Tomato seed saving.

Harvested my first Beijing Yellow tomato today,the taste is nothing spectactular but I am saving the seeds.I also harvested some Slovenian Black tomatoes that have a much nicer taste and likewise am saving seeds from them.
It's a production line at the moment.
Harbinger,Reisentraube and Slovenian Black have been fermented,cleaned and are now drying.
Latah and Early Tanana have been dried and bagged up for the Grapevine seed circle.15 packets of each will hopefully be enough.

Seed saving Tomato seeds

A simple guide to saving your own tomato seeds.

Here is Early Tanana,Koralik,Latah and Monkey's Ass in their containers at various stages.

Stage 1 remove seeds from the tomato,I tend to use a penknife.I put them into containers,add water,give them a stir,cover them and leave for 3 days.I label the pots.I stir this smelly mixture on a daily basis.Then I pour off the water and rinse several times in a sieve.I then pour the seeds onto a plate and cover them with kitchen tissue.I then put them somewhere safe and forget about them for a week or two.

After a week the seeds should be dry so I use a pair of tweezers to separate them and place them on a plate.

Then they get bagged up and labelled.I then put them away until required

Saturday at the allotment.

I spent a nice saturday morning watering and weeding

My first White lady runner beans,Charlotte potatoes and a couple of Flyaway carrots.I also dug up a couple of Early Nantes from a failed sowing earlier in the year.

 I weeded my Gem Squash area and have a tiny Gem squash,just hoping for some nice weather to encourage them.

 I weeded my Brassica cage which contains Falstaff brussel sprouts,Primo cabbage,Green and Purple kohlrabi.I also weeded the Helenor swedes and Snowball turnips nearby.It's amazing how quickly the weeds grow.

The tomatoes are still hanging on,leaves are being regularly stripped and there are a number of Shirley,Harbinger,Losetto and Maskotka green tomatoes.
The afternoon was spent in the garden emptying one section of my compost system and filling/mixing another section.I will use it to fill up flower troughs and plant some lettuce in them.
I have started saving Latah and Early Tanana tomato seeds for my Seed Circles and have a batch of the former drying off in the Utility room

This week at the allotment

A decent week's weather.Much weeding has been done.

White Lady runner beans,ready to be harvested in a day or two.

 The Headstart sweetcorn is fattening up.

 I gave my neighbour some of my Hungarian Zucchini and they have had a decent sized one,mine are still a way off having been planted later.Here is my first Black Beauty courgette about 4 inches long,hopefully the first of many.

Today's harvest of Pentland Javelin,still more to come.I also harvested my first Primo cabbage and some Charlotte potatoes.
In the garden I have potted up some Koralik,Sungold,Dwarf Mr Snow and Tasmanian Chocolate into large buckets.
I have managed to eat some Early Tanana which were a bit on the bland side and Latah which after a bit of sunshine had a decent taste.I also have had a few Piccolino cucumbers from the Conservatory.

Weekly Update

The last of my tulips,a rather nice variety called Pacific Pearl,this week I have been deadheading my Daffodils and as the council have resumed green waste collection I can do lots of weeding and pruning.

I have started Paton's Twins Giant Pumpkin,Blue Solaise Leek,Purple Sprouting Broccoli,Primo Compact Cabbage,Romanesco Cauliflower,Koralik tomatoes and some French Winner Marigolds.
I have potted on Principe Borghese,Shirley F1,Anaheim Chilli and Black Velvet Nasturtiums.
I have also repotted my Rogue seed Beefsteak and Early Tanana into larger pots in readiness for going outside.
Down the allotment in between showers I have finally planted a batch of Babbington Leeks which I received in a seed swap.
I have got fed up of the lack of space in the conservatory so I have reorganised the blowaway and put in a couple of Reisentraube,Latah,Slovenian Black and Early Tanana tomatoes together with the obligatory tray of Marigolds.