Seeds from the Czech Republic

A couple of weeks ago I did a seed-swap with Dominika, a blogging friend in the Czech Republic. We agreed to send each other 10 randomly-chosen packets of seeds. Whilst I chose a mix of flowers and vegetables for Dominika, she knows from my blog that I specialise in edible plants, so she chose all vegetable seeds for me.

They are all varieties that I have not encountered before (which was the whole point of the exchange of course), with one exception - I think the tomato is one which I know as "Stupice", which I have grown in the past, a long time ago. The climbing beans ("Fazol pnouci" - see, I'm getting the hang of the Czech language!) "Konstantin" look particularly interesting. I'll definitely give them a go next year. It's too late to sow most of these seeds this year, but I think the Lettuces will have enough time to mature.

These two look to me like variations on the theme of Red and Green Salad Bowl. Google tells me that "Salat listovy k cesani" means "Leaf lettuce to harvesting"!! My interpretation of this is "Cut-and-come-again lettuce". Last weekend I sowed a seed-tray with some of both varieties, so we'll see how they get on.

The Lettuces that Dominka sent me previously ("Devin" and Cervanek") were very good and did well in my garden, so I hope these ones will do just as well.

As an aside, let me say that this seed-exchange thing is a great way to broaden your horizons and persuade you to grow something different! You do need to be a bit careful though, if sending seeds internationally, because customs regulations vary a lot and can be quite stringent. For instance, you are not allowed to send Tomato seeds to the Czech Republic, nor indeed those of Sunflowers, Lucerne, Beans or Potatoes. Everything else is OK as long as it is in small quantities and in unopened commercial packets. Here in the UK you probably need to check the details yourself before going to the Post Office, because in my experience Post Office workers are often not familiar with the regulations!