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[EarthNSky <erthnsky AT bellsouth.net>]

In gathering up and taking inventory of seeds for garden planning, I
just found some stuff to ask about.

1.  A neighbor who sometimes grows oats for deer gave me a gallon bag of
"oats".  Are these what you referred to earlier as 'groats'? Can this be
eaten as is instead of planted?  It doesn't appear to be coated with any
kind of fungicide or anything-no color or smell.  They are, I think 2
years old.  If I plant them, what kind of germination should I expect?

2. I found about 25 seed/kernels of "calais" dent corn,  which was a
gift Wendy of Peace and Carrots.  This has to be 5 years old.  I recall
planting it one year, but I think it was lost when the tornado laid a
tree on that part of the garden, if memory serves.  Luckily, I saved
these 25 seeds.   At the time of the tornado, the corn was less than a
foot tall, so I never really saw it develop.  I read that it is a 95 day
corn.  Is there anything else I need to know?  The site I read seemed to
indicate that there would be ears of yellow and ears of red corn as
opposed to ears of mixed colors.  True?

3. At the plant nursery last week, they were selling "Indian
corn"-bunches of 3 ears for $1.75..Problem was that only one ear was
fully intact, the rest looked ravaged by rats or squirrels. I picked up
the ear and the attendant sold it to me for a quarter. :)
I think it might be Bloody Butcher, but after seeing the images of the
Calais, I am wondering if there is any way to tell what variety of corn
I have.  Obviously, it is a red corn.  I put a picture of the ear on
Myspace, but that may not be helpful.

4.  Is there some formula that gives an approximation of germination
based on the age of the seed in years, assuming it was stored properly,
or does it simply depend on the what kind of seed it is, that is corn
might not last as long as beans, for example.

Bev


--
“Fear is the path to the Dark Side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to
hate. Hate leads to suffering.”        Yoda