Rain, sleet, hail.......

Well we have gotten hit with a nasty storm. High winds, hail, sleet, rain, freezing temps at night.

Outdoor plants have hot pots so we are hoping they weather the storm. Plants inside greenhouse are safe and thriving.

Audrey has Goji sprouts!

Audrey reports that her Arkansas Goji seeds in her Jiffy greenhouse have sprouted.... just about a week after planting. Not all have popped up, but a good start. Way to go Mom! I guess we now know that they do not take 6-8 weeks for them to germinate. Woohoo, we are well on our way to our Goji empire, lol.

Update: As of Thursday, my Goji seeds from Arkansas in Jiffy greenhouse have sprouted. It also took a week to the day. Seeds in the planter with potting soil have all kinds of new sprouts, but it takes a few days longer this way. Wolfberry seeds still just have just a couple coming up, so don't waste your money buying seeds. The seeds that sprouted the easiest are the ones that came right from the berries.

Al's have only been in the ground about 5 days, so he should have sprouts by the weekend. He is having some really nasty weather in Utah. Heavy winds, hail, freezing temps at night. Thank goodness he has hot pots and the greenhouse. I hope your veggies are surving in the hot pots Al.

Growing your own Goji plants from seeds?

I want to share some information here, as I know many have asked the question, how do I grow Goji plants from seeds? I have done a whole lot of research, and there are several ways that you can do it. I have tried several methods and I will tell you what works the best, (at least for me so far.)

Sun dried, vs shade dried? Seeds vs planting seeds from dried berries? Oh what to do! I tried growing 3 types of seeds. Wolfberry seeds ordered online, seeds from pods (actually a dried berry - ordered online,) and seeds that were taken from edible berries that were soaked overnight. I planted seeds in "Jiffy 72" greenhouses, planters filled with potting mix, and some were simply put on cotton in a small plastic dish and covered with a plastic lid. I used a recycled dish from a frozen dinner.) You do not need a fancy grow system, I learned. The first seeds to come up were the seeds from the edible berries that were placed on the cotton, covered and placed in a cupboard in my laundry room. Close to 90% of the seeds did germinate this way. I inspected my other seeds and this morning one of the wolfberry seeds is growing. It is growing in the container with the potting soil. These were planted at the same time that I placed the seeds on the cotton, which was 1 week ago. The seeds placed in the Jiffy Greenhouse were planted 4 days later.

Okay, so we know that works. You can plant the seeds from edible berries, they can be sun dried, and they will germinate! Cool! No need to buy expensive seeds, pods, plants, etc... and no need to buy expensive seed starters if you do not want to. Simple works!

Now, what to do with the seedlings once they have germinated? Wait. Wait until the seedling has two leaves on it and then very gently transfer it to a larger pot, with a mixture of potting soil and sand. The plant requires good drainage in order for it to survive. Keep in mind if you do use the cotton or paper towel method, you will have to plant your seedlings into larger pots in a couple of weeks, and you might lose some. If you start out using the Jiffy greenhouses, you can transplant the peat pellet and seedling directly in to a larger pot, filled with the potting soil/sand mixture. You would probably not lose many this way. I have read you can also plant directly into the ground at this point, but several sources have said that for the first winter you should keep the plants greenhoused, so for this reason I will keep mine in pots until next spring. Also note, you will not get berries until the second year, and plants are fully mature at 4-5 years (when you will get the best yield.)

Cow dung, duck dung and seaweed fertilizer are the best fertilizers for your Goji plant. They do have to go dormant in the winter in order to get berries in the late spring or early summer. They do best outdoors, but you can grow them indoors (and get less berries.) You have to self pollinate them this way, however, and I do not have a clue how you do that. They are pollinated by bees.

There is much controversy on the web as to what seeds produce the best berries and from what regions. I have done some pretty indepth studies in this area and it all comes down to this:

Himalayan goji is traditionally grown and harvested "wild" rather than "farmed". Dedicated users note that the mountains of their origin are the only place where the berries are considered to have full beneficial properties. Inner Mongolia, (Mongolia includes Tibet and Nepal,) the provinces of Ningxia and Xingjian, and the Heavenly Mountains of western China contain the primary growing grounds for "real" Himalayan goji.

A good source for information on the Lycium Barbarum plant is from wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolfberry

Mom (http://whtoakranch.biz) and Al (http://smallmtn.net) now have their seeds planted. Mom is using the Jiffy 72 Greenhouse, and Al is using Jiffy 7's in his greenhouse. I will report back as to their success and time frames it took their seeds to germinate.

If you have questions or would like to comment, please feel free to contact us.
blhamann83856@aol.com
http://windtalkers-siberians.com

April Family News!

Al posts new pictures of his greenhouse crops. See his Blog and web photo gallery.

Boop, Audrey and Al are planting Lycium Barbarum (Goji berry plants.) See Blog entry on Family Blog and the new White Oak Ranch webpage, Ranch Health Topics.

Boop has more puppies! Now a total of 10 husky babies. See the Windtalkers Siberians site and web photos for pictures of the latest litter.

Shannon posted that Sammie learned how to crawl! Oh boy, you are in for it now, lol.

Anyone have any other news to share?

The family's gone Gogi!

Well I just typed a long version and it bit the dust. It seems Google was doing it's blog maintenance during the same time I clicked to submit. Now I really hate that! All of that typing, up in smoke..... grrrrrrr!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The condensed version is probably better anyway as I was getting a bit dingy from lack of sleep.

The latest family news is our Goji fever! We recently discovered Goji berries and were totally amazed at the health benefits eating these berries does for you. Now we know, you are probably asking yourself, what in the world is a Goji berry? Well up until very recently we didn't have a clue either. It is the berry from a plant known as Lycium Barbarum, wolfberry, Lycium Eleagnus Barbarum.... (say what?) The plant originates from China, Mongolia, Tibet, and that general area. There is a lot of controversy on who and what region grows the best berries, but there is at least 64 known variations of this plant.

After doing extensive reading, far more than we wanted to, it basically came down to this! The berry is basically the same. The constituents and healing properties are the same. The taste may vary and I suppose it is all about your own personal preferences. The health benefits are simply amazing! We have read testimonials and actual scientific studies and it is no joke! The Goji berry is a true "super food."

Because of this we have ordered berries for our personal consumption. In addition we have ordered (we being Al, Audrey and Boop,) seeds and plants that we will be growing. We hope to soon harvest our own berries. We will also sell the berries, seedlings and plants, so cross your fingers for us and wish us luck on our latest endeavor. We will say that we learned early what NOT to do! At least we were fortunate that we learned right from the get-go, so it wasn't too costly!

Now we won't go into all of the info as we have taken what we felt was the most useful information and put a page on Audrey and Jack's White Oak Ranch site. You can read it and then decide for yourself. You can go directly to the page by going to:

http://whtoakranch.biz/ranchhealthtopic/index.html

I would like to note that while researching I came across a Goji blog that had testimonials. I read that pets could also benefit from Goji berries. I also read a testimonial from a woman who had suffered from psoriasis for over 10 years. After eating Goji berries her condition immediately cleared up (in a weeks time.) Any time she started to break out she just ate a couple handfuls of Goji berries for a few days and it kept her from having a full blown breakout. One of my huskies had a pretty serious rash around her eyes, ears and mouth from a zinc deficiency (which huskies are somewhat prone to.) I tried the Goji berries on her (which the dogs love, by the way.) Sure enough, in just a few days the rash quit spreading and in less than a week the rash is almost gone! I am a believer.

I am posting a picture of what a Goji (Lycium Barbarum) plant and it's berries so you can see what it looks like. If you would like to know more, or want information about Goji berries, plants or seeds, just shoot us an e-mail.