Seed saving
 

Some months ago at the beginning of winter I tidied up my saved seeds
and got the whole collection down to just 2 plastic ice cream
containers, one of flowers and one of veg, or so I thought.

Last night as I was furkling in my pantry and trying to decide whether
to throw out the calf milk replacer or not and I came across another
collection of seeds - some saved, some bought. A plastic tub about 40
cm long by 30 cm wide. What a collection! All sorts of poppies -
Wind, Flanders and the Opium poppy (otherwise called the Paeony Headed
poppy if one buys it). Pumkin seeds galore (Queensland Blue,
Ironbark, Butternut, Jap and Bush) - beaut since they grow better from
seed that isn't too fresh. Curled Parsley, Aragula, saved carrot -
why save home grown carrot? Must have rocks in my head. Mustard
seeds. 7 Year beans from 4 different sources. Rockmelon seeds
(cantaloup) -2 different forms but both netted types). And the
tomatoes - more varieties than I could throw a stick at!

The list goes on (and I haven't even really mentioned any of the
flowers other than the poppies)! I love saving seeds from open
pollinated varieties but I really must either get busy and grow some
to resave or throw out most of them - perhaps I should just broadcast
them or sow them in poystyrene boxes and see what happens. Any
thoughts?

Seed saving
 

Farm1 wrote:
Last night as I was furkling in my pantry

(snip)

perhaps I should just broadcast
them or sow them in poystyrene boxes and see what happens. Any
thoughts?

Furkling, hey ... what a brilliant word. Thank you, I'll use it as from
tomorrow :o))))

This chap is a farmer in Central Brazil, near Brasília, and is trying
to recover the plant diversity that is being destroyed by the soy beans
monoculture for export. He intends to create a Latin American seed bank
and would very much appreciate seed donations. If you find yourself
with too many seeds, send him a lil' packet and see what happens.
Onaldo Alves Pereira, Caixa postal 114, CEP 74 001 970 Goiânia,
Goiás, BRAZIL.

Or, if you go into a big city and see a grotty grey sad piece of grass,
just throw a handful of seeds on it. I'm sure some souls next year will
appreciate the colours appearing just like magic ;o)

Seed saving
 

"La Puce" wrote in message
oups.com...

Farm1 wrote:
Last night as I was furkling in my pantry

(snip)

perhaps I should just broadcast
them or sow them in poystyrene boxes and see what happens. Any
thoughts?

Furkling, hey ... what a brilliant word. Thank you, I'll use it as from
tomorrow :o))))

This chap is a farmer in Central Brazil, near Brasília, and is trying
to recover the plant diversity that is being destroyed by the soy beans
monoculture for export. He intends to create a Latin American seed bank
and would very much appreciate seed donations. If you find yourself
with too many seeds, send him a lil' packet and see what happens.
Onaldo Alves Pereira, Caixa postal 114, CEP 74 001 970 Goiânia,
Goiás, BRAZIL.

Or, if you go into a big city and see a grotty grey sad piece of grass,
just throw a handful of seeds on it. I'm sure some souls next year will
appreciate the colours appearing just like magic ;o)

I've tried that along grass verges....nothing much ever seems to come up :~(
I think the native grass is probably too stong to let any 'strange' seed
grow.
jenny

Seed saving
 

Farm1 writes
Some months ago at the beginning of winter I tidied up my saved seeds
and got the whole collection down to just 2 plastic ice cream
containers, one of flowers and one of veg, or so I thought.

Last night as I was furkling in my pantry and trying to decide whether
to throw out the calf milk replacer or not and I came across another
collection of seeds - some saved, some bought. A plastic tub about 40
cm long by 30 cm wide. What a collection! All sorts of poppies -
Wind, Flanders and the Opium poppy (otherwise called the Paeony Headed
poppy if one buys it). Pumkin seeds galore (Queensland Blue,
Ironbark, Butternut, Jap and Bush) - beaut since they grow better from
seed that isn't too fresh. Curled Parsley, Aragula, saved carrot -
why save home grown carrot? Must have rocks in my head. Mustard
seeds. 7 Year beans from 4 different sources. Rockmelon seeds
(cantaloup) -2 different forms but both netted types). And the
tomatoes - more varieties than I could throw a stick at!

The list goes on (and I haven't even really mentioned any of the
flowers other than the poppies)! I love saving seeds from open
pollinated varieties but I really must either get busy and grow some
to resave or throw out most of them - perhaps I should just broadcast
them or sow them in poystyrene boxes and see what happens. Any
thoughts?

My biggest problem is what to do with the rest of the seed packet when
I've sown half (share it with others means a) I have to find an other
who wants the same seed and b) it's difficult to re-sow after
germination or watering failure if I've given all the seeds away!), and
what to do with the other 250 sweet williams when I've planted out the
first 50.

You now have the same problem writ large ;-)

What you could do, is sow the whole lot, and let us know the age of each
batch and the germination rate. That's if you felt really dedicated to
improving the corporate urg knowledge base ;-)


--
Kay

Seed saving
 

In article
, Farm1
writes


The list goes on (and I haven't even really mentioned any of the
flowers other than the poppies)! I love saving seeds from open
pollinated varieties but I really must either get busy and grow some
to resave or throw out most of them - perhaps I should just broadcast
them or sow them in poystyrene boxes and see what happens. Any
thoughts?


Why not swap seeds? I do this every year as I usually have about 150
packets. I use what I need and then swap with other people. Or take them
to your gardening club, there may well be lots of people there who would
like to give some of them a chance.
I find that sometimes I can't get things to germinate but because I've
shared the seed someone else has been able to give me back a couple of
seedlings!

It all works out in the end.

janet
--
Janet Tweedy
Dalmatian Telegraph
http://www.lancedal.demon.co.uk

Seed saving
 

La Puce writes


This chap is a farmer in Central Brazil, near Brasília, and is trying
to recover the plant diversity that is being destroyed by the soy beans
monoculture for export. He intends to create a Latin American seed bank
and would very much appreciate seed donations. If you find yourself
with too many seeds, send him a lil' packet and see what happens.
Onaldo Alves Pereira, Caixa postal 114, CEP 74 001 970 Goiânia,
Goiás, BRAZIL.

But how does a donation of commercial or antipodean seed help preserve
Latin American diversity?
--
Kay

Seed saving
 

K wrote:
But how does a donation of commercial or antipodean seed help preserve
Latin American diversity?

I suppose it's about diversity, not specifically latin american
species. It's also fun to make contacts around the world. You wouldn't
beleive what I've received through the post in the last 10 years, from
strange beans to sun baked deer skull, from waffer thin pecan nuts (to
die for) to soil samples. It's all about sharing. If the seeds are not
appropriate I'm certain that they will be passed on to someone who will
enjoy them, especially if it's vegetable seeds.

Seed saving
 

"K" wrote in message

My biggest problem is what to do with the rest of the seed packet when
I've sown half (share it with others means a) I have to find an other who
wants the same seed and b) it's difficult to re-sow after germination or
watering failure if I've given all the seeds away!), and what to do with
the other 250 sweet williams when I've planted out the first 50.

Keep them and sow them next year!

Alan

Seed saving
 

"K" wrote in message
Farm1 writes

Last night as I was furkling in my pantry and trying to decide
whether
to throw out the calf milk replacer or not and I came across
another
collection of seeds - some saved, some bought.

The list goes on (and I haven't even really mentioned any of the
flowers other than the poppies)! I love saving seeds from open
pollinated varieties but I really must either get busy and grow
some
to resave or throw out most of them - perhaps I should just
broadcast
them or sow them in poystyrene boxes and see what happens. Any
thoughts?

My biggest problem is what to do with the rest of the seed packet
when
I've sown half (share it with others means a) I have to find an
other
who wants the same seed and b) it's difficult to re-sow after
germination or watering failure if I've given all the seeds away!),
and
what to do with the other 250 sweet williams when I've planted out
the
first 50.

You now have the same problem writ large ;-)

I see you know what I'm facing :-))

What you could do, is sow the whole lot, and let us know the age of
each
batch and the germination rate. That's if you felt really dedicated
to
improving the corporate urg knowledge base ;-)

Not a bad suggestion but given the amount of seeds and the area I have
available, I'd have to do it over a number of years :-))

Seed saving
 

"Janet Tweedy" wrote in message
Farm1 writes


The list goes on (and I haven't even really mentioned any of the
flowers other than the poppies)! I love saving seeds from open
pollinated varieties but I really must either get busy and grow
some
to resave or throw out most of them - perhaps I should just
broadcast
them or sow them in poystyrene boxes and see what happens. Any
thoughts?


Why not swap seeds? I do this every year as I usually have about
150
packets. I use what I need and then swap with other people. Or take
them
to your gardening club, there may well be lots of people there who
would
like to give some of them a chance.

I think that's a good idea. Thanks.