Seed Saving Circle 2024

[galina]

What does RC mean on your photo JanG please?   Lovely  bean to look forward to. 

[galina]

[galina]

Lettuce Pink.

I am afraid I simply do not recall where I got the seeds from originally, or who to credit with developing this variety.  I have had the seeds for a very long time and it is my fault for not keeping better records.  It was a private seed exchange, not a commercial packet, which doesn't mean that it could not have come from a commercial packet and then saved by my donor.  If it was from you or you know who shared these seeds, please let me know.  May have been from JayB's and Jeannine's amazing seed parcel. 

A lovely lettuce, very soft and buttery, makes nice heads quickly and due to its colour, fewer problems with slugs. 

PS, note to self, do a bit of weeding before taking photos 

[galina]

Snap Pea Sugar Lord

This was the variety that was rescued by Goodlife, a member of many past seed circles with her very green fingers, from a 13 year old seed packet!  Even the original seed company Marshalls did no longer carry them.   But many people had been asking for Sugar Lord on this and on other boards and regretting that it was no longer available.  So I make no excuses for offering these again.  This year I also grew Sugar Snap.  Sugar Lord is taller and was much higher yielding and the sweet snap pods were slightly larger.   Definitely needs staking, but the harvest window is long, so that initial effort is well worth it. 

Here is the description and the story of its rescue.  It has not been offered since in Britain or elsewhere, although this year I have found it on offer to commercial growers in Zimbabwe of all places!

https://seedsaverscircle.org/seed-circle/a4a-seed-saver-group-2014/
Scroll about halfway down the page
https://seedcogroup.com/zw/vegetables/sc-partners/super-sugar-snap-sugar-lord/

[galina]

More echoes from the past of this seed circle.  Robert Brenchley send us the Latvian Soup pea, original source HSL.  This is a very early shelling or drying pea.  Pods are fairly small but there were hundreds of them on my plants.  A soup pea from Latvia, and apparently traditionally eaten with fried pork and onion.  But they are just as good, plain shelled.  They are called peleks zirnis in Latvia, which means grey pea.  This is a little confusing because that name is also given to the much larger Latvian Christmas pea (also HSL).  A tall fast growing plant with huge harvests.  The peas when freshly shelled are green and dry to brown.   

https://www.readkong.com/page/heritage-seed-library-rare-and-unique-heritage-varieties-5784366
https://seedsaverscircle.org/seed-circle/seed-parcel-2013-2/

 

[JanG]

What does RC mean on your photo JanG please?   Lovely  bean to look forward to. 

The RC means Russell Crow from who I received the seeds.  Think the question mark is because when I labelled the photo I wasn't sure whether the photo showed the orignals I had from him or the ones I had grown on.

[JanG]

Great notes and photos, Galina. I've grown Sugar Lord in the past many years ago and can vouch for how good it is. It's so very well worth keeping it in circulation. The lettuce Pink looks very appealing too. I like a nice butterhead!

[galina]

Alpatieva 905A 

A bright red small beefsteak tomato on compact vines with rugose foliage, very tasty and early.  Received from Twoflower in the 2011 seed circle. 
https://seedsaverscircle.org/seed-parcel-2011-main/
https://victoryseeds.com/products/alpatieva-905a-tomato

Tatianas Tomatobase gives more information on its history.  https://tatianastomatobase.com/wiki/Alpatieva_905A

History

Old Russian variety, developed by VNIISSOK from a cross Shtambovyi Alpatieva 905 X Bizon 639. Released in 1950.
PI 283904. Donated to the USDA in 1962 from the former Soviet Union.
First offered in Seed Savers Yearbook in 2008 by Andrey Baranovski of Minsk, Belarus (BELR BA A).

With apologies to MR and Ruud for so many seed circle repeats, which you of course have already. 

[markfield rover]

Thank you for so much information, the seeds from our circle I share with others so all seeds are appreciated. I will put up a list next week , I am amazed we rarely if ever duplicate in the same year. I am particularly pleased with one of three tomatoes ,Silvery Fir Leaf great taste.

[JanG]

Thank you for so much information, the seeds from our circle I share with others so all seeds are appreciated. I will put up a list next week , I am amazed we rarely if ever duplicate in the same year. I am particularly pleased with one of three tomatoes ,Silvery Fir Leaf great taste.

I agree that it's good to have repeats after a few years. It puts fresh seeds into circulation.We can't all grow every variety every year (!) so to have fresh seed of a particular variety is often greatly appreciated.

[JanG]

Sme notes and photos for some of the beans I'm hoping to contribute:

Coco Sophie

I found this bean a delight this year. My seeds came from a swap but were originally from Real Seeds I believe. It has round white beans excellent dried. I didn't eat it as snap but believe it's good when young, but it's great as a shelled bean and I imagine could also be eaten Appalachian-style as a demi-sec. It remained very healthy and dried beautifully with no spoilt seeds

Cupidon and Faraday

I grew both of these as part of a trial of small scale commercial varieties. They are both dwarf and highly productive of thin filet-type snap beans. I left both of them a little too long before harvesting the dried beans as I was away. Faraday which is white seeded suffered more mould and discoloured seeds than Cupidon.

Hamby

This was a gift via Vetivert from George McLaughlin who keeps Green Country Seed Savers forum and grows in eastern US. Some of his Appalachian/Kentucky type beans didn't cope very well with a less than ideal growing season but Hamby was excellent, producing flattish snap beans which remained tender for a good amount of time and dried down well producing attractive healthy brown seeds.

Kew Blue and Trionfo Violetto

Both of these are purple podded varieties. There is a long and very detailed description of Kew Blue by Rebsie Fairholm here. http://daughterofthesoil.blogspot.com/2007/02/heritage-vegetable-review-climbing-bean.html She raves about Kew Blue and thinks Trionfo Violetto is similar but inferior. I enjoyed them both. Trionfo Violetto was later for me. Kew Blue is very early. Both are prolific and good as snap beans and dry down very well too. My seeds for Kew Blue originally came from Beans and Herbs but Heritage Seed Library holds it too. There is little known history except that HSL say that it was originally from Kew Gardens. I received Trionfo Violetto as a swap but the seeds were originally from Deaflora. https://deaflora.de/Shop/Bohnen/Neu--Stangenbohne

[markfield rover]

All look so beguiling.
. A quick tasting note for Silvery Fir Leaf tomato , if there ever was a tomato more suited  for a BLT I have yet to taste it!

[saddad]

I grew it for a couple of years, but didn't rate it, ( as I no longer grow it) but never put it in a bacon sandwich, so maybe missed out!

[JanG]

All look so beguiling.
. A quick tasting note for Silvery Fir Leaf tomato , if there ever was a tomato more suited  for a BLT I have yet to taste it!

Might this be one you're thinking of contributing? 🙏

For any non-meat-eaters among us, I think you have a duty to try it in a range of vegetarian sandwiches too! Or perhaps sdaddad has done that already?

[markfield rover]

Yes one for the circle ! It is also good on toast. An all rounder.

[galina]

Is this the same tomato MR or another with a similar name?  Short, 'carrot leafed' plant with fairly large fruit?   https://tatianastomatobase.com/wiki/Silvery_Fir_Tree

[galina]

Lovely selection JanG.  I can confirm all you say about Hamby. 

[markfield rover]

galina yes , I've checked label/records and you are right it is Silvery Fir Tree. Thank you for the clarification.

[galina]

The origin of Kew Blue is indeed Kew Gardens, who gave it to HSL, from where it was retailed by Pippa Rosen of Beans and Herbs.  Also now retailed by several USA and Canadian seed vendors,  via the Seed Ambassadors trips, who visited many European seed conservancies and collected seeds.  A success story of getting a very rare variety back into production and commerce.  https://www.seedambassadors.org/about-us/

This is what Adaptive Seeds say, the seed company that the seed ambassadors started after their seed collection trips.  "Deep purple pods, stems and leaves. Semi-flat beans with excellent raw flavor. Thrives in cool, wet weather and germinates well in the cold spring ground. Pods set early and continuously up the vines. Seeds dry down quick before the rains come. One of our highest yielding pole beans, it was a staple crop during our time as fresh market farmers. Originally from the Kew Royal Botanic Gardens, we received this variety in 2007 from the Heritage Seed Library, in England."  https://www.adaptiveseeds.com/product/vegetables/beans/pole-snap-bean-kew-blue-organic/

[JanG]

Thank you for this further information, Galina. I can illustrate the semi-flatness of the pods with this photo comparing the pods of Kew Blue and Trionfo Violetto.

[ruud]

my list sofar for the seed saving circle:tomatoes,Pample mousse du grand pere
                                                                     Bison
                                                                     Sakharnyi Zheltyi
                                                                     Boxcar willie
                                                                     Charborovsky
                                                                     Seftali
                                                                     Balikesin Kivircik
                                                 sweet peper: Chilhuacle negro
                                                    Hot peper:Dong Xuan market
                                                                   Goathorn
                                                                   Hero
                                                                   Peach tepin x Lemon drop
                                                                   Phrik key nu
                                                                   Peppedew malawi
This list will be bigger wenn i sorted out the rest of my seeds.