12 Nov - Seed List for 2014

As the dark evenings of Autumn descend it’s time to think about ordering seeds. In the past I've had a tendency to buy everything cheaply from Wilkinson and, through a process of elimination, trying other varieties if one didn't produce as well as expected. An example of this was my first Brussels Sprout seed, Evesham Special, which were a waste of time as they all ‘blew’ making them useless. The following year I grew an F1 variety which produced tight, compact sprouts. I've always used F1 Brussels Sprout varieties since. (F1's are a cross between two different varieties that give more uniform and reliable offspring but as they are hybrids they tend to cost a bit more and any collected seed never comes 'true').

Trying to remember what was successful and what wasn't can be a bit difficult as old seed packets get lost, seedlings get eaten by pests, replacements are swapped or bought – sometimes it’s hard to keep track! This is why I've resorted to this blog as a way to record this information.

Given the amount of hard work involved in growing good crops it began to dawn on me that I should be doing a bit more seed research. There are a plethora of varieties for each vegetable type grown. So, which are the best? Which will give me a good crop? Are there early or late varieties that could give me a chance of growing two crops in a season in my limited space? Are some better suited to storage than others? Are there varieties more susceptible to pests than others?

The place to go for some of these answers is the Royal Horticultural Society's (RHS) website where trials of both flowers and vegetables are conducted every year. These trials provide a basis for the RHS Award of Garden Merit (AGM) and it can be searched here: http://apps.rhs.org.uk/planttrials/ This is an excellent place to do a bit of research before seed shopping. As a result of reading some of the trials and taking into account of what I already have in stock, this is my seed list for 2014:

Greenhouse Plants

Tomato - Gardner's Delight (cherry type) & Alicante

Bell Pepper - California Wonder

Cucumber - Marketmore (in cold-frame. Burpless Tasty Green are also great)
Cucamelon - (seen in Sutton's Seeds & DT Brown's 2014 catalogue)

Allotment

Broad Bean - The Sutton (dwarf variety, produces well, no staking required)

Radish - Icicle Long White (French Breakfast also perform well)

Lettuce - Lollo Rossa, Iceburg, Webbs Wonderful (I also like Tom Thumb & Little Gem)

Sweet Corn - Swift F1

Winter Squash - Sweet Dumpling

Butternut Squash - Hunter F1

Pumpkin - Jack O' Lantern (saved seed)

Courgette - Black Beauty (cheap and prolific)

Runner Bean - Scarlet Emperor

French Bean - Blue Lake (will try Cobra when these have been used)

Leek - Musselburgh

Garlic - generic unnamed (I wanted Solent White but none around at time of buying)

Onion Sets - Sturon (or Turbo if I can't get Sturon)

Spring Onion - White Lisbon

Parsnip - Hollow Crown or Gladiator F1

Beetroot - Detroit II or Bolthardy

Carrot - Sweet Candle F1, (if you have bad soil try golf-ball round Parmax)

Turnip - Snowball (cheap and always does well)

Kohl Rabi - Korfu F1 (unusual veg but great raw in summer salads)

Swede - Wilhelmsburger

Cabbage Summer - Primo II (always does well for me)

Cabbage Red - Ruby Ball (slugs not keen - a good pickling/salad variety)

Cabbage Winter - Ormskirk Savoy (tough and stands well in bad weather)

Brussels Sprout - Trafalgar F1

Potato Early - undecided but possibly Arran Pilot, Pentland Javelin, Rocket or Maris Bard

Potato Main - undecided but possibly Maris Piper, Desiree (might splash out on Sarpo Mira)

I've found a good seed seller on eBay that stocked virtually all my requirements and were cheaper than local stores even for F1 varieties so I put in a bulk order and had free postage. The only seeds I haven't acquired yet are the spuds, onion sets and cucamelon. The spuds will probably come from Wilko which have limited varieties for early and main crop but are relatively cheap - these should be available for chitting in mid-January though I am considering trying the blight resistant Sarpo Mira for main crop. I'll see what they offer when the time comes. Likewise, the onion sets I buy from Wilko, they are fine but limited to Turbo, Stuttgarter, Sturon and some shallots like Golden Gourmet, again I'll see what they have in stock in the new year. The cucamelons, my 'something new' for 2014, will have to come via the internet or a garden centre with good seed choice. (Cucamelons are pictured below).