Allotments 4 All

I have none of the promised 'Golden Sunrise' tomato - they haven't appeared 
but have managed to get some red pear seeds.
So only one seed variety from me

Feels like a failure of a year so am looking forward to next year. . .

Debs

Thanks Jayb. That was my guess that my saved seeds were the result of a cross. I'm satisfied with them though and have been sundrying a number of them. (Hint for anyone who tries, scoop out seeds and any pulpy juice, salt and dry for a day or two till they shrink a bit then no later, wash them briefly in vinegar to stop moulds forming, then continue to sun dry)
I don't think I have spare seeds of this saved Montserrat derived variety yet to share. I might be tempted to try one or two named Montserrat seed but I only brought a fruit back from Spain out of curiosity. I hadn't seen a tomato of that type before. I brought back a black tomato at the same time but found tomatoes from the seeds were boring so stopped growing them.
I have plenty of the seeds of 'Yellow Lightbulb' - my nickname for them - and I'm happy to send some out. I probably have about 50 seeds saved. I quite like them.
I have plenty of Brandywine and some of an Oxheart type that are both large and solid and which I use for pizza toppings and incredible tomato sauces.


Edited to add: the yellow lightbulb was salvaged from a lunchtime salad I had in Southern Spain so I have no idea what name the variety is. I see the shape nowadays described as pear but I think lightbulb is closer!

Regrettably, I'll have to drop out this year. A combination of shortage of time, having to create a new garden from scratch after moving, losses from bad weather, and rampant blight means I haven't been able to collect anything worthwhile. Sorry. I'll miss my parcel.
I'm in for next year though.

morning all -jayb -Queen of hearts tom is neither regal or heart shaped a bit of a rose name really, still a bit iffy as to making it into the circle.
Beans aplenty tho',and I would grow Mr Brooks blue in the flower border
,they look lovely with marigolds ( of which I will plenty of seed if anyone wants any)
Cheers

Did a taste test on my Reisentraubes and Mrs P says they taste quite sweet.

When are we all to forward our seeds and do we divide them into portions for all the seed contributors??

Debs

Quote from: Debs on October 01, 2012, 18:40:08
When are we all to forward our seeds and do we divide them into portions for all the seed contributors??

Debs

When? we do not know exactly yet.  The idea is that we all send in good time to receive our seed packs before the bulk of the Christmas post snarls up speedy receipt.

Yes - we make up the required number of seed packets for everybody.  If we didn't, the job and expense on Jayb would be just too much.  Traditionally we fill one extra pa cket of each variety, in case of postal loss.  I guess once the final list of participating members is confirmed, we can get packing, labelling and sending.

HTH

Sorry to hear that Ian - next year :-)

Hi everybody here some news from the other side of the pond.The beans are dried and stored.I have some nice dutch dry beans for the circle.The kale also did well.Only the tomatoes are behind but that is partly my fault i like them to much and eat them but there are enough to save some seed from also a unknown big cherry one didnot plant it but growed well in the greenhouse.Red big cherry tomato with a great flavour have to save some seeds from.

I appreciated I gave a cut off date as the beginning of October so we would all know how many were in the group and be able to start bagging seeds if ready. But I've not had the time to properly catch up with everyone so if it's ok with you all the cut off date for being included will be the 12th Oct. Thanks to those who have already been in touch. Soon as I have the final number I'll pm my address and seeds can be sent in whenever you are ready but at the latest end of November.

Hi Ruud all sounds good news from your pond side  Looking forward to trying your mystery tomato, any ideas what it might be?

I'm hoping to still be in with Sharks Fin Melon Squash, Hutterite soup beans and tomatoes from the HDRA blight resistant tomato trial, which did fairly well despite the awful weather AND tasted ok. However I  guess I had better check with them first it it is ok?
I was all for giving up and opting out, but fingers crossed.

Composting: Leaves and stems of plants affected by blight can be added to your compost heap; the fungus will not survive in dead plant material. Do not compost blighted fruit, as the fungal spores can survive in seeds to grow and reproduce next spring, carrying blight onto your new crops; either bury deeply (60cm/ 2ft) or put in a dustbin. Alternatively, take all affected plants to the local recycling centre. These centres compost on a very large scale, thus generating high temperatures which will kill the disease.

I have just been on the HDR site and read the above.Surely this is incorrect.

All sounds good Pumpkinlover  I know I'm stating the obvious but it's not been easy with a lot of crops this year so having seeds to harvest is a well done you
I didn't do the tomato trail this year, but I would have thought unless they have asked for all the seeds back they would be fine with you growing and sharing seed? What varieties did you grow in the trial? I think any tomato plants grown outside this year and doing well against blight are worth growing again.

Quote from: Poolcue on October 06, 2012, 20:25:15
Composting: Leaves and stems of plants affected by blight can be added to your compost heap; the fungus will not survive in dead plant material. Do not compost blighted fruit, as the fungal spores can survive in seeds to grow and reproduce next spring, carrying blight onto your new crops; either bury deeply (60cm/ 2ft) or put in a dustbin. Alternatively, take all affected plants to the local recycling centre. These centres compost on a very large scale, thus generating high temperatures which will kill the disease.

I have just been on the HDR site and read the above.Surely this is incorrect.

I know some virus can be carried by seed but I wasn't aware Late blight could be carried and survive in tomato seeds? Have you a link to the web page?

I should have four climbing Frenchies; Trail of Tears, Cosse Violette, Mrs Fortune's Climbing Bean and Kew Blue. That may change a little as I grew several varieties for seed, and I'm not sure how much seed I'm going to get. All have at least a couple of pods which have filled out but I may yet get a pleasant surprise when the masses of leaves die back. Then there's Ragged Jack Kale as well. The dwarf beans all faded away and produced nothing, and waterlogging combined with pigeons did for the peas.

Quote from: Jayb on October 08, 2012, 15:53:13

Quote from: Poolcue on October 06, 2012, 20:25:15
Composting: Leaves and stems of plants affected by blight can be added to your compost heap; the fungus will not survive in dead plant material. Do not compost blighted fruit, as the fungal spores can survive in seeds to grow and reproduce next spring, carrying blight onto your new crops; either bury deeply (60cm/ 2ft) or put in a dustbin. Alternatively, take all affected plants to the local recycling centre. These centres compost on a very large scale, thus generating high temperatures which will kill the disease.

I have just been on the HDR site and read the above.Surely this is incorrect.

I know some virus can be carried by seed but I wasn't aware Late blight could be carried and survive in tomato seeds? Have you a link to the web page?

The link is below ,the info is right at the bottom

http://www.gardenorganic.org.uk/factsheets/dc20.php

Thanks Poolcue, I couldn't find it for looking!
I'm still none the wiser as many sites give information that it is not transmitted in seed? Perhaps it has something to do with the rotting fruit being host and if a seed germinates within this? Sorry I can't help.

Your list sound good Robert, great additions to the Circle.

How many people are joining this circle.I want to make a parcle

Yayyy just loved it when the seeds start to come in, just great seeing the envelopes start to fill with goodies for everyone 

Can I let you know how many on Saturday 13th, as the cut off date for taking part is the 12th? 

I've read back to the beginning and see that the idea is to grow enough seeds of at least two varieties (and more is better) that can be shared out among other members of the circle.
But I am unsure about quantities. How many people are typically in a circle? And how many seeds is it reasonable to pass out to each person?
I normally grow enough seed for my own purposes with enough perhaps to share out with a couple more people but this scheme depends on more. If I knew how many seeds might be expected to be shared out, I could decide whether I could take part and what I could share out. I don't have much in the way of the exotics I read in the thread but I have things like Brandywine tomato seed that this year I saved from a 1lb 4 oz fruit and other odds and ends.

I think this is a great idea anyway.