Allotments 4 All
Produce => Edible Plants => Topic started by: Jayb on October 12, 2013, 11:10:49
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I guess it’s that time of year and my thoughts are starting to wander to next year, I’m pretty sure these will all be on my grow list; Sungold, Suncherry Premium, Dancing with Smurfs, Black Opal tomatoes. Red Swan dwarf bean, Monstrance Bean climbing bean, Trofeo dwarf bean, Australian Blue squash (not fully decided until I taste some more), Crown Peas, Oskar peas, Ruby Queen Sweet Corn, Rainbow carrots, Tweed, Crimson flowered broad beans, Red Florence onion and Aquiles calabrese. Probably others too just these are the first ones to spring to mind. They have all grown really well here and taste has been great. Well maybe not all of the Crown peas, but they look so gorgeous they are a must grow for me :toothy10:
Anyone decided on your grow again varieties for next year?
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WELL...I've got my favourite 'Skansk' peas now that I've got more Latvian peas..those I need to grow lots of more to have cooking session with them and another definite is 'mammoth melting' mangetout..or and the sugar lord snap pea.
As for toms..I particularly liked your blush toms and Galina's black icicles..hmm..and I've got 'my own' that I need to grow in greater numbers. Oh and Victorian dwarf was very good this year too.
Macedonian peppers have done 'tons' of fruit..as usual..and they are my firm 'must grow every year' list (some seeds will be in circle parcel this year).
Spotted cos lettuce..I didn't get to eat any as I grew them this year for seed (circle) but they did look very yummy so those will be definite 'again lot'.
Beans...ohh..how can I choose? Well..I do LOVE gigantes..so those, and the good, old reliable Cosse violet too.
Umm....err....that is that I can list for now..head is still foggy from last nights knitting session and I've not woken up properly..list will continue later... :drunken_smilie: :glasses9:
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Ring of Fire chillies and Purple Cape cauli, now I've located them in the Chase catalogue! :wave:
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Lady Di Runner Beans and Speedy Dwarf beans are a must for next year Yum! :happy7:
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Green grape tomatoes for me the very best flavour!!
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After my terrible year when I barely got into the garden I almost was going to chuck it in this next year and give up my lotties but I have had a lot of support from our exec and they are encouraging me to stay put. I have no idea how John will be but he has started at a day centre now and by the Spring he will be there more days which frees me a lot, however I am going for an easy to do year where I can and shall be selecting veggies which don't need me there so much.
1 potato stands out from last year. With all the neglect and almost no watering in blistering heat it produced beautifully, German Butter somethiing. I have the label and will go for those again. My Gigandes for sure, and the family bean that I grew from the remaining few seeds my son in laws father found..wow was I so excited as I had lost my strain some years ago. My own well established garlic that I call My Garlic and everyone else calls it Jeannine's Garlic. My beloved Mokum carrots, my Shasta cauli. My Rose de Roscoff onions. Champion of England peas.
After that I am selecting new varieties. squash for small bush size, apart from 1 variety which will be one of the Blues, last year without training the vines they were rampant and almost took over the neighbourhood.
At home now I have the new greenhouse I can grew any of the toms from the past and that will be smashing, it is a long time since I had a greenhouse in my garden, not since I left the UK actually so I will grew my fave Carmen Cukes and the Hoy tomatoes from 2012 after that I am not sure which I will pick apart from the new one from JayB.
My son in law is building me raised beds at home too so I will be able to grow the salad stuff that I would not do at the lottie this next year. so Black Seeded Simpson ,Little Gem and Tom Thumb will be in there.
It will be an odd year for me, the first one probably on my own (with a bit of paid help for digging) a bit eye watering thinking about it actually but moving along..the seed catalogues are coming and I am game for it...hankies gone now.
I will be doing a selection of all the broad beans I have, not planning on saving the seeds but a mix of the ones grown over the last few years, ditto to my runners beans, I will make a fence of a mix of flower colours from ones I have saved from previous years.
Good Luck to us all.
XX Jeannine
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So glad you are going to continue with your allotment Jeannine. If you are growing a mix of broadies why not save some seed from the best and start your own landrace? Same with the runners? I grew some mixed peas this year, they looked lovely when in flower as they were a lovely mix of colours, shame they don't flower for very long.
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Forgot to add, Blue Belle main crop potatoes and Pentland Javelin earlies :happy7:
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I guess I could, I have always isolated in the past, I wonder what they would do.
the broadies are Aquadulce Claudia,Red Bristows,Crimson Flowered,Bacardi, Grano Violetto, Purple Podded, an unknown that I bought in an East Indian shop which might not germinate and a couple of others coming in the post.
the runners are Moonlight, Painted Lady,Sunset,White Lady,Celebration,St George, Insuks Wang Cong,Black Coat,Golden Sunshine,Jevan,Sadies Horse,Old Black Joes,Ayocote Morado Purple a few of my Gigandes I guess, plus another couple coming. Bee Gees one I will grow at home where it will be completely isolated
I wonder what I would get.
XX Jeannine.
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Purple queen dwarf french beans gave me a bumper crop this year and taste absolutely gorgeous. A nailed on for next year. Black cherry toms were beautiful and a massive crop. Soleil yellow courgettes - great crop and great taste.
An unusual plant I will definitely grow next year was sai sai, japanese leaf radish. I grew this for the leaves, but it over wintered really well and in the summer it went to seed and produced a massive crop of succulent juicy rat's tails, which sounds disgusting but they are delicious green pods that taste peppery like raddish and are great in salads or stir fry. The flowers are delicious as well and taste like peppery cucumber.
(http://cestrian.files.wordpress.com/2013/07/p6300421.jpg)
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Thats an interesting one XX Jeannine
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I like the sound of Saisai radish leaf, a new one for me :happy7:
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Where did you get the purple podded broadies, Jeannine? There are verieties which express the purple gene in various places, but that's one I haven't come across. I'll be continuing to develop broad bean and runner bean mixes, and growing some of y standard reliable Frenchies - Trail of Tears, Kew Blue, Cosse Violette - as well as trying some new ones. Same with peas, a mix of varieties I've grown before and new ones. A lot depends on how much space I have, and how far I've got with the raised beds. I did my back in so badly last summer that I'm not at all sure when I'll be back in harness. Someone who teaches NVQ horticulture has promised to get his lads to dig my plot, but even filling raised beds is going to be hard, and if I can't do it then everything depends on the weather. If it's as wet as the summer beefore last it could be hopeless.
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Robert, I am sorry I wrote that incorrectly, what I have written on the bag is Purple Fava seeds which is what I called them as the variety was unknown, they came from Guatemala and where given to me a couple of years ago by someone from that area who called them" Fava beans the purple one" LOL. It was quite a big bag and I did plant a few but I did a mixed bed of broadies that year too but as I wasn't saving seeds year I didn't isolate plants or frankly even worry about which was which as we ate them all and of course we ate them fresh , there were a few different colour flowers in my mixed patch but I didn't know which was which so cannot give you anymore info about flower or pod colour.
I still have a bag of the original seeds. I have just compared them to Granno Violetta and the seeds are bigger and much much darker.
Maybe I should grow them in isolation this year and make a note of what they do.
What types do you have that are purple seeded.
XX Jeannine
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Cougette mikonos excelled itself again every fruit looks ready for a competition very shiny fruits and I am happy now I have sourced Clarita again.
Tromba d'albenga squash and mrs Lewis's purple podded beans continue as always. Moonlight and St George runners as well. And Broadbean Karmazyn ~ I just love those delicious little pink seeds.
Calabrese Sticcoli is becoming a favourite. Sweetcorn Earlybird.
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Crystal lemon cuke and the osso blue tomato that I received from Jayb. Plus a couple of russian ones plus the little redcurrant type that spread like the clappers, plus of course the polen tomatoes. Don't think I will have any room left in my small greenhouse for more varieties. Must remember NEVER to grow white tomatoes anywhere near the yellow tomatoes.
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What types do you have that are purple seeded.
XX Jeannine
Red Epicure is in my mix, but I gave away the last of my original seeds so I don't have the actual variety now, just similar descendants which I've been selecting for the red seeds. Then there's a Russian one, Karmazyn, from eBay. Those two are both longpods. Then I have a few seeds each of a couple of Spanish varieties, Granio Violeta and Haba Negra; the latter is darker and I'm not sure what color the fresh seeds would be. Some old beans are described as 'black', but I imagine it's the dried seeds which are referred to. There's an Alan Kapuler mix, Lanto's Return, with some purple seeds, and two 'favaroles', with pea-sized seeds. Baba Beltza, from Spain, is 'black' - really a sort of dark brown - and Cote D'Or, from the US, has some 'black seeds. The latter varieties are all going to be grown out and probably shared round, but I'm anticipating that it's going to take several years.
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I will be growing NE plus ultra peas and Lincoln peas also a first early pea but yet to decide I will also have another go at couve tronchuda as this years bolted Lurec wight hardneck garlic Bedfordshire champion onions from seed.Cardoon and a few hairloom varieties yet to decide and I am also not too sure what spuds yet.Also Kentucky wonder wax beans tried them 2 years ago and got massive crop so will try next year
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Robert O am scouring the net and the SSE members book for new to me broad bean seeds too, those and runners have fascinated me for some time . I can probably give you a few of the pure ones if you like but it won't be many. I can also give you some of the Unknown from the East Indian store, they are very big beans, I could try a germination on them first.
XX Jeannine
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I'd be very grateful, Jeannine. I hadn't realised how interesting broadies could be until recently!
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I'm still quite new to all this, but my favourites are chenzo & lemon drop chillies, kent blue pea, purple kohlrabi, lebanese Otto courgette, thelma sanders and potimarron squash. Charlottes and Desiree are also becoming firm 'musts'.
Thanks to a seedaholic moment on the internet, some swaps with a friend and a seed-swap parcel on another forum, my seedbox overfloweth! Lots of new things for next year, including Big Gee's purple runners.
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Kent Blue is one of my favourites.
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Robert, I have the broadies dampened on tissue to check for germination, just the unknown one, boy these seeds are big, I don;t think I have ever had a bean this big before, they are a mid brown deed buy ale lightening now they are damp.
Oh and I need your address.
XX Jeannine
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Leek - Oarsman
Stems over a foot long and as thick as my wrist without any particular treatment.
A few of the other plot holders have commented on them!
Sown then pricked out into 3" pots and planted out without sinking / dibbing them in.
Only used a handful of FB&B per square yard at planting out time!
God only knows that had I still been an exhibitor and sleeved them, I might have got at least two foot of stem.
It's a cracker!
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Tee Gee, thank you I was just pondering about leeks, any advice about Brussells which I always have trouble with XX Jeannine
Tee Gee as an afterthought when do you harvest this one. Also I try to grow an early for baby leeks , them one for picking in the fall, then a real toughie that will take the heavy winter which usually takes me through to Easter, Blue Solaise is my usual late one ..do you have any better ideas for the threesome please.
XX Jeannine
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Brest f1 sprouts, best we have ever grown. Don't usually do f1 but have trouble with sprouts. Cantaloupe melons, they were amazing :sunny:
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Thank you I will look up Brest,,,XX Jeannine
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Maximus f1 sprouts are the ones I grow, I'm not a huge sprout lover but do like these. Brest F1 sound good too :happy7:
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May I ask why, my sprouts don't seem to come on right, they never seem to flourish and yet before I ever came to Canada I could grow great sprouts and again when I went back for 8 years I didn't have any trouble, both times the plants were in the ground, now I grow in raised beds??
XX Jeannine
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we grow in raised beds, too :happy7:
Maybe it's the ground preparation this year, large quantities of mushroom compost and a hand full of lime in the planting hole, fed at the outset with bfb and a bit of chicken pellets sprinkled around. maybe we fed them better this year, oh, and they are staked very well, too ?
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Forgot to add, Blue Belle main crop potatoes :happy7:
I'm with you there.
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Cavali courgettes. The seeds are expensive but the courgettes are in a class of their own.
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I had a type of dwarf bean called, I think Tendergreen, they were rather nice and grew quite high (so the voles don't nibble them!). I also had a climbing French called Blue Lake which was not as good as Cobra but still grew quite well;
I had good luck with Waltham butternuts this year....
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Alto Beetroot has become a must grow for me over the last year or two. Sarpo Mira were hugely prolific this year so they are on for 2014. As soon as I recall what sweetcorn I planted this year that will be on the list as well! Purple Kohl Rabi for me too were great so that's going on the list as are Fatalii Gourmet Aji Fantasy chilis..
Interested in Tee Gee's Oarsman leek as mine dont seem to do so well
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Tee Gee, thank you I was just pondering about leeks,
Like you I have been looking for a change to Musselburgh which I have grown every year since I started growing Leeks as the are just so reliable and can stand up to virtually anything the weather fires at them.
I planted out Electra, Musselburgh, Elefant and Oarsman, and as I mentioned previously, Oarsman has been brilliant but I don't know if it would stand the rigours of a hard winter, being a 'blanch' variety hence the reason I have been eating them for the past month.
Electra seems to be quite a big grower as well so I might use them next in case they too might not stand the winter.
Elefant is not living up to its name as it is about the same size as Musselburgh, so perhaps I may have found another good winter variety, only time will tell!
any advice about Brussells which I always have trouble with XX Jeannine
Maximus is my 'banker' but like with the Leeks I am giving another couple of varieties this year to see how they go on.
I planted Maximus, Doric and Darkmar this year, and picked my first Maximus yesterday,the other are still a long way behind so it suggests that they will see me into the new year.
I noticed this morning that Darkmar is quite tall and very leafy and Doric is about the same size as Maximus.
I don't particularly like the very tall varieties on my plot as it can get a bit 'blowy' on it meaning I have to stake my plants, as I did with a couple this morning.
Again only time will tell!
Regarding you problem with Sprouts I am not sure what it is, but reading between the lines I am wondering if it is the 'raised beds' and that your soil is a bit loose and the plants are suffering 'wind rock' something sprouts don't like I find.
Another thing I find with sprouts is the like to hog the sunlight.
I find that due to my rotation programme that the years my sprouts are situated in somewhat shadier beds than others, I do not get as good a harvest!
But equally I do not tread my plants in and some people do as I think this is too severe a treatment so I ensure that I dig & muck my 'Brassica' beds the previous autumn and I find this is all the compaction I need!
Strange how we all have our own ways of doing things isn't it?
Well I think thats I all I can offer on the subject, and hope that it gives you some fresh ideas for 2014
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The raised beds are filled with very light soil Tee Gee, we had to fill the beds and make up the mix, it was a mixture of peat, little sand, ,manure and compost,and very very little actual garden soil, lime is OK as we had it tested for that. Everything else seems to love it, but the sprouts blow, are small and generally useless so I suspect it is just too soft.
I will try again this next year as the soil has been evolving for three years now so may be better. There is club root on our gardens but not in my soil.
XX Jeannine
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I have always been rubbish at sprouts but someone advised me to grow Maxima this year, and we ate the first helping a couple of weeks ago. They seem to be developing at very different rates so I hope they will last for a bit.
I planted them into an area of firm meadowland whose grasses and weeds I had smothered under straw bales, cardboard and newspaper the year before last (trying to grow courgettes and winter squash etc in them, not hugely successful), then spread the disintegrating straw bales around plus some dalek compost, some lime and some gromore, and this seems to suit them as I have never ever eaten my own sprouts before, in spite of trying. I dug out planting holes, but did not do any other digging, just hoed and weeded.
Interesting that "they like to hog the sunlight", as my previous unsuccessful efforts were in a rather shady place, especially over the autumn/winter - this new wood is out in the open.
So I shall certainly try Maxima again next year.
(I am quite pleased with this bed, heavy weedy grassland two years ago, no digging, now a large productive area).
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Our soil is very challenging for sprouts far too gravelly and there have been a lot of blown ones. Suggest you need a good F1 variety. They are also very hungry plants. I would recommend Amoroso but they have disappeared here. Though they are available from Holland. One year they were the only ones on our site unblown.
I stake mine so not chance of them rocking about and loosening the roots, and I really jump on the soil before I plant them out.
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After some disasters with swedes I planted Brora this year and have been amazed, even after ravaging by Cabbage white catties they are putting on leaf again and look like they will over winter. I also tried leaf beet as well, Bright Lights variety, very tasty and colourful as well. :happy7:
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mmmm Oarsman leek for sure.
Kestrel spuds - never missed a year for the last 12 (although I have enjoyed Bluebell and one year I almost had to settle for Osprey)
Long Red Florence onions (have to grow these in special beds because whoite rot is endemic across the plot)
Black Cherry, Ferline and Sungold - (do these every year)....oh yeah, the potato leaved early, Matina (2012, these were the only tomatoes I had)
Scorpio broadies
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Message fro Robert Benchley..
Robert the unknown huge broadies from Guatemala that I put to germinate(10) have all germinated so I am confident now they are OK, did you want some of those with the other one I offered you.. XX Jeannine
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Tried Favourita cherry tomatoes this year and have never had so many per plant. Good size cherry tom, sweet flavour, stands well without splitting for ages, disease free, early to ripen & long harvest.
http://www.dtbrownseeds.co.uk/Tomato-Favorita-F1-AGM-Seeds.html#.Um74DV9FDIU
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Dwarf French Beans : Purple queen and Speedy
Squash Tromba D'albenga and rugosa courgette
Potato- purple majesty, harlequin and annabelle
Tomato- v confusing year but sophies choice, danko and black krim again planned
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Message fro Robert Benchley..
Robert the unknown huge broadies from Guatemala that I put to germinate(10) have all germinated so I am confident now they are OK, did you want some of those with the other one I offered you.. XX Jeannine
Definitely, thanks!
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........ any advice about Brussells which I always have trouble with XX Jeannine
I always grow Maximus F1 here in the northeast. They withstand all the weather throws at them & give 3ft tall plants with large sprouts from top to bottom. Earliest harvest has been 31 Aug and they stand through till Feb. Highly disease resistant.