Planning next years seed list any recommendations?

[cevenol jardin]

Its time to take stock and start selecting seeds for next year.

I am looking for a good cucumber - outdoor, crisp sweet and NOT bitter can be short and must be prolific. Any suggestions?

Did anyone have any great tasting crops this year they'd recommend.

From the many new things i tried this year not many stood out beating my old favourites but there were a few shiners:

Onion - La Raiolette sweet crisp main crop onion
Chilli- Ciligia Piccante also known as satans kiss red cherry chilli great stuffed or use fresh.
Chilli Lemon drop Very hot with citrus flavour and beautifull weeping branches.
Lettuce Reine des Glaces crisp iceberg also known as Ice queen variation of a favourite
Courgette/Pumpkin, Tromba D’Albenga also known as trompeti long dense nutty pumpkin can be eaten as a courgette in June then a pumpkin in autumn.
Beetroot - Bolthardy at last a beetroot that grows well on my soil.

[cevenol jardin]

Its time to take stock and start selecting seeds for next year.

I am looking for a good cucumber - outdoor, crisp sweet and NOT bitter can be short and must be prolific. And lettuces for summer-Autumn cropping Any suggestions?

Did anyone have any great tasting crops this year they'd recommend.

From the many new things i tried this year not many stood out beating my old favourites but there were a few shiners:

Onion - La Raiolette sweet crisp main crop onion
Chilli- Ciligia Piccante also known as satans kiss red cherry chilli great stuffed or use fresh.
Chilli Lemon drop Very hot with citrus flavour and beautifull weeping branches.
Lettuce Reine des Glaces crisp iceberg also known as Ice queen variation of a favourite
Courgette/Pumpkin, Tromba D’Albenga also known as trompeti long dense nutty pumpkin can be eaten as a courgette in June then a pumpkin in autumn.
Beetroot - Bolthardy at last a beetroot that grows well on my soil.

[Tigger]

For me - definitely Cavolo Nero. Plus a soft leaved spinach.

[GIULIA]

We grew Marketmore cucumbers this year and they did really well - also crystal apple, well worth it. Started them outside, through membrane and under cloches until late June then off with the tops so the pollination could begin.. hundreds of the little blighters and they loved the wet weather. Some ofthe marketmore were whoppers but the beauty is you can cook them. peel, split, de-seed if they look seedy, fry in a little seasoned olive oil gently for about 12-15 minutes till transparent but still firm and you'll be well pleased. (We've still got quite a few in a box in the boot of the car - coolest dry place - still holding up well.)
Our other big hit this year was a variety of pea called Lincoln (from Simpsons seeds) - perfection! to the last pod.

[Colin Miles]

So much depends on location and soil. I never had much luck with peas on clay soil in Hertfordshire but here in South Wales on a lighter soil they are very successful. But I still don't seem to have found a Spinach which will grow well. Probably me but anyone any suggestions?

[Belinda]

I would agree with Giulia on Marketmore as a cucumber, the skin on some of ours was a little tough but the flavour was excellent. Also, courgette Jaguar, dark green thin-skinned and very tasty, even when a bit too big.

[Primrose]

Will definitely grow Thompson & Morgan's purple podded climing French Bean Blauhilde again (although I didn't see it in their new catalogue) but fortunately I still have surplus seed. The flowers, being self-fertile still set in the cold wet weather we suffered when all the bees seemed to disappear whereas my runner bean flowers just dropped off without forming beans.

[Johnboy]

Hi Colin,
When I gardened in Hertfordshire clay soil many moons ago I used to grow Hurst's Greenshaft and got wonderful crops as I still do in Herefordshire with entirely different soil.
What variety do you grow now? I grow HGS as mentioned but also Alderman and now some peas called Radio that Clive sent me a couple of years ago. I save my own seed on all varieties. Radio is even taller than Alderman topping out at over 6ft with incredible crops.

[Colin Miles]

Hi Johnboy,

Actually I now remember that Greenshaft was grown very successfully in the allotments in Hemel but I never got round to trying it! Silly me. But my patch was really too weedy - it got rotovated before I took it over which spread the weeds and, it being clay it was a constant battle to keep the veg clear. After 3 years here I still marvel at being able to dig/pull up weeds AND shake off the soil, even after rain! The lady who was successful in Hemel kept a weed-free plot. I have grown Greensage here which is supposed to be better than Greenshaft. It's ok, but neither it nor early Onward are as sweet as Kelvedon Wonder which I didn't have much success with in Hemel.

[cevenol jardin]

Thanks Giulia & Belinda I'll give Marketmore a go.