Seed Circle 2 2010-2011

[kiwirach]

my update....

my Amish Paste is going slow, but there are some flowers (do have back up seed from last year if need be!). a little anxious about these!.

my kidney beans are beginning to set beans and there are plenty of plants so there shouldnt be a problem there.

[planetologist]

Radishes are doing well. The wind turns them into interesting shapes, and parts tend to flop over onto the paths, but all should be well in the end.

The squash has made it's first fruit, which I didn't pollinate, because I want to eat it, but lots of new flower buds are forming.

PS. northepaul, if your beans don't make flowers, you may need to feed them. I use diluted pee, because it turns waste into a resource.

[Burnzie]

Hi,

Crinson flowered broad beads are ' podding up ' nicely - hope the wind & rain of the last couple of days has not flattened them.

Leek seed heads are drying nicely

regards

Burnzie

[northepaul]

My cherokee are now either covered in flowers or beans- and very pretty too!
(please excuse the flower one being out of focus, I literally nipped out to take a pic between rain showers! )

[northepaul]

I have over 100 Bolivian Rainbow seeds drying at the moment for the circle



I hope I dont sound silly for constantly posting about my progress - its my first time saving etc

[vicky]

You don't sound silly! It's interesting and good to be able to look back on for future reference.

My Carruthers peas are drying nicely on the plants.
The Goldem Plum Toms are nice and big but still green. I am worried as I've spotted the first signs of Blight today amongst the toms. I've stripped most of the leaves (what I could do before it got dark) but I can only hope for better weather and that's not forecast...

[Dane End Dolly]

Ok folks, have to admit, the sikkim was a total failure, i am trying to save enough of the ruth bible beans, but something had stripped some of the pods off the vine, wondering if it was a rabbit or a deer as we have loads of both in my neck of the woods. I will wait now to see what seeds i will be able to save and then give definative list. I know that i will be able to put in a few varieties, i just have to be patient (not easy, i am not known for my patience)

Kxx

[vicky]

The Good news and the Bad news!

I have over 360g of dried Carruthers Peas in a box waiting to be sent out - lots for everyone and then some!

The ourdoor Golden Plum toms have now been ripped up due to blight without any ripe fruits (a couple are turning and I'll keep them inside to try to ripen more). I have 3 plants in the greenhouse which is blight free (currently...) so there should be seeds if anyone wants them. However, I think it's a pretty poor show to get no ripe fruits to eat! I won't bother to grow these again! So prehaps people would prefer seeds from tomatoes which have done a lot better?
From the HSL I got Wladak tomatos - Utterly fantastic heritage beef from Poland which is among blight but shows no signs of it on the fruits so far and is early ripening. One fruit has weighed in at 600g!!!
Grosse Lisse tomato from HSL is also excellent, fruits are slightly smaller than beef but really well shaped with none of the hard, dark mottling on the base that needs to be cut away. Good blight resistance. My BiL pointed at these fruits says 'that's what a tomato should look like!'
Scotland Yellow tom (HSL) has produced lots of early medium yellow fruits a bit larger than moneymaker. Still no signs of blight on the friuts. Flavours a bit dull but if you want a yellow the offer's there!
I'll put up some photos at some point (when I've taken them...)

[Burnzie]

Hi, I've not had much time for the lottie this summer due to work committments, however I got the chance of spending a full day there today.

Pleased to report that the pods on the crimson flowered broad beans are starting to turn brown and are drying off.

also, the seedheads on the bleu du solaise leeks are drying nicely.

Aiming to try and produce 15 to 20 bean seeds and 30 to 40 leek seeds per person.

Does this sound ok?

Burnzie

[kiwirach]

hi all, i have begun the red kidney bean drying process and have toms on the Amish Paste, but last i check, they were still green. will leave them on the plant for as long as possible before bringing them in to ripen. like the above poster, these toms have taken a long time to mature, but i'm wondering if thats cos they are outdoors?. i never got the polytunnel up in time this year, so wont write them off til after a trial in the tunnel next year.

do we have a date set for when we are to swap our seeds out?.

[planetologist]

I suggest everybody makes 2*12 packets of seeds, sends 11 to me with a SAE, then I will redistribute them and post them. That means that herewith no new people can join for this year. I will PM everybody my address. You can either send me the seeds when you are ready or wait until everybody else is ready.

My radish seeds are ready (~100 pp), but I will wait with the summer squash until the first frost kills the plant.

[winstonwobble]

Hi all recieved your PM today bit confused with how many packets of seed is it 12 packets of each item and to save the cayene seed do i just scrape out the seed then let it dry or let the whole lot dry then remove the seed and am i right in thinking you let the pods dry on the plant (for the beans) and when they have turned brown pod them I'm not usually this thick "honest" but this is my first time seed saving and i dont want to let everyone down also i can save some cucumber seed if anyone is interested as i'v had bumper crops this year with these plants if so let me know how to save that seed thanks everyone Juliax

[planetologist]

vicky, yes I think it makes sense to contribute seeds that have done well, since you have them. Thanks.

[planetologist]

No worries, Julia, I don't have all that much experience myself, but mostly it's neither difficult, nor all that much of a problem if you get it wrong. For instance, I've grown some F2 corn this year that somebody gave me last year and then warned me that they were saved from F1 plants after I'd sown them, and although I got some albino seedlings that died, the survivors look fine.

how many packets of seed is it 12 packets of each item

Yes, please, and keep 1 for yourself and send 11 packets of each to me.

and to save the cayene seed do i just scrape out the seed then let it dry [snip] and am i right in thinking you let the pods dry on the plant (for the beans) and when they have turned brown pod them

Yes, that sounds right. I think with peppers once the fruit is ripe, the seeds are ripe as well, so you take the seeds out as it's both easier than taking them out of dried fruits and the fruit might rot. While with beans it's actually easier to shell dried pods and maybe also they ripen better on the plants, although as far as I can see there's also more risk of insects eating them.

also i can save some cucumber seed if anyone is interested as i'v had bumper crops this year with these plants if so let me know how to save that seed

I have no idea, but Real Seeds always have good seed saving advice at the bottom of the page:
Vegetable Seed : Cucumbers, gherkins and a few other oddities
Note that cucumbers cross, so you'll only get true to type seed if no other cucumbers have been grown nearby. Uncharacteristically, the webpage doesn't say (as far as I can see) how far nearby is.

[northepaul]

It should probably be a large letter SAE dont you think?
My cherokee beans had a minor accident recently (the canes with them on fell over in some very high winds) so I have less then I was hoping for and they are not finished drying yet. (some are not even purple yet) I am not sure how many to send in the packets - might be 2-3 ea - hope thats ok?