Topic: Seed Sharing Circle 2015 and growing progress

[Robert_Brenchley]

Got the parcel, thanks. Sorry I was so late sending them out; I'm better than I was, but I've been having flashbacks ever since my mother's death, and it makes life rather difficult.

[martinburo]

Thank you, thank you, thank you. Wow, that's so many seeds. Jayb and galina in particular, how do you manage saving that many? I'm also really excited about the things I haven't grown before: autumn olive, root parsley, salsify and mallow.

[galina]

Glad a few more parcels have arrived safely.   
Have sown the broad beans. 
Pleased you like the new to you fruit/veg martinburo.  Please note that Autumn Olive needs cold stratifying.  Notes are on Jayb's seed circle blog:
  http://seedsaverscircle.org/seed-circle/a4a-seed-saver-group-2015/

We are still adding descriptions and pictures.  Either from what people have written or what has been sent as pm to be added.  Please help with missing information. 

Yes again this year's share-out it is a great testimony of what a group of seedsavers can achieve.  Hope the last parcels will wing their way to the recipients speedily.       

[Silverleaf]

Got the parcel, thanks. Sorry I was so late sending them out; I'm better than I was, but I've been having flashbacks ever since my mother's death, and it makes life rather difficult.

Sorry to hear that Robert, do you have someone you can talk to? It's really hard to cope with something like that on your own.

I don't think anyone minds that your seeds were late! You put in some brilliant things, so thank you. :)

[Silverleaf]

Thank you, thank you, thank you. Wow, that's so many seeds. Jayb and galina in particular, how do you manage saving that many? I'm also really excited about the things I haven't grown before: autumn olive, root parsley, salsify and mallow.

I agree! I'm just sorting through them and adding everything to my database (well it isn't really a database) and every packet I pick up has made me smile. So many fantastic things!

[sparrow]

Got the parcel, thanks. Sorry I was so late sending them out; I'm better than I was, but I've been having flashbacks ever since my mother's death, and it makes life rather difficult.

Much sympathy, I know what that feels like.

[galina]

Got the parcel, thanks. Sorry I was so late sending them out; I'm better than I was, but I've been having flashbacks ever since my mother's death, and it makes life rather difficult.

Don't worry - We got the seeds out in time for sowing Robert, even for the early ones. Sown potato onions and Minogue seeds today. My Minogue have never flowered, really excited about your seeds.

Hope you'll find peace and can relax at the plot.  How have the bees done with this weird winter weather?   

[galina]

I agree! I'm just sorting through them and adding everything to my database (well it isn't really a database) and every packet I pick up has made me smile. So many fantastic things!

Exactly the same here  - and yes! smiling too    - and periodically rushing off to sow something else -  Peppers and tps are in the propagator, peas and broadies in the conservatory and onions too.  Want to start tomatoes, but propagator not big enough, they'll have to wait 

 

[Silverleaf]

Haven't started anything yet!

I need to replace my raised beds so I can't really sow anything direct until I've got that sorted out...

I should get the propagator out though, just haven't got round to it yet. Keep getting distracted!

[Debs]

What a fantastic parcel!!
Thankyou to all 🙂

Debs 

[pumkinlover]

Mine arrived yesterday too. Thank you very much to everyone involved

[Robert_Brenchley]

I'm OK, thanks. A lot better than I was. Have you any idea what variety of walking onion those are, JayB? The commonest seems to be Catawissa, you can't miss it as it grows about waist-high. Apparently it originated from land which had belonged to someone who was trying to breed an 'improved' version. The others can be a bit confusing, and names are sometimes disputed.

[galina]

James Wong say that it was a great opportunity to get rind of that packet of seed you had in the back of a drawer for ages and get something really rare and special in return. Hmm........ missing the point there a bit Mr Wong 

That is very 'wong' of him! But actually, he is not promoting seed saving and does not care about seed swaps being a success!  After all, if we all swapped, nobody would buy his seeds   

[ruud]

Came back from the allotment and there was a pigeon from the u.k. with a package.So i know what i am doing this afternoon,looking what the pigeon brought me.Thanks everybody who has made this seedcircle a succes,happy gardening everybody.

[sparrow]

What are Minogue seeds?

I tried googling and had page after page of Nick Cave/Kylie Minogue results...

[clumsy]

I'm also interesting to know what minogue. 

[galina]

I'm also interesting to know what minogue. 

Sparrow and Clumsy,
I originally received Minogue as a small clump of tightly packed 'spring onions' at first ever Potato Day at HDRA/GO Ryton.  Must be well over a decade ago.  Labelled as Multiplier Onion 'Minogue'.  The name is from a Mr Minogue, who grew and then donated a clump to the Heritage Seed Library.  The HSL could not pack them into seed packets and therefore distributed live plants at the seed swap that occurred at the same time as the Potato Day.

These 'onions' are used like spring onions.  They have small white bulbs which multiply prolifically.  1 1/2 cm diameter is a large one, newly multiplied offsets are smaller.  The foliage is flat like a leek, not hollow like true onions. 

After a discussion on this forum a couple of years ago, we came to the conclusion that Minogue is what is known in Germany/USA as a 'Perlzwiebel' aka Pearl Onion, a relative of leek.  As a rule mine don't often flower.  I have seen a flower once and removed it as I was saving seeds of a leek that year and I suspected that they might potentially cross (although HSL said they would not cross!). 

Robert had several flowers and got seeds from them this year.  I will be fascinated to see whether there will be differences in the Minogues from seed compared to those that are vegetatively multiplied.  In principle every allium benefits from being grown from seeds now and again in order to combat virus diseases.  Having said that, I see no deterioration in my clumps of Minogue at all and they don't have any of the usual onion problems (saying this very quietly and fingers crossed that the allium leaf miner will ignore them in future too).

Now comes the 'lets hope for' bit:  Every allium grown from seed may, but most likely will not, be a pure breeding variety.  This means that we get to select our Minogues from seed.  And the hope is that there will be a variant with either much larger onions or with much wider leaves like leeks.  There is a multiplier leek too and when I have propagated more plants than I have at the moment, I will add it to the seed circle (received from goodlife last year), but we can realistically hope that we might get Minogue pearl onions from seed that are more leek-like, yet haven't lost their ability to multiply like crazy.

Minogues are just perfect for the permaculture, low maintenance garden and very high yielding, because they multiply so rapidly.

I use mine chopped like chives, or let them bubble up just briefly in a sauce.  The tiny pearly white onions are used in pickling.  Or in salads, or with cottage cheese on baked potatoes, the uses are endless.  The bulbs look similar but are a different species from the normal white pickling onion, like Silverskin Onions. 

  

[Silverleaf]

My Minogue onions have now multiplied enough that I'm going to allow myself to taste them!

In other exciting news, we got some free scaffolding boards from a local building site yesterday - enough to build 1.5 of the 3 beds I want - so it won't be long before I can start gardening again. :)

[Robert_Brenchley]

Google perlzweibel or perennial leek, which is what the call it in the US. Minogue fits perfectly. It's quite small, the size of a spring onion, and flowers reach about three feet, if it decides to produce any. Best treated like spring onion, only it stands better in winter..

[Robert_Brenchley]

Are the details of what went out this year online anywhere? I can't access the original site we used.