My German friend got me some seeds from the seed bank in the Netherlands.
I've seen negative things online about it but I disagree with them. I've
grown one this year, its a big plant but so are the tomatoes, some are as
big as apples. For a tomato as big as those, it will cost you 40p each in
Asda!
I'm saving seeds. I have some in water to do the five day thing as we speak.
If it works, I'd like to share them. This is a heritage tomato. It needs
be inside, and it's a huge plant but so are the fruits.

Interesting name. I remember well Blaby Rose Gardens from years back when my wife started gardening in our very first house nearly 60 years ago and has been a keen gardener ever since!

.

"Christina Websell" wrote:

My German friend got me some seeds from the seed bank in the Netherlands.
I've seen negative things online about it but I disagree with them. I've
grown one this year, its a big plant but so are the tomatoes,

It's listed as "Blaby Special" in the Seed Saver's Exchange online yearbook
(U.S., but a lot of "foreign" members). Looks like another one to try, and
perhaps grow in the greenhouse that's under-used during the summer.
SWMBO's favorite for canning/sauce* is "Golden Jubilee," a very large lower
acid yellow-gold tomato.

*I can; she sauces.


--
Gary Woods AKA K2AHC- PGP key on request, or at home.earthlink.net/~garygarlic
Zone 5/4 in upstate New York, 1420' elevation. NY WO G

For those who like to read of rescues, here's the Seed Saver's Exchange
description of Blaby:

https://exchange.seedsavers.org/cata...spx?itm=137071

I'm growing a foliage turnip, Horpaczi Lila, that a friend got some years
ago from the East German seed bank.

The mind boggles at what must be stashed at the Svalbard bank!


--
Gary Woods AKA K2AHC- PGP key on request, or at home.earthlink.net/~garygarlic
Zone 5/4 in upstate New York, 1420' elevation. NY WO G

"Gary Woods" wrote in message
...
For those who like to read of rescues, here's the Seed Saver's Exchange
description of Blaby:

https://exchange.seedsavers.org/cata...spx?itm=137071

I'm growing a foliage turnip, Horpaczi Lila, that a friend got some years
ago from the East German seed bank.

The mind boggles at what must be stashed at the Svalbard bank!


Exactly.
I sowed two Blaby tomatoes, one germinated. Huge plant, some massive
tomatoes. I got the seeds from my German friend who always sends me
interesting seeds from the Netherlands seed bank every Christmas for a
present, I have some rare beans, mainly French types waiting to be sown.
Tried to swap runner beans seeds, but they don't do well there. Because
when it's summer, it's hot for weeks and I don't think the continental
climate is suitable. French beans do well there.

In article ,
Christina Websell wrote:

"Gary Woods" wrote in message
.. .
For those who like to read of rescues, here's the Seed Saver's Exchange
description of Blaby:

https://exchange.seedsavers.org/cata...spx?itm=137071

I'm growing a foliage turnip, Horpaczi Lila, that a friend got some years
ago from the East German seed bank.

The mind boggles at what must be stashed at the Svalbard bank!


Exactly.
I sowed two Blaby tomatoes, one germinated. Huge plant, some massive
tomatoes. I got the seeds from my German friend who always sends me
interesting seeds from the Netherlands seed bank every Christmas for a
present, I have some rare beans, mainly French types waiting to be sown.
Tried to swap runner beans seeds, but they don't do well there. Because
when it's summer, it's hot for weeks and I don't think the continental
climate is suitable. French beans do well there.

Runner beans actually prefer higher temperatures than French! But
they require regular water and a higher humidity, so they often do
badly in hotter conditions. French beans are more tolerant of dry
conditions.

Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

"Nick Maclaren" wrote in message
...
In article ,
Christina Websell wrote:

"Gary Woods" wrote in message
. ..
For those who like to read of rescues, here's the Seed Saver's Exchange
description of Blaby:

https://exchange.seedsavers.org/cata...spx?itm=137071

I'm growing a foliage turnip, Horpaczi Lila, that a friend got some
years
ago from the East German seed bank.

The mind boggles at what must be stashed at the Svalbard bank!


Exactly.
I sowed two Blaby tomatoes, one germinated. Huge plant, some massive
tomatoes. I got the seeds from my German friend who always sends me
interesting seeds from the Netherlands seed bank every Christmas for a
present, I have some rare beans, mainly French types waiting to be sown.
Tried to swap runner beans seeds, but they don't do well there. Because
when it's summer, it's hot for weeks and I don't think the continental
climate is suitable. French beans do well there.

Runner beans actually prefer higher temperatures than French! But
they require regular water and a higher humidity, so they often do
badly in hotter conditions. French beans are more tolerant of dry
conditions.

Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

I know.

"Nick Maclaren" wrote in message
...
In article ,
Christina Websell wrote:

"Gary Woods" wrote in message
. ..
For those who like to read of rescues, here's the Seed Saver's Exchange
description of Blaby:

https://exchange.seedsavers.org/cata...spx?itm=137071

I'm growing a foliage turnip, Horpaczi Lila, that a friend got some
years
ago from the East German seed bank.

The mind boggles at what must be stashed at the Svalbard bank!


Exactly.
I sowed two Blaby tomatoes, one germinated. Huge plant, some massive
tomatoes. I got the seeds from my German friend who always sends me
interesting seeds from the Netherlands seed bank every Christmas for a
present, I have some rare beans, mainly French types waiting to be sown.
Tried to swap runner beans seeds, but they don't do well there. Because
when it's summer, it's hot for weeks and I don't think the continental
climate is suitable. French beans do well there.

Runner beans actually prefer higher temperatures than French! But
they require regular water and a higher humidity, so they often do
badly in hotter conditions. French beans are more tolerant of dry
conditions.

Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

I know all of that. You should be in the wilds of Germany and realise how
the farmers have to pay for water and how difficult it is to get a livng
there. I was surprised my friend ha not starved.
..

In article ,
says...

"Nick Maclaren" wrote in message
...
In article ,
Christina Websell wrote:

"Gary Woods" wrote in message
. ..
For those who like to read of rescues, here's the Seed Saver's Exchange
description of Blaby:

https://exchange.seedsavers.org/cata...spx?itm=137071

I'm growing a foliage turnip, Horpaczi Lila, that a friend got some
years
ago from the East German seed bank.

The mind boggles at what must be stashed at the Svalbard bank!


Exactly.
I sowed two Blaby tomatoes, one germinated. Huge plant, some massive
tomatoes. I got the seeds from my German friend who always sends me
interesting seeds from the Netherlands seed bank every Christmas for a
present, I have some rare beans, mainly French types waiting to be sown.
Tried to swap runner beans seeds, but they don't do well there. Because
when it's summer, it's hot for weeks and I don't think the continental
climate is suitable. French beans do well there.

Runner beans actually prefer higher temperatures than French! But
they require regular water and a higher humidity, so they often do
badly in hotter conditions. French beans are more tolerant of dry
conditions.

Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

I know all of that. You should be in the wilds of Germany and realise how
the farmers have to pay for water

Maybe you don't realise how much farmers here have to pay for water.

Janet

On 09/11/2015 09:48, Martin wrote:
On Mon, 9 Nov 2015 01:07:14 -0000, Janet wrote:

In article ,
says...

"Nick Maclaren" wrote in message
...
In article ,
Christina Websell wrote:

"Gary Woods" wrote in message
...
For those who like to read of rescues, here's the Seed Saver's Exchange
description of Blaby:

https://exchange.seedsavers.org/cata...spx?itm=137071

I'm growing a foliage turnip, Horpaczi Lila, that a friend got some
years
ago from the East German seed bank.

The mind boggles at what must be stashed at the Svalbard bank!


Exactly.
I sowed two Blaby tomatoes, one germinated. Huge plant, some massive
tomatoes. I got the seeds from my German friend who always sends me
interesting seeds from the Netherlands seed bank every Christmas for a
present, I have some rare beans, mainly French types waiting to be sown.
Tried to swap runner beans seeds, but they don't do well there. Because
when it's summer, it's hot for weeks and I don't think the continental
climate is suitable. French beans do well there.

Runner beans actually prefer higher temperatures than French! But
they require regular water and a higher humidity, so they often do
badly in hotter conditions. French beans are more tolerant of dry
conditions.

Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

I know all of that. You should be in the wilds of Germany and realise how
the farmers have to pay for water

Maybe you don't realise how much farmers here have to pay for water.

and the pathetic amounts that they are paid for what they produce.

See Hugh Feranley-Whittingstall program on Food Waste - it should now be
on i-Player

Malcolm

"Janet" wrote in message
.. .
In article ,
says...

"Nick Maclaren" wrote in message
...
In article ,
Christina Websell wrote:

"Gary Woods" wrote in message
. ..
For those who like to read of rescues, here's the Seed Saver's
Exchange
description of Blaby:

https://exchange.seedsavers.org/cata...spx?itm=137071

I'm growing a foliage turnip, Horpaczi Lila, that a friend got some
years
ago from the East German seed bank.

The mind boggles at what must be stashed at the Svalbard bank!


Exactly.
I sowed two Blaby tomatoes, one germinated. Huge plant, some massive
tomatoes. I got the seeds from my German friend who always sends me
interesting seeds from the Netherlands seed bank every Christmas for a
present, I have some rare beans, mainly French types waiting to be
sown.
Tried to swap runner beans seeds, but they don't do well there.
Because
when it's summer, it's hot for weeks and I don't think the continental
climate is suitable. French beans do well there.

Runner beans actually prefer higher temperatures than French! But
they require regular water and a higher humidity, so they often do
badly in hotter conditions. French beans are more tolerant of dry
conditions.

Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

I know all of that. You should be in the wilds of Germany and realise
how
the farmers have to pay for water

Maybe you don't realise how much farmers here have to pay for water.

Janet

But they have a quota over a couple of years there - so no matter how much
you pay you can't get any more. The diifficulty seemed to be "should I use
a lot of my quota now to save my crops and hope it will rain more next year?
or risk not watering enough to have some quota left"
Their climate is such that when it's summer, it's mega hot and stays like it
for weeks, it hardly rains at all. I went there once in August and nearly
fried.

In the wilds of lower Saxony, The Wendland, it's very hard to earn a living.
It looks similar to The Fens, acres of potatoes: a lot of the farmers grow
herbs, like parsley, chives etc ahere is a herb factory a couple of miles
away. Plus they have wild boar out every night digging the crops up. Every
field has a big wooden tower in so the farmers can get up there and shoot
them. At least they can have some pork ;-)

Oh. and then they have voles, not like our field voles. They seems to be a
sub-species of our water vole, they look the same, but they are a major
agricultural pest in the Wendland. They eat the roots off everything.

I did visit there the first time thinking it wouldn't be very different from
England. Maybe in the big cities it isn't, but out in the sticks there, it
is very different indeed.

Tina

"Malcolm Race" wrote in message
...
On 09/11/2015 09:48, Martin wrote:
On Mon, 9 Nov 2015 01:07:14 -0000, Janet wrote:

In article ,
says...

"Nick Maclaren" wrote in message
...
In article ,
Christina Websell wrote:

"Gary Woods" wrote in message
...
For those who like to read of rescues, here's the Seed Saver's
Exchange
description of Blaby:

https://exchange.seedsavers.org/cata...spx?itm=137071

I'm growing a foliage turnip, Horpaczi Lila, that a friend got some
years
ago from the East German seed bank.

The mind boggles at what must be stashed at the Svalbard bank!


Exactly.
I sowed two Blaby tomatoes, one germinated. Huge plant, some massive
tomatoes. I got the seeds from my German friend who always sends me
interesting seeds from the Netherlands seed bank every Christmas for
a
present, I have some rare beans, mainly French types waiting to be
sown.
Tried to swap runner beans seeds, but they don't do well there.
Because
when it's summer, it's hot for weeks and I don't think the
continental
climate is suitable. French beans do well there.

Runner beans actually prefer higher temperatures than French! But
they require regular water and a higher humidity, so they often do
badly in hotter conditions. French beans are more tolerant of dry
conditions.

Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

I know all of that. You should be in the wilds of Germany and realise
how
the farmers have to pay for water

Maybe you don't realise how much farmers here have to pay for water.

and the pathetic amounts that they are paid for what they produce.

See Hugh Feranley-Whittingstall program on Food Waste - it should now be
on i-Player

Malcolm

I knew the minute that that poor parnip producing family went on Tv against
Morrison's on Hugh's program that it would be the death knell for them, and
so it proved. They are now out of business. It's disgusting, the hold the
big supermarkets have on small farmers who maybe thought it was a good idea
to have a contract with a big supermarket and then found out it wasn't.
I don't believe, at all, there there is any need for a supermarket to insist
on a certain length or size of vegetable. I am sure that "wonky" vegetables
would be quite acceptable to most people once they know how badly the
supermarket policy of perfect is affecting the farmers.

In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if Morrison's have a bit of a downturn in
sales after that program. If I used them, I'd probably boycott them, but I
supposed all the big supermarkets are the same. Farmers are probably happy
at first to get a big supermarket buying from them. but then they just
squeeze them later when they are committed.
I nearly wept along with that family of parsnip farmers. The mother cried,
the son cried. Because of Morrisons stupid idea of "perfect parsnips"
So that's me never spending any money in Morrison's again and good on Hugh
for bringing it to light. Although, it's lucky for him that he didn't
approach me and throw my vegetables away. Nothing goes to waste here. I
have hens. If there something veggie that is more elderly than I want to
chance eating, they get it and turn it into eggs.
Tina



..

"Martin" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 9 Nov 2015 23:39:36 +0000, Malcolm Race wrote:

See Hugh Feranley-Whittingstall program on Food Waste - it should now be
on i-Player

No thanks.
--

Martin in Zuid Holland

Yes, I know he is irritating, but it's worth watching. Try it and see what
you think.
Tina

Christina Websell wrote:

I don't believe, at all, there there is any need for a supermarket to insist
on a certain length or size of vegetable. I am sure that "wonky" vegetables
would be quite acceptable to most people once they know how badly the
supermarket policy of perfect is affecting the farmers.

Not to side with the supermarkets, but they must have based that on what
was left on the shelves? Same happens for anything where you let the
customer self-select, e.g. look at all the banana-wood piled up in Wickes.

On Wed, 11 Nov 2015 09:32:18 +0000, Andy Burns
wrote:

Christina Websell wrote:

I don't believe, at all, there there is any need for a supermarket to insist
on a certain length or size of vegetable. I am sure that "wonky" vegetables
would be quite acceptable to most people once they know how badly the
supermarket policy of perfect is affecting the farmers.

Not to side with the supermarkets, but they must have based that on what
was left on the shelves? Same happens for anything where you let the
customer self-select, e.g. look at all the banana-wood piled up in Wickes.


Soup makers should not be too worried about wonky vegetables so I
would have thought that could be an outlet for products who aren't
the plant equivalent of a supermodel. Judging by the demand for food
banks we'll soon have a need for as many soup kitchens as we can get.

G.Harman