Just interested how everyone collects and cleans seeds?  
Today I had a light bulb moment ( don’t know why it’s taking me so long!! ). While trying to work out how I was going to remove the quite tight fitting homemade net bag from my Bombay cockscomb without loosing all the seeds ( especially as they fall through the net bag with to much disturbance, I discovered     ) . I got one of the spare little metal pet food dishes. You have to have spares, you never know when or who you’re going to need to feed     . It’s a life changing, time saving little metal miracle! 
I managed to catch all the seeds that fell from the bag and plant. Also using the same dish to clean the seeds/ remove chaff was brilliant and so quick compared to how I usually do it.

   

Is this a “special” lobelia?
Leathery, reddish trailing leaves and pretty pale blue flowers.
Perennial/tender??
Anybody know, please??

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Plenty of information on youtube but I found this quite interesting?

https://youtu.be/pRQzusfirJ8

My diet is carnivore based but I can see the sense in probiotics from fermented food. I have an onion glut and thyme in the garden so may give this a try to be able to use it as a condiment to whatever meat dish I am having.

Anyone else on here do fermented foods?

You do grow some incredible tomatoes TMTT. I really wish I had your talent. I’m not to bad at chilli growing. Everything else I’m average, but tomatoes I’m absolutely dreadful at growing them. I’ll keep trying because I like them a lot.

I’ve had lots of tomatoes all come in together, I’ve been giving them away to friends and family and still have excess tomatoes, so I’ve made tomato sauce by roasting them with some of my home grown garlic and rosemary with some added balsamic vinegar sprayed over them, then blitzed and finally into containers for freezer. These containers has just enough sauce as a base for a curry, chilli, or savoury mince for 2 people.
   
   
   
   
   

I have planted my First Early Solist spuds in the raised beds in poly tunnel to have new potatoes for Christmas.
I got the seed potatoes from an Irish we sit Quickcrop.ie the arrive with sprouts on the tubers, I kept them on the bench for about 2 weeks then planted them out. I dug lots of granular seaweed and BFB, and pelleted chicken manure into the beds.
   
   
   
   
   

Yesterday we went and met some honeybees . We are seriously considering getting some. It was a fascinating 4 hours! Chatting with a bee keeper and seeing what hives, books & suits she recommended and trying on the different veils and jackets. 
We would have to get the native Scottish black bee. That’s one of the reasons we want bees to help preserve the species and oddly they cope much better with our climate. And we’d have to get the bees from the island bee keeping association or from colonsay  https://www.snhbs.scot/colonsay/ . Until very recently mull was one of the few place that was varroa mite free. Unfortunately someone didn’t consult with local bee association and brought infected bees on to the island     . It is isolated to one area but it’s very likely it will eventually spread to the rest of the island eventually. A lot is being done to try to keep it in the one area. But it’s doubtful. 
It really was a fascinating day we learned so much. Bees really are incredible organised and intelligent creatures. And slightly bad tempered ( the one that got caught in Bobs hair was   ) . Actually they were a lot calmer and placid than I was expecting. But she did say that the temperament can be different with each hive and with what’s happening within the hive and environmentally at different times. 
Bob wants bees next spring. I want the house liveable first, then bees. But I think honeybees will definitely be in our future.

I've found a way to ease my conscience about old seed hoarding and give all these seeds a chance!
I'm emptying old seed packets into a little jar and putting it in my pocket. Whenever I see a little patch of clear ground, or I've just weeded.somewhere, I'll give the jar a shake; say a small incantation, and scatter the seeds on the bare earth. This is, of course, in my garden, not some random bit of a neighbour's garden or in the local park.
Today was random radish day. 

Hope you have a wonderful birthday filled with gardening, cake and half a shandy or 2 

   

I'm not sure that "generic" is the right word to use here but..........who cares? 
My question to the panel is............ why do we need lots of different varieties of the same type of vegetable (like carrots or leeks) when, basically, they all taste the same.
If you bought one packet/type of carrots, or leeks, or spring onions, or parsnips  would that be sufficient for your needs. 
In the good old days, before the introduction of F1 seeds, gardeners would have had far less choice of varieties and probably grew the same ones every year, especially if they could save the seeds from one year to the next. 
Are we being led astray by the seed suppliers, tempted to stray from the beaten track, with adverts promising bigger, better, tastier, earlier produce when in fact they are little better than the old varieties?
Over to the panel of experts..............