Here are the Kew Blue beans which arrived from Bugs this morning - Thanks so much - and what a generous handful too!
I'll be comparing these with the Marshalls' Empress that I grew (and saved some) last year. They are both purple podded
How could I have forgotten my lovely Yin Yang beans - sometimes called pea beans - which got me into seed saving. Well, those and the Green Zebra toms.
I'm also expecting some King Tut peas from Seahorse - ta in anticipation chuck. Said to be descendant of the seeds germinated from the Pharaoh's tomb after Howard Carter's excavation. Yes, I know, but I'm a sucker for a good story! I've seen them advertised on American sites as a 'Soup Pea' by which I assume they are usually used dried. I want to compare them with the Latvian 'Grey Peas' I've got from the Heritage Seed Library which are also a drying pea. These are doing well down the allotment at the moment.
Speaking of which - I'm a member of a group who have been trying to manage the churchyard for wildlife. About 5 years ago we planted some primroses grown from local seed.
They have spread and bulked up beautifully. I'm hoping to collect more seed from them this year - it grows best when sown fresh. They are a joy at this time of the year with their pale, scrambled egg colour. In a few weeks the cowslips, planted at the same time, will be in full bloom - a much deeper egg-yolk (organic egg yolk!) colour.
Here's a shot of the wildflower meadow at home. In Spring it's lovely. The cowslips are out earlier here as the garden's more sheltered than the churchyard. After the cowslips and fritillaries are over, there are scabious and betony to come.
This week, I will be mostly getting rained on!
5 comments:
Aha, another Fast Show fan! Thanks for confirming the yellow flowers in your last picture as cowslips, I thought that when I saw a field of them on Sunday, but I wasn't sure! Do you need some thread to go with your King Tut peas :o) ?
I've got some King Tut thread - that's how I know how gorgeous it is. Yes, loved the Fast Show too.
Lovely to see a whole field of cowslips - you're lucky!
Kew Blue is a wonderful variety, I'm sure you'll love it.
All looking wonderful Mrs Flum, very envious of your Fritillaries.
Ooh, my beans are famous! I thought you would make good use of them - as Rebsie says they are a handsome plant, don't be fooled by the simple seed. I hope to get around to notinhg up a bit more about the varieties from the HSL but in the meantime I hope Rebsie won't mind my pointing out her smashing info and pics here:
http://daughterofthesoil.blogspot.com/2007/02/heritage-vegetable-review-climbing-bean.html
Pea beans are gorgeous aren't they - highly strokable! I've had a go at both fritillaries and cowslips from seed in the past and got exactly nowhere but your comment about fresh seed has inspired me to have a go with our own garden (wild type though) primroses and single remaining cowslip this year.
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