It’s nice to see that there are still people interested in crop diversity and breeding new varieties. Unfortunately the Guild has been on hiatus for a while now and we’re not able to supply tubers or seed. Where we can we will help with advice but until we’ve renewed our stocks we won’t be offering… Continue reading Update on OcaBreeders
A word about the science
A word about the science This may seem a little obvious but it doesn’t hurt to revisit our basic precepts from time to time and it may be helpful for our new members. The primary objective of The Guild of Ocabreeders is to discover a genetic variation of Oxalis tuberosa that permits the plants to… Continue reading A word about the science
Tracking your Tubers
Dr Ada Grabowska-Zhang is one of the Guild’s scientific advisers and helps to construct our experimental designs and protocols. She has a shared allotment in Oxford and grows all sorts of vegetables for her family there,. we’re pleased she’s found space for some ocas too. With oca breeding, like with real estate, it’s all… Continue reading Tracking your Tubers
Oca Breeder, GSOH, WLTM others for LTR, fun, maybe more, ALA (eventually)
People sometimes ask me what personality traits we’re looking for in our members. This is the way I see it: we’re looking for skilled and sensitive growers who can, at a moment’s notice, turn into heartless, cold-blooded killers. Here’s the paradox: we want to keep as many oca varieties alive as we possibly can, before… Continue reading Oca Breeder, GSOH, WLTM others for LTR, fun, maybe more, ALA (eventually)
Breeding my first Oca variety
Alison Tindale is a blogger and plant breeder, running a small nursery, Backyard Larder, where she propagates and sells perennial vegetables for forest and permaculture gardens. She’s been with the Guild since the beginning, growing Ocabreeder’s tubers and creating her own varieties for the project. She wrote this guest blog to explain how her first new oca… Continue reading Breeding my first Oca variety
What does it mean to be an Ocabreeder?
Let’s try to explain what our members are doing and how the project works at ground level. At this time of year, it’s all very exciting as we sort out our baby tubers and allocate them to their foster homes for the next year. The small tubers are the progeny of seed raised plants, the… Continue reading What does it mean to be an Ocabreeder?
A trip to Incredible Vegetables in Devon
Last week Owen and Manda made journeys from each side of the country to meet up at Incredible Vegetables in Ashburton where Mandy Barber grows some of our ocas and runs a fascinating little business concentrating on unusual and perennial vegetables. The nursery at Incredible Vegetables is on the top of a Devon hill with magnificent… Continue reading A trip to Incredible Vegetables in Devon