Seed swap success stories

Partly to cheer myself up after seeing the soggy and slug eaten remains of my allotment, and partly by way of a thank you to Dandelion for organising it, I thought we could start a thread on what people have done with their swapped seeds. Maybe some photos later ... but for now, I have a small row of spinach come through nicely despite the weather, and in the greenhouse I have a very vigorous looking courgette Tuscany to plant out when it is warmer, 4 tomato Garden Pearl destined for pots on the patio, a few Rudbeckia seedlings and some more Calendulas left over from last year's swap.

Thanks to whoever contributed all those

Ooh, what a good idea!

I'm hoping in a week's time I will be picking baby salad leaves from a 'Spicey mix' contributed to the swap. My leeks are coming on nicely (Mussleburgh), though still in the greenhouse. I had tried the Amsterdam Forcing carrots outside, under fleece, but have got fed up looking for them. This isn't unusual as I rarely have success germinating carrots outside - I think the slugs and snails get them before I ever see them. So a few days ago I planted some more in modules in the greenhouse, with the other half of the tray planted with my own seed of a different variety. At least I will know then if the seed was a problem.

I also have Fennel seed, but haven't planted it. With CH starting this thread, it has reminded me that I need to do that.

I have a flourishing pot of tiny Sweet William seedlings which I'm very pleased with - I would never have thought of buying them (although I love them, as a cut flower). I really like the 'serendipity' factor of the seed swap! Oh, and I still have some Golden Detroit beetroot from last year's swap which will be planted soon, and two trays of sunflowers for the special needs dept at school, also from last year's seeds.

Well, despite the "difficult year", my seed swap Rudbeckia are looking rather fine. And I have had a good, steady production from my courgette Tuscany - rather than the usual all or nothing. Sweet pepper California wonder have a good few fruits on them, although they have been slow to ripen.

I also have Calendula from a previous seed swap slowly spreading across the garden ...

Well, my carrots never came to anything (but that was my fault, not a bad batch of seed), but so far my leeks are looking quite good. The spicy salad leaf mix has been tasty and unusual, but seems to run to seed very quickly.

I have at the moment a rather fatastic display of Rudbeckia in one of my flower borders, thank you to whoever put them in the seed swap. So many butterflies like that border this year too.

Another year, and I still have calendulas as volunteers from the seed swap two years ago. I was wondering the other day, how many years it would take for the legacy of stuff I have grown in my garden to fade away ? I have, each year, Italian meadow rocket (from the long defunct Future foods seed supplier), Dill I last sowed 3 years ago, Italian parsley, and volunteer tomatillos as well as the inevitable volunteer squash, tomato and chilli seedlings. Greek oregano comes up everywhere like a weed. And the Blue Peter freebie bee flower seeds come up every year.

All of this is a goods thing - especially the flowers which save a lot of seed sowing !

Could I interest you in some hawkbit seeds CH? Guaranteed to survive a nuclear explosion I reckon! They would add a bit of colour to your marestail display!! The plants which come up all over my garden tend to be perennials rather than annuals: I never seem to be short of are alchemilla mollis for example (I can't believe that I once actually bought some!!), but annuals don't seed themselves much in our cold clay soil. In fact I find it really hard to grow annuals at all, even deliberately - they have to be sown in modules then planted out in May or June.

I am really liking the long pointed red pepper Lipstick from the seed swap.   Used some on pizza tonight - nicely sweet. Saved some seed for next year.

I had round courgettes - Tondo de Piacenza (or something like that) that have done & are still doing extremely well. The Mr Fearn's purple podded climbing beans have also done well except that the beans are desperately slow to form but that is because the weather has gone cold, nothing to do with the plant. They're dastardly difficult to find amongst the foliage though - the pods are green, not purple.

I've had a good crop of the same beans Ploshkin - I have had little time to spend in the garden this summer, with my mother needing a lot of attention, but one thing I've appreciated is that when I guiltily realise that I haven't picked any beans for a week or so, although they're thick and long they are still very tender.