Seed Tin Giveaway 2013


I've been having a bit of a sort through my seed tin and have plenty of in date packets of seeds which I know I won't be able to use this year. So, I'm having a giveaway here on Veg Plotting to find some good homes for them - always a popular move :)

All you need to do is look at the lists below and tell me if any of them take your fancy. Please restrict your choices to a maximum of 5 packets, so plenty of readers have a chance of bagging something they'd like. Let me know in the Comments below what you have your eye on - this will give everyone an early warning of what's been grabbed already.

Then, email me at vegplotting at gmail dot com with your name, address and choices. Note: when I have your email I'll allocate your seeds to you and not before. I've had seeds reserved via the Comments in previous years by people who've then not proved contactable and I'd like these packets to go to those who really want them. Sorry, this is only open to UK residents, owing to higher postage costs and customs restrictions re sending seeds abroad.

NB If nothing takes your fancy (or as well, maybe), then don't forget I have a discount code for Sarah Raven's website until the end of January (i.e. this Thursday). Simply enter VP10JAN in the Apply Coupon area on your Shopping Basket page.

I'll update this post as soon as I can with what's been grabbed already. Anything left over will be going to a local seed swap in March, so you have first dibs! Here's the lists:

Flowers

  • Antirhinum 'Constantine'
  • Canterbury Bells - mixed
  • Foxglove 'Suttons Apricot'
  • Nasturtium 'Kiki's Kiss'
  • Scabious 'Perfecta Blue'
  • Sweet Pea 'Fragrantissima'
  • Sweet Pea 'Statesman' mixed
  • Miriam Rothschild's Wildflower Meadow Mix
Vegetables
  • Beetroot 'Boltardy'
  • Beetroot 'Cardeal'
  • Carrot 'White Satin'
  • Chard 'Fantasy'
  • Chard 'Five Colour Silverbeet'
  • Chilli 'Basket of Fire' (2, 1)
  • Chilli 'Ember Explosive'
  • Kale 'Curly Scarlet'
  • Leek 'Lyon 2'
  • Lettuce - mixed
  • Radicchio 'Palla Rossa Precoce'
  • Radish 'Mooli Mino Early'
  • Salad Leaves 'Bright and Spicy' mix
  • Tomato 'Gardener's Delight'
  • Tomato 'Moneymaker'
Update: All gone by 11.38 am - it's a record! See you next year :)
Update 2: Fellow Wiltshire blogger Damo has some fab looking vegetable seed choices on offer. Why not head on over to his place and see if anything takes your fancy?
Update 3: Seeds were despatched on Saturday 2nd February :)

Comments

  1. Anonymous28 January 2013 at 09:09

    Canterbury Bells - mixed
    Beetroot 'Boltardy'
    Foxglove 'Suttons Apricot'

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. VP28 January 2013 at 09:25

      Thanks for your email :) The Beetroot and foxglove are yours, but you were just pipped to the Canterbury bells.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous4 February 2013 at 17:33

      Many thanks,seeds duly arrived on my doormat this morning, look forward to seeing the results later in the year ;o)

      Paul

      Delete
  2. VP28 January 2013 at 09:27

    The first 3 emails are in and the list updated to reflect what's been grabbed already :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Rachel28 January 2013 at 09:32

    Nasturtium (as they've completely failed to self-seed and take over the garden, and the seeds I tried to save last year were very green when the frost felled them),
    Sweet pea (just because)
    Tomato (as I've had no success at all with tomatoes, so a tried and trusted variety might be what I need)

    Thank you :-)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Unknown28 January 2013 at 09:36

    Antirhinum 'Constantine'
    Nasturtium 'Kiki's Kiss'
    Miriam Rothschild's Wildflower Meadow Mix
    please

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. VP28 January 2013 at 11:26

      Hi Jo - Rachel just beat you to the Nasturtiums, but the rest are yours :)

      Delete
  5. Margaret28 January 2013 at 11:10

    Kale 'curly scarlet'
    salad leaves 'bright and spicy'

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. VP28 January 2013 at 11:28

      Hi Margaret - they're yours. Pleased to see the salad leaves are going to a salad challenge regular :)

      Delete
  6. VP28 January 2013 at 11:28

    Just 2 packets left - the leeks and the mooli radish. Seeds have been snapped up in record time this year! :)

    ReplyDelete
  7. VP28 January 2013 at 11:45

    All seeds gone by 11.38! They're gone in record time this year :)

    ReplyDelete
  8. Helen/patientgardener28 January 2013 at 12:27

    Well they went quickly!!!

    ReplyDelete
  9. petoskystone28 January 2013 at 14:49

    Do you think that Dahlias would grow well in containers? I will be moving soon & will probably only be able to grow inside. Already thinking herbs, sprouts, & lettuces, but am wondering what flowers to grow to satisfy Grandchild #1 longing for flowers.

    ReplyDelete
  10. VP28 January 2013 at 14:56

    PG - I'm surprised they went so quickly!

    petoskystone - yes they do. You can get ones which are suitable for bedding (i.e. grown from seed), but I've also seen lots of the tuber types also growing well in pots. The RHS did a Dahlia trial a couple of years ago - I'll see if I can find their conclusions re which varieties to go for...

    ... here you are. I hope the varieties mentioned are available in the USA. I grew 'Knockout' in one of my borders last year and loved it. It grows quite tall, so that shows you don't need to confine yourself just to the shorter varieties for success. Dahlias in pots

    ReplyDelete
  11. Linda28 January 2013 at 17:04

    Wow!! That was so thoughtful of you! It was fun to see all the seeds marked out!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Anonymous28 January 2013 at 20:20

    Wow what a great offer and taken up lightning quick. Thanks for the mention, I suffer from seed hording but I've managed to give up a few packets this year and hopefully someone will get good use from them. I think I'll still have too many though, never enough space! Any left over at the end of the season will go to our local charity Project Uganda.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Janet/Plantaliscious28 January 2013 at 22:25

    Wow, talk about you snooze you lose! A clearly popular offer ;-) I'm sure I should be able to do something similar, but I remain hopelessly optimistic about what I will use...

    ReplyDelete
  14. HELENE29 January 2013 at 04:17

    That was kind of you! I used the Sara Raven offer and received my seeds last Saturday - Poppies and Sunflowers :-)
    Take care, Helene.

    ReplyDelete
  15. VP29 January 2013 at 11:43

    Hi Linda - thanks :)

    Damo - unlike you, I haven't confessed to what's left in my tins (yes tins!). I'm wondering if I should have been more ruthless, especially as I was looking through some seed catalogues last night ;)

    Janet - I'm hopelessly optimistic too. This is a way of getting rid of some of the accompanying guilt!

    Helene - I'm so glad you were able to use the offer. My seeds have arrived too - various lettuces I want to try because Salad Challengers recommended them last year, plus some buckler leaf sorrel :)

    ReplyDelete
  16. Lizzy5 February 2013 at 16:26

    Brilliant idea! We've just got our heads together and we've got rather a lot languishing around the Woolly cupboard which to be realistic won't be used, and make me feel quite guilty - so we're going to have a look through to see what's still in date and give some away ourselves :-) Waste not want not!

    ReplyDelete
  17. VP8 February 2013 at 10:57

    Lizzy - I've just found another stash. There may be a Part Two...

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

I love hearing from you and welcome thoughtful conversations :)

Comments aiming to link back and give credence to commercial websites will be composted!

Your essential reads

That blue flower: A spring spotter's guide

Image
Spring is a prime time for blue flowers and my daily walks currently have several from the same plant family* lining the local footpaths. As I walked past the Donkey Field the other day, I overheard some children ask their parents** what the pictured blue flower was. It reminded me it's often mistaken for those other familial blues and this time was no different, as they said it was forget-me-not, instead of the green alkanet it actually is. As well as similar flowers, most of these plants are hairy in their nature, flower around the same time, and favour damp, shady places. Many of them are great for pollinators too, especially bees and this week's warm weather has certainly drawn them to these flowers. This makes it even more likely for these plants to be mistaken for each other and it's a great opportunity for me to put together a spotter's guide in case you find the same flowers on your outings. Staying with green alkanet, the key features which set it
Read more

Jack Go To Bed At Noon

Image
Last year this rather exotic looking flower appeared on mine and several other allotments for the first time. Having been stumped (again) by Mr Allotment Warden as to its identity, I rushed home to find out what it was. It's salsify, aka the marvellous Jack Go To Bed At Noon - named as such because its flowers always close by midday. Here you can see both open and closed flowers - making it seem even more exotic and alien than in the first picture. I think this must be the cultivated version because the flower in my Francis Rose Wild Flower Key looks exactly the same in form, but is bright yellow in colour and called meadow salsify . Its other common name is Goatsbeard, which must be a nod to the fantastic dandelion-like clock which forms the seed head. With 'parachutes' like those shown above, who knows how far our plotted plants came from. I rather like the photographic dissection of the seedhead found in this link . Salsify is edible: its lateral shoots and fl
Read more

Red Nose Day - Gardening Jokes Anyone?

Image
The nation goes ever so slightly bonkers on Red Nose Day - hurrah! Previously, it's been very easy to join in - usually via a dress down day at work plus lots of people up to mad things at the station and in the office. Everyone smiling for once - it's a real feel good day and all in a good cause. This year's different - every day's a dress down day for me now - my friend L suggested yesterday that perhaps I could have a dress up day instead and whilst that's a good idea, I confess that ballgowns and tiaras don't really feature in my wardrobe: scruffy student's always been my favourite look. So my Red Nose Day contribution for this year is to compile a list of gardening related jokes. For each one (clean ones only please) you leave in the comments below, I'll make a donation of 50p to the cause. Here's a few for starters just to get you warmed up: Q Why do potatoes make good detectives? A Because they keep their eyes peeled. Q What did the grape
Read more

Salad Days: Mastering Lettuce

Image
I've decided one of my salad challenges for this year is to grow as many lettuce varieties as I can, ready for the publication of my planned Factsheet* later on. The idea is to grow as many of the Tried and Trusted lettuce varieties last year's Salad Challengers helped compile, then provide a visual guide and as many lettuce facts as I can muster. So far I've found around half of those listed**. Then naturally whilst I was out searching - because such is the way with seeds - a number of other varieties found their way home too ;) A couple of weeks ago I sowed 22 varieties***. Just the simple act of sowing them has me intrigued. Why are some lettuce seeds black and others white****? They split into about half white to half black in my sample and as far as I can tell it's nothing to do with whether they're a type of cos, iceberg, or whatever. I sowed them indoors and popped them into a propagator on the windowsill. The soil's too cold outside for sowing
Read more

VPs VIPs: Derry Watkins of Special Plants

Image
Last week I had the pleasure of visiting Derry Watkins at her home, garden and nursery - the acclaimed Special Plants - just a few miles along the road from me. I first met Derry at one of her open garden days last year and was keen to find out more about her wonderful garden and running an independent nursery. She specialises in tender perennials and regularly goes on plant hunting trips to find new treasures, particularly in South Africa. As well as running Special Plants and opening her garden under the NGS scheme , Derry holds day courses at her nursery, hosts Special Tuesdays from April until September, lectures and has written a couple of books. How did you find your way from Connecticut to the UK? I'd started a biodynamic vegetable garden in Connecticut and we used to have people come along at weekends to help out. A particular young man turned up: he returned many times and at the end of the summer I married him. So it was all down to love? Isn't that the
Read more

#mygardenrightnow: heading into summer with the Chelsea Fringe

Image
Ahhhhhh, that's better! I love walking through dewy grass in bare feet, not that there's much in the way of grass on my back lawn this weekend. My wild and woolly lawn has morphed into meadow of sorts this month, which even NAH admits looks attractive*. It's also proved a great source for my Flowers for mum project so far, yielding self-sown perennial cornflowers, lamb's ears, and lemon balm in addition to the blooms you can see. These originated from elsewhere in the garden, the ox-eye daisies must have blown in from the A350 nearby. * = he got very stroppy about the weeds aka self-sown foxgloves in the lawn one year, so he's come along a bit since then. Skimble's demanding to say hello to you too. He does enjoy the patio when it warms up. If the embedded video doesn't work try this link instead. The Nectaroscordum are a revelation. I planted the bulbs around 2 years ago, but it's only this year they've bloomed properly. The bee
Read more

The Resilient Garden

Image
  Part of Tom Massey's Resilient Garden at RHS Hampton Court I've been pondering VP Gardens a lot lately. Last year's drought conditions set me off initially, then our harsher than usual winter combined with this summer's flip and flop weather means the thinking continues. It's a huge topic which I freely admit I'm struggling to get my head around. Tom Massey's Resilient Garden  at Hampton Court recently  tackled this topic brilliantly and was a timely interlude which gave me much food for thought. There he encapsulated the detailed research he'd found which informed both his show garden and book of the same name. I think it's one of the most important show gardens I've ever seen. It's clear the way I garden needs to change so that I have my own resilient garden. I haven't worked out the exact details yet, but Tom's book plus a couple of others (see below), alongside the rainwater management handout from the show garden's  sponso
Read more

Testing Times: Tomatoes

Image
  I've run a couple of tomato trials this year. The first is a revisit of the biochar trial with Oxford University I attempted some years ago (with a different organisation this time), and the second is a trial of a water gadget called Plantsurge which I was given to try at Malvern Spring Show earlier this year. Most of you have probably heard of biochar already and the claim that this inert, carbon-rich material can help soil fertility and plant health. The RHS information in the above link says results can be mixed, with reduced effects found in alkaline soils. This may help to explain the lack of difference I found in my previous trial as VP Gardens is on a lime-rich soil. Plantsurge is a different beast altogether. It's a strong magnet which is attached to a hosepipe as shown in the photo above. It's claimed that it softens water, with the result more like watering with rainwater. The higher nitrogen found in rainwater is thought to be beneficial to plants. Gardener
Read more

Chelsea Fringe 2014: Shows of Hands - Episode I

Image
The gloves NAH used to build the raised bed . The effects are L to R, top to bottom:  Original photo, Warhol, HDR, Green tint, B&W, Posterize, Boost, Cross process and Sepia Welcome to Shows of Hands - my Chelsea Fringe project for 2014! As you can see I've been having a bit of a play around in Pic Monkey for my first contribution. You're welcome to join in between now and 8th June 2014. The idea behind this year's project is to highlight the tool most precious to a gardener: their hands. How do I take part? It's simple. All you need to do is take a photo of hand(s) in a gardening context and then share it via your blog or other social media (such as Twitter or Facebook), then make sure I know you've done so. I've set up Mr Linky below for your blog contributions. The Chelsea Fringe photo on the right sidebar links to this post, so you can easily find it again when you're ready to add your contribution. If you share your photo on Twitter,
Read more

Make Use of Mildew

Image
On my garden patrol this morning I spotted some powdery mildew on a couple of my new Verbena bonariensis plants. I suppose it was almost inevitable as I prefer to grow my plants hard - this means no water for them unless they look absolutely desperate. This approach means plants root themselves more deeply and have a better chance of survival during spells of dry weather like we've had lately. However, it also means I run the risk of problems like today's, especially with any garden newbies planted late in the season. We've had a good drop of rain overnight, so this should help my plants survive. I'll mulch them later today to help lock in the moisture as it's water stress which encourages the mildew to take hold. I've also removed the infected leaves and sprayed the rest with a milky drink.* I'm also pleased to find there's a use for my infected leaves. Oliver Ellingham at Reading University has started a PhD - sponsored by the RHS - researchi
Read more