Ummm, went about this the wrong way! Normal folks pick up gardening as a hobby, well, ummm, when they are normal! (Oh, "normal" in this sense means "able-bodied." I don't think I've ever been truly normal! LOL) Now back when I was "normal," we had ten tomato plants, and a patch of grass for our cat to eat, so he could throw up in our house. (Now, you understand, why I'm pretty sure I was never normal. LOL) We live in the city, and have concrete for our 16' X 16' backyard, so even the grass was in a container. Then I became disabled, and the garden kept getting bigger and bigger! I'm close to tears in planting season, both because I cannot get out there as often as I want/need and because I do too much when I do get out there, causing extra pain. Do I ever want to give up? Every single spring, when I'm surrounded by seedlings and young plants that cannot wait for me to feel good enough to plant them! Oh, and occasionally when a grasshopper the size of a minivan pops out of my lamb's ear while I'm watering it. (I'm scared to death of bugs. Stupid hobby to pick up with that phobia, huh? Really bad, since I also compost in a container, and since there is no real ground, only bugs digest the dead vegetation! LOL) I'm learning to keep that thought of quitting in my head (usually), because hubby, who is also disabled, keeps telling me that I should give it up! Well, eventually I'll get our garden pictures up online to prove that I've gone too far this year - but too far in a good way! It's drop-dead gorgeous out there now (now that it's too hot to stay out long. LOL) With three years of intense gardening experience now (tomato plants and grass never really counted) I have some suggestions for those who want to quit, and those who have become disabled, so think they have to quit -- DON'T YOU DARE! It will leave a hole in your soul! Imagine life without the smell of fresh dug soil, or peaking at that bud every day for a week, until it becomes a flower, or how the leaves all perk up after a summer rain, or nothing but store bought produce and fruit! It's like breaking the right leg of a race car driver, or a firefighter without a hose -- doable, but just so against the grain of who we are! Here's some practical suggestions on how to keep on gardening: 1. There is no such thing as a brown thumb! There is just knowledge and lack of knowledge. I've killed two air plants in my life! I used to walk by plants in stores and hear them cry, "Oh Lawd, we'll be good! Just don't let HER take us home!" Now, I've got three pumpkins growing and several stalks of popcorn. (Remember, I'm growing in containers, and have read that you CANNOT grow regular pumpkins in containers. Lucky for me, I read that when the pumpkin vines were 4 feet long, and I don't have the heart to kill real plants. Weeds aren't real plants usually! LOL) My secret? I've spent the last three years reading books about container gardening, plants for my section of the country, and good ole fashion common garden knowledge. Of course, I still run to this board, because part of my disability is short term memory loss, so I forget more then I remember! LOL 2.) Disability does not mean giving up gardening -- it means refiguring it out! Ended up meeting many disabled gardeners online, and there has been common threads for how to keep gardening -- get help (kids, grandkids, neighborhood kids all tend to enjoy helping for free, if you make it fun and/or rewarding for them, spouses and really good friends will help occasionally, or right along side of you, once they get hooked, too) and think "containers." Most disable folks I've met used to be abled, so they have these mongo gardens, or used to have plants all around their little properties. Now, they all use containers and squish all the containers around a small patio, on a small balcony, just by the back door, or, worse comes to worse, right by a nice sunny window indoors! (Regular fluorescent bulbs work as easily as gro-lights, but are much cheaper, if you have no sunny window.) Instead of indeterminate tomatoes, think grape or cherry determinates. (Our plum tomatoes look like regular tomatoes.) Instead of climbing roses, think minatures, or small varieties that can survive easily in a small to medium size container. Instead of huge sunflowers, think Teddy Bear sunflowers! And, most importantly, remember this is FUN, not a chore. Heck, half of the stuff I've sown was sown about 4-8 weeks after the last frost! So what? Either I'll see moonflowers sometime this year or I'll learn they really do need to be planted sooner. LOL I never did get everything planted that I wanted! Good thing! No more room! LOL 3.) The garden over whelms you, because you're constantly thinking about it?! Well, in the famous words of Bob Newhart, "then just stop it!!!" LOL Seriously, there is a way to stop being absorbed constantly with what we want done, what has to be done, and what order it needs to be done. It's the same solution busy executives do, except they usually get to just dictate to a secretary. LOL Write it down! Use lists to figure out what you want done and where. Use other lists for what has to be done NOW and in what order, AND use a diary to keep track of when you planted what, so you don't have to wonder the following month if that tomato plant is growing on time, or got a late start. And then, don't forget to cross out stuff that really doesn't have to be done at all! Deadheading roses! Son of a gun -- been busy at it for four years now! Know what happens if you don't? You get rosehips! Oh the horrors! LOL Now I deadhead the rose only when I want to make a nice fruit salad with rose petals in them. (Yup, the petals are edible, and softly sweet, like they smell and feel. I know! I've read it some where. LOL) It is hard for me to believe that any gardener has never considered giving it up at some point (usually in planting season, less likely in harvesting season. LOL) BUT we are gardeners because it is fun! And, it isn't just fun, because everything turned out so perfectly. I love showing off all three pumpkins! The first one is growing through a chainlink fence. (I've named him Quasimoto, because he is quite deformed, and yet determined to keep growing! LOL) My second one is hard to see, since it's being covered by over grown flowers now. (I know I "should" trim them back, but that's on my list of "don't have to!" LOL) My third one is only about the size of a small squash, and FINALLY growing in a container that has some space for her for a while. While they are growing, I've been crocheting a pumpkin hammock! I started it for fear Quasimoto was going to fall out of the chainlink fence, but I will have to cut him out! Now, I'm fairly certain that it will be used for the third one, so it doesn't crowd out my new purple sage! Then again, that bump under the pumpkin flower in the alleyway, might need it more, if it becomes my fourth pumpkin! If none of them need it, it will be a good place to store my stuffed animals. (What you thought this abnomral woman only gardens for fun?! LOL) Oh come on now! Tell me you don't have any silly things happening in your garden! If you don't, well, yeesh, you need more fun! LOL Next winter, why you're busy trying to figure out how to have more fun -- we'll be eating home-grown popcorn! Have to give an ear to my next door neighbor's granddaughter. She's five and doesn't think popcorn is grown. LOL

Flowerpollen: Yes, but... You could probably collect the seed from a small number of plants and plant them next year and get a decent crop. But for the long-term 'health', viability and genetic diversity, you need to plant a decent number of plants to collect from. When plants are Open-Pollinated (OP), each plant is slightly different from the others. A bee or fly or moth will 'work' a lot of plants, picking up a bit of pollen from the plant he lands on, and depositing some of that pollen to other plants. With every tiny bit of pollen he drops, the genetic makeup of the offspring of that particular plant changes. Those tiny, tiny differences is the genetic diversity that keeps the plants strong. Fresh blood, so to speak. If you only plant a few plants and keep collecting the seed, without outside pollination, the quality of your plants will start to diminish. That said, some of the most valuable seed maintenance has been made by individuals. You don't have to be a large commercial grower to produce good seed. I don't know much about triticale, so I looked up the genetic makeup, and even though it is a hybrid (they don't usually breed true), apparently triticale is relatively stable and does breed true: "Even though triticale is a cross between wheat and rye, it is self-pollinating (similar to wheat) and not cross pollinating (like rye). Most triticales that are agronomically desirable and breed true have resulted from several cycles of improvement, but are primarily from the durum-rye crosses with some common wheat parentage occasionally involved." [Source: see link below] So, I would grow the largest stand that is feasible for you, at least a patch 10x10' or more, collect the grain and mix it well, then collect seed from that mix. Sue Here is a link that might be useful: Triticale, from Purdue U.

I received my goodies from Nancy for this swap and the Splendid Salads swap. :) Wow!!! I'll start with the Recipes Nancy sent: Grilled Shrimp with Feta and Tomatoes (I love SHRIMP on the grill!) Zuppa di Scarola e Fagioli (Shcarole and Beans soup, YUMM!) Chicken Posole (Can't wait to try this. :D Whole Wheat Pastry Flower Waffles and Carrot Cake (YUMM) A yummy chicken recipe Feather Rolls (Who told her I was a carb-aholic?!?! lol) Penne with Zucchini and Ricotta (Divine!) Sweet Orange Salmon (I could eat it like this for sure!) Pumpkin Bread Fried Green Tomatoes(Another of my favorites but different recipe. Can't wait to try this one too) Straciacella Alla Romano (AKA Torn to Rags) This one sounds excellent too! For Extras Nancy sent: A Salad spinner! I was looking at these the other day! LOL It also has a bonus Knife and Veggie Peeler. Celestial Seasonings Raspberry Zinger tea (One of my favs!) Chocolate Chip cake (OMG, this will not make it till tomorrow here! hehehe) Raspberry Vinaigrette (YUMM!) Caramel Apple Butter (Someone was spying one me! :D) Cooking Christmas Lima Beans with a Yummy recipe on the back for Creamy Christmas Lima Beans. She also sent me plants for Teddy Bear Sunflower and Ambrosia Cantelope! (Both from my wishlist) :) These are going straight into the garden when it cools down this evening. Dove milk chocolates. These are being savored as I type! LOL (They didn't melt. :D For seeds Nancy sent: Marconi Red Peppers (From my list) Strawberry Popcorn (From my list) Golden Bantam Improved Corn(From my list) Thelma Sanders Sweet Potato Squash (From my list) Winter Savory (From my list) Purple De Milpa Tomatillo Dr. Wyche's Yellow Tomatillo Tiger's Eye Bean (From my list) Brockton Bean Sunberry (Last berry on my list! LOL) Cherokee Trail of Tears Bean (From my list) Cream of Saskatchewan Watermelon (Thought this was on my list?! lol) Golden Hubbard Winter Squash Lazy Housewife Bean (From my list) Missouri Love Apple (I wanted this one soooo BAD!) Fish Pepper (From my list) Blue Podded Peas (I thought my chances for this one was over cause everyone I've checked is out of them already.) Golden Treasure Pepper (from my list) Blacktail Mountain Watermelon Mexican Sour Gherkin (thought this was on my list too?!) Crystal Apple Cukes (from my list) Limon Hot Pepper (from my list) Joe's Round Pepper (from my list) WOW! I can't believe how many you found from my list, and how you knew just what to get. I'm so very happy with everything Nancy, you have truly outdone yourself. :D I can't wait to use the salad spinner, what a neat kitchen gadget this is. :)

Do you mean grow it yourself? Check some garden catalogs or just type in homegrown popcorn in a search engine. Curious, why homegrown instead of store bought. Where my son works in MI there is a place called Country Life Store. They might have the organic type.