Seed Sharing Circle 2015 and growing progress

[Silverleaf]

I hope you they do well for you so you can put them in the swap Markfield! They sound really good. I love anything unusual. :)

[Silverleaf]

[galina]

Have heard of Vince, but not the other.  Wild tomato conjures up an image of currant tomatoes.  We'll know - hope you (we all) get a great tomato season.

Have grown Hannan Pop Bean last year, but did not get enough seeds for everybody.  Maybe started too late.  They are like broadbeans and peas and can put up with a little bit of frost.  Hope you have good success with them.

Nice swaps.   

[goodlife]

Oh 'pop beans'....something I've wanted to try for ages but always failed to source seeds for! I do hope to find some in parcel....DO grow them, PRETTY PLEASE!
I haven't got a glue what to grow for the circle. I have many options, so I'm afraid it is case of growing many of them and see what will do well. I'll start talking about varieties near future when I get sowing..it is still quite wintery here so I'm not even tempted to venture to the plot...hmm...though some broad beans and wheat could be started in GH....

[Silverleaf]

I tried to order nuñas from GRIN but they apparently can't send any Phaseolus material to the UK because they can't provide a phyto certificate for them.

I wonder if there's a way we could get some?

[galina]

Well I am trying the lettuce again that did not work last year.  And I have got a 'new to me' lettuce - Hyper Red Rumple Waved.  Who can resist such a name.

Red lettuces are not only pretty but a little more safe from slugs.  And the 'rumples' hold on nicely to salad dressing too.  According to the pictures, this one is  v e r y   red.

However, having stuck my neck out, I make no promises 

[pumkinlover]

Galina you're a sucker for these way out names! Must be good with a name like that! 

[galina]

Galina you're a sucker for these way out names! Must be good with a name like that! 

Yep you've got a point, but as they claim it to be the reddest lettuce ever, I could not pass up that description either.  Let's see how it does here where the sun is much weaker than in the USA, of course 

Unfortunately it works the other way round as well.  I would never have gone for tomato Purple Smudge, had I not grown it as part of the Internet Tomato Trials, where you were only told the variety name after you had sent back all the reports and details the organiser asked for!  So I may lose out on really nice varieties, just because I don't like the name 

[goodlife]

I tried to order nuñas from GRIN but they apparently can't send any Phaseolus material to the UK because they can't provide a phyto certificate for them.

I wonder if there's a way we could get some?

Now that name rings a bell in my head....loooong time ago I was reading about them....of course I wanted some of those seeds and then I came across some info that kind of dampened my eagerness for them..
I can't quite remember it clearly but it was something to do with growing them in certain altitude...and growing them in lower altitude resulted that the beans failed to pop....or something along that line...
Anybody else have heard/read about it? I didn't even know there was other kind of popping beans than nunas...so I wonder if it is just that variety specific??? I might remember it all wrong but there was some difficulty with this particular variety..

[Silverleaf]

I tried to order nuñas from GRIN but they apparently can't send any Phaseolus material to the UK because they can't provide a phyto certificate for them.

I wonder if there's a way we could get some?

Now that name rings a bell in my head....loooong time ago I was reading about them....of course I wanted some of those seeds and then I came across some info that kind of dampened my eagerness for them..
I can't quite remember it clearly but it was something to do with growing them in certain altitude...and growing them in lower altitude resulted that the beans failed to pop....or something along that line...
Anybody else have heard/read about it? I didn't even know there was other kind of popping beans than nunas...so I wonder if it is just that variety specific??? I might remember it all wrong but there was some difficulty with this particular variety..

I think I know what you're thinking of... nuñas are day length sensitive like all French beans used to be, so they'd require some breeding work to do really well over here. Not impossible to grow, just more difficult.

Altitude - at high altitudes water boils at much lower temperature, so cooking beans by boiling them takes forever and uses a lot of fuel. Popping beans in hot oil is much quicker and more fuel efficient.

Any of that sound familiar?

[goodlife]

Any of that sound familiar?

Yes, all those are familiar but it wasn't quite what I think I'm supposed to remember...
I give in....I must do some digging in the old net to see if I find it all again...I can't rest my brain otherwise...

[goodlife]

Any of that sound familiar?

Yes, all those are familiar but it wasn't quite what I think I'm supposed to remember...
I give in....I must do some digging in the old net to see if I find it all again...I can't rest my brain otherwise...

Ah, finding that 'missing info' was easier than I thought....and it wasn't about popping and altitude at all!...just remnants of info that got stuck into my head. The actual bit that I was supposed to remember was... "The bean is susceptible to both frost and high temperatures. It needs abundant moisture, short day lengths and approximately 200 days to crop. Because of these restrictive cultural requirements, production of nuna beans outside highland tropical areas has not been conducted successfully on a large scale."
Borrowed from here.. http://naturalscience.com/ns/news/news38.html

[Silverleaf]

That makes sense, I heard that too.

I know that someone crossed nuñas with an ordinary kidney bean to create a non-day length sensitive popping variety, then controversially patented it. I guess you'd only need to get the nuñas to flower to make a cross like that, they wouldn't have to set seed themselves as you'd use the other bean as the "mother".

[pumkinlover]

Having never heard of popping beans I decided to Google rather than show my ignoramus side.
Great! you get lots of references to Ecstasy😣
Stick to gardening. Much healthier..😀

[goodlife]

That makes sense, I heard that too.

I know that someone crossed nuñas with an ordinary kidney bean to create a non-day length sensitive popping variety, then controversially patented it. I guess you'd only need to get the nuñas to flower to make a cross like that, they wouldn't have to set seed themselves as you'd use the other bean as the "mother".

Yes...the 'somebody' bought rights for nuna and its crosses back in 2000 ..AND they sneakily bought them in many countries world wide...that's why there is none of these popping beans around. Though apparently they are being challenged over the ownership issues.

[Jayb]

Anyone interested in landraces? I should be growing a few this year, mostly beans and peas. Don't know if anyone else wants a bunch of mixed-up seeds!

I'm interested, but I'm not sure everyone in the group will be? Perhaps they could be thought of as bonus seeds if added?

[Silverleaf]

Anyone interested in landraces? I should be growing a few this year, mostly beans and peas. Don't know if anyone else wants a bunch of mixed-up seeds!

I'm interested, but I'm not sure everyone in the group will be? Perhaps they could be thought of as bonus seeds if added?

Sure. I was asking to get an idea whether it's worth me planting extras - there's no point me using my limited space to grow out something that people don't want!

[Jayb]

yes please

Hi Cambourne  are you joining the group? We'd love to have you join in 

[Jayb]

Sure. I was asking to get an idea whether it's worth me planting extras - there's no point me using my limited space to grow out something that people don't want!

Agree and hopefully a few more will chime in to get a better idea. I think they sound great.

[Jayb]

From our local seed swap I did find four tomatoes , Dwarf Wax (HSL).Veepro Paste.(HSL). Vince (HSL)  Wild Tomatel Columbianum (HSL)  the first two I can find info for ,the other two a little more allusive , so suck it and see! Also Chickpea Hannan pop bean , looks very exotic for these parts!

Sorry I can't give much help on your tomato varieties, I've only grown Dwarf Wax, which are a fun and productive tasty tomato. Lovely pale pale yellow fruits. I've a variety called Vince but as it was a segregating variety when I had it, it is unlikely to be the same as from HSL. Wild Tomatel Columbianum should be a quite sweet tasting cherry type, might have some blight resistance and foliage scent could be similar to Sungold. A lovely selection of varieties and Chickpea Hannan sould stunning 

[Jayb]

And I have got a 'new to me' lettuce - Hyper Red Rumple Waved.  Who can resist such a name.

Red lettuces are not only pretty but a little more safe from slugs.  And the 'rumples' hold on nicely to salad dressing too.  According to the pictures, this one is  v e r y   red.

Now they sound familiar?