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Edible Plants / Re: Seed Saving Circle 2024
« Last post by Vetivert on Today at 15:27:01 »Hi everyone!
The sun is shining and the beans are sprouting - count me in!![sunny :sunny:](https://www.allotments4all.co.uk/smf/Smileys/Lots_O_Smileys/sunny.gif)
The sun is shining and the beans are sprouting - count me in!
![sunny :sunny:](https://www.allotments4all.co.uk/smf/Smileys/Lots_O_Smileys/sunny.gif)
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Edible Plants / Re: Seed Saving Circle 2024« Last post by Vetivert on Today at 15:27:01 »Hi everyone!
The sun is shining and the beans are sprouting - count me in! ![]() 2
Edible Plants / Re: Seed Saving Circle 2024« Last post by markfield rover on Today at 08:32:19 »I am going into the greenhouse to read the riot act to all my sulking seedlings , this year as Terry-Thomas would say are a “Right Shower” so I am tentatively throwing my hat into the circle.
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Edible Plants / Re: Black Bamboo - currently flowering and dying worldwide« Last post by JanG on Yesterday at 07:08:19 »Thanks for this interesting and useful information, Vinlander. I haven’t quite understood the full implications. You’re saying that the whole plant will die, including roots? So your method for removing roots is simply to clear the ground ready for planting something else?
I believe you’re also saying that all Phyllostachys nigra will flower, whatever their age. A fascinating phenomenon if so, weird as you say. I shall inspect mine with interest. Presumably the flowering and seed-setting will take some weeks or months. I’m not too keen on an explosion of rats and I’m wondering whether it’s possible to keep removing any flowers and whether that would keep the plant alive indefinitely. No mean task; mine is well above my height. 4
Edible Plants / Black Bamboo - currently flowering and dying worldwide« Last post by Vinlander on May 13, 2024, 11:02:58 »This is the black Phyllostachys nigra species.
I'm posting this here because it's technically edible - the shoots aren't my favourite for flavour but that's all down to taste. It's a weird thing how this happens every 40 years or so - it flowers, producing masses of seeds (loved by rats to the extent of causing a population explosion). I will try some once they are ripe. I don't think this 40yr timescale applies to the whole genus, but I can't find any info I can trust - other genera do have different timings - some take 100 years. DON'T BUY THIS SPECIES NOW - NO MATTER HOW MUCH THEY REDUCE THE PRICE! You can find all this on t'web - but it means that lots of people will need to cut all the canes down and use a rat-proof way to store the seeds. That's a big job and can be risky with saws etc. Bamboo sap is also very bad on the skin - especially in sunlight. I find the ideal tool is an angle grinder with a stone cutter disk - a medium 3-4mm one works well, and can also be used to remove the root system (only a few cm down) by cutting downwards easily through rhizome mats, soil & stones. Once you separate the mat into squares (a bit wider than your spade) they can be levered out really easily. it's actually the perfect method to remove the running types and it's also possible to cut new plants from the (friendlier) clumping genera - like Fargesia. Personally I'm looking forward to living without it - it's often sold as non-running - that's high BS - it just isn't the fastest. Despite finding the ideal way to control it, it's still an annual task once it gets past 2m wide - and worse when it starts going under paths, walls and ponds. It will take years to grow the new version from seed, and 2 more years before you can judge how black and how shiny each seedling is. Can't be bothered. I'm going to buy something from the proper clumping species once I've got mine out (hopefully better-tasting shoots too - but that info is very hard to find) - but I'll still keep it well away from paths and walls this time. Cheers. 5
Edible Plants / Re: Seed Saving Circle 2024« Last post by galina on May 11, 2024, 11:47:46 »And I would like to add that help will be given to all who would like to have a go. Yes, there are vegetables that you can just let go to seed and collect, others need isolation and handpollination, and some are really demanding, take two years to come to seed fruition and then also need minimum numbers. But there are plenty in the easy or relatively easy category. I hope that somebody will read this who is new to seed saving and will want to give it a try. For years I wondered whether my own seeds were 'good enough'. Home saved seeds are usually way more than adequate and grow away better than commercial ones. Of course mistakes can and do happen but we all learn from mistakes. No big deal. Give it a go.
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Edible Plants / Re: Seed Saving Circle 2024« Last post by JanG on May 11, 2024, 06:30:39 »Thank you, Galina, for clarifying your situation. It would be wonderful if these, like so many other, difficulties in the way of international co-operation, can be moderated before too long. I’m really sorry that you, and presumably Ruud, are unable, at the moment, to guarantee participation in the Circle to which you have contributed so much over so many years.
Let us hope for better things to come, and soon. 7
Edible Plants / Re: Seed Saving Circle 2024« Last post by galina on May 10, 2024, 08:59:47 »Thank you for offering to do the admin again for the A4A seed circle, Jan. It is quite a bit of work as I remember from years ago, but also very satisfying. And so many delicious and lovely plants are testimony to our seed saving efforts and your efficient hosting and distribution.
Now that Britain has started to implement import checking, this unfortunately also affects seeds and cuttings or other plant parts. After participating in this seed circle from the beginning and doing the distribution for some years, sadly I can no longer promise with any certainty that I can still participate from outside Britain. Not by regular means anyway. The faff of phytosanitary certification etc is a real problem for a small box of mixed seeds for the circle. I would love to still participate this year, but there is no way I can actually promise to get seeds to UK. Well, the chap who is likely to be the next PM, does talk about standards alignment and the like, so this difficulty participating may hopefully not persist for too long. ![]() 8
Edible Plants / Seed Saving Circle 2024« Last post by JanG on May 07, 2024, 06:35:24 »As soon as I see corn salad in flower I begin to think the seed saving season is not far away. Some committed seed savers might already have planted out root vegetables stored over winter for flowering and seed setting this summer. But whatever your level of seed-saving, it’s time to be alert to the opportunities ahead.
It’s been a challenging season for many with so much constant rain in UK through winter and spring, leading to waterlogged soil and delayed spring planting. I hope that in spite of the challenges the weather throws at us, you’re having an enjoyable spring sowing and planting, including dipping into the wonderful range of seeds the Circle shared in late 2023. It would be very good to hear of progress and to share results and experiences. I hope that last year’s enthusiastic band will be willing and able to participate again and it would also be great if any new members would like to join us. For those who haven’t participated before, here’s some information to help you decide if you would like to join. The Seed Circle is open to all A4A participants; it’s great to have new people join too. The group is all about setting aside a little growing space, and time, to raise some crops for seeds, keeping the group informed as to how the season is going, then at the end of the season, probably in November, sharing some growing information and your saved seeds with the group. Each person decides what 2 or more crops they will grow and save seed from (we do inc. tubers, bulbs and cuttings, but do make sure they are well wrapped so that they don't dampen any seeds). They will then aim to save enough seed for other Circle members to grow a crop the following year. The group could be up to 12 people but is more often under 10. Recently it has numbered about 7 participants. Varieties will generally need to be heritage or open pollinated so that they will come true from seed (potato seeds won’t come exactly true). If you include grown out hybrids please state this clearly. Some vegetables are easier and more reliable than others to save seed from. But generally peas, French beans, tomatoes, perhaps potatoes and some herbs are the easiest. Chillies, sweet peppers, squash, courgette and to some extent lettuce will need isolating from other varieties to keep seed pure. Parsnips, onions, leeks, beetroot, carrots, celeriac and many brassicas only go to seed in the second year and need isolation from other varieties and so are more time-consuming and a little trickier. Real Seeds created the idea for the circles. Their site gives some great seed saving tips as well as being a great seed catalogue http://www.realseeds.co.uk/seedsavinginfo.html. There is also a brilliant series of shortish videos on seed saving for different vegetables at: https://www.diyseeds.org/en/ For anyone interested, what we shared in 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023 can be found with images and donors’ notes at https://airtable.com/shryC20nRNmUcgT30. Try Gallery View. The seeds exchanged from 2017-2019 can be found at https://seedsaverscircle.home.blog/ And for seed exchanging from 2010 to 2016 at http://seedsaverscircle.org/seed-circle/a4a-seed-saver-group-2014/ And some previous threads for the Circles: Seed Circle 2023 https://www.allotments4all.co.uk/smf/index.php/topic,83426.0.html Seed Circle 2022 https://www.allotments4all.co.uk/smf/index.php/topic,83279.0.html Seed Circle 2021 https://www.allotments4all.co.uk/smf/index.php/topic,83047.0.html Seed Circle 2020 https://www.allotments4all.co.uk/smf/index.php/topic,82679.0.html Please could a moderator pin this. 9
Under Glass / Re: New Polytunnel« Last post by Obelixx on May 06, 2024, 17:51:35 »Loads of fun to be had in there once it's up Saddad. Enjoy!
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Under Glass / New Polytunnel« Last post by saddad on May 06, 2024, 11:54:28 »From Haygrove,
6Mx3M... and they are putting it up. Another plot holder on our site has had one for a few years, and I saw them at Malvern last year. Delighted because I was late ordering and they thought it would be "late May" before they could erect it.... but it's arrived just in time for the mass planting out of tender plants like toms, peppers and chillies. ![]() ![]() |