04 Jan - New Year Seed List

Happy New Year and let's hope that this season is a fruitful one. January, while bleak on the plot, is a month which promises things to come; catalogues arrive from horticultural suppliers and the shops begin to fill up with bulbs, tubers and colourful packets of seeds.

Thoughts obviously turn to planning the season ahead. Having enlarged my plot, I'll have the opportunity to grow a bit more for the first time this year. I did manage to use one new bed last summer but only briefly and most of it was used for 'left over' plants. 

So, how to use the extra space? Well, I won't have to try and get two crops in like I did last year. Saying that, it worked well, especially taking up the early spuds in June and replacing them with Winter squash. I'm going to put an entire bed to main crop potatoes and another bed split between early spuds and second earlies and I'll take them as needed rather than having to dig them up in one go. I've never grown second earlies before but it now makes sense with the extra space to try and get a continuation of potatoes.

I'll also be growing some extra French beans and sweet corn, extra roots like carrots and parsnips (now I know how to grow them), some Kale and cauliflower both for the first time and some main crop peas. I'll also have space to devote an entire bed to Winter squash which will be a mixture of the new (to me) Turks Turban, butternut, a few hybrids from saved seed to see what I get and, a pumpkin for Halloween. (Below - the unusual Turks Turban Winter squash).

So, here's the list which is practical based on seed in store and new seed I have purchased for the coming season (those marked with an asterisk are yet to be purchased).

Onion
Leek - Musselburgh
Garlic - Germidor *
Onion Sets - Sturon *
Spring Onion - White Lisbon

Brassica
Kohl Rabi - White Vienna

Swede - Wilhelmsburger
Cabbage Summer - Primo II
Cabbage Winter - Ormskirk Savoy
Brussels Sprout - Trafalgar F1
Kale - Nero Di Toscona

Cauliflower - Autumn Giant

Legumes
Broad Bean - Bunyard's Exhibition
Runner Bean - Prizewinner
French Bean - Cobra

Pea - Hurst Green Shaft

Root
Parsnip - Gladiator F1
Beetroot - Detroit II
Carrot - Sweet Candle F1
Turnip - Snowball
Potato Early - Rocket *

Potato Second Early - Maris Peer *
Potato Main Crop - Sarpo Mira *

Salad
Radish - French Breakfast
Lettuce - Lollo Rossa & Iceberg
Sweet Corn - Swift F1

Squash
Winter Squash - Turks Turban

Winter Squash - Sweet 'Pumpling' Hybrid (from saved seed)
Butternut Squash - Hunter F1
Pumpkin - Big Max
Courgette - Atena F1

Greenhouse Plants
Tomato - Shirley F1
Bell Pepper - California Wonder
Cucumber - Marketmore

Maybe one or two things will change if I can't get the odd thing I want but this is basically what I'll be trying in 2015. That's it for my first post of 2015, I'll add my plans for the allotment next time.