Does anyone have any echium pininana snow tower seeds. They would be willing to swap. Hopefully I’ve got something in my stash you’d be interested in. Unfortunately my 2 snow towers haven’t made it though the winter so I can’t save seeds and I have 2 big gaps in my flower bed  ( which I can easily fill, I’m being a drama queen    ).
Thank you.

I am in full swing sowing seeds, and a LOT of it is from our seed circle here.

I came across a packet this morning, one of those triangular ones that have been folded out of a piece of paper. The label has rubbed off onto something else, so I have no idea what they are.

So, join me in this mystery collaborative. The evidence are as following:
The seed packet was folded out of a gardeners world magazine.
The seeds are black beans with a little white dot on the belly.
Google searches come up with black beans/turtle beans.
Search on this forum doesn't bring up any seed circle posts that mention turtle or black beans.

I will hold off sowing them, as it's only just February.

The plot thickens.

Veggie help please     . In one of the seed swaps you sent me a packet of squash winter chi chi. It’s a plain white packet with a printed label on it. No pictures. I’m just working out my sowing list for this year and googled said squash. Nothing! Can you or anyone please help me identify this?

I am going to try selling sweet peas this year, but I'm unsure how to price them. Generally, I undercut the big online gardening companies and garden centres because I think they're overpriced. I've done a bit of research and the online companies sell them in modules of 6, 10 or 12 cells. A lot of them are multi sown, so you get 3 or 4 plants in each cell. 

So I'm thinking of sowing 3 to a cell in 10 cell modules, but I don't know how much to charge. How much would you pay for 30 sweet pea plants? The range online seems to be between 50p and £2 per cell - £20 for a 10 cell module seems way too much, even though it would get you a lot of plants, and £5 seems more reasonable.

Now are attentions are firmly on seed sowing and planning. What’s everyone growing this year?
I know we’ve got our tomato grow lists, almost sorted. What about everything else? Anything new? Anything never again? My list is a work in progress.

Beetroot Mangelwurzel in raised bed (I have to put in place ) 
Carrots - variety to be decided (outside fish box)
DFB - last year’s chilli bed - Vermont cranberry, jacobs cattle gold , sonesta
Bush bean yin yang 
Mangetout green beauty  (outside fish box) 
Sprouting broccoli (outside fish box) 
Kale dwarf green curled (outside fish box)
Pumpkin - bath (variety to be decided)
Courgette - bath ( variety to be decided)
Samphire (fish box in tunnel)

Sunflower  (outside everywhere)
Bombay bronze cockscomb. -fish box
Other flowers - all of them (no idea where )

In chilli grow
chocolate habanero 1
Jalapeño 1
Beaver dam 1

Aubergine  1 - ( variety to be decided) tomato bed )

Salad bar
Lettuce
Mixed cut leaves 
Spring onions 

In pots parsley, basil, dill 

Premier Seeds are collaborating with Charles Dowding to sell monthly seed collections, based on CD's recommendations for each month's sowing.
There are 8 collections as some months are paired  and some unfortunate months have no recommended sowings. 
If you bought all of them, it would cost a few pence less than £129.

https://premierseedsdirect.com/?post_typ...es+dowding

A good idea for anyone  who's unsure about what to sow when - and you don't have to buy the Collections, just use the contents list and choose what you like to grow. 
For example, January/February is one collection, with 9 packets of seeds. (£12.99) :-
Artichoke – Gros Vert De Laon (80 seeds)
 Asparagus – Mary Washington (150 seeds)
 Aubergine – Long Purple (2gm)
 Broad Bean – Aquadulce Claudia (75gm)
 Hot Pepper – Lemon Drop (20 seeds)
Sweet Pepper – Tangerine Dream (20 seeds)
 Sweet Pepper – Asti Yellow (50 seeds)
 Pea – Maple Leaf (40gm)
 Spinach – Medania (6gm)


No point me buying this as I don't want to grow peppers, aubergines, artichokes and asparagus, but I could sown Broad beans, peas and spinach. That's £12.99 I've saved myself.

With the tomato grow list thread appearing, and get the uncontrollable urge to sow far too many tomatoes. I’d like your advice again please. You all did so brilliantly last year, helping me choose my tomato varieties. I’d be nuts not to ask your advice this year.
I’ve written up a short list of candidates this year. They are- 
tomato black icicle 
tomato sweet casaday 
tomato girl girl weird thing 
tomato ananas noir 
tomato juaune flamme 
tomato piglet Willie 


I only have space for 3 . Which 3 do you suggest? 
Thank you   

https://www.rhs.org.uk/get-involved/grow-with-it

Small space growing - sign up and get free seeds of chives, cosmos & cornflower.

It's getting towards that time of year again. What are you all planning on growing?

I have some seeds on the way from Russia, if they arrive safely my 8 greenhouse tomatoes will be (varieties with * are new for this year):

Cowboy - black beefsteak bred by Karen Olivier from Canada, named in memory of her father 
Daniel Burson - black beefsteak
Mat-Su Express - red beefsteak, early to ripen, love the flavour, didn't grow it last year and missed it
Pink Honeymoon F1 - pink beefsteak
Red Lithium* - red beefsteak with yellow stripes, a accidental cross of Lithium Sunset and an unknown variety, quite hard to find
Shake The Disease* - dark beefsteak with green, metallic stripes
Strangelove* - bicolour orange/red with anthocyanin shoulders
Suffer Well* -  dark beefsteak with green, metallic stripes

These will all be grafted onto Estamino F1 rootstock, since last year every tomato in the greenhouse soil did badly except the two grafted plants. This year I'm going to try side grafting, and I've ordered extra rootstock seeds to account for losses. 

If you're a fan of Depeche Mode you may have realised that the last three in the list are named after their songs. They were bred by Bill Yoder from Georgia, USA. He also has a family of tomatoes named after Prince songs. 

Not 100% sure what I'll be growing outside this year, except for 9 x Nagina F1 (Crimson Plum). Possibly Cherrola F1, Sakura F1 and Yellow Mimi F1 or Honey Delight F1 for vining cherries, and some blight resistant bushes e.g. Orangeto F1, Terenzo F1, Orangello F1, Romello F1.

Its raining so I've been exploring the back of the cupboard, looking for stuff that has lurked there for a while, usually food items that don't fit easily into my normal eating pattern (quick and easy). Things like dried beans that need to be soaked overnight or cooked for hours, unusual grains, flours, sauces and pickles. Or stuff I've been given that I wouldn't buy for myself but can't bear to throw away! So, I've decided to pick one (at least) item a day  and cook with it. 

Care to join me with your unexpected items?
Recipe ideas welcomed.

Today, its Spelt grains that came in a Hodmedod's mystery parcel (best before 31/3/21). They've been simmering for 45 minutes, after an initial soak for an hour. Not sure what I'll do with them next.