Cucurbita moschata Landrace
Orepuki, Southland NZ
By Jasmin Hill
28 September 2022
It's an exciting day for me today 😍 I've been waiting long enough! It's finally time for me to start my very first Landrace
I have chosen 4 varieties of C moschata to start with, Walthams Butternut, Butternut, Chucks Winter and Long Island Cheese. I have managed to source a nice variety of seeds that have all been grown in NZ so I am starting out with the best Genetic Diversity I could get!
What is a Landrace? - A traditional way of breeding a localised variety of plants. Developed over time through adaptation to the natural surrounding environment and desirable selection.
Plants in the family Cucurbitaceae cross pollinate very easily! The plants encourage the bees to find the same kind of flowers so the isolation distance recommendation is 2km for good reason! In my case I am encouraging cross pollination so I don't need to worry about what my neighbours are growing, in fact it would be a great thing if I get some crossing from their plants because it will add some extra Genetic Diversity. It is actually recommended to include your neighbours in a Landrace for this reason. I might have to do some door knocking and share some of my seeds and seedlings.
It's an exciting day for me today 😍 I've been waiting long enough! It's finally time for me to start my very first Landrace
I have chosen 4 varieties of C moschata to start with, Walthams Butternut, Butternut, Chucks Winter and Long Island Cheese. I have managed to source a nice variety of seeds that have all been grown in NZ so I am starting out with the best Genetic Diversity I could get!
What is a Landrace? - A traditional way of breeding a localised variety of plants. Developed over time through adaptation to the natural surrounding environment and desirable selection.
Plants in the family Cucurbitaceae cross pollinate very easily! The plants encourage the bees to find the same kind of flowers so the isolation distance recommendation is 2km for good reason! In my case I am encouraging cross pollination so I don't need to worry about what my neighbours are growing, in fact it would be a great thing if I get some crossing from their plants because it will add some extra Genetic Diversity. It is actually recommended to include your neighbours in a Landrace for this reason. I might have to do some door knocking and share some of my seeds and seedlings.