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I have had good results with seed from Real Seeds and Tozers Seeds (commercial/large quantities only), and biodynamic growers Bingenheim Saatgut, whose seeds are now available through Tamar Organics. Check out Seaspring Seeds ' see French beans below and for superb chilli seeds, and also worth a try is eBay!
As I understand it, apart from Real Seeds, Tozers, Bingenheim, Franchi (Seeds of Italy), Sativa Rheingau in Switzerland, and Vital Seeds in Devon, most seed has similar origins in multinational seed houses. The seed may be older or younger, according to how much stock of old seed is carried by each operation. The information you see is 'packeted year ending'!
Of the main UK seed houses, my best results have come from Marshalls, mostly. Kings Seeds are sometimes good but with a few shockers such as the hopeless Seven Hills Brussels I grew in .
This ties in with how we need to save more seed, for our own security and success.
See my July video about seed saving and storage, and this Saving Seed video. See also my October blog for saving seed of runner beans and Borlotti. Mostly it is difficult and skilful work to save good seed. Time must be available at certain key moments. Real Seeds offer good advice on this.
For those on mainland Europe, I point you to Bingenheimer and Sativa as above.
Plus I have a suggestion from Daniela in France to mention Reinsaat (reinsaat.at), quite similar to Bingenheimer seeds ' they share some of the suppliers.
And the french Ferme de Sainte Marthe (fermedesaintemarthe.com), organic seed producers with a lovely choice of seeds.
Most of us suffer poor germination from one or more batches of seeds. Often we blame ourselves, unless we have a comparison with another sowing made at the same time and with different seeds. I often do the latter and am shocked at the variability of seed quality.
Comparing germination of the same vegetable, with seeds sourced from more than one supplier, reveals mainly the age of seeds. Old ones germinate slowly and erratically. Also they grow less strongly.
Do complain to the seed company if this happens to you! And save your own seed where possible because then you know it is fresh, as long as you harvest it correctly.
'Open-pollinated' means normal/natural breeding has produced that variety of vegetable, and you can save seeds from it. Breeders need to maintain these OP varieties by selection of harvests to grow seeds from.
Many OPs are well maintained. It's a reason why I appreciate companies like Bingenheimer, Sativa, Seed Co-op, Real Seeds, and Vital Seeds, who are conscientious in their seed production.
However, OP seed production apparently earns less money than breeding F1 hybrids. Probably because of that, the maintenance of OP varietal traits is being allowed to slip.
'Hybrids' prefixed 'F1', are from two inbred lines of breeding to achieve desired results, which are then cross-pollinated in isolation. They grow reliably, of a uniform size, can have excellent flavour such as Sungold tomato, and they mature uniformly ' this may or may not be what you wish for. It can be frustrating for broccoli in the summer!
Do not save seeds from hybrid vegetables, because they do not grow true and plants are nothing like the parent you saved seed from. I know this from saving seed then trying to grow Sungold F1 tomato. They were hopeless and horrible!
Choosing a decent variety/cultivar can make all the difference, and chicories for hearts of radicchio are a good example. I had this comment from Wim in the Netherlands, which echoes my experience. The variety I recommend is 506TT ' see below.
'In one of your videos you mention a variety of radicchio from Bingenheimer Saatgut. As we are very fond of Palla Rossa chicory I grow it ever since I had my allotment. But often the heads were diseased or even rotten before they were big enough. This year I ordered some Bingenheim seeds: what a difference! Very large healthy heads and not a brown leaf showing! Since I discovered your site and videos gardening is much easier and more fun! And, a bit reluctantly, your ideas are also spreading among my fellow gardeners.'
Learn more about seeds in my Propagation knowledge pack.
Updated December
An asterisk (*) indicates vegetables that grow in half a season (in southern Britain, zones 7-8 roughly), so they can be grown before or after other half-season vegetables. For example, carrots then Oriental leaves or endives, lettuce then beetroot or bulb fennel, autumn-sown beans then leeks or kale, second early potatoes then leeks or broccoli. Italics are for varieties I strongly recommend.
One planting can last for more than 20 years so choose carefully, and buy good quality crowns or seeds. I recommend all-male hybrid varieties, because the spears are fat and the ferns do not grow berries. The latter usually have viable seeds which can become quite a weed, because you end up with too many plants and thin spears.
Ariane F1 is good to buy as seed, sown asap early spring. Transplanting in early summer is an option. The first harvest will be perhaps one year later than if you buy and plant crowns. Having said that, in the growth of new seedlings by October was almost as strong as from crowns I had planted in April.
Needs warmth, and is best grown under cover. I struggle more often than succeed, because in SW England our summers are rarely hot enough. However, in the last eight summers I have enjoyed good harvests from Black Pearl F1, and even bigger ones from grafted plants of the same variety. However, these are now harder to find after Delfland Nurseries stopped doing retail sales of plants, because they just did not pay. On that note, it's not easy to buy good transplants, as I keep being told!
In open-pollinated varieties, I like Zora and de Barbentane. In the hot summer of , the growth of de Barbentane was quite remarkable.
In the cooler summer of , de Barbentane was average, as were sweet peppers.
Aubergine de Barbentane finally prolific after hot weather, 5.5 months since sowing in the polytunnel ' Sept First big harvest of Boltardy on 25th May from homesaved seed ' 3 months after sowing and 2 months after transplantingThe old favourite runner bean varieties such as Scarlett Emperor are good, as long as they have been well maintained by the seed companies. From what I hear, results are variable.
An excellent climbing French bean is Cobra. Or Golden Gate for yellow and flat pods. Borlotti beans are tasty both as green pods, and for dry seeds if you have a long summer.
Boltardy used to be good, see above, especially from sowing as early as February in plugs or pots in warm conditions. I have been successful with early Boltardy since , but now recommend Pablo F1 though it's more expensive for sure. Or save your own seed ' see photo above. Seed companies have not maintained the variety, and it's getting worse. In , as well as the two companies in my photos (below), I heard of bad results from Mr Fothergills Boltardy seeds.
For later sowings from mid April you can sow Boldor and Touchstone Gold for a different flavour and yellow colour. Chioggia gives pretty pink and white stripes when cut, while Cheltenham Green Top is long, sweet and stands well in winter. For winter use, sow from early May to mid-June. Also Robuschka, Cylindra, Detroit and many others.
Boltardy beetroot in October from the same packet, from Kings SeedsBoltardy beetroot multisown clump in June, February sown and seed from Kings Seeds . More than half of the beets from this sowing in an 8 x 1.5m bed were small or misshapen or very pale coloured, and we put them on the compost heap. The adjacent plantings of Jannis and Pablo F1 grew fine.Pablo F1 comparison sown late February transplanted on 30th March, next to the Boltardy 'this is one multisown clumpFor sowing in autumn to overwinter, Aquadulce Claudia is reliable and develops great flavour if beans are allowed to mature until white and creamy. It also crops well from sowing by early March. Masterpiece Green Longpod has tasty green beans, sown from February, and Green Windsor has arguably the best flavour of all.
Monica or de Monica grows a smaller plant, 1.2m/4ft high, with pods of 4'5 pale coloured, sweet beans. Broad Bean Wizard, from Real Seeds, are great over winter, and produce a tasty crop in May, with many small pods.
Broad beans are definitely worth saving seed from, but for a variety to stay true, there must be no other variety growing within as much as 50m/164ft. This makes it difficult on allotment sites where many varieties are normally flowering at the same time. I now grow only Aquadulce and I am in about my 15th year of seed saving. Seeds store reasonably well, for up to 3 years.
Broad (fava) bean Aquadulce Claudia, sown in November and this photo is from JuneClaret F1 purple sprouting broccoli, sown in June and this photo is from late AprilA common broccoli in climates with mild winters is Purple Sprouting to overwinter, and sowing in June is good for this. I grew Early Purple Sprouting and Late Purple Sprouting for many years, with fair results. However the shoots were thinner every year ' lack of maintenance.
Then I tried Claret F1 and have not looked back ' large main heads in April, followed by many secondary broccoli shoots, finishing by mid to end May. Worth every penny for this seed!
Once again, as with so many vegetables, the open pollinated, old-fashioned heirloom heritage varieties have not been well maintained for the most part. I receive many questions from people who ask why their Brussels sprouts are not growing firm buttons, and it's because they are growing the non-hybrids.
Last winter, I spoke with a veteran of the seed trade who had been seed breeding for 40 years. He commented no, and he emphasised the no, Brussels sprouts that are open-pollinated are worth growing, compared to yield and quality from hybrids. He said, for example, that Evesham Special is anything BUT special! I feel we are being taken for a ride here!
Fresh, well grown Brussels have lovely flavours, with less bitterness than is sometimes found in bought buttons. Doric F1, Braemar F1 and Trafalgar F1 have always grown well for me as medium to late croppers from December to March, while Marte F1 and Brigitte F1 are excellent for cropping September to December. Brigitte is my top pick.
Flower Sprouts / kalettes (F1 hybrid cross with kale) have open buttons of sweeter flavour, especially in mid-winter. They grow large plants, are worthwhile.
I am wary of caterpillars in hearting autumn cabbage but using mesh over June plantings, for nine weeks, makes it possible to have some good hearts. Or spray Bacillus Thuringiensis if you can buy it, see the Links page.
Try Piacenza (Savoy type) and Quintal d'Alsace from Real Seeds, while Filderkraut from Mr Fothergills and Bingenheim makes large, pointed hearts which are tender and delicious in coleslaw or for sauerkraut. In November , I harvested hearts of 5'6kg/11'13lb (24 inch spacing) and they were so sweet, but hearts were only 1kg/2.2lb because I planted them too late (10th July) in a cool summer.
For red cabbage, I like Rodynda and Granat. They both keep for 2'3 months in my shed from a harvest in late autumn.
Sow autumn cabbage for hearting in mid-May for planting by mid-June. For spring cabbage sown late August, all varieties I have grown have performed well, more for leaves than tight hearts. Examples are Wheelers Imperial and Duncan F1, the latter for small hearts, while Wheelers is more for green leaves, over a long period.
Savoy cabbage Paresa F1 can be sown in June and planted in July to harvest in late winter, when greens are so welcome. Savoy hearts are frost hardy.
Granat from Bingenheim seeds, early October from sowing on May 9thFilderkraut October, planted in June after broad beans finished (sown May 10th)For large, tight heads try F1 hybrids such as Belstar, Green Magic, Ironman and Marathon. More stem and smaller heads over a long period come from Apollo F1. Harvests of smaller shoots and over a longer period are given by open-pollinated varieties such as Green Sprouting.'
'Bingenheim seeds do an excellent ope- pollinated variety, Calinaro. In I sowed it on June 20th and planted after broad beans, for heavy crops in October.
Early Nantes, for early and later sowings, grow vigorously to a fair size, with good sweetness. Raymond Blanc's tasting team gave it top marks in a trial of 32 varieties. Look out for Treenetaler Nantes. While Berlicum and Autumn King varieties are good for sowing by mid-June, to store through winter. Coloured varieties have variable vigour: yellow ones grow easily, purple ones are more tricky, all have different flavours.
For winter harvests of great flavour and storing quality, try the stump-rooted Oxhella and longer Flakee, best sown in June, or even the first week of July.
It's fun to grow coloured cauliflowers such as Purple Graffiti F1, and Sunset, which is yellow or orange. Verde di Macerata from Real Seeds grows beautiful and quite large green curds, which mature over more than a month from one sowing date. Romanesco cauliflower is beautiful and worth sowing around the middle of June, for harvests in late autumn. They stand the first frosts of autumn..
The old variety All Year Round is reliable to sow at any stage. Some varieties such as Medallion F1 and Aalsmeer are for summer sowing (second half of July here), to crop eventually in the spring.
Hybrid varieties such as Victoria F1 (Tozers) are a leap forward compared to the old-fashioned Golden Self Blanching and Tall Utah. I rate Victoria as best of the bunch, by some margin. There are also fun varieties which have a pink flush on their stems, and Granada F1 which resists Septoria blight in the autumn. And there is Chinese leaf celery, for leaf/stalk harvests.
A large trial at Raymond Blanc's garden revealed few differences in flavour and growth. I find that Prinz has slightly healthier autumn leaves (less Septoria) than Ibis, although both grow to a fine size. In I tried Monarch and Mars, finding both to be good, and the Mars in particular carried on growing into November, with healthier leaves than other varieties which can suffer septoria ('late blight') here (we are in a damp hollow) from about August in wet summers and autumns. Giant Prague matures late, with flatter roots of fine flavour.
Prinz celeriac in October ' Lower Farm Harvest of 506TT shows the variable colours, and a few 206TT Treviso types are bottom leftCeleriac Mars and Athos were quite similar in , and watered from mid-July onlyLeaf chicory is bitter while the heads are bitter-sweet, best sown after mid-June to reduce bolting. A last sowing around 12th-15th July is good for heads in November and even December, in Somerset. Fine red radicchios should develop from Palla Rossa varieties, especially 506TT from Bingenheim, which also stands well ' see my video.
I find Marzatica from Seeds of Italy makes variable heads, and about half are firm. They are complemented by amazing pink and yellow colours of varieties such as Lusia, Romea and Castelfranco, but these do not stand well, tending to rot soon after the heads are firm.
The Treviso type 206TT is remarkably consistent, from sowing in July to harvest before Christmas. They are beautiful, bittersweet and so welcome for the late period of harvest. Sometimes the outer leaves look rotten, but you can still find a nice head inside.
I urge you to visit the experts at Seaspring Seeds, they breed them and offer a great range. See here for keeping chillies as perennial plants.
I like Seeds of Italy's selection, which emphasises how all shapes, colours and sizes are possible! Genovese, Cocozelle di Tripolis and Striato of Naples have grown well here. Early Gem F1 has grown well for me since , as has Defender F1. F1 varieties produce more fruit and less plant!
I find that yellow varieties are less productive. Remember that courgettes are simply under-grown marrows, of the summer squash family: see winter squashes for Butternut et al. Pumpkins are different again ' see below.
All-female cucumbers for growing under cover are expensive in seed, and highly productive. I like Carmen F1 for large-sized fruits and Passandra F1 for half-size cucumbers, and I grow them up strings. See this video about deleafing plants for health and productivity.
Outdoor cucumbers need less training and fruits are less regular, especially La Diva, while Tanya cucumbers are more even, and prickly like many outdoor ('ridge') cucumbers ' just peel the skin before eating. Homegrown are tasty, you should notice a big difference compared to what you can buy.
Cucumbers Carmen F1 in mid-July are full cropping in hot conditions (10 picked the previous day, 12 picked on this day) ' deleafed and spaced at 60cm/24inRidge cucumber Tanya growing outside, mid-AugustFor large-leaved scaroles, try Bubikopf and Diva, which keep healthier than many others (less browning at the margins). Bingenheim's Diva is excellent for this.
For a frizzy endive, try Frenzy (seeds on eBay) for a long season of picking then cutting, and plants can crop for 12 weeks from a June sowing. Also I like Wallone and Fine Maraichere for a long harvest season, pickable of outer leaves like lettuce, Aery F1 for high yields, and Bianca Riccia da Taglio (Real Seeds) for luminous and tasty leaves, of a bright yellow, highly decorative colour. Of all these my winter favourite is Aery F1, for its amazing vigour.
Endive Frenzy September, from June sowing ' cuts made every two weeks, not too lowDiva scarole endives on 1st November, transplanted in August ' we had already taken many outer leaf harvestsSafari French bean sown on 26th June ' photo from late September after one pick a week beforeSome I like include Tree Spinach (Simply Vegetables), which has beautiful magenta shoots all the time while it grows up to five feet high by August, watercress for its (invasive) vigour and flavour, and lime basil for stunning citrus aromas and tastes. Trials of oca in '15 were successful, though be wary of mice eating the tubers in late autumn, and yields were not high.
Sweet potatoes are worthwhile only under cover ' Carolina Ruby was my most productive variety ' see October . In 's warm summer and in the polytunnel, I harvested two wheelbarrows of leaf and stem, but only 4kg/9lb of sweet potatoes.
Yacon is worth growing if you can buy a plant ' order in winter for spring delivery, eg from Real Seeds. I harvested 10kg/22lb from two plants ' the tubers are sweet but low in calories.
There are two seasons of harvest, separated by flowering in June. Make the first sowing on a windowsill in February to mid-March, or sow in July, even until early August. The two seasons of bulbing are early summer and mid to late autumn.
Zefa Fino and Perfektion grow good bulbs. In , I trialled five varieties and found few differences, except for Solaris F1 bulbing better from the June sowing.
Climbing beans come in many shapes and colours. Blauhilde has lovely purple pods, Fortex (Seaspring Seeds) has surprisingly long ones of good flavour, Cobra is a green all rounder and crops all summer with really nice beans. My favourite dwarf beans are Cupidon for long, green pods, Safari (see photo above) for cropping thin, long beans over a long period and Sonesta or Orinoco for waxy, yellow pods.
Purple Tepee grows flavoursome beans that appear to go from too small to too large in as little as 3 days but do not appear to be tough or stringy.
In terms of disease-resistance here, I look for resistance to apple scab, flavour, and lateness of harvest ' I want apples that keep. Check for local varieties which should be adapted to your weather, and see if you can find some to taste before committing to planting a tree, because it is such a long-term commitment.
My favourites are Sunset for eaters October'December, small and sweet, Ribston Pippin for russeted fruits of great taste and density which gives it longevity over crispness, Lord Lambourne for sweet eaters in October'November, and Kidds Orange Red for exquisite flavoured fruit which may keep until February. Great russets are Egremont and Ashmeads Kernel.
Red Windsor and Cevaal are excellent in September'October, gorgeous colour and healthy. Court Pendu Plat keeps well through winter as does Spartan (great colour!) Jupiter has large, red, tasty eaters until Christmas, and grow Bountiful for large, green cookers from September, which turn yellow and become sweet in December. Both resist scab, and Bountiful is especially clean, and high yielding.
Jupiter apples at Lower FarmHomeacres 6-year trees, rootstock MMth summer trees, M27 rootstock ' Sunset left and Lord Lambourne middleOnce you have a harvest of bulbs that you like, I recommend keeping the largest bulbs to separate into cloves to replant in early October. See my garlic video for advice.
Flavourwise I like Solent Wight which also stores well.
Hardnecks make slightly smaller bulbs 'harvest about two weeks later than softnecks. They store less well and are easier to peel.
I grow almost none of these, preferring instead to plant or sow second crops of vegetables in July, August and until about mid September. Then I sow any spare ground, from about mid-September to mid-October, with mustards or broad bean Aquadulce Claudia, which provides an early crop if it survives the winter, otherwise it will have helped provide soil cover. White mustard (Synapis alba) is the only green manure I occasionally sow in September up until mid-October. It is killed by moderate frost of -5°C/23°F so there is no mulching or digging-in needed.
More detailed growing information here.
Basil ' I recommend any sweet Genovese basil for large harvests, and lemon basil such as Mrs Burns, or lime basil, for strong citrus flavours. Another option is Greek basil, whose leaves are very small and sprinkle nicely over any dish
Chervil ' there are no named varieties, but there is a curly type and a flat-leaved type, of which both are good.
Coriander ' look for the variety Cruiser, slow to bolt and with fleshy leaves.
Dill ' there are several varieties of dill, and always check the small print because some are dwarf, many are taller, and a few have especially feathery leaves.
Parsley ' there are two main types, curly and flat-leaved. Of the latter, I recommend Italian Giant, which matches its name, having large and quite tender leaves.
May from a February sowing ' coriander Cruiser on the left, and dill DelightRed Devil kale is similar to Dazzling Blue, transplanted after onions, sown in July and photo is from SeptemberChervil seedlings in September from homesaved seed ' they were pricked into modulesFor tenderness and eating raw, try Red Russian or Sutherland (Real Seeds). For lovely red colours, grow Scarlet or Red Devil. Probably the tastiest kale is Cavolo Nero, less frost-resistant than curly kale but sweet and tender: when preparing the latter to eat, cut each leaf of its tough central stalk.
For kale all the time, find a plant or cutting of Taunton Deane or Daubentons perennial kale, truly amazing plants, so productive. Taunton's leaves are not the most tender, but make up for that with vigorous growth.
New varieties of kale are exciting. I have grown Afro, Candy Floss, Emerald Ice and Midnight Sun ' all good in different ways, and highly ornamental.
September kale Cavolo Nero and Dazzling Blue were interplanted between lettuce in early July, with Philomene leeks on the left and White Gem parsnips on the right, sown on 6th JuneMixed kale ' Midnight Sun is the red oneEmerald Ice kale ' photo from October from a June sowingMostly this disappoints me with its small size, meaning one needs to endure a lot of winter weather and cold fingers to harvest a decent amount. Best so far is Valentin, and Trophy looks promising.
In a cold December such as , its hardiness becomes a top asset. I sowed in early September and transplanted in early October, two plants per clump, after spreading the annual compost.
Excellent hardy plant with good flavour produces leaves all winter without protection ' just remember pigeons like it too. Sow July'August because it flowers in May'June.
The early varieties Swiss/Bulgarian Giant, Zermatt and King Richard grow large in autumn, and have less frost resistance than Autumn Mammoth and Philomene (my top choice), which themselves have less frost resistance than Bandit, Bleu de Solarise, Musselburgh, etc. Read the small print to be sure of having a variety suitable for the season in which you want to be eating leeks.
Sow them all at the same time in early to mid-April (in a seed bed outdoors), or from very late March under cover in modules. In I trialled a variety Malabar, because it claims 'rust resistance'. I found it suffered as much rust as other leeks, plus it has a much shorter stem, which was not mentioned on the seed packet.
Leeks Philomene multisown in April, photo from OctoberLollo Tuska, Maravilla di Verona, Jabeque cos and Kaibroc at the back, in autumnLettuce beds in June after 4th pick, Mottistone on the left and Jabeque on the rightSo many choices. Batavian and Romaine (cos) varieties can be picked of outer leaves as leaf lettuce, although they can also be left to grow heads, while the seed packet may suggest they are suitable for heading only.
For winter lettuce, an absolute star is Grenoble Red (search Rouge Grenobloise for more results), for resistance to frost, slugs and mildew. From a sowing in early September, it has an ability to grow for longer than most varieties in spring, when its outer leaves are repeatedly picked off. It's a fast grower and if allowed to heart up, it needs plenty of water to avoid tipburn.
For cos, I like Tesy and Bijou (dark red), Xanadu, Valmaine, Freckles, Paris Island, Little Gem including Maureen, Amaze and Intred, and Winter Density. In batavians, Maravilla di Verano and Saragossa are great from both spring or summer sowing. Lollo Rossa and Bianca offer prettiness, and Navara plus Cantarix grow gorgeous red leaves with some resistance to lettuce root aphid. Saragossa is the longest cropping summer lettuce, for leaf picking for up to 14 weeks in a wet summer.
See this video
The season of growth is short, but we can prolong it by early sowing under cover. Growth in the main season is rapid, during just the three summer months. By early autumn leaves start to die and fruits finish ripening. Melons ripen hardly at all after mid-September, and they are rarely sweet after this time, tasting often more like a cucumber.
Don't underestimate the need for warmth, otherwise you may spend a lot of time and effort for little result. In cool summers it's possible to have melons, but with less sweetness or flavour, and you will have used a lot of precious space. At Homeacres I grow them mostly under cover for decent harvests, but rarely enjoy success with outdoor melons.
Sweetest harvests come in late summer rather than early autumn, because sunlight is stronger and leaves have more light to convert into sugar.
Varieties that grow well in these temperate, less hot conditions include Minnesota Midget and Pete Gris de Rennes. Both are small and round, with orange flesh. Emir F1 is larger and a little elongated; a little earlier to ripen as well.
Ogen melons have green flesh and show resistance to mildew.
Watermelons need even more warmth and I grow them only in the greenhouse, not the polytunnel. I recommend Early Moonbeam, if you can find it, for its tolerance of cooler conditions. Its flesh is yellow rather than red, though still with plenty of black seeds which you can save to grow again.
If you grow more than one variety of melon or watermelon, they cross-pollinate. But melons do not cross-pollinate with watermelons.
Just seven days later, and with 22°C/71°F bottom warmth ' most seeds have germinated, especially Emir in the middle of the CD15 module tray19th August 'melons close to final harvest, Emir especially with mildew on leaves; far end is OgenOgen melons all ripe on 29th August with little powdery mildew, growing up a string in the polytunnelOnion fly is increasing and mildew has become more common, so I am growing onions from multisown seed to avoid risk of contamination from sets.
Sturon is good for even growth and long storage, Stuttgarter has strong flavour and keeps well, Long Red Florence is mild and does not keep beyond Christmas. Red Baron is good and Tropea Lunga is sweet, but all red onions are more prone to bolting than white ones from sets, and cost about twice as much to grow. However, from seed, they are cheaper and bolt little compared to plants from sets. For mildew resistance, try yellow-skinned Santero and Hylander F1 which store well too. For pink bulbs and a harvest before mid-July, I really like Rose de Roscoff, also called Keravel. It stores well too.
For spring onions, my favourite for slender stems and fatter bulbs of great flavour continues to be White Lisbon. And Lilia grows nice red spring onions, as well as bulbs. I have less success with Allium fistulosum types such as Ishikura: they grow lovely long stems and do not bulb, however they are prone to downy mildew from June onwards.
Multisown Keravel Rose de Roscoff in early JulyDecember vegetable store includes Granat red and Filderkraut pointed white cabbage, Oxhella carrots, and Mars celeriacSpring onions overwintered on the left and spring planted on the right, all are White LisbonA big subject! Sow after the summer solstice, to make more leaves and less flowers, (early August is best date here) and they like moist soil. The mustards are pretty and of great flavour, especially Green and Red Streaks/ Frills. Green in the Snow for top pungency, Red Giant is good for stir frying, Red Dragon for salads.
Pak choi is adored by slugs but worth a try, I like Joi Choi F1, while leaf radish is the most vigorous of all, with mild, hairless leaves that keep growing until December outside, sometimes. Mizuna is vigorous in late autumn but prone to slug damage. See CN seeds for excellent choices here.
White Gem is reliable, while the hybrids Gladiator and Javelin are longer and resist canker to some extent. This makes them good for heavy soil, and both have excellent flavour. Buy fresh seed every year. Tender and True is reckoned to have the best flavour but I find that all parsnips taste good, especially after some cold weather which converts starches into sugars.
Multisown onions in late July with cabbage interplanted, and the parsnips on the left were intersown between garlic on 24th May. They developed canker by November because of so much water from the polytunnel.November parsnips, washed ' White Gem open-pollinated on the left, Countess F1 on the rightBy February there is more canker; this is a new parsnip harvest of Gladiator F1 and the last, because of eating by rats and perhaps rabbitsTall varieties in general grow 2m/6.5ft or higher, and crop more heavily than dwarf ones. They also crop for longer. Alderman is my favourite tall pea for podding, and Sugar Snap for snap/mangetout pods of notable sweetness. These tall varieties are also good for pea shoots.
Try Oregon Sugar Pod for classic mangetout, with plants 5 ft/1.5m tall, and Hurst Greenshaft for one metre high plants with tasty podding peas. In I had a long season of picking from Cascadia, of delicious snap pods on 1.5m/5ft high plants.
Oregon Sugar Pod at solstice, sown in early MarchAlderman at solstice, from a March sowingLike aubergines, these are best grown under cover. Sweet Banana bears many fruit, long and of pale colour, ripening to orange. Sweet Baby Orange is good for containers. Hungarian Hot Wax and Padron are both an intriguing mixture of pepper and chilli.
Roter Augsburger from Stuttgart is great for cooler climates, eventually ripening to red. D'Asti Giallo is fun for its large fruits, best grown under cover in the UK.
Orange Kiss peppers in September in the polytunnel, after warm summerD'Asti Giallo peppers in the polytunnel after a warm summerOutdoors! Small garden Puzta Gold pepper on 30th AugustFirst earlies in order of maturity ' Swift, Rocket and Casablanca.
Second earlies ' Charlotte, Gourmande, Estima large tubers, Wilja, and Ratte or Linzer Delikatess (salad), and Lily Rose for red potatoes.
Maincrop ' Sarpo varieties for blight resistance, King Edward for lovely pink eyes and large potatoes.
I grow almost entirely second early because they give a large harvest even by early July, and large potatoes by the middle of July, which store well in paper sacks until late as May sometimes. The harvest being earlier than maincrop means you have time to grow vegetables such as leeks and broccoli.
Harvest of Casablanca late June, pulled not dugHarvest of Charlotte in late JulyApache and Rocket potatoes in late JuneRouge Vif D'Etamps is a typically straggling plant capable of covering a large area and making medium-sized, flatter, and reasonably tasty fruits. They are of much less flavour than winter squashes, and pumpkins' softer skin means they also store less well. For enormous fruits, grow Atlantic Giant.
Timperley Early keeps producing lovely red stalks by late winter and throughout spring, over a decade or more. Gardening Which? in trialled many varieties and found The Sutton to have best flavour.
Produces well through winter, good flavour but small leaves in winter (as all salad leaves, because of low light levels mostly). Best sown in early August for autumn abundance, and I find that standard salad rocket is good, especially the selection from Bingenheim. Apollo grows larger leaves with less lobes. NB Thi is not the same as wild rocket. That I sow in September, to overwinter as small plants. Then they crop from April to early July.
The result of sowing in July ' flea beetle damage to salad rocket on 26th July, outside and no cover usedSeptember 1st ' salad rocket ready to transplant from sowing in CD modules 17 days earlierHealthy salad rocket in late September ' it was covered by mesh until two days ago, and it followed onionsSpinach for salad in autumn, and to a lesser extent in winter, can be had from Medania (excellent variety) and Red Cardinal sown in August outside. Or early September to grow under cover.
In the cold winter of to , Medania still survived. But better winter harvests came from the classic Large Leaved Winter Giant. It goes under different names. The leaves are a little thinner than Medania, but any leaf in the middle of winter is welcome! And I found a good result from growing plants under mesh, with wire hoops supporting.
Sow Medania or F1 varieties under cover in February or outdoors in March, to crop by early May for six weeks of harvest. Keep pinching or cutting off larger leaves, as in this video. To have green leaves in summer it is more reliable to grow leaf beet or Swiss chard.
Spinach Medania was multisown on 10th August, and planted between lettuce still cropping ' this photo is from 4th October after two harvestsSweet Nugget F1 has been around a while. It always matures nicely and I find it sweeter than older varieties. Plus it retains sweetness after picking. For open-pollinated, we are impressed by Bingenheim's sweetcorn. I sowed some of their early, mid and late varieties for a long period of cropping in . Tramunt the late variety has performed best of the three.
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Earlibird grows a little more quickly. Northern Extra Sweet has great flavour.
Sweet Nugget F1 sweetcorn in early September12th August ' Homeacres sweetcorn Northern Extra Early Is ready but has to wait for a photoshootTramunt sweetcorn in September shows a good set of kernels from plants spaced out as interplants between squashesSungold F1 orange cherry has a fine, refreshing sweetness and ripens early. Rosella fruits are dark skinned, and the flavour is nice balanced sugar and acid. Honeycomb F1 is like Sungold, and less inclined to split.
Sakura F1, a red cherry, offers great flavour and larger fruits. Matina and Ace give red, medium-sized fruits.
Marmande is ever reliable for beef tomatoes, Black Russian/Krim are great for tasty dark fruit, Feo de Rio is excellent for beef tomatoes, and Yellow Brandywine for top flavour. Berner Rose is pink and has excellent flavour and earliness! Oxheart types are beautiful and flavoursome. All do best under cover in most of Britain, unless it is a hot summer.
For outdoor tomatoes in temperate climates, try Crimson Crush F1 for juicy flavour and blight resistance. I have had top results from varieties offered by Culinaris in Germany, and there is a catalogue in English. Resi, Primabella, Primavera and Dorada all have good qualities, depending on your taste. They are all cordon cherry tomatoes and grow well in cooler conditions, with resistance to blight. This video is outdoor tomatoes in my garden , a warm summer.
Tomato Revolution have a great catalogue of seeds.
Sungold in late June in the greenhouseDorada outdoors in AugustPrimabella on the right, outdoors in AugustDo check out Tokyo Cross F1 for first maturing, sweet turnips, which I can start harvesting before the end of April from multisowing in late February. As with all early plantings, I cover them with fleece until harvest time: it keeps out the cabbage root fly as well.
Red (or Uchiki) Kuri trails and makes red fruits of excellent flavour, which manage to ripen in damp summers. Crown Prince's blue-grey fruits are of superb flavour, ripening a little later. Butternut's tasty fruits are hard to ripen unless summer is hot. Their skins need to be brown and hard if you want best flavour, and to keep them through winter. If your summers are not hot, I would go for Kuri.
Marina di Chioggia is big and super tasty. Also Tromba d'Albenga from Seeds of Italy. They happily ramble amongst climbing beans and sweetcorn, or fruit bushes.
Crown Prince in April, harvested in October and stored in the houseOne plant of Butterscotch F1 butternut squash gave all these fruits during the warm and damp summer of Kuri squash in September, growing from a compost heap
For further advice and information, have a look at my YouTube playlist, Seeds, Sowing/Multisowing and Propagation, and my Propagation knowledge pack.
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Every year, I grow a large garden, approximately 10,000 square feet, which allows me to try so many different seed varieties. I keep a MUST grow list of my absolute favorite varieties. These are non-negotiable and will have a place in my garden every year! This is not an exhaustive list of all the plants I grow, just specific varieties that are outstanding.
When the winter weather starts rolling in, one of my favorite pastimes to get me through the cold weather months is planning and dreaming about what will be in my garden next year. (Check out how I plan my garden here.)
I imagine a lush and green garden and what I will grow in it. This has been especially fun as I've been planning my new gardens here on our new property. I'll cozy up with a seed catalog from one of my favorite seed companies with all the excitement of a kid on Christmas Eve.
One of the most requested videos on my YouTube channel, Roots and Refuge Farm, is people asking for my MUST grow list.
I know that buying seeds can feel daunting and a little overwhelming for some. I mean, how do you choose from 120 tomato varieties? So I hope that I can help you choose seeds that you will enjoy and be successful with.
Below is my most up-to-date seed list, but I'll also share an older list below in case you'd like to watch them both!
Now without further ado, from me to you, here are my top picks and why.
Let's talk tomatoes. Everyone knows that they are my favorite things to grow (and eat). Last year I grew about 69 tomato varieties. I start a whole bunch every year. The ones that aren't our favorites fall off the list and we try different ones.
But the tried and true favs, we grow again and again.
Slicers are the big beef-steak tomatoes that are often sliced and eaten fresh on sandwiches or burgers. I grow a majority of slicers because I also like to roast them and drain off the juice and use them for sauces and salsas.
Dr. Wyche's Yellow is a large, low-acid yellow tomato with great flavor. They usually grow to about 1 pound. They are great for a tomato sandwich.
Paul Robeson is another must-try. It is a dark red tomato with a smoky, savory flavor. The best tasting tomato I have ever eaten was a Paul Robeson that was picked late in the summer on a dry afternoon.
Another large red slicer is Climbing Trip-L-Crop. The two biggest tomatoes I have ever grown were this variety.
A tomato that you will never find in the store is Black Beauty from Wild Boar Farms. The Black Beauty has an extraordinary dark purple, almost black skin.
The Large Barred Boar is worth mentioning for its beauty and great flavor as well.
I have grown a lot of different paste varieties but have not been happy with most of them. They either came in small or we just weren't a fan of the flavor.
I have had good success with two in particular though, Amish Paste and Italian Heirloom. Both produced large fruits that were meaty and delicious.
Slice them and eat them fresh or use them for processing.
Most of my favorite cherry tomatoes are Wild Boar Farms varieties. Wild Boar Farms has a Blue Berry line of cherry tomatoes including the Blue Berry and Blue Gold Berry that are worth trying.
They are acidic and very prolific hardy plants. I love them because they are the first and the last to produce in my garden. This year I grew 18 cherry tomato plants, four of which were these varieties. When I would go out to pick all 18 plants, half of my harvest would be from those four plants.
Another cherry tomato variety I recommend is Barry's Crazy Cherry. Barry's Crazy Cherry is a multiflora tomato which means that it has very large bunches of flowers and fruits.
They are pale yellow blush tomatoes with a really fantastic flavor. I got more compliments from our guests about these tomatoes than any other variety. They have a thin skin so occasionally the tomatoes split when it rains. You will have to be diligent to pick them as soon as they ripen.
I also really like the Sunrise Bumblebee, Pink Bumblebee and the Purple Bumblebee. They are larger cherry tomatoes, closer to a saladette size. Sungolds are worth mentioning as well for their sweet flavor.
The two saladettes that I truly like are the Indigo Apple and Rutgers.
Indigo Apple is full of anthocyanin and so the skin gets a beautiful dark purplish-blue.
Rutgers is a basic red, medium saladette size that is extremely prolific.
You will hear me talk about ground cherries a lot on my channel. Ground cherries are one of Jeremiah's favorite things in the garden. They are like small cherry-sized tomatillos. Unlike tomatillos, ground cherries do not need a second plant to pollinate. We grow Pineapple ground cherries and Aunt Molly's ground cherries. The two are so similar that I cannot tell the difference between the varieties.
I do not grow really hot peppers so I am not the girl for recommendations there. The hottest pepper I grow is a habanero.
Craig's Grande Jalapeno is my favorite jalapeno and they are big. I also grow the TAM Jalapeno because they are very productive and nice for canning.
Try the Long Thin Cayenne for dehydrating to make your own cayenne seasoning.
I will always grow the Fish Pepper too. It is a medium hot pepper that is nice in salsas and it is a lovely, variegated plant.
Poblanos are mildly hot, but they are a great versatile pepper. If you let poblanos turn color and then smoke them, you can make ancho chile powder. They are also commonly used in Mexican cooking to make stuffed chiles.
Our favorite salsa pepper is the Serrano Tampiqueno which is similar to a jalapeno in looks but they are about twice as hot.
The last one I want to mention is the Sugar Rush Peach Pepper. I use these to make a fantastic hot sauce that has a fruity tropical flavor.
Shishito is hands down my favorite pepper. I could eat my weight in Shishitos each year!
Once harvested, poke a hole in them so they don't explode and then blister them in a hot pan. Serve them with aioli. It is so good!
The Corbaci is a long, red, sweet(ish) pepper. We like to throw them in a breakfast scramble.
A few years ago, I just raved about the Arroz con Pollo pepper in my garden tour, but I couldn't grow it last year because I couldn't get seeds for it. The Arroz con Pollo is a seasoning pepper with a very unique flavor.
The Habanada is another favorite pepper. Last year, I grew the plants in a high tunnel. They have a tropical fruity flavor so they're great for breakfast. I really recommend you harvest them young or they can take on a musky flavor.
If you have someone in your family who doesn't like spicy things, try the Nadapeno. It's like a jalapeno, but without the heat. When I make stuffed jalapenos, I can make some of them with these peppers for my kids who don't like heat.
The sweetest pepper on my list is the Marconi Red.
Out of all the bell peppers I have tried, the California Wonder has ended up in my garden more than any other variety as well as the Ozark Beauty.
The first cucumber I have fallen in love with is the Silver Slicer Cucumber. I got these seeds from Hudson Valley Seed Company and if I could only grow one cucumber, it would be the Silver Slicer.
This cucumber is very prolific, but what I love about them is that even when I let them grow large, the skin stays soft and they don't get bitter.
The Silver Slicer is surprisingly versatile. I eat them fresh, but I also canned them. They produce great-tasting cucumbers for me even into the heat when other varieties dry up.
I will also be growing the Parisian Pickling Cucumber. This is a nice small pickling cucumber. It is a fast producer and has a really good flavor. This is a great option if you don't have a lot of garden space.
We enjoy trying lots of personal-sized melons. They are pretty interchangeable to me, but the two that I will always grow are the Kajari Melon and the Kiku Chrysanthemum Melon. The Kajari is a small orange melon with green flesh that does really well on the trellises.
I initially tried the Kiku Chrysanthemum Melon because the Baker Creek Seed catalog said that it tasted like Greek yogurt and pears. And I thought, 'I just need to know what it tastes like!' It's a small white melon, about the size of a baseball with a thin rind and soft flesh.
The flavor of watermelons depends heavily on the amount of water they receive and how they are grown. My most successful watermelon is the Desert King Watermelon. We had a massive 30 pound melon last year that was tasty.
All the beans I am talking about, I harvest young as green beans or snap beans. We eat these fresh, or I freeze, can, or dehydrate them.
Dragon Tongue Bush Beans have been in every garden that I have ever grown and so they are dear to my heart. They are a lovely yellow with purple streaks.
Tanya's Pink Pod Beans are really cool. They are a truly hot pink green that cooks to green. I loved having these in my old garden because they kinda went with the pink gate!
The Purple Podded Pole Bean is a climber that can reach 8 feet tall. They are intensely good producers. Harvest them young if you don't want them to get stringy.
Calima is a bushed type of tender thin beans.
The Chinese Noodle Bean makes a regular appearance in my garden as well. Chinese Noodle Beans are not the same as regular green beans. They are very long and have a really different texture. I don't recommend boiling them but eating them stir-fried. I have pickled them also.
We eat a ton of pea pods fresh right out of the garden or throw them in stir fry. The Magnolia Blossom and the Purple Magnolia Blossom tendril pea are beautiful and tasty. I enjoy growing them in my garden.
If you are going to grow shelling peas, keep in mind that you need to do something with them right after shelling. I recommend the pea for shelling.
If I had to grow just one variety of beets, I would pick the Bull's Blood Beet. It is a very dark red, juicy beet touted for high vitamin A and antioxidants. It also has really tasty tender leaves that are great in salads.
The Cosmic Purple Carrot has always done well for me. It is purple on the outside and orange on the inside. It is not a super sweet carrot, but has more of a piney flavor.
The Black Nebula Carrot came into popularity a few years ago because of its extremely dark purple color. You could dye stuff with this carrot.
If you like sweet carrots, try the red-orange Kyoto Red Carrot; it has a great sweet flavor.
I grow lots of varieties of rutabagas. If I had to pick a favorite, it would be the Navone Yellow Rutabaga because it is the most consistent and good tasting.
I usually grow a basic purple topped turnip, but don't have a favorite variety. One way I enjoy eating them is raw, sliced and dipped in hummus.
French Breakfast Radishes are exceptional because their skin stays nice and smooth and they have a mild flavor.
TIP: Radishes are yummy raw, roasted and pickled. The flavor of your radishes will depend on whether you are growing them in cool weather or warm weather. If you don't like the flavor of your radishes and you grew them in the warm weather, try growing them in cool weather before switching varieties. They will have a completely different flavor.
One variety of eggplant that really stands out to me is Antigua. It is a white and purple streaked variety that has a flavor similar to the hybrid Fairytale eggplant.
The Ping Tung, Black Beauty, and Casper Eggplant are the other varieties that I regularly grow.
If you haven't tried eggplant in a stirfry, you really should! All of these varieties work well in stirfry as well as traditional eggplant recipes.
I have yet to find a summer squash that is genuinely resistant to the squash bug. I've tried all the tricks and the companion planting, but ultimately the squash bugs win, so I grow squash that will fruit early in the season.
The most long-lived squash I have ever grown is the Gelber Englischer Custard Squash. It is a patty pan summer squash.
I also grow the Early Golden Crookneck, Ronde de Nice, and Eight Ball because they are early varieties.
Winter squash needs to stay in the ground and stay healthy for a really long time, but again, I deal with squash bugs. Even though I love decorative pumpkins and warted squash, I don't grow them because I cannot keep the plants alive.
I have success growing spaghetti squash, acorn squash and pie pumpkins because they take less time to mature than other winter squashes.
Fried okra is a summertime treat at our house. It's popular in the south and definitely grows best in warm climates. It can stand up to neglect and handle poor soil. It is good to grow if you are establishing a new garden space because it can break through the soil.
I grow lots of varieties but I always grow Texas Hill Country Okra or Alabama Red Okra. They are very similar short and squatty plants.
Also, the Burgundy Okra and the Clemson Spineless are really good and don't get woody as fast.
Every time a seed company releases a new variety of kale, I grow it in my garden! I grow kale in the winter months with minimal coverage and it does great.
Lacinato (Dinosaur Kale) is very hardy with great flavor.
If you are looking for a classic kale that is like what you purchase in the grocery store, try Blue Curled Scotch Kale. It is much sweeter when it is grown in colder weather.
My number one favorite kale variety though, is called Ragged Jack. I love the flavor. The thing that I like the best about it, is how hardy it is. It can get rained on, snowed on, and iced on and it continues to do well through my winters here.
I am not married to any specific variety of lettuce, but I do grow a lot of lettuce. I enjoy almost any variety of lettuce grown as a baby green.
More than variety, the method of growing really impacts the flavor in a massive way. I encourage you to try different varieties. I can recommend two Black Seeded Simpson and Marvel of Four Seasons.
Herbs are a must-have in my garden. Holy Basil (Tulsi), which is not true basil, would volunteer every year in my garden in Arkansas. It's a great medicinal herb and is delicious in tea.
I also grow sage, thyme, oregano, marjoram, chives, mint, and lemon balm to name a few, but I don't have a favorite specific variety of any of those.
Since they're perennials I don't replant these each year.
I love eating true basil, especially with tomatoes. If you haven't tried different varieties of basil before, they can have such a wide array of flavors.
I do have three favorite varieties of basil: Genovese Basil, Lettuce Leaf Basil, and Dark Opal Basil.
Genovese basil is a sweet, dark green leaf basil that I use in pesto, salads, and even in lemonade.
I also love Lettuce Leaf Basil. It has huge leaves that I chop up in salads or to make wraps out of.
Dark Opal Basil is a purple leaf variety that has a sharper more herbaceous flavor. It is slightly more spicy and not as sweet.
Flowers bring in pollinators to your garden and make it a more beautiful space. Some flowers are even edible. I am constantly touting the value of having a diversely planted garden and flowers benefit this.
My MUST grow companion plants include Nasturtiums which are edible flowers with a slightly spicy flavor.
I plant sunflowers each year like the Mammoth Sunflower which you can save the sunflower seed from.
The Double Click Cosmos and Blue Borage are a beautiful addition to any space.
Resina Calendula flowers are high in oils that are very good for your skin. I grow these flowers and then use them to make salves.
Zloty Lan Chamomile has consistently grown well for me. I harvest the flowers, dry them and make delicious chamomile tea.
The whole line of Queen Lime Zinnias are my most favorite although I have never met a zinnia that I didn't like. The Queen Limes have beautiful muted vintage colors and bring the pollinators into the garden.
You may be wondering if these varieties will grow in your garden especially if you live in a different climate than I do. Good question.
While it is true that some plants will thrive in certain climates and not in others, the biggest factor in whether or not you can successfully grow a plant is usually the length of your growing season.
For more information on this and plant hardiness zones, check out How to Plan Your Garden.
I hope you have a wonderful time planting your garden and I would love to hear from you what your favorite varieties to grow are, leave them in the comments below!
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