Seed Sharing Circle 2014?

[Jayb]

Green Lily has very kindly sent me seeds of a couple of Latvian tomato varieties she received from her Latvian friend. I've sown a few seeds and fingers crossed they do well. 
'Tomati Milda' a large oval yellow/orange with a thin skin and Fontana, which we think is a beefsteak type and hopefully some more information will become available.

[Jayb]

[galina]

Sounds exciting!   

I am just hardening off the tomatoes (many of them seed circle tomatoes) - such a bounty.  We are really able to enjoy some terrific flavours, thanks to all of you.

News here - the Salad Burnet herb is finally flowering!  And the Sugar Lord peas aren't far behind. Fingers crossed for seed.

[Jayb]

Love toms  Hope they do well.
Looking forward to Salad Burnet, I'm not sure I've grown it before. Love peas 

My Gilfeather and Early Blood Turnips have taken a fair beating in the recent winds, fingers crossed not too much damage.

[RenewableCandy]

Is it too late to join the Seed Circle? I've been saving Purple Sprouting Broccoli (variety lost in the mists of time, sorry) seeds each year now for 4 years, and sunflowers for 7, so I can offer those. Plus French Beans (looks for pic of seeds...) seem to be the type called YinYang or Calypso. Do French Beans need "isolating"? I've never thought of it before...

[markfield rover]

The Georgian runners are up and there is "something of the night" about them!

[Jayb]

Is it too late to join the Seed Circle? I've been saving Purple Sprouting Broccoli (variety lost in the mists of time, sorry) seeds each year now for 4 years, and sunflowers for 7, so I can offer those. Plus French Beans (looks for pic of seeds...) seem to be the type called YinYang or Calypso. Do French Beans need "isolating"? I've never thought of it before...

Welcome aboard, it's not too late at all to join in 
I wonder are your beans dwarf or climbing? No need to isolate French beans, they normally self pollinate before their flowers open so little chance of cross pollination with other French beans.

[galina]

The Georgian runners are up and there is "something of the night" about them!

Intriguing! - well almost scary - do tell us more 

Apart from the Sugar Lord mangetout (I have yet to see how they fared after yesterday's violent thunderstorm and hail :-( ), and the herb Salad Burnet, which has a pleasant cucumber flavour, I have also got two lettuces, which I hope will give us enough seed for the circle.  One is a Salanova type lettuce Gaugin and the other a Korean 'wrapping lettuce', with a very long name, starting with 'Dduk'.   

Also planning various courgettes, but nothing planted yet.  I have one bigger courgette which is cloche and fleece protected, but that came from a stray seed that had germinated inside, when we cut a courgette open.  Not one to save seeds from for that reason!  But for an experiment in earlier courgettes it was just the ticket. 




'

[RenewableCandy]

The French Beans are the climbing sort.

[Jayb]

The French Beans are the climbing sort.

Great, the Yin Yang beans I've grown are were dwarf, so look forward to these. Another question, are the seeds black and white or brown-maroon and white?

[markfield rover]

 I have a long line in the greenhouse of beans including Jayb's black podded but the Georgians are the darkest ,inky black veins and the seed inside bit is very dark too! The seed case was coffee and caramel in tone. To be continued........

[Jayb]

I love the sound of these 

[RenewableCandy]

Maroon-and-white (tries to find icon for a glass of wine...fails...takes another swig)

[galina]

Maroon-and-white (tries to find icon for a glass of wine...fails...takes another swig)

3 similar varieties spring to mind - Pea Bean Inca, Pea Bean Jack Edwards and Monastic Coco.  All slightly similar, a type of bean that was near extinction, but pockets have been found and re-cultivated.  A very good bean (and not a cross between pea and bean, but a French bean).  Wonder where yours come from - maybe a fourth type.  Exciting 

[galina]

I have a long line in the greenhouse of beans including Jayb's black podded but the Georgians are the darkest ,inky black veins and the seed inside bit is very dark too! The seed case was coffee and caramel in tone. To be continued........

I see what you mean!  Very decorative 

[RenewableCandy]

I can actually remember where my beans came from: our local eco-enthuseaste handed me an envelope with about 6 of them in it, he seemed very proud of them (in a nice way) so they might be the unusual ones you suggest. I've been saving and replantig every year since then. I'm absolutely certan I shall bump into him in the next couple of weeks or so, when I do I shall ask him what they are.

[Silverleaf]

I found an interesting little bean plant among my Barlotto Lingua di Fuoco a few years back - I forget exactly what the plant was like but it was definitely different, smaller and with only a few small pods. I saved 4 seeds for absolutely no reason, and from them I'd guess that the plant was a the result of a cross with Lingua as one of the parents since they have that characteristic speckling. They are much darker though, medium brown with medium-dark spots. Might plant them and see what they do.

I hear that although French beans can cross, but it's pretty rare, and a 6ft gap between varieties should be enough to maintain purity.

[Jayb]

I can actually remember where my beans came from: our local eco-enthuseaste handed me an envelope with about 6 of them in it, he seemed very proud of them (in a nice way) so they might be the unusual ones you suggest. I've been saving and replantig every year since then. I'm absolutely certan I shall bump into him in the next couple of weeks or so, when I do I shall ask him what they are.

Excellent 

[Jayb]

I found an interesting little bean plant among my Barlotto Lingua di Fuoco a few years back - I forget exactly what the plant was like but it was definitely different, smaller and with only a few small pods. I saved 4 seeds for absolutely no reason, and from them I'd guess that the plant was a the result of a cross with Lingua as one of the parents since they have that characteristic speckling. They are much darker though, medium brown with medium-dark spots. Might plant them and see what they do.

I hear that although French beans can cross, but it's pretty rare, and a 6ft gap between varieties should be enough to maintain purity.

I love finding something different  good luck with your beans 

[Jayb]

Update on progress from April 13th,

Goodlife, Sugar Lord mangetout, Peas, Gilfeather turnips, Sugarbeet, tomato seeds, 'Snowdrop', 'Anja', chilli seeds
Markfield Rover, Marianna's Peace & Sandpoint tomatoes, pea - Jeyes and runner bean Georgian.
Ian Pearson, Celeriac and Skirret
Pumpkinlover,
Jayb, Early Blood Turnip (Beetroot), Gilfeather Turnip, tomatoes, possibly pepper or  chilli or aubergine, cucumber
Galina, Sugar Lord mangetout, Salad Burnet, lettuce, courgette
Sparrow, Alberto Locoto chillies, Kent Blue peas
Robert B,
Ruud, Ulluco and tomatoes.
SueK, tomatoes and peas
Silverleaf, beans and peas
Easyonthebrain, undecided
Aj, selection
RenewableCandy, Purple Sprouting Broccoli, sunflower , beans

[markfield rover]

If you were to see any of the above on a menu you would know you were somewhere special.