Hi everyone! Another queory ;D Was wondering what the best vegetables you can grow are. I would be intersted what varieties of what are the best to grow. Once I ahve a response I can see where more than one person has said the same thing and then I know what ones i should be growing! I don't have a lotti ebut am goring a lot more vegetables this year. Thanks for the help! Dan :-)
i do like the climbing bean called Blue Lake, easy to grow and lovely beans.
Thanks, post like this will be great!!!!
Thanks..........................Thanks................................Thanks....................
Potato - Pink fir Apple
Garlic - Solent White
Onion - Red Baron
mmmm mmmmm!
Thanks Steve, im hoping that if this thread gets to a good size then I will ask Dan to keep it as a sticky thread. Dan :-)
Courgettes Dan. They are so versatile and come in different shapes and colours. Sliced lengthways, dipped in olive oil and put on the barbecue........mmmmmmmmmm
;D ;D ;D
Oh it has to be cucurbits... all shapes and sizes, soft in summer, keep all winter, and include cucumber and melon. This year I'm growing:
Courgette Rugosa Friulana
Pumpkin Dill’s Atlantic Giant (couldn't resist the pumpkin competition ;))
Squash Berrettina Piacentina
Squash Black Futsu
Squash Blue Hubbard
Squash Buttercup
Squash Butternut Rugosa
Squash Crown Prince
Squash Honey Boat Delicata
Squash Marina di Chioggia
Squash Musquee de Provence
Squash Potimarron
Squash Sibley or Pike’s Peak
Squash Sweet Dumpling (acorn type)
Squash Thelma Sanders Sweet Potato (pale acorn squash type)
Squash Triamble
Squash Turk’s Turban
Courgette (Zucchini)
Courgette de Nice a Fruit Rond
Courgette Striato di Napoli
Courgette Tondo di Piacenza
Cucumber Marketmore
Melon, Ananas
Melon, Banana
Melon, Ogen
;D ;D ;D
Everything I have space or the time for.
I would recommed Brilliant Brussels Sprouts as they really were brilliant! Incredibly productive, firm and I have been picking since the start of December and cleared the last just yesterday from about....12 or so plants!
Dan the best veggies are the ones YOU WANT TO EAT ;D
give us a list of your favourites and we can then make some suggestions!! ;)
Second thoughts - the best value for money or time? No names - that would take up too much valuable space. That's what catalogues are for?
Like leeks, potatoes, sprouting, carrots, onions, garlic, cut & come again salads, asparagus, tomatoes , cucumbers................
Complete waste of time I'm afraid, anything that grows well for me might well be awful for you, all depends on soil chemistry, weather conditions, growing method etc. etc. etc.Blah blah blah
Too many variables
Exactly Merry Tiller. There are so many variations in soil condition and weather conditions etc that you really can't extrapolate from one person's experience to another's. It even varies in the same place from year to year.
Marmande tomatoes, ooohhhh got my tastebuds going..!!!!!lol.
My favourite vegetable of all time has to be Cherokee Trail of Tears climbing bean. It grows in almost any setting as strongly as a weed, throws out a huge harvest and sets seed easily for next year. As for other "best grows", you can't go wrong choosing the popular favourites - there's got to be a good reason why so many gardeners go for them!
A couple more thoughts, Dan:
1. Because more folk buy a Ford than any other car, that doesn’t mean that the Ford is the ‘best’. It could be something to do with cost, availability, advertising - &, as said, local conditions & skill.
2. It would be a dull palate that wanted only the ‘best’. What we DO need, thinking especially of Tomatoes, is choice & contrast between colour, shape, size, period, growth style, texture & flavour. To name a few. Each has its use. Not to experiment is unthinkable â€" we have never grown the same combination in 40+ years. In taking a cross-section of views, you are really repeating the work done by the seed suppliers.
3. Most people growing their own for the first time will be utterly thrilled by the result â€" the ‘best’!
4. Again as said above, know what you like, where you want it, what for, read & experiment? For instance, Marmande is usually recommended for outdoors only.
Firstly I don't think the question Dan has asked is a waste of time ...I think a majority of us are spread fairly widly across UK.So the soil conditions locations would vary as do the methods we use ...
If as he said he saw a variety being grown sucessfully crop up a few times(excuse the pun) he would then assume it would grow for him where he is located..
I am sure that any of us that have been at this a while could write our seed order out without a catalogue . These will be variaties that we know will grow reliably well for us most years .
But then we try new stuff out most years as well..
Commercial growers tend to grow what grows best re yield ,looks, uniformity
But as gardeners we like to experiment to see if this tastes better than that will this outcrop that etc. but taste as good.
Here is a few we grow reliably most years .
COBRA..Climbing bean
PINK FIR APPLE..Potatoe
SNOWBALL..cauliflower
SPRING HERO ..spring cabbage..
ALICANTE...Tomatoes
SWEDE......Marion maybe Marianne
Plus many more ...Cheers Jim
Cheers ..Jim
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so...to summarise....always experiment and always grow'basics'
-onions and taters and tomatoes french climbing beans-then you will never be hungry-well....rarely anyway!
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Thanks for the response- most of the response. I can't say I thought this thread was a waste of time, of course I should grow what I want but I like experimenting. Yes there are different types of soil but I meant in general. I won't bother asking Dan to make this a sticky thread now, Perhaps its not necessary! Never Mind. Cheers anyway! ;D
I sincerely hope that you didn't take my bit as a slap in the face, Dan - it was, in your words, a generalisation - as opposed to particularising?
No Tim, It wasn't slap in the face! I wasn't trying to cause offence to anyone either! Cheers, dan :-)
Dan 2,
Whatever you do, plant for flavour not yield!
Bill Sowerbutts taught me that, bless his heart, and I still adhere to it.
A shame that some of the veg. strains that he recommended have gone by the board now.
And flavour is one of the things that he's asking a rec for. (Thanks, Dan).
But I can't go further - EVERYTHING (with a dozen exceptions in 40 years) that you grow tastes wonderful - but never rely upon it being the same next year! Or even, thinking of toms, this year, with a different watering regime. Like the Cherries - for instance - which like water witheld at ripening. So none of our ideas are truly valid.
We all ask questions , but who ever does a control experiment? Like spraying seed pots with seaweed? We just don't have the time or space or energy. We leave it to the suppliers?
thats the best reply-that everything you grow yourself tastes so much better than shop bought ;D
and no question should be considered a waste of time-if ya dont know ya dont know!
and the best way to learn anything is to ask ask ask!!!!!!!!
have a great growing season whatever you decide to grow dan!
I think this was quite interesting. It is good to hear what veggies other people grow, what varieties and how they did. It just gives you some ideas on what you could try. This year I am trying EJ's recommendation of "Brilliant" brussel sprouts. Mine might not do so well because of different factors but it is good to experiment. The little darlings are doing very nicely in their seed tray as I type. :) busy_lizzie
One of the greatest thrills I had was sitting down to sunday dinner with visiting members of the family and knowing, with the exception of the meat, I had grown everthing on the table that was being eaten. Listening to their comments on how wonderful the veg was and we really must have a fantastic grocer. :) :)
That's GOOD!!
No one has mentioned that the only seeds you can buy have to be on a certified list. As this costs 'loadsamoney' the only seeds on the list are for commercial growing, so therefore there is much reduced choice and the ones that are there are designed to harvest simultaneously.
Try www.realseeds.co.uk and join their club (included in the price of the seeds.)
Cheers
Cliff
in my opinion the best things to grow are the things you like that really taste better fresh, for me these are
sweetcorn
salads
new potatoes (i like ratte best)
tomatoes
leeks
peas
also for simplicity, sense of achievement and satisfaction
beetroot
turnips
courgettes
runner beans
and also the best vegetable ever to grow is purple sprouting brocolli, because its the best vegetable!
Jo
- except for White Sprouting!!
Real Seeds - et al - yes.
Thanks for the posts everyone! I'll put all the vegetables into categories and then do a post! Any ideas will still be greatfully received! Thanks, Dan :-)