Saving hybrid corn seed

Can I successfully save seed from my “Incredible” sweet corn? Will it grow true?
 
Dawn Norcross
Orion, Illinois

You can save the seed but because it’s a hybrid the resultant seed will not grow true. It may be great, okay, or not so hot. To dependably grow and save corn seed, plant open pollinated varieties such as True Gold. They aren’t as “wonderful” as hybrids but will always produce plants just like the mother (and father) plants. — Jackie

Dehydrating previously frozen berries

How do you dehydrate frozen berries? I have raspberries, strawberries, and blueberries. Do I need to thaw and mash or can I just put them in the dehydrator?

James Fowle
Alstead, New Hampshire

Just thaw and drain the berries and lay them on your dehydrator trays. They won’t look as “nice” as fresh berries but will sure taste good. — Jackie

Moving homesteads

I know at one point in your life you lived in Montana. What part? N,E,S,W? I also know you thought you had a place purchased elsewhere. Would you share with us why you wanted to move from Montana?

J from Missouri
 
We actually lived on two homesteads in Montana, one south and west of Helena, way up in the mountains and later on another one north and east of Helena, again up in the mountains although not quite so remote. The first one was wonderful although we were snowed in from December till late May. The second was 4×4-drivable in the winter as we were not as high up in the mountains and there wasn’t as much snow. We thought we had a place bought in Alaska but that deal fell through because we didn’t get our place sold in time.

We never wanted to move from Montana but we couldn’t afford enough land to become as self-reliant as we wanted. Here in Minnesota, we were able to buy more land for what we could afford so now we have adequate pasture for our horses and also for cattle, room for a larger orchard, and a bigger garden. We miss the mountains but truly love our homestead here. — Jackie

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