In the last 6 weeks, we have been busy bees in the garden, spending time lovingly repotting and transplanting the many vegetables we are growing for seed this year. In addition to a vast array of chillies, tomatoes and squashes, we’re cultivating rare varieties like purple sweetcorn and black sweet sorghum! We’ve been lucky to receive new varieties of seed, contributed from our gardeners and members of our network, and we are excited to see their development; what flavours, colours and resilience they will bring to the garden and kitchen
The scorzonera, after it’s mauve-to-violet blossoms, has made dandelion-like seed heads; dandelion but giant! Their intricate geometry and softness have left us in awe. Their pappus – the parachute like structure is truly a spellbinding piece of design!
You can eat both the root harvested in the autumn, and the flower buds in spring before they blossom; try them stir fried in sesame oil and soy sauce and you’ll wish they grew all year. We’ll be hopefully adding the seed to next year’s catalogue after some germination tests. Watch this space!
If you are growing out seeds from The Seed Saving Network this season, we invite you to fill out this 7 question survey about your growing journey so far. We collect information about your seeds, growing space, and why you grow. It shouldn’t take more than 5 minutes.
We are gathering this data to learn how you as growers, and the crops, may be adapting to the challenges posed by environmental and climate change.
Happy growing and please get in touch with any questions you may have.
In case you’re preparing to save seed and need a refresher, here are some of our tutorials:
On our website you can find resources on how to care and save seeds from tomatoes, beans, corn, lettuces and other greens, cucumbers and squash.
And here you can also watch Vicky’s top tips from the garden!
We hope they are informative, and please don’t hesitate to get in touch via email for any further advice. We are here to guide you through the steps of planting, caring, and seed saving, to replenish seed stocks for next year's growing!
with joy,
Randa & Tej