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Seeds - where to get interesting vegetable seeds?
There have recently been press articles saying that the range of
available seeds is very restricted. I am interested in growing food, not growing for exhibition. Where is the best place to get good vegetable seeds for the garden? -- Chris |
Seeds - where to get interesting vegetable seeds?
"Chris" wrote There have recently been press articles saying that the range of available seeds is very restricted. I am interested in growing food, not growing for exhibition. Where is the best place to get good vegetable seeds for the garden? It is true that a lot of the seeds available are the same as used commercially and as we who grow for ourselves don't want a whole field to crop at exactly the same time that can be a problem. F1 Cauliflowers seem to be the worst for that trait, who other than a farmer needs a whole row to head up the same week! We get our seeds from... http://www.marshalls-seeds.co.uk/ Only Veg seed, the allotment gardeners favourite. http://www.seedsofitaly.com/ Lots of seed in the packets, good lettuce varieties and interesting things. http://www.thomasetty.co.uk/ Heritage seed merchant, a one man band, interesting stuff. http://www.simpsonsseeds.co.uk/ Good variety of Chilli seed etc. http://www.thompson-morgan.com/index.html http://www.suttons.co.uk/ A pleasant way to waste a few wet evenings, browsing the catalogues and dreaming of crops to come. Why does reality never match the dream? :-) -- Regards Bob Hobden 17mls W. of London.UK |
Seeds - where to get interesting vegetable seeds?
On Sun, 9 Dec 2007 13:19:49 +0000, Chris wrote
(in article ]): There have recently been press articles saying that the range of available seeds is very restricted. I am interested in growing food, not growing for exhibition. Where is the best place to get good vegetable seeds for the garden? You could do worse than join Garden Organic's Heritage Seed Library: http://www.gardenorganic.org.uk/hsl/index.php -- Sally in Shropshire, UK http://www.freerice.com/index.php Give free rice to hungry people by playing a simple word game |
Seeds - where to get interesting vegetable seeds?
On Dec 9, 4:50 pm, Sally Thompson
wrote: On Sun, 9 Dec 2007 13:19:49 +0000, Chris wrote (in article ]): There have recently been press articles saying that the range of available seeds is very restricted. I am interested in growing food, not growing for exhibition. Where is the best place to get good vegetable seeds for the garden? You could do worse than join Garden Organic's Heritage Seed Library: http://www.gardenorganic.org.uk/hsl/index.php -- Sally in Shropshire, UK http://www.freerice.com/index.php Give free rice to hungry people by playing a simple word game Also in West Cork, Ireland http://www.brownenvelopeseeds.com/ Des |
Quote:
Some sellers get around this to sell you garden varieties by getting you to join a club for a nominal fee. One who does that is www.realseeds.co.uk They specialise in varieties which are tested as good for the garden. Another method is probably to sell the plants as ornamentals. After all, Dahlias were originally bred as food plants. Yet another method is to buy the seeds from abroad. I don't know how legal it is, but there doesn't seem to be any difficulty in achieving it in practice. So the big boys who have to be seen to be following the rules. Don't by your vegetable seeds from the big boys, buy them mail order from little sellers who specialise in garden varieties. |
Seeds - where to get interesting vegetable seeds?
In article , Bob Hobden
writes A pleasant way to waste a few wet evenings, browsing the catalogues and dreaming of crops to come. Why does reality never match the dream? :-) Never matches the blinking pictures! -- Janet Tweedy Dalmatian Telegraph http://www.lancedal.demon.co.uk |
Seeds - where to get interesting vegetable seeds?
In article ], Chris ] writes: | There have recently been press articles saying that the range of | available seeds is very restricted. | | I am interested in growing food, not growing for exhibition. | | Where is the best place to get good vegetable seeds for the garden? I grew two fancy carrots this year, in addition to a fairly standard 'fly-resistant' Nantes type. Spanish Black bolted faster than a CD-ROM of personal data from a government department. We got one meal's worth from three sowings. Kinbi (supposed to be well flavoured) tasted of almost nothing, and didn't root up at all well. Both did seem to be a bit more fly-resistant than the 'fly-resistant' one, but there wasn't enough of either to be certain. Regards, Nick Maclaren. |
Seeds - where to get interesting vegetable seeds?
Janet Tweedy wrote:
Never matches the blinking pictures! Just got my Fedco seed catalog (Co-op in U.S.), and the cover has a gent eagerly reading the catalog with the caption "Publishing fiction for 20 years." Gary Woods AKA K2AHC- PGP key on request, or at home.earthlink.net/~garygarlic Zone 5/6 in upstate New York, 1420' elevation. NY WO G |
Seeds - where to get interesting vegetable seeds?
"Gary Woods" wrote after... Janet Tweedy wrote: Never matches the blinking pictures! Just got my Fedco seed catalog (Co-op in U.S.), and the cover has a gent eagerly reading the catalog with the caption "Publishing fiction for 20 years." That sounds like a British sense of humour. :-) and an honest Company. -- Regards Bob Hobden 17mls W. of London.UK |
Seeds - where to get interesting vegetable seeds?
"Nick Maclaren"wrote I grew two fancy carrots this year, in addition to a fairly standard 'fly-resistant' Nantes type. Spanish Black bolted faster than a CD-ROM of personal data from a government department. We got one meal's worth from three sowings. Kinbi (supposed to be well flavoured) tasted of almost nothing, and didn't root up at all well. Both did seem to be a bit more fly-resistant than the 'fly-resistant' one, but there wasn't enough of either to be certain. Give the old "Chertsey" or "Long Red Surrey Carrot" a try Nick, grows well for us and we have been keeping our own seed for years. Mind you, we are near Chertsey which is why we tried it in the first place. :-) Not fly resistant though so a 2ft tall barrier around the crop is essential. -- Regards Bob Hobden 17mls W. of London.UK |
Seeds - where to get interesting vegetable seeds?
In article , "Bob Hobden" writes: | | Give the old "Chertsey" or "Long Red Surrey Carrot" a try Nick, grows well | for us and we have been keeping our own seed for years. Mind you, we are | near Chertsey which is why we tried it in the first place. :-) | Not fly resistant though so a 2ft tall barrier around the crop is essential. Thanks. Normally, I find that the ones I grow are fine, but it was a BAD year. Regards, Nick Maclaren. |
Seeds - where to get interesting vegetable seeds?
"Nick Maclaren" wrote "Bob Hobden" writes: | | Give the old "Chertsey" or "Long Red Surrey Carrot" a try Nick, grows well | for us and we have been keeping our own seed for years. Mind you, we are | near Chertsey which is why we tried it in the first place. :-) | Not fly resistant though so a 2ft tall barrier around the crop is essential. Thanks. Normally, I find that the ones I grow are fine, but it was a BAD year. Not for us it wasn't, same as usual, almost 100% germination and a good crop. -- Regards Bob Hobden 17mls W. of London.UK |
Seeds - where to get interesting vegetable seeds?
In article , Bob Hobden
writes "Gary Woods" wrote after... Janet Tweedy wrote: Never matches the blinking pictures! Just got my Fedco seed catalog (Co-op in U.S.), and the cover has a gent eagerly reading the catalog with the caption "Publishing fiction for 20 years." That sounds like a British sense of humour. :-) and an honest Company. Cotswold garden flowers and Bob Brown have the same type of catalogue :) -- Janet Tweedy Dalmatian Telegraph http://www.lancedal.demon.co.uk |
Seeds - where to get interesting vegetable seeds?
In article , Nick Maclaren
writes Spanish Black bolted faster than a CD-ROM of personal data from a government department. We got one meal's worth from three sowings. Kinbi (supposed to be well flavoured) tasted of almost nothing, and didn't root up at all well. Both did seem to be a bit more fly-resistant than the 'fly-resistant' one, but there wasn't enough of either to be certain. Regards, Nick Maclaren. I tried "broad yellow ripple currant" tomatoes one year from Garden organic or whatever they were calling themselves. They were lawful. really titchy and tasted unripe. Difficult to grow as they were spindly as well. Also "vale of tears" beans supposedly taken by the Indians when they were marched off their lands to those awful reservations. I can see why they didn't want to go if they only had those beans for company. Grew to about 6 inches, fell over and withered................. Janet -- Janet Tweedy Dalmatian Telegraph http://www.lancedal.demon.co.uk |
Seeds - where to get interesting vegetable seeds?
In article , Janet Tweedy writes: | | I tried "broad yellow ripple currant" tomatoes one year from Garden | organic or whatever they were calling themselves. They were lawful. Which laws do your normal tomatoes break? :-) Regards, Nick Maclaren. |
Seeds - where to get interesting vegetable seeds?
On 11/12/07 11:48, in article ,
"Martin" wrote: On Tue, 11 Dec 2007 11:10:08 +0000, Janet Tweedy wrote: In article , Bob Hobden writes "Gary Woods" wrote after... Janet Tweedy wrote: Never matches the blinking pictures! Just got my Fedco seed catalog (Co-op in U.S.), and the cover has a gent eagerly reading the catalog with the caption "Publishing fiction for 20 years." That sounds like a British sense of humour. :-) and an honest Company. Cotswold garden flowers http://www.cgf.net/ and Bob Brown have the same type of catalogue :) Bob Brown is Cotswold Garden Flowers? Thanks! The other places for interesting seeds are Derry Watkins Special Plants http://www.specialplants.net/ and Secret Seeds http://www.secretseeds.com/ Not veg, though. -- Sacha http://www.hillhousenursery.co.uk South Devon (remove weeds from address) 'We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children.' |
Seeds - where to get interesting vegetable seeds?
On 11 Dec, 14:23, Sacha wrote:
On 11/12/07 11:48, in article , "Martin" wrote: On Tue, 11 Dec 2007 11:10:08 +0000, Janet Tweedy wrote: In article , Bob Hobden writes "Gary Woods" wrote after... Janet Tweedy wrote: Never matches the blinking pictures! Just got my Fedco seed catalog (Co-op in U.S.), and the cover has a gent eagerly reading the catalog with the caption "Publishing fiction for 20 years." That sounds like a British sense of humour. :-) and an honest Company. Cotswold garden flowers http://www.cgf.net/ and Bob Brown have the same type of catalogue :) Bob Brown is Cotswold Garden Flowers? Thanks! The other places for interesting seeds are Derry Watkins Special Plantshttp://www.specialplants.net/and Secret Seedshttp://www.secretseeds.com/ Not veg, though. -- Sachahttp://www.hillhousenursery.co.uk South Devon (remove weeds from address) 'We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children.' I always think that the seed catalogues are really selling us dreams David Hill Abacus Nurseries |
Seeds - where to get interesting vegetable seeds?
On 11/12/07 14:42, in article
, "Dave Hill" wrote: snip I always think that the seed catalogues are really selling us dreams David Hill Abacus Nurseries To some extent they are, but I suppose that's half the fun. I haven't used Secret Seeds as much but we find Derry is pretty straightforward. -- Sacha http://www.hillhousenursery.co.uk South Devon (remove weeds from address) 'We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children.' |
Seeds - where to get interesting vegetable seeds?
Janet Tweedy wrote:
Also "vale of tears" beans supposedly taken by the Indians when they were marched off their lands to those awful reservations. I can see why they didn't want to go if they only had those beans for company. Curiously, I have "Cherokee Trail of Tears," which is a quite nice pole bean. Did well in my usual scheme of six poles in a teepee. I have a nice stand of maple saplings out in back; call it my bean pole farm. Gary Woods AKA K2AHC- PGP key on request, or at home.earthlink.net/~garygarlic Zone 5/6 in upstate New York, 1420' elevation. NY WO G |
Seeds - where to get interesting vegetable seeds?
In article , Nick Maclaren
writes In article , Janet Tweedy writes: | | I tried "broad yellow ripple currant" tomatoes one year from Garden | organic or whatever they were calling themselves. They were lawful. Which laws do your normal tomatoes break? :-) Several natural ones by calling themselves tomatoes for one thing! -- Janet Tweedy Dalmatian Telegraph http://www.lancedal.demon.co.uk |
Seeds - where to get interesting vegetable seeds?
In article , Gary Woods
writes Janet Tweedy wrote: Also "vale of tears" beans supposedly taken by the Indians when they were marched off their lands to those awful reservations. I can see why they didn't want to go if they only had those beans for company. Curiously, I have "Cherokee Trail of Tears," which is a quite nice pole bean. Did well in my usual scheme of six poles in a teepee. I have a nice stand of maple saplings out in back; call it my bean pole farm. What were the beans like eventually Gary? I never found out what they tasted like etc. -- Janet Tweedy Dalmatian Telegraph http://www.lancedal.demon.co.uk |
Seeds - where to get interesting vegetable seeds?
Janet Tweedy wrote:
What were the beans like eventually Gary? I never found out what they tasted like etc. Quite nice; a bit shorter and stouter than some I grow, though not so much so as the Romano types. They turn a sort of bronze color as they mature past the snap bean stage; I've got quite a lot to plant for next year! They easily climbed past the top of the 8-foot poles I make the teepees with.... since they're slanted, I can just reach the tops to pick the beans. Gary Woods AKA K2AHC- PGP key on request, or at home.earthlink.net/~garygarlic Zone 5/6 in upstate New York, 1420' elevation. NY WO G |
Seeds - where to get interesting vegetable seeds?
In article , Gary Woods
writes Janet Tweedy wrote: What were the beans like eventually Gary? I never found out what they tasted like etc. Quite nice; a bit shorter and stouter than some I grow, though not so much so as the Romano types. They turn a sort of bronze color as they mature past the snap bean stage; I've got quite a lot to plant for next year! They easily climbed past the top of the 8-foot poles I make the teepees with.... since they're slanted, I can just reach the tops to pick the beans. My blue French beans were like that. I wondered if I ought to have pinched the topes out as they got to the top because they did get sort of tangled once they had nowhere to go! One set I undid as per sweet peas and wound them round the base of the wigwam more before letting them climb again. -- Janet Tweedy Dalmatian Telegraph http://www.lancedal.demon.co.uk |
Seeds - where to get interesting vegetable seeds?
On 9 Dec, 13:19, Chris ] wrote:
There have recently been press articles saying that the range of available seeds is very restricted. I am interested in growing food, not growing for exhibition. Where is the best place to get good vegetable seeds for the garden? -- Chris Others have mentioned most of the usual suspects - here's another http://www.edirectory.co.uk/chilternseeds/ You could do worse and their catalogue is worth having even if you don't buy anything. I usually read it over Christmas and then spend far too much money with them after Christmas - it's an annual treat. |
Seeds - where to get interesting vegetable seeds?
On Dec 9, 3:19 pm, Chris ] wrote:
There have recently been press articles saying that the range of availableseedsis very restricted. I am interested in growing food, not growing for exhibition. Where is the best place to get good vegetableseedsfor the garden? -- Chris you can find high quality organic seeds in: www.seeds-depot.com e-mail: yosi |
In theory, you can now only commercial sales of seed varieties, if they have tested the safeness of the food they produce. Only large quantities of commercial species were tested. It is feared this will lead to rapid loss of about 99% of the genetic diversity of food plants. Speciality vegetable seed bank is being established to maintain this diversity.
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(1) You join a club for 1p, so now they can sell you sees the commercials can't. (2) They only sell true varieties, not hybrids, so if you avoid crossing you can gather the seed and grow it yourself in future years (3) They do trials of what works best in cool British conditions, and only sell stuff suitable for growing in British gardens, not commercial varieties best grown in Spain But by this time of the year, you'll find a few things are sold out already - after all your peppers should be already in the propagator by now. Great Vegetable Seeds from The Real Seed Catalogue |
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