Garlic Planting Stock

As I usually do every year around this time, I have some extra garlic planting stock to offer to people reading this blog.

This year I grew 90+ varieties, and harvested them at the beginning of August before we left on our trip.  With around 1000 bulbs in total, it’s going to take me a while to go through them and figure out exactly what I have.  I probably won’t be sending any to anyone  for at least a month or so.  Planting time is usually November (at least for those of us in the northern hemisphere), so there’s still plenty of time.

I can’t send any garlic to the US!  Sorry.  If you’re interested, I can reccommend some places to buy garlic planting stock.  I also can’t send it anywhere else with import restrictions for this kind of thing.  The European Union is no problem, and many other places are also no problem.

If I have traded seeds or planting material with you before, I will pay part of the postage.  If you have something to trade now, I will pay all the postage.  Otherwise you have to pay postage.  Contact me for details.  I accept cash in most common currencies, certainly US dollars, Euros and UK Pounds.  People in the EU can also pay by bank transfer (payment in this way outside of the EU is also possible, but the bank fees are at your own expense).

If you’re interested, please send me an email (see the contact page) or leave a comment below making sure to fill your email address in the field provided.  I’ll get back to you with more details, including estimated costs and some information on the varieties I have.

For people coming to the Oxford meeting on 20 September, I’ll probably have some garlic planting stock with me then, hopefully enough for everyone who wants some.  You could still send me an email and arrange this in advance if you want to.

Real Seeds Newsletter

The Real Seeds Catalogue just posted their 2008 newsletter.  It has a lot of insight into what they are working on and what we can look forward to seeing in the future from them.

For those coming to the Oxford get-together in September, you should have a look through it and come prepared with questions!

Lots of Tomatoes

The tomatoes really started coming as we were going on vacation, and we ended up leaving a lot behind for friends to eat while we were gone. We also managed to get a load into the dehydrator in between our two trips to Germany and Spain.

Diversity in Tomatoes

One of the things I really enjoy about growing heirloom tomatoes is the diversity. It’s not so much which one tastes the best, or worrying about growing one that isn’t as good as the others, it’s just really nice to have a mix of different kinds and tastes. I’m growing about 25 different ones this year, and while a few were a little disappointing, nearly all have something that makes them special.

Some of my favorites so far are Black Sea Man, Matt’s Wild Cherry, Brown Berry, Hillbilly Flame (the large one in the front of the picture), Emerald Evergreen (the green one in the middle), Nebraska Wedding and Taxi.

For those of you attending the Oxford meeting, I’ll probably have some seeds with me then. For anyone else who would like some seeds, send me an email and we’ll try to work something out. I saved some seeds from several of the varieties, although I’m not sure I have enough for everyone who might want some. I can’t send seeds to the US! If you live in the US, I can tell you where to buy seeds if you’re interested.

Oxford – Please Confirm!

It’s been a little while since I last posted an update on the status of the upcoming meeting in Oxford, so I thought I would do a quick post.

Please Confirm Your Attendance by 20 August

The following bloggers have said they may attend.

Those marked with a * have already confirmed, or I’m pretty sure are going to come, and don’t need to reconfirm.

The number next to the blog name is the number of seats I have reserved for you.

Bifurcated Carrots (2)*
MustardPlaster (2)
Spade Work (1)
Daughter of the Soil (1)
The plot thickens (1)*
Joanna’s Food (1)*
Growing Our Own (2)
The smallest smallholding (2)
A Blog Called Fuggles (2)
Veg Plotting (1)
Soilman’s Allotment Blog (1)*
My Tiny Plot (1)
Manor Stables Veg Plot (1)
Fluffius Muppetus (2)*
NomeGrown (1)
A Nice Green Leaf (1)*
Hills and Plains (1)*
Horticultural (1)
Speaker:  Real Seeds (1)*

Total people attending:  25

Total number of seats available: 25

Please check to make sure the information I have here is correct, and let me know if it’s not as soon as possible!  If you need an extra seat, I can probably figure something out.  If you have an extra seat, please let me know!

If I don’t hear from you by 20 August, I will try to contact you directly.  If I can’t get a firm answer from anyone by 1 September, I won’t necessarily cancel your reservation unless someone comes along who says they want to come.  If you are still unsure by 1 September, you are welcome to wait until the last minute to see if there’s still space available.

If there is anyone else who wants to come, let me know.  If I have unconfirmed seats on 1 September, I will happily offer them to you.  At the moment I have no waiting list, and it seems likely at least one or two people listed above won’t attend.

It’s still the intention to find a place for everyone who wants to attend, if at all possible.

Speaker

We have one speaker already arranged.  The Real Seed Catalogue have said they would send someone to meet with and speak to us.

We might consider a second speaker if anyone has concrete ideas.  The best thing would be if you contacted the person you were thinking of first and get an agreement in principle they would be available, then give me contact information and I will confirm it with them.

It needs to be clear to me the person is appropriate for our meeting.

Costs

I am still expecting the costs to be between £10-15.  It depends on how many people show up to share the costs, so I will calculate it on the day.

The cost of entrance to the Oxford Botanic garden is included in the price of the room we have reserved.  Please don’t pay the usual entrance fee, just tell them you are there for the food growing get-together.

Place and Time

20 September 2008, 9:30am – 5:30pm

Oxford Botanic Garden, High Street, Oxford

Please arrive between 9:30am – 10:30am for coffee and tea.  We will begin shortly thereafter.

Closer to the time I will publish a proposed schedule for the day.  Much of the time will just be spent socializing, and perhaps visiting the gardens, but there will be a few planned speakers as well as the picnic and seed swap.

Picnic

Rain or shine we will have a picnic, so bring any food you want to share with others. Since most of us are gardeners, consider bringing something from your garden, but anything you want to bring is fine.

Also bring something to sit on, and anything else you want for the picnic.

Our room can be locked, so personal belongings can be left inside while we go outdoors.

In case of bad weather, we can eat indoors.

Seed Swap

Be sure to bring any seeds or other propagation materials you want to share with others. I will bring some seeds and other things from my garden.

The most interesting of course are seeds you have grown and saved yourself, but don’t be afraid to bring any seeds you think anyone else might be interested in.

You don’t need to bring seeds in order to receive them from others.

We Have a Banner

FoGroBloMe

For more information see Simon’s post.

Phone Number

I will have my mobile phone with me on the day, and you are welcome to call anytime until then if you have any questions:  +31 6 40109417.

Achocha Fat Baby

Achocha Fat Baby

Okay, it’s cucumber time.  Emma already posted about her achocha ‘mouse melons’, and even devoted an entire podcast episode to it on Alternative Kitchen Garden last year, as well as a squidoo lens.

[update:  I just realized Emma probably posted about something else, ‘Melothria’, a few days ago.  Achocha is something she grew and reported on last year]

A look in the Seed Savers Exchange yearbook shows my friend Frank in Belgium as the sole member offering seeds for it.  I suspect he’s been growing it for years, and probably one of the people who introduced it to Europe.

I feel behind when it comes to posting on this one.

The insides look like this:

Achocha Fat Baby

The black things are the seeds, which you take out before eating and save for replanting.

Raw they taste something like a cucumber, and after being fried a bit like green pepper.

Except for the seeds, you can eat the whole thing.  I’m looking forward to trying this in different foods.  I’m not sure if I like it yet.