Sowing New Seeds project update
Posted Tuesday 8th June 2010
Sally passsing on advice
Sowing New Seeds is really getting off to a good start. After a very long, slow, cold spell when nobody was venturing out onto their allotments and none of the commercially available exotic seeds we’d sown wanted to come up, a spot of warm, sunny weather arrived and made all the difference!
We have been very busy visiting allotments all over the Midlands, from the Victorian hedged splendours of St Anne’s and Whitemoor in Nottingham through to Uplands in Birmingham and the Bellgrave group of allotments in Leicester, to mention just a few.
At Ryton Gardens visitors can now see some of the new plants on display in the Vegetable Kingdom and Alitex glasshouse, from ‘Red Noodle’ yard-long beans (Vigna sesquipedalis var ungicularis ), eddoes (Colcoasia esculaneta), shark’s fin melon (Cucurbita ficifolia), sweet potatoes (Ipomea batatata), water spinach (I. aquatica), kaffir or wild lime (Citrus hystrix) and Polenta maize (Zea mais.) A tropical feel is given by various scented and spectacular tender ornamentals, such as Heliotrope ‘Chatsworth’, leadwort (Plumbago capensis) and Bougainvillias.
The project has also finally got its polytunnel up and running, and we’re trialling a range of seeds we’ve already been donated - the total stands at about 35 samples so far - as well as some more of the commercially available cultivars. We’re also planting some out in the Research field to see how they perform.
So if you’re visiting Ryton Gardens over the summer keep your eyes peeled to see some of our non-traditional vegetables - or some might even be on an allotment near you!
You can also catch us in Leicester City centre at the Belgrave Mela on July 18th, and the Belgrave Hall Museum Food Fair in September. In Birmingham we’re visiting the Stoney Road allotment open day on Sept 12 and of course, we’re having our very own Exotic Produce Fair here on October 3rd when we hope to be harvesting our sweet potatoes and yams. See you there!
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