What is everyone growing this year?

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What is everyone growing this year?
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Shan

Joined: 13 Jan 2009
Posts: 9075
Location: South Wales

Posted: Wed Jan 08, 14 10:25 am Post subject: What is everyone growing this year?

I am going to grow:

Burgess Buttercup - the nicest Squash I have ever eaten and a good reliable cropper. Also keeps very well.

Rolet Gem - good cropper and good taste. Easy to cook as you spike it and cook it in the oven whole. Split open and then scoop out the seeds.

Galeuse d'Eyesines Squash - This is worth growing purely because of the warty appearance. Good thing it is also delicious. It is however not very prolific.

Mantovano fennel - good flavour and doesn't bolt easily.

Special Swiss Sweetcorn - good sweet flavour and before growing this, I had almost given up on sweetcorn.

Lipstick sweet pepper
Kaibi round sweet pepper
Amy sweet pepper

White beetroot
Yellow Beetroot

Galina Cherry tomato: good cropper. Sweet & tart. Very decorative as it is yellow.

Tomato Sun Belle - nice and sweet. Also good cropper. I like to eat this one slightly green. Very fleshy.

Tigerella - I forgot to add this but Tigerella reminded me with his post. They are a truly delicious tomato. I would have to say better than Shirley.

Courgette Atena - excellent cropper and not watery.

Cucumber Marketmore - good cropper. Nice cucumber flavour and I managed to grow it outdoors.

Leek Tornado - grows very easily. Nice strong leek flavour. Very hardy.

Tomato Eva Purple Ball - as good a cropper as Shirley but I think it has a nicer flavour.

Bloody Butcher tomato - nice size and good sweet flavour. Excellent to roast off and turn into a concentrated tomato sauce.

Aubergine F1 Farmers Long - good cropper. Not bitter at all. Grew it outside.

Aubergine Snowy - same description as above.

Pak Choi - great cropper.

Rainbow Chard - I love chard even though many hate it.

Broadbeans - whatever I find at the local garden center.

Curky Kale - this time I am going to make certain none of those pesky caterpillars get at it. I have bought my mesh and I am making up a new moth and butterfly proof enclosure! Same applies to sprouting brocolli, red cabbage and one last bash at cauliflower.

I am going to grow some chillis this year but have not decided which ones.

Lettuce - Australian yellow leaf, mint lettuce and some rocket.

I'm sure there is more but I can't think of it....

Ooooh spring onions.

Last edited by Shan on Thu Jan 09, 14 6:48 pm; edited 1 time in total

joanne

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 7100
Location: Morecambe, Lancashire

Posted: Wed Jan 08, 14 10:27 am Post subject:
Good topic, you've set me off thinking now where do you get most of your seeds from? because some of those look really interesting

Green Rosie

Joined: 13 May 2007
Posts: 10498
Location: Calvados, France

Posted: Wed Jan 08, 14 10:37 am Post subject:
Sorting seeds is something I plan to do this week.

Somewhere-by-the-river

Joined: 16 Sep 2013
Posts: 56
Location: West Wales

Posted: Wed Jan 08, 14 11:02 am Post subject:

Ooh, I love the planning time of year as the growing season can never come soon enough for me! Not least as with moving last year I couldn't do anything - I miss my home grown.

Interesting list, not least as we too are in South Wales and new to the area. Do you have a polytunnel?

I'd like to try Florence fennel again this year, but hopefully with more success than last time... Last time they were doing well, then OH decided he'd actually do some weeding................... Up till that point I'd been looking forward to harvesting it...

Shan

Joined: 13 Jan 2009
Posts: 9075
Location: South Wales

Posted: Wed Jan 08, 14 11:03 am Post subject:
Real Seeds is my go to and then what I can't get from there, I buy from Nicky's Nursery. Occasionally I will buy some stuff from Mole Seeds and then whatever I forget to buy I get from the local terribly overpriced garden center out of sheer desperation.

Shan

Joined: 13 Jan 2009
Posts: 9075
Location: South Wales

Posted: Wed Jan 08, 14 11:05 am Post subject:

Somewhere-by-the-river wrote:

We have a greenhouse. It gets used for the tomatoes and the peppers. I tend to propogate everything on the windowsills in the kitchen then when seedlings are strong enough, I move them to the greenhouse and re-pot. Once the last frosts have passed, I plant out.

PS The aubergines are kept in pots and get moved out the greenhouse after the last frost.

Shan

Joined: 13 Jan 2009
Posts: 9075
Location: South Wales

Posted: Wed Jan 08, 14 11:07 am Post subject:
I also meant to say - growing in South Wales is challenging but the stuff on the list is the stuff that has been tired and tested over the last few years to grow reliably.

Sam White

Joined: 30 Aug 2013
Posts: 17
Location: On a hillside near Caerphilly.

Posted: Wed Jan 08, 14 11:47 am Post subject:

Shan wrote:

Real Seeds is my go to...

RS is my go-to as well. All the seeds I buy this year for myself will be from them although my parents' seeds are likely to come from a variety of places. I'll be trying the exploding cucumber this year just for the hell of it

Shan wrote:

I also meant to say - growing in South Wales is challenging but the stuff on the list is the stuff that has been tired and tested over the last few years to grow reliably.

What altitude are you at Shan? We've only had a couple of years worth of experimenting at our place so it's always good to get some local insight!

Shan

Joined: 13 Jan 2009
Posts: 9075
Location: South Wales

Posted: Wed Jan 08, 14 11:58 am Post subject:
I'm not sure - I think my car can tell me... provided I can work out how to do it. We are about 5 miles from Raglan if that helps.

Shan

Joined: 13 Jan 2009
Posts: 9075
Location: South Wales

Posted: Wed Jan 08, 14 11:59 am Post subject:
PS With the Achocha seeds - make sure you grow them outside. I grew them in the greenhouse one year and it took over the entire greenhouse. At one stage I thought it was going to become like something out of The Little Shop of Horrors and eat me.

otatop

Joined: 01 Jun 2005
Posts: 1425
Location: North London

Posted: Wed Jan 08, 14 12:36 pm Post subject:

Shan wrote:

PS With the Achocha seeds - make sure you grow them outside. I grew them in the greenhouse one year and it took over the entire greenhouse. At one stage I thought it was going to become like something out of The Little Shop of Horrors and eat me.

I grew them (outside) the year before last and had a similar experience. I picked them daily but I just couldn't keep up.
I'm getting some espaliered fruit trees. 2 x greengage and 2 x Blenheim orange pippins. I'm so excited!

NorthernMonkeyGirl

Joined: 10 Apr 2011
Posts: 4586
Location: Peeping over your shoulder

Posted: Wed Jan 08, 14 1:31 pm Post subject:
2014 is the year of the Skirret, I've been swapping seeds all over the place Also oca and yacon, some Tagetes minuta to test bindweed repelling allegations, walking onions, some kind of squash or courgette between the fruit bushes, Hablitzia tamnoides, and a blue poppy. For starters.

Sam White

Joined: 30 Aug 2013
Posts: 17
Location: On a hillside near Caerphilly.

Posted: Wed Jan 08, 14 9:04 pm Post subject:
Aye, I've seen an Achocha polytunnel takeover first hand so outdoors it most certainly is.

tigerella

Joined: 30 Jul 2012
Posts: 102
Location: Bridgend, Wales

Posted: Wed Jan 08, 14 10:45 pm Post subject:

What's achocha? I've clearly missed something, but having read the thread twice, I am missing it still. I'm in South Wales too, but an unsuccessful veg gardener, overall. Do ok with fruit and tomatoes - I will be growing tigerella, gardener's delight, sanmarzano and Sungella. I planted two maiden whip plums and two maiden whip apples a few weeks ago, long time before I get any fruit, but one day ....

Lloyd

Joined: 24 Jan 2005
Posts: 2699

Posted: Wed Jan 08, 14 10:48 pm Post subject:
Older Nasal and ear hair My belly. All joking aside, for the first time in years I have no plans now due to other priorities driving all normal activities from my mind.

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