More seeds

[igenlode]

I was given some 'purple flower seed' (delphinium, salvia, cosmos, cornflower, scabiosa, phacella, nemophila), and emptied out the 'old' rocket box into which to plant it -- transplanting the rocket into a deeper pot, although it's mostly bolting. The new rocket is just about starting to develop.

Pricked out a few of the rudbeckias from the coconut compost tray, where I noticed that after coming through en masse in the hot weather they have been damping off in patches. However there is no shortage of them as yet...

Sowed some more sage seed, a lot more thickly this time on the assumption that it has very limited viability.

Comments

Re: Yay!

[ysabetwordsmith]

Edge gardening is so interesting! That's definitely a place where a landrace or even a grex or hybrid swarm would help -- selecting for the earliest and hardiest plants.

The closest I know of is the Heirloom Survivors Grex, but the original page is down.

https://web.archive.org/web/20250126122714/https://wildmountainseeds.com/product/heirloom-survivors-grex/

https://app.seedlinked.com/en-US/seeds/vegetables/Heirloom-Survivors-Grex-Tomato?id=5604&species_id=2

Re: Yay!

[igenlode]

Well, that's one reason I'm saving my own seed year after year -- having stumbled upon this random variety that seems to cope with the local conditions rather better and be much more productive at a smaller size than all the others I've been given, I'm hoping to evolve my own landrace from it ;-D
It's just a pity the lady who originally gave me a spare plant from a batch that were given to her has no idea what variety it might have been...

But the great thing is that it seems to breed true, at least for all the qualities I'm interested in; the plants are low, bushy, reasonably hardy, surviving extreme heat, limited water supply and chilly nights, and produce plenty of fruit that mostly ripens before the end of the season. I can be self-sufficient in fresh tomatoes for a couple of months a year, and the rest of the year I just don't eat them :-p
I learned at my mother's knee that there are some things one should just never buy out of season, because they are not only expensive but flavourless, and tomatoes and strawberries are prime among those. A ripe tomato is a summer treat. A generic 'salad tomato' eaten in February because English salads have tomato in them by default is generally not worth having.

Re: Yay!

[ysabetwordsmith]

>> But the great thing is that it seems to breed true <<

Awesome.

>>I learned at my mother's knee that there are some things one should just never buy out of season, because they are not only expensive but flavourless, and tomatoes and strawberries are prime among those.<<

True of most supermarket tomatoes, not necessarily all. If it smells like tomato, it will taste like tomato. The small ones that come on a vine are often good. Also the mixed carton of cherry tomatoes tend to be excellent. Strawberries, it's a lot harder to find fragrant ones out of season.

Re: Yay!

[igenlode]

Chilled produce never really smells of anything (and 'handling the stock' in the supermarket is strongly discouraged: you might be putting your GERMS on it!)
Of course supermarket tomatoes, like pears, tend to be sold underripe because they don't travel well otherwise, which exacerbates the problem... and of course the predominant varieties sold tend to be those grown for tough skins and long shelf life rather than any other quality.

But to be fair I hardly ever buy greengrocery at the supermarket anyway, so things may have changed of recent years.

Re: Yay!

[ysabetwordsmith]

>> Chilled produce never really smells of anything <<

It smells less, but to me still has a smell -- or at least, it will if it's ripe and has flavor. Otherwise it's just sort of a flat green smell.

>>the predominant varieties sold tend to be those grown for tough skins and long shelf life rather than any other quality.<<

True for commercial varieties, but sometimes there are heirlooms.