Category Archives: Seed

Kamouraska and La société des plantes

Thank you to Charles “Mr. Accordion Pissenlit” Frandelion for asking me over to Saint-Pascal (in the Kamouraska municipality) east of Quebec City and entertaining me with a great day enjoying the nature of his area and visiting the headquarters of La société des plantes, run by the legendary Patrice Fortier​ (www.lasocietedesplantes.com), where he works! Patrice was sadly in Italy…we will meet next time!


THE NEW EDIMENTALS SEED TRADE LIST FOR 2016-2017

21st January 2017
Welcome to my new seed trade list for 2016-17.
14, 15 and 16 in brackets indicates the harvesting year for the seed. Concerning seed quantity: as I don’t have many plants of each species, seed quantity is limited in most cases. Therefore, for some species you may only get a few seeds. Many species are harvested in my garden. Others are surplus from trade and purchase.
OUT: Means out of stock.
NB! Cultivars do not always come true. I offer them anyway, but no guarantees to what you will get!
If you don’t have anything I’m interested in trading for, the only possibility is to support Norwegian Seed Savers ( http://www.norwegianseedsavers.no)  as I offer much of this seed exclusively through our Yearbook which will be out in February!
Botanical Name (year of harvest)
NB! Traditional vegetables are at the end of the list with (mostly) common English names first.
Acanthopanax henryi (14)
Achyranthes aspera (14)
Aconitum lycoctonum (15)
Adenophora uehatae (15)
Agastache foeniculum (15, 14,13)
Agastache rugosa “Golden Jubilee” (15)
Alcea nudiflora (16)
Allium albidum (16)
Allium altissimum (16) Uncertain ID
Allium amphibolum (16)
Allium angulosum (16)
Allium angulosum Ex-Kazakhstan (16)
Allium atroviolaceum (15)
Allium beesianum (14)
Allium brevistylum (16,14)
Allium caeruleum (16, 14)
Allium caesium Ex-Kyrgyzstan (16)
Allium carinatum ssp. pulchellum (14)
Allium carolinianum (16)
Allium cernuum mix (15, 14)
Allium cernuum mix large plants (16)
Allium cernuum “Dark Scape” (16, 15, 14)
Allium cernuum ‘Dwarf White” (15, 14)
Allium cernuum “OR KA A” (Wild oregon) (13)
Allium cernuum ‘Pink Giant’ (16, 15, 14)
Allium crenulatum (14)
Allium darwasicum (16)
Allium daghestanicum (16)
Allium decipiens (14)
Allium dictyoprasum (16)
Allium drummondii (16)
Allium douglasii (16, 14)
Allium ericetorum Ex-Carpathian Mountains (14)
Allium fistulosum Ex-“Aprelsky” (15, 14)
Allium fistulosum Ex-“Elfried Søvoll” (15, 14) (Norwegian heirloom onion)
Allium fistulosum Ex-“Gribovskiy 21” (15,14)
Allium fistulosum Ex-“Ludmilla’ Datcha” (15, 14)
Allium fistulosum Ex-“Mongolia” (15)
Allium fistulosum Ex-“Nedre Gjetsiden” (15, 14) (Norwegian turf roof heirloom onion)
Allium fistulosum Ex-“Nerøygarden” (15) (Norwegian turf roof heirloom onion)
Allium fistulosum Ex-“Sve” (15, 14) (Norwegian turf roof heirloom onion)
Allium flavum “Blue Leaf” (15)
Allium flavum flavum minus (14)
Allium hymenorrhizum (16)
Allium insubricum (16, 14)
Allium jesdianum ssp angustitepalum (16)
Allium karataviense Ex-“Ivory Queen” (16)
Allium leucanthum (16)
Allium maximowiczii var shibutsuense (14)
Allium moly (15)
Allium nutans (16) ALL1245 (IPK)
Allium nutans “Caroline” (14)
Allium nutans “Isabelle” (16)
Allium nutans “Lena” (16)
Allium nutans “Seedlings” (16)
Allium obliquum (14)
Allium pallasii (16)
Allium petraeum Ex-Kyrgyzstan (16)
Allium przewalskianum Ex-Kyrgyzstan (16) 4 accessions from China!
Allium pskemense (16) 2 accessions from Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan
Allium “Purple King” (15)
Allium ramosum (15)
Allium rotundum (Allium scorodoprasum ssp jajlae) (16) 2 accessions
Allium rubens Ex-Kazakhstan (16)
Allium sarawschanicum (16)
Allium schoenoprasoides Ex-Kazakhstan (16)
Allium schoenoprasum v. alpinum “Album”(14)
Allium schoenoprasum v. alvarense(16)
Allium schoenoprasum “Black Pedicels” (16, 15, 14)
Allium schoenoprasum “Black Isle Blush” (15, 14)
Allium schoenoprasum “Flower Goddess” (15) (Chinese seed)
Allium schoenoprasum “Forescate” (16)
Allium schoenoprasum “Grande” (14)
Allium schoenoprasum “Grolau” (14)
Allium schoenoprasum “Hylau Sprint” (16)
Allium schoenoprasum “Major” (15)
Allium schoenoprasum “Middleman” (16)
Allium schoenoprasum var. yezomonticola (16)
Allium senescens “SSHB” (16)
Allium senescens x nutans hybrids (Ex-Mark McDonough) (16)
Allium senescens x nutans “Broad leaf” (Ex-Mark McDonough) (16)
Allium splendens (16)
Allium stipitatum (16,15)
Allium tuberosum(16)
Allium tuberosum(16) from Finland
Allium victorialis ‘Alpbed’ (15)
Allium victorialis ‘Cantabria’ (15)
Allium victorialis ‘Ex-Granvin, SW Norway’ (16,15)
Allium victorialis ‘Lofoten’ (16)
Allium victorialis (received as A. ochotense from Tromsø)(15)
Allium wallichii (16) 3 accessions
Althaea cannabina (14)
Amaranthus tricolor “Long Leaf Purple” (14)
Anemone rivularis (15)
Angelica brevicaulis (Kazakhstan) (16)
Aquilegia caerulea (15)
Aquilegia vulgaris variegata (16)
Aralia californica (15, 14)
Aralia cordata (16, 15, 14)
Aralia elata (16)
Artemisia genipi (15)
Asphodeline lutea (14)
Astragalus glycyphyllus (14)
Athyrium felix-femina (16) (spores)
Atriplex halimus (15)
Atriplex hortensis lutea (14)
Atriplex hortensis rubra (16, 15)
Atriplex portulacoides (15)
Barbarea vulgaris (15)
Barbarea vulgaris variegata (15, 14)
Begonia shepherdii (14)
Beta maritima (14)
Beta vulgaris “Dracaena Leaves” (14)
Bidens tripartita (14)
Bistorta officinalis ssp pacifica (16)
Boehmeria sieboldiana (14)
Broussonetia kazinoki (15)
Bryonia alba (14)
Bunias orientalis (15)
Cacalia delphinifolia (14)
Calendula “Flashback Mix” (14)
Camassia leichtlinii “Pink” (15)
Campanula alliarifolia (14)
Campanula cervicaria (15)
Campanula glomerata “Alba”(15)
Campanula latifolia “Purple Throat” (16)
Campanula persicifolia “White Double” (15)
Campanula trachelium “White/purple eye) (14)
Canna edulis (James Wong) (14)
Caragana arborescens (16)
Cardaria draba (15,14)
Carduus crispus (15)
Carex “Majken” (15)
Carica papaya (16) from Amazonas
Carum carvi (16) wild
Carum carvi “Pink flowered” (16)
Caucalis platycarpos (16)
Cedronella canariensis (14)
Centaurea macrocephala (15)
Centaurea “Ball mix” (13)
Chaenomeles cathayensis (15)
Chenopodium foliosum (15, 14)
Chenopodium bonus-henricus (14) 4 accessions
Chenopodium ambrosioides (15, 14)
Cirsium canum (14)
Cirsium tuberosum (15)
Clintonia borealis (15)
Clintonia udensis “Black” (16)
Codonopsis bulleyana (15)
Codonopsis clematidea (15)
Codonopsis grey-wilsonii (16)
Codonopsis lanceolata (15) Chinese seed
Codonopsis pilosula (15)
Codonopsis rotundifolia “Grandiflora” (15)
Codonopsis tangshen (15)
Codonopsis viridiflora (15)
Coelopleurum rupestre (16)
Crambe abyssinica(12)
Crambe cordifolia (16)
Crataegus aff. coccinea (14)
Dahlia australis (14)
Dahlia coccinea palmeri (14)
Debregeasia edulis “Elite” (15)
Dianthus barbatus “Sooty” (15)
Dianthus oschotenicus (15)
Diphyllea grayi (16)
Dipsacus japonicus (16)
Disporum smithii (16)
Dracocephalum integrifolium (16)
Echium vulgare (14)
Elsholtzia ciliata (16)
Epilobium angustifolium album (14)
Epilobium latifolium (16)
Epilobium latifolium Caerphilly Castle” (14)
Erechtites hieraciifolius(14)
Eupatorium cannabinum (14)
Fagopyrum acutatum (14)
Fagopyrum tataricum (15)
Fritillaria pallidiflora (14)
Gentiana tibetica (14)
Geranium thunbergii (16)
Globularia cordifolia (15)
Girardinia septentrionalis (14)
Hablitzia tamnoides (Mixed) (16,15, 14)
Hablitzia tamnoides Ex-Tampere, Finland (16,15, 14)
Hablitzia tamnoides Ex- Sweden (16,15, 14)
Hemerocallis lilioasphodelus (15)
Heuchera cylindrica (14)
Hordeum jubatum (14)
Hosta sieboldiana ”Elegans” (14,13)
Houttuynia cordata (14)
Hyssopus tianschanicus (16)
Impatiens tinctoria (14)
Knautia macedonica (15)
Laser trilobum (16)
Lavatera arborea variegata (15)
Lavatera thuringiaca (15)
Lepidium campestre (15)
Lepidium latifolium (15)
Leucanthemum maximum “Alaska” (15)
Leucanthemum x superbum “Marconi” (16)
Leucanthemum vulgare (CHRY113 from IPK) (13)
Levisticum officinale (16)
Ligularia fischeri (16, 15, 14)
Ligularia heterophylla (15)
Lilium callosum (14)
Lilium martagon (16)
Lilium martagon cattaniae (16)
Lilium pardalinum? (14)
Lupinus pilosus (14)
Lychnis coronaria (15)
Lycopus exaltatus (15, 14)
Malva alcea (15)
Malva moschata (15)
Malva sylvestris mauritanica (14)
Malva verticillata (16)
Marrubium vulgare (16)
Meconopsis (unknown Blue Himalaya Poppy) (14)
Medicago sativa (15)
Melissa officinalis (14)
Mentha asiatica Ex-Kyrgyzstan (16)
Mertensia paniculata (15, 14)
Molopospermum peloponnesiacum (16)
Monarda punctata (14)
Myosoton aquaticum (14)
Omphalogramma delavayi (15)
Onopordon acanthium (15)
Oplopanax horridus (16, 15, 14)
Origanum vulgare hirtum (14)
Oxyria digyna (16)
Pachyphragma macrophyllum (15)
Papaver nudicaule (14)
Papaver somniferum “Mix” (16)
Papaver somniferum “Russian Mix”” (16)
Parasenecio maximowiczianum (16) Few
Pelataria alliacea (16)
Phlomis tuberosa (16)
Phyteuma confusa (14)
Phyteuma nigra (16)
Phyteuma spicatum caeruleum (14)
Phyteuma ovatum (14)
Phytolacca americana (16)
Phytolacca americana “Sunny Side Up” (14)
Pinus armandii (15)
Plantago antarctica (16)
Plantago camschatica (14)
Plantago coronopus “Erba Stella” (13)
Plantago maritima (15)
Plantago rugelii (14)
Pleurospermum spp (15) (China)
Polygonatum multiflorum var ramossissima (16)
Polygonatum pubescens (16)
Polygonum orientale “Variegata” (14)
Prenanthes alba (14)
Prenanthes purpurea (14)
Primula japonica (16)
Primula veris “Red Strain” (16)
Pulsatilla vulgaris (14)
Pycnanthemum muticum (15)
Pycnanthemum pilosum (15)
Rheum australe (15)
Rheum “Cally Giant” (15)
Rheum ribes (15)
Ribes americanum (16)
Ribes illecebrosus (15)
Ribes petraeum biebersteinii (16)
Rollinia mucosa (16) Amazonas
Rosa sericea (16)
Rubus idaeus “Gulbringebær”(15)
Rubus idaeus “White Russian”(16)
Rubus occidentalis (wild) (16)
Rubus occidentalis “Black Hawk” (16)
Rubus occidentalis “Jewel” (15)
Rubus phoenicolasius (16)
Rumex crispa (16)
Rumex nepalensis (16)
Rumex patientia (14)
Rumex sanguineus (15, 14)
Rumex scutatus (16)
Sanguisorba canadensis (15)
Sanguisorba minor (14)
Sanguisorba stipulata (14)
Scorpiurus (14)
Silene dioica “Purple Prince” (15)
Silene latifolia (14)
Silene vulgaris rosea (14)
Silphium perfoliatum (14)
Silybum marianum (14)
Sinacalia tangutica (16)
Sium sisarum (16) (Skirret)
Sonchus oleraceus (15)
Stachys officinalis (14)
Stachys palustris (15)
Stachys recta (15)
Streptopus amplexifolius (15)
Streptopus roseus (16)
Tagetes (16)
Taraxacum ceratophorum (16)
Taraxacum officinale “Improved” (16, 15)
Taraxacum officinale “Lyonell” (16)
Taraxacum officinale “Moss-leaved” (16)
Taraxacum officinale ‘Pissenlit Coeur Plein Ameliore’ (16, 15)
Taraxacum officinale “Vert de Montmagny Ameliore” (16)
Taraxacum pseudoroseum (16, 15, 14)
Taraxacum rubifolium (16, 15,14)
Taraxacum spp. (16) (Izu peninsula, Japan)
Taraxacum spp. “Vennafjellet” (15)
Tradescantia ohiensis (16)
Tricyrtis spp. (15)
Tulipa montana (15)
Urera baccifera (15)
Urtica dioica “Danae Johnston” (15)
Urtica ferox (15)
Urtica laetevirens (14)
Urtica pilulifera (14)
Veratrum californicum (16)
Viola brevistipula var ciliata (16)
Viola crassa (16)
Viola kamtschadalorum (16)
Viola x wittrockii “Schweitzer Riesen” (15)
Withania somnifera (16)
Wyethia amplexicaulis (15)
Zanthoxylum spp. (16)

Vegetables

Asparagus (old variety from Tjøme) (14)
Asparagus (Japanese variety) (15)
Asparagus Pea (16)
Basella rubra (16, 15, 14,13)
Bean ”Turkish Beans from Geitmyra” (14)
Broccoli Ex-“9 star perennial” (142) (open pollinated)
Broccoli “Purple Peacock” (14)
Broccoli Raab (Cima de rapa) “Sessantina” (16) (Flowering turnip tops)
Burdock (15) (5 different Japanese varieties) (15)
Cabbage “Chou de Jalhay” (15) Few
Cabbage “Julikongen” (14)
Cauliflower “Purple” (14)
Chicory “Barba di Cappuccino” (15)
Chicory “Bianca” (15)
Chicory “Castelfranco variegata” (15)
Chicory “Catalogna gigante di Chioggia” (15)
Chicory “Di Chiavari” (15)
Chicory “De taglio bionda a foglie larghe” (16)
Chicory “Orchidea Rossa” (13)
Chicory “Rossa di Verona Sel. Arca” (15)
Chicory “Selvatico da Campo” (15)
Chicory “Variegata di lusia (precoce)” (15)
Chili “Martin’s Carrot” (13)
Chili “Thai sun” (13)
Chinese Cabbage “Green Rocket F1” (15)
Chinese Cabbage “Heading” (14) (Japanese seed)
Chinese Lxeris (15)
Collards “Winter Queen” (14)
Coriander “Calypso” (15)
Coriander “Confetti” (16)
Cucumber “Parad” (Russian var.) (14)
Cucumber “Zasolochni” (Russian var.) (14)
Endive “Green Curled” (13)
Green onion “Piazcheh” (16) (Iranian, prob. Allium fistulosum)
Kale “Couve Galega” (14) (2 accessions)
Kale “Maori” (15)
Kale «Red Russian» (13)
Kale ‘Sukuma Wiki’ (15) From Kenya (Perennial?)
Kale “Thousand Head” (14)
Kale “Daubenton / Late purple Sprouting brocolli” (16) (F2)
Kale “Wild Perennial / Washington Beach” (13)
Kale “OP perennial grex, strongly perennial” (13)
Kale “Daubenton Grex variegated” (15)
Kale “Alan Kapuler collard x OP Perennial grex” (13)
Kale “Purple Tree collards x Daubenton OP grex” (13)
Kale “Daubenton x ?” (13) Light coloured leaves very bushy heavy flowering
Kale “Spis bladene x OP perennial grex” (13)
Kale “Daubenton x Laciniato ?” (13)
Kale “Purple Tree Collard x Laciniato” (13)
Kale “Steely Green x Walking Stick” (13)
Kale “Red Cavalier” (13)
Kohlrabi “Azur Star” (13)
Leek “Musselburgh” (14)
Leek “Blue Green Autumn” (16)
Leek “King Richard” (15)
Leek “Musselburgh” (14)
Luffa (16)
Oriental Greens ‘Anatsonga’ (15) (Madagascar)
Oriental Greens “Jingpintadiwu” (Brassica campestris ssp chinensis) (12)
Oriental Greens ‘Choy Sum Purple’ (15)
Oriental Greens ‘Choy Sum Purple Flowering’ (15)
Oriental Greens ‘Early Mibuna’ (14)
Oriental Greens ‘Frilly’ (13)
Oriental Greens ‘Giant Red” (13)
Oriental Greens ‘Green Wave” (13)
Oriental Greens ‘Kekkya Takana” (13)
Oriental Greens ‘Misome’ (14)
Oriental Greens ‘Mispoona’ (14)
Oriental Greens “Pak Choy Color and Crunch” (12)
Oriental Greens “Ramirebaka” (15) (Brassica chinensis) (Madagascar)
Oriental Greens “Red Mizuna” (14)
Oriental Greens “Red Streaked” (14)
Oriental Greens “Swollen Stem Tsai Tsai Round” (12)
Oriental Greens “Wtatsai” (15)
Parsley “Italian Giant” (14)
Parsley “Moss Curled” (14)
Parsley “Russian Curly” (14)
Parsnip (16)
Pea “Salmon Flowered” (16)
Perilla (16)
Physalis “Aunt Molly” (14)
Potato onion (14) (True seed)
Purslane (16)
Quinoa “Stephe” (16)
Radish (leaf variety) (16) (Japanese seed)
Radish “Daikon Sasha” (15) (Russian)
Radish “Duro” (15) (Russian)
Radish “China Rose” (14)
Radish “French Breakfast” (14)
Radish “Minowase” (15)
Radish “Munchen Bier” (13)
Radish “Rat’s Tail” (15)
Radish “Rosa” (15)
Radish “Runder Schwarzer Winter” (16)
Radish “Scarlet Globe” (13)
Radish “Zlata” (14)
Shungiku (Chrysanthemum Greens) “Garland Round leaved” (13)
Shungiku (Chrysanthemum Greens) (15)
Sorrel (7 Russian varieties) (14)
Spring onion (15) (9 Japanese varieties)
Spring onion “Ramrod” (14)
Spring onion “White Lisbon” (14)
Swiss Chard “Joy Larkcom’s Midnight” (14)
Tomato ”Goldene Konigin” (16)
Tomato “Ilse’s Orange Latvian”(15)
Tomato “Moonglow”(15)
Tomato “Siberian” (15)
Turnip Greens “Rapa Senza Testa” (13)
Turnip Greens “Wild Broccoli Raab” (15)
Turnip tops (15)
Watercress (15)
Water spinach (15) (Ipomoea aquatica)

Seed sorting

PC086209

 

 

 

 

 

I’m working on this year’s seed trade list and seed to be offered to Norwegian Seed Savers through our yearbook that will be published in February. I normally throw out seed that is more than 3 years old with a few exceptions, the collection year is marked on the packets. My seed are sorted into different categories and stored in my cold cellar in recycled milk carton boxes and similar for ease of finding:

My seed categories are:

  1. Seed for Norwegian Seed Savers (arranged alphabetically according to botanical name)
  2. Traditional vegetable seed – different boxes for Brassica, Root crops, Beans and peas and other veggies (includes e.g., chicories, annual onions, chili, quinoa, squash, tomato etc.) (arranged according to common names)
  3. Potatoes (seed potatoes stored in my cold cellar in recycled egg cartons)
  4. Seed of miscellaneous annual edibles
  5. Seed of perennials for trading (own saved seed, seed from trades that I had too much of), arranged alphabetically according to the botanical name
  6. Seed for stratifying (to be sown as soon as possible)
  7. Bulbils / topset onions for seed savers and trading kept individually in sour cream / yoghurt pots
  8. Diverse tubers (individually in sour cream / yoghurt pots)
  9. Seed / bulbils for sprouting indoors during the winter (for food)

Cleaning quinoa seed

I’ve found the easiest way to clean quinoa and seed of other Chenopods is using water…the seed sinks and the chaff floats…after separating, the seed is dried…

P1700058
Quinoa seed froths up because of the saponins in the seed…
P1700060
Cleaned seed


 

P1700063
I used the same method with Chenopodium album / Fat hen / meldestokk seed (on the left)…the seed doesn’t froth much, so not such high content of saponins..

 

The Edible Japanese Bluebell!

When I visited Japan in early spring 2016, I noticed a violet/purple flower growing as an ornamental in some gardens and also escaped as a weed.

I finally realized that it was a plant I had grown for a couple of years (2011-2012) as an unusual annual vegetable, Orychophragmus violaceus, known as ‘Chinese Violet Cress’ or ‘February Orchid’, sourced from Horizon Herbs in the US. Despite one of its common names, it’s not an orchid but is related to cress, belonging to the cabbage family Brassicaceae.

It hadn’t grown particularly well in my garden, but it did manage to flower and I used them in various salads during those two years, adding a different colour to the mix and it continued flowering right to the first frosts in November! It was also badly attacked by the usual pests of Brassicas, but it bounced back with masses of shoots from the roots in the autumn when the pest pressure was released. It doesn’t like temperatures below -5C and therefore didn’t have much chance of overwintering here in Malvik (it is biannual in the Far East).

Orychophragmus violaceus has a wild distribution in China and Korea and was introduced to Japan a long time ago both as an ornamental and also as a potential oil seed crop (you can google pictures of it growing alongside rape oil plants). In the wild it has a wide range of habitats from woodlands,  gardens, roadsides and open fields. In Japan it has widely naturalized in many habitats thanks to its adaptability and it is now found throughout the islands, encouraged by gardeners who love the early spring flowers. In some parts it carpets woodlands in the early spring and it has been described as the Bluebell of Japan! However it is also a weed in gardens (and as such one of the world’s most beautiful weeds!). In Japan it is known as hanadaikon (“flower-daikon”), which name is also used for Hesperis matrionalis (dame’s violet), ooaraseitoumurasaki-hana-na (“purple-flower-rape”), shikinsou (“purple-gold-plant”). Shokatsusai /  zhu ge cai  is its Chinese name.

It has also been used as a forage species in China:
“Its shoots are rich in protein, iron, calcium and vitamins A and C. Hence it is a valuable forage. Its shoot yield is high, about 36,400 kg/ha, when cultivated in Chengdu. This plant species is adaptable to grassland, barren hills, roadsides, gardens, etc. Its protein content is higher than most other forage plants.”

Orychophragmus violaceus is mentioned as an edible wild plant alongside Udo (Aralia cordata) in Joy Larkcom’s Oriental Vegetables!

Packing and sorting seed

A few pictures of seed I cleaned and packed for trading, offering to Norwegian Seed Savers and using in the kitchen today!

131116: Added a few more that I was sorting today!

151116:…and a few more today

161216:…and a few more today