I hope you're all saving seeds for this year's Seed Swap.

Please add your name below if you want to be part of it.- and a list of the seeds you'll be sharing if you know now.
We'll aim to have the seeds sent to me by 20th November and sent back to you in December - to take our minds off anything else that may be happening that month. 

Any questions - just ask.

1. Veggie - RECEIVED
2. JJB - RECEIVED
3. doublyjonah - RECEIVED
4. small chilli - RECEIVED
5. Farendwoman - RECEIVED
6. Garrett -  RECEIVED

I have a book somewhere that has suggestions for all the things you can do in the garden apart from gardening.
I'm sure we can all think of something so lets list 50 activities for a start!!

1. Read a book about things to do in the garden.

Got 2 large boxes of terra cotta pots in all shapes and sizes from a local auction for £30.  I grow cactus in the greenhouse so will have to get my leather gloves out as quite a few are ready for potting on.

Had a load of ash wood delivered for use on our log burner / cooker.

Airfryers seem to be all the rage just now and I am considering buying one. If anyone has any recommendations I would be intereted?

There's only myself to cater for, so a small one would probably be ok for me.

   

Your Rap name is the last thing you ate with "Lil" in front of it. 

What's yours? 
 I'm "Lil" Fruit and Nut chocolate. 

This is really aimed at Veggie I think.

As you know we went to the Isle of Wight yesterday. We catch the ferry from Southampton and sail down Southampton  Water and end up in  East Cowes. P likes this trip because he's a nerd and likes to look at the ships we see along the route and discover what they are and what theyre up to.  We saw one smallish boat (compared to  cruise liners anyway)  and its name was Sospan Dau. For those interested it is a Dutch trailing suction hopper dredger (I'm no wiser either).  Being Dutch we thought Sospan Dau was Dutch or perhaps Indonesian for something interesting,  being that a ship was so named.  We looked it up and Wikipedia says:

The name Sospan Dau is Welsh and originates from Sosban Fach and Llanelli's tin plating industry, Sospan being the Welsh for Saucepan and Dau being Welsh for Two as the ship is a successor to the original Sospan.

How'd you like to be a ship called Saucepan Two? There's no street cred to that name, its predecessor Saucepan (one) was bad enough but to be the second iteration is just rubbing it in.     Captain to Captain "Hey mate what ship to you drive?"  "Saucepan "  just doesn't cut the mustard in the bragging rights. 

Once upon a time I was a member of the gardening forum that is no longer in my good books!
They refused to let me participate in the seed exchange - even though I had done so many times before ( apparently I was a day late!)
Good old Veggie spotted the communications I was having and came to the rescue, suggesting that I join this forum instead.  (Thank you Veggie - a far friendlier community.)
Anyway some of you may remember that I put a picture of a particularly pretty stripy calendula on that forum.
I saved a bit of seed from the pretty little thing and sowed it this year when I found it lurking in my shoe box. It must be four (maybe more) years old.
 I was very pleased to see that I have managed to get a very similar one this year. 
Lots of them were not as interesting  - but still nice enough! 

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What do you do with the last bits of food that linger inside a jar? 
I have a flexible scraper thingy that pulls the last of the jam etc out of the jar. 
If its a pasta/curry sauce, I add some hot water, give the jar a shake and add it to the cooking pot. Nothing complicated.

However, tonight I saw this https://wickedleeks.riverford.co.uk/life...dressings/

I've been rummaging in the weird and wonderful seed box and found some Shiso seeds and some Perilla seeds. After a quick duckduck I find that they are the same plant!!

"Shiso is known by many names including perilla, perilla mint, Chinese basil, wild basil, wild coleus, summer coleus and in the West as The Beefsteak Plant. Its many names were inspired by both its appearance and its flavour. It’s a member of the mint family so it’s no surprise that it has hints of mint in its flavour along with cumin, nutmeg and anise". https://advicefromtheherblady.com/plant-...als/shiso/

You won't be surprised to hear that Suttons/James Wong used to sell them as "Beefsteak plant". 

A few websites warn that it self seeds freely and can be invasive. 
The growing instructions are :- Red or green leaves with a good aroma for use in salad packs or as a stir-fry vegetable. Sow All year round. Sow seed in succession every 2-3 weeks for a continuous supply of fresh young leaves. keep soil moist and cut leaves from each plant leaving some leaves on each so they re-grow. You will often get 3-4 cuttings per plant. 

Has anyone grown or eaten Shiso/Perilla please?