Kits and Cats, boys and girls, gather around, this you are going to want to watch.

I know enough a lot of you tune in for the silly stuff, and that’s fair, I think it’s fun too, that’s why I do it.

But like I’ve said before, the only way to make absolutely sure you’ve gone far enough, is to go too far.

So for this particular project, I’ll be working with less of a safety net than usual. There are many things that could go wrong, and Gentle Reader, you’ll be the second to know. It may even take a couple of tries at it before it starts to go.

I would like to apologise to the men and woman who worked so hard on the tomato, pepper and radish varieties I will be working with, I mean no disrespect.

I am going to do something I bet you haven’t seen often before, I’m going to start three home-hobby breeding projects from scratch, with the hopes of taking at least one far enough to a “house” variety. I’m going to take you with me on the path, and explain my reasoning behind my choices.

To start breeding plants, the first thing you need, is plants. So I started some seeds:

Grubbyradish:

Radish should be the easiest to work with, as they mature quickly, and do not self pollinate.

Started Black (dark skin, white meat), Cherry (red skin, white meat), and Watermelon (white skin, pink meat) varieties. This will allow me the meaningful crosses BC, BW, and CW.

Grubbytomato:

Tomatoes do self pollinate, which makes crossing slightly more complex, I will try to cross that bridge when I come to it.

I’m not sure which tomatoes I want to start with, so I’m starting several and will decide from those that do the best in my environment: Beefsteak, Black Krim, Cherry, Rainbow(?), and Trip L Crop.

Grubbypepper:

By far the most dangerous of the bunch. I started Bell, Cayenne, Dorset Naga, Ghost, Peter, and Ramhorn. Since I will be the chief judge and guinea pig of choice,  I have a feeling my mouth will be taking one for the team more than once.

And of course, I had to order a bunch more seeds once I warmed up to the idea, so my starting plants could wind up being one of several not mentioned above.

Hopefully you can learn something from my mistakes too.

Wish me luck, and stay tuned.

Peace, love and puka shells,

Grubbycup