Allotments 4 All

OHHH NOOO..you are getting my knickers in twist with your torture..describing all those lovely veg that you've picked... ::) I want my cataloque! ...no patience left in me and I still have to wait till 24th to open my pressies.. ::) ;D

saddad all tomatoes are susceptible to crossing not just red peach.

the hsl library of seeds it so limited I prefer baker creek and sese

I was like you last year I was really champing at the bit but I still actually got all my choices.  Perhaps they rotate the mailings.  

I thought there were different flower shapes in tomatoes which made some more susceptible than others to playing away.  

http://www.gardenorganic.org.uk/hsl/seed_saving/ssg12_tomatoes.php

I am not convinced that the no of varieties held by HSL is limited they do not offer all their varieties every year.  They have also been checked out for our climate.

I suppose the biggest problem is that you only get 7 packets per year, but with seed swaps it is possible to increase that quite a lot.

My rather unusual growing conditions makes it very important to find varieties which will cope with them well.

the hsl library of seeds it so limited
Plainleaf..it is not all about the choice of seeds ..lot of us also want be part of good organisation that is looking after our heritage veg. The yearly membership that allow you to choose those 'free' veg seeds would make chosen packets rather expensive if it would be just about 'buying'.
Yes..the choice maybe limited compared those companies you mentioned but HSL does have lot varieties in their 'care'..they just don't 'advertise' all their seeds at once.  Each year they give slightly different selection out for us to choose from while the seeds that they don't have enough stock are still grown for future releases. Work goes on....

As climate change looms the advantages of having a large gene pool of  vegetables may become important. 

But thanks for reminding me of Bakers Creek they have a 6ft tall fava bean.

I nearly went for the BB myself, but asked for the red-seeded one in the end. Either would have been a useful addition to a mix I'm planning.

Quote from: goodlife on December 14, 2011, 10:16:20
OHHH NOOO..you are getting my knickers in twist with your torture..describing all those lovely veg that you've picked... ::) I want my cataloque! ...no patience left in me and I still have to wait till 24th to open my pressies.. ::) ;D

I was in your situation last year Goodlife, everyone on here was putting in their orders and my catalogue had not come!
I still got everything I asked for, so you should be ok.
You did check you have paid and still a member by the way ;)

.....Only teasing ;D

You did check you have paid and still a member by the way
.....Only teasing Hah..funny, funny.. ;D Yes..I've dug out whole lot of papers and receipt to see that I haven't been that 'silly'.. ::) I can confirm that I have paid it all.. ;D

I joined the Alpine Garden Society online the first year and then forgot to renew, when I phoned up to ask why something had not turned up it transpired my membership had expired! :-[ :-[ :-[
Now pay by Direct debit, no forgetting.

Mine's by direct debit, too. (With my memory....!)

Catalogue seen to and order sent. I rather fancy the big brutish broad beans, too. And I can thoroughly recommend the purple-flowered broad beans - I've been growing them for years now and I think they've got a far better flavour than the modern types. My saved seed has been distributed all over the allotments!

That's what it's all about!

I got it, I got it! ... ;D
All picked and ready to post.
I bet when I sit down later on with that cataloque and have thorough read, I wish that I would have picked  'this and that' instead.. ::)
But there was sooo many that I really really wanted that it was difficult to choose.
My no1 wishes were  Wesphalian kale, Black sugar sweet turnip, Kenilworth tomato, Harrold Idle..Jayes and Tabletalk peas.
Ah...now I only have to do is wait patiently and see what turns up.. ::)
I'm off to take dog for walk and see if she likes the letter box.. ;) ;D

I think having to make 18 choices is mental torture...  :-X

I could easily make 18 choices if I could get them all..but trying to make 6 'must have' 1st choices is the difficult one.. ::)
I surprised myself for not being too tempted with getting more tomatoes this year.. ;D I think those urges are well satisfied with this years swaps.. ;D..not that I could refuse any other swaps for more toms.. :-X ;D

With the exception of "Red Peach" choosing tomatoes would have resulted in my spending a long time under the patio...  :o

 ;D ;D..surely not..when I met your wife this summer..she seemed very nice.
Or would you have gone under patio voluntarily?..dug your own hole.. ;D ;D..she have trained you well..;)

It would be a one-way trip.... and I wouldn't book the ticket...  :-X

When I pick from the Alpine Garden and Scottish Rock garden seedswops it is similar, you have to pick three times the number of seeds which you will actually get.
I can see why they do it that way, but for us early birds (so usually do get first choices- or pick non rareties) it does make it hard to pick!

Of course when folks start saying how much they want a variety that you havn't picked then you start to qustion yourself!!

It's the same with any swap, but there's always next year!