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I know it is not exactly the time of year, but it is good to get the knowledge beforehand.
I read an article a little while ago that set me thinking, someone had investigated immigrants who had had allotments in England for twenty or more years. A lot of them had brought seed for vegetables they grew at home but which were not common here. Now people's taste is widening seed companies are offering some more exotic seeds, and they were comparing the performance of them against those of the seeds kept and grown each year by the immigrants. The seeds which had effectively been selected for growing in this country over a long period by amateurs were considerably superior, even to varieties supposedly bred to grow in England. It made me wonder how much things would adapt to local conditions, not just one country to another, but one part of this country to another, one garden to another?
I have always saved runner bean seed, and my casual observation was they were superior to the plants grown from bought seed. I know of people who save tomato seed, it has to ferment in the pulp slightly in order to germinate. I have known people who have done this, carefully washed the seed after, then dried it to store. I also knew one gentleman who left his best tomato on the plant until it was over ripe, then trod on it next to the greenhouse door, he grew excellent tomatoes from the resulting seedlings. Does anyone have any experience they can share?
I read an article a little while ago that set me thinking, someone had investigated immigrants who had had allotments in England for twenty or more years. A lot of them had brought seed for vegetables they grew at home but which were not common here. Now people's taste is widening seed companies are offering some more exotic seeds, and they were comparing the performance of them against those of the seeds kept and grown each year by the immigrants. The seeds which had effectively been selected for growing in this country over a long period by amateurs were considerably superior, even to varieties supposedly bred to grow in England. It made me wonder how much things would adapt to local conditions, not just one country to another, but one part of this country to another, one garden to another?
I have always saved runner bean seed, and my casual observation was they were superior to the plants grown from bought seed. I know of people who save tomato seed, it has to ferment in the pulp slightly in order to germinate. I have known people who have done this, carefully washed the seed after, then dried it to store. I also knew one gentleman who left his best tomato on the plant until it was over ripe, then trod on it next to the greenhouse door, he grew excellent tomatoes from the resulting seedlings. Does anyone have any experience they can share?
