Seed Saving Circle 2025

[galina]

Information about cinnamon vine below.  Basically it is a yam, that produces both starchy mini yam aerial tubers on the plant after flowering and also big storage tubers in the ground.  Both are fully edible and nice tasting.  The flowers smell very nice too, but more like quality fabric softener than cinnamon (in my experience). 

https://www.uaex.uada.edu/yard-garden/resource-library/plant-week/cinnamon.aspx#:~:text=Cinnamon%20vine%2C%20so%20named%20because,weight%20up%20to%20a%20pound.

[markfield rover]

In haste .. hopefully the following..

CFB Box. Poletscka. Alice Whitis Pink.

DFB .Cupitano.

Pea.  Twelve Acre. Fairbeards Pariel.

Cress. Grandpa's.

Toms. First in the field ( it was!) Glacier. Rose de Berne. Mexican    Midget.  Peppermint. Peruvianum. Goldiana .

Cinnamon Vine . Mangle , Yellow Intermediate.

Flowers. Impomoea, Tutu. Four O'clock flower. Lucy's Starburst Marigolds. Viola ,Brush Strokes. Species Sweet Pea, Pink Tangier.
Cosmos, Sulphureus.

There should have been more peas , just was not their time.

[JanG]

JanG, I didn't  joined your seed saver group and I don't need anything but I would like to send your group  some  of my this tear Mayoral Blue Squash seeds to pass on if you wish. I got 4 decent sized squash and a smaller one ,they are out of the garden now and are inside in a cool room. If you can give me an idea how many seeds you could use I will get them to you. Canada post is currently on strike since last Thursday and not accepting anything for mailing.Last year it was 5 weeks. Let me know.XX Jeannine

Thank you very much, Jeanine. Having read abut your efforts to keep this variety going it will be an honour to be part of trying to ensure it lives on.

We are either seven or eight members. If you have lots of seeds then please send plenty for each member and I will happily divide them up and distribute.

We operate to an end of November deadline. With your postal strike and the time it takes for squash seeds to dry out it might well be that that is too soon for your seeds. Please send them anyway and I will either put them in the freezer for next year or, more likely, ask that anyone who wants to grow them next year should let me know and I'll post them out later but in time for growing. 

Thank you again, Jeannine. We look forward to receiving these very special seeds when the postal strike sorts itself out.

[JanG]

In haste .. hopefully the following..

CFB Box. Poletscka. Alice Whitis Pink.

DFB .Cupitano.

Pea.  Twelve Acre. Fairbeards Pariel.

Cress. Grandpa's.

Toms. First in the field ( it was!) Glacier. Rose de Berne. Mexican    Midget.  Peppermint. Peruvianum. Goldiana .

Cinnamon Vine . Mangle , Yellow Intermediate.

Flowers. Impomoea, Tutu. Four O'clock flower. Lucy's Starburst Marigolds. Viola ,Brush Strokes. Species Sweet Pea, Pink Tangier.
Cosmos, Sulphureus.

There should have been more peas , just was not their time.

That's great, MR. A lovely list. Both pea varieties are new to me so much appreciated. And so are all the tomatoes, come to that.

[JanG]

Tomatoes for the seed circle.

I've already mentioned and posted photos of Mila Orange (Russian, indeterminate, seeds from Jeannine and before that, Heritage Harvest Seeds) and Shimmer. Shimmer is a fairly recent commercially available variety, bred by Henk van der Velde who worked at Burpee Seeds in US. It is often sold as an F1 hybrid but I grew the ones in my photo from my own seed so I'm assuming the next generation will come true too. My original seed came from Simply Seeds


In addition I'd like to contribute:

Moldovan Green
OSU Blue
Sunviva
Violet Noir

Some notes:
Moldovan Green. As the name suggests it originates from Moldova from where seed as saved and distributed through the Seed Savers Handbook in US in 1998. It's a lovely beefsteak, green with yellowish streaking and excellent taste. It's a good short season variety and I grew it successfully outdoors. Seed from Jeannine.



OSU Blue. I love the anthocyanin colouring of dark tomatoes and this one is bigger than some and a real winner in my book. It's quite heavy cropping and tastes good. OSU stands for Oregon State University where this variety was experimentally developed by Jim Myers in the first years of this century. It's one of the earliest anthocyanin varieties. My original seed was from an exchange.



Sunviva This is a recent, blight resistant variety, bred by a team at Gottingen University, so very useful for outdoor growing. It has small, slightly oval yellow cherry fruit. The plants are very vigorous and it produces fruit prolifically. It canted to split but the taste is excellent. Seed from a swap, originally from Brown Envelope Seeds I think. It has an open source seed licence.



Violet Noir. I very much liked this variety which again came from Jeannine. It is a dusky coloured beefsteak and very productive for a large tomato. It was created in 1998 and further developed by Pascal Moreau, the Belgium breeder who also created Ananas Noire.

.

[galina]

Sunviva was one of the earliest ever seeds with an OSSI licence in Germany.  Naturally looking forward to growing them, Jan.  Your others look yummy too.  Violet Noir is a beauty.   

Much to look forward to from you also MR.  All of your peas have thrived so well here. 

[galina]

Here is the Sunviva information.  https://www.opensourceseeds.org/en

[juliev]

Hello everyone,

So many wonderful varieties being shared and even new crops (never heard of the cinnamon vine before)! I need a much bigger plot, polytunnel, some help and maybe an extra hundred years to be able to grow it all... How do you manage to keep so many varieties going?

Update on my list:

poppy (P Somniferum): white seeds Sokol (pale flowers)
                      dark flowers After Midnight (dark seeds)
I grew them in their own beds, as far away as I could to prevent crossing (a few off-types in the original seeds I had bought though).

Pea: Dwarf Grey Sugar pea
It was rough for the poor peas this year. The mixes did ok overall but the pure varieties I was trying to save didn't do as well... Thankfully I have enough seeds to grow them out again.

Tomatoes: I need to count the seeds and see what I can share.
I also grew Sgt Pepper and Sunviva this year and they did really well. My Sunviva seeds were from Seeds of Scotland, fruited early, vigorous plant and kept sending side shoots that kept on fruiting. Definitely a keeper!

peppers/chillies: Fingers crossed I'll have enough seeds to share.

French beans: TBC (I've got a lot of counting ahead of me!!!)

I haven't opened them yet but I should have:
Naked-seed squash (C. Pepo) Penelopa (original seeds from She Grow Veg) hand-pollinated for pure seeds
more info here https://theplantexplorer.com/shop/64-the-plant-explorer-seeds/1857-cucurbita-pepo-penelopa/

If you're interested in naked-seed pumpkins (but not a specific variety) I have also Penelopa X Dana and Dana X Penelopa/Dana/Kakai. I'm happy to send those separately to whoever wants to try them.

Jan, unfortunately it was the last of my Kakai seeds, having tried them two years in a row and not getting a single fruit from any of the plants...

Golden Flax

Amaranth Grain (originally the rainbow mix from Real Seeds)
I also tried a couple of popping types that grew really well (they were separate from the rainbow mix) but I'm not sure how much crossing could have happened there... Let me know if you're interested!

[juliev]

Debs, I am happy to grow your mystery peas. I grow most crops as mixes/populations so not knowing the name of the variety is not an issue.

To everyone:
As Jan mentioned (thank you for thinking of me!), I work mainly with seed mixes and have been sharing my excess seeds via a small seed library. This year, I expanded the project to a UK seed share project, inspired by this group, but focusing on creating diverse mixes for each crop type.

If you have excess seeds or off-types/crosses you usually get rid of, I would love to give them a chance in the seed share project (obviously happy to pay postage etc). You can send me a private message here or email me at seedshareuk@gmail.com to discuss further.

Jan, if this post is not ok in this thread, please remove it or let me know and I'll remove it.

[galina]

Juliev, I have never grown naked seeded pumpkins, but bought plenty from the health food shop!  We slightly roast them in a dry pan, a dash of salt and they go on top of soups together with a dollop of Greek Yoghurt.  Looking forward to the experience of growing my own.  Penelopa seeds will be very welcome here. 

[markfield rover]

Thank you galina for the cinnamon vine link , were the bulbils originally from you back in 2015 ? They really are indestructible and very forgiving, I think I may try a tuber , finally !

[galina]

Yes it was.  Under Herbs and Edibles.

https://seedsaverscircle.org/seed-circle/a4a-seed-saver-group-2015/

[JanG]

Thank you for your interesting list, Juliev. Again in awe of your successful hand pollination. I would appreciate both your named naked seed squash and your hybrid. I enjoy the whole process of harvesting the green seeds. Mine simply go in my muesli mix or just for munching raw. The yield isn't huge, I find; I'd need at least six or eight squash to keep me going for the year but they're very much valued. Sorry your Kakai didn't make it. I have two large squash formed on my plant but alas, not isolated or hand pollinated.

Juliev, I'm very happy for you to give your splendid project an annual mention here and direct further discussion, as you did, to pm or email. Good luck with this year's sharing.

Is your popping amaranth for heating and popping like popcorn?

It reminds me that I'm growing strawberry popcorn which I'm hoping to have available as seed, albeit perhaps not enough plants for longer term vigour. Yet to be harvested so it's one to monitor and decide about.

[Jeannine]

OK, Canada Post still on strike, d**n it but I will not forget

[Jeannine]

OK, Canada Post still on strike, d**n it but I will not forget

[JanG]

PMs sent with seed circle admin details.

And on seeds, I've sorted out lettuces and peas at last and would like to contribute:

Lettuces

Lollo Rossa
An old standard frilly loose leaf lettuce which is pinkish red and a good standby for picking at leaf by leaf




Rouge Grenoble
Another well established variety which grows well away from summer heat and successfully over winters under cover

Vailan
This is a Little Gem type for winter growing

Hyper Red Rumple Waved
The seed for this fairly recent Frank Morton variety came from Seeds of Scotland and is an OSSI variety. Their notes for the variety are: "Dark burgundy red /purple leaf lettuce with deeply waved leaves, great for holding onto your salad dressing. Cut and come again as a loose-leaf lettuce or harvest as whole-heads.  The deep red pigment, known as the antioxidant anthocyanin means this lettuce is resilient in cold and wet conditions, a great choice for Scotland."



Brown Goldring
This came from HSL. T's a vigorous late cos. Their notes are, "Originally known as 'Goldring's Bath Cos', this lettuce won an Award of Merit from the RHS in 1923. Produces crisp heads in the summer and, like many of the old cos varieties, will overwinter with minimal protection. The dark green leaves have bronze tips and are sweet, crisp and juicy; they also keep well when compared with other lettuces. Sow to harvest 55 days (approx).
Won an award of merit from the RHS 1923. A deliciously tasting variety with more substance than modern Cos varieties. Hardy, it can be overwintered with little protection & has proved quite slug-resistant.
An exceptionally tasty and cold-tolerant bronze-tipped romaine lettuce. This type of lettuce has a crisp texture, juicy flavor, and impressive cold tolerance. Breeders and gardeners in the know consider this variety as an underappreciated gem. The conical heads are tightly wrapped and make an excellent scoop or canoe for filling!"

Peas

Clarke's Beltony Blue

This is a podding pea which I received in one of the first seed swaps I ever did, many years ago. It's an HSL variety. The peas are sweeter than many purple podded types. HSL notes are, HSL:This heirloom variety has been grown on our donor's great grandfather's farm in Co. Tyrone since at least 1850 (but possibly as far back as 1815). This tall (around 1.5m), prolific and vigorous pea produces beautiful pale pink and rich maroon flowers followed by a heavy crop of purple pods. The peas have a sweet and smooth flavour, becoming even sweeter when cooked. Sow to harvest 100 days (approx).



Ruby Beauty
I received seeds in a seed swap with a grower in Canada. It is a red podded variety. Red podded varieties have previously not been available commercially and for many who do their own pea breeding are a holy grail. Like many of these hitherto non-commercial attempts to achieve a red-podded variety, they are at their reddest when young becoming more purplish as they age. A hypertendril mange tout. It was bred by Dylana Kapuler and Mario DiBenedetto of Peace Seedlings.



Raatviksaart soup pea
Another seed swap variety but originally from Real Seeds. The seed is tiny and almost black. It's a Swedish soup pea but can be eaten fresh when young. Real Seeds notes: Mentioned by Linnaeus in 1741, this traditional Swedish soup pea is multipurpose - not just dried for soups, but sweet enough to eat fresh when very young, & also ground to make flour for bread and porridge. It's a medium-tall variety growing to around 5 foot in a typical year.
Sent to us by Jake Whitson in Sweden, who said:
"from the county to the north of us (Dalarna) where they have very hard winters, and the plants which we planted a little late survived into the winter through temperatures of -8C"
Grown in Rättvik until 1900, then thought lost until regenerated from a small sample in a seedbank.

[markfield rover]

Thank you JanG , I am doing my finalish sort out and I have a CFB and a mangetout that I  was only able to save a few seeds 5/6 per member, if that's okay I'll add, also I believe the CFB Croft Italian, I added to the circle eight years ago - so may not be required by some. Cheers

[galina]

I only have 4 seeds each of the watermelon MR.   5 or 6 is plenty for peas.  Too few for some veggies, but with peas, beans or squash, that is no issue.  And bean Croft's Italian can be shared without a packet for me.  I have just checked and have seeds, as well as a little stash safely in the freezer.

[galina]

Jan, how unusual is that black pea?  Looks so exotic.  And having over the years shared, I believe all of Alan Kapuler's peas, it is great to get to grow a pea bred by his daughter too. 

[JanG]

Thank you JanG , I am doing my finalish sort out and I have a CFB and a mangetout that I  was only able to save a few seeds 5/6 per member, if that's okay I'll add, also I believe the CFB Croft Italian, I added to the circle eight years ago - so may not be required by some. Cheers

As Galina says, 5 to 6 seeds per member is absolutely fine for peas and beans and cucurbits. And I would love some Croft's Italian please, so do include that too (minus one packet)