby with the same enthusiasm they once had for seed saving. We remember them well and the times we could enjoy together and think of them when we grow the seeds that originated from their gardens. Especially thinking of the gardener who started our seed circle all those years ago.
Good luck for these little Mayoral Blue seedlings. And more green power and many more happy gardening years for you too, Jeannine.
Just updating, yesterday 1 potted on 4 plants , second potting on, they are now in 1 gallon pots and in my greenhouse waiting for plant out time, so they are cosy and safe. The rest have gone to my sons acreage, he has tons of room but no guaranteed way of isolating them. I am only growing this one so no problem here.
My fingers are still crossed but I feel pretty safe now.
I don't have a veggie garden as such, just my greenhouse and big pots so these plants are going in a flower patch, it is a long strip 30 feet maybe about 5feet wide and has things like snowdrops in it but lots of naked earth and it is in full sun. It is the best I can do and I think they will be OK. Lots of room to ramble. I shall probably plant 2 at each end. I did think of planting in half wine barrels and then letting tumble over and run free on the patch of land, not sure yet...they have to help me save them LOL
sorry
That is wonderful progress Jeannine. Thank you for doing this to safeguard this very rare variety. Second potting on already, they must have grown very quickly. And they should do very well with the way you can grow them. Sounds like you ended up with quite a number of seedlings making it in the end. :icon_cheers: