Seedy Saturday, 2012 edition

We attended our second Seedy Saturday in Totnes today. It was great. There was a friendly vibe, the seeds were well laid out and organised and I had a great time. There was a bit of confusion about the entry fee, the stuff I'd read online said one thing and the person on the door said another, which tripped me up a little but we got in. We also managed to make some excellent swaps.

Debating over lettuce seeds while Stephen takes secret pictures of my back

We took with us some of our leftover seeds. As balcony gardener's we have lots of leftovers, a full seed packet is hardly ever going to be used up in such a small space. I decanted them into origami seed packets made from the instructions that can be found in the preview for Gayla Trail's new book over here. They are really fun to make. I used some scrap book paper I'd bought for... well I have no idea, I'm not a scrapbooker... and I love the way they turned out. Someone else at the seed swap had made the same packets and I did a little cheer, knowing I had a seed packet sister or brother out there.

Our Seeds, packaged up and ready to swap

So what did we get? There whre some lovlies this year. I spotted an asparagus pea, although we just ordered our own so we didn't take it home, and there where plenty of interesting varieties about. I got some Oakleaf lettuce which I love for it's crisp texture and good flavour. It's a great sandwich lettuce.I picked up choy sum, some lemon balm and feverfew, none of which I've grown before. A red-cored chanternay carrot came home with us. Leef Beat, Vulkan, is red too which was developed for baby leaves but is 'also excellent' when grown on. A packet of peas which I'll probably grow for tendrils was too hard to resist but the one I'm most excited about is a Broad Bean. Grando Violetto which is listed on Otter Farm as 'unusual heritage variety - the beans turn purple when mature or when cooked although the pods remain green while they grow' Purple? Awesome.

Choices, choices.

They also sold seed potatoes at the event, per kg naturally. After we explained that we are balcony growers and only need one they sold us a single seed potato. Awwww. It's Orla which has a good flavour and is loved by organic growers as it's unfussy. We have plenty of lovely things to grow this year. I'm very excited.