Kitchen Garden Forum

Pa Snip wrote:Thanks tiger nice looking layout.

You're welcome, not sure if I told you, but it is a scale model of both Leicester Central station, but also a section of the old Great Central that passed the back of my families home near Whetstone station. Based on the period between 1955 and 1965 when "I was a lad", I am trying to get the correct locos and rolling stock and have a copy of a working timetable for the period too.

Went to a garden centre today that I usually avoid as too expensive but they had a large array of loose seed potatoes at £1.89 a kilo, bought all I need to save me a longish drive to the usual place. Bought Rocket, Charlotte and Picasso as usual plus some Carolus to try, sounded interesting, anybody grown them?
Actually went because I was searching for garden lime, unsuccessfully, why is it so hard to find 20/25 Kg bags at a sensible price?

Never heard of Carolus potatoes before Geoff so looked it up. Sounds a good choice, blight resistant, uniform tubers, & multi-purpose with an excellent taste. Look nice in the pic too with pink tinges. Will be interested to see how they fare for you.

Geoff wrote:Went to a garden centre today that I usually avoid as too expensive but they had a large array of loose seed potatoes at £1.89 a kilo, bought all I need to save me a longish drive to the usual place. Bought Rocket, Charlotte and Picasso as usual plus some Carolus to try, sounded interesting, anybody grown them?
Actually went because I was searching for garden lime, unsuccessfully, why is it so hard to find 20/25 Kg bags at a sensible price?

Hi Geoff
Is the garden centre part of a group or independent.
At least the loose seed prices are not horrendous.

20 > 25kg is a lot of lime at 2oz to the sq yard

Westi - I hadn't heard of them either just went off the label then checked them out when I got home, they have an RHS AGM as you probably found.
Pa Snip - it is an independent https://www.beethamnurseries.co.uk/our-story. I have very acidic soil and a problem with bitter pit in the orchard which I try and control with a good dose of lime about now as well as what I use in the veg garden.

BUY COMPARISON(sic)

Thought I would take a look at seed catalogues and how they compare. Not impressed by the companies who have so far not responded to catalogue request.

Impressed by Kings catalogue,very informative althouh we tend to purchase the biggest majority, by far, of seeds from D T Brown. That is mainly due to the fact they have a stand at Malvern Spring and Autumn shows with special prices of £1 per packet

SUPPLIER ………………..Catalogue Size…….Order P & P ……No of pages…………….. Comments

D T Brown ……………….A5 Portrait………………….. .95p…………………. 235 ……………Only by post phone or online. Not in shops

Robinsons ……………….A5 Portrait …………………£2.75 …………………..33 …………….Specialist onion and veg seeds

Medwyns………………… A5 Portrait……………….. £3.00……………………. 63…………….. Famed championship grower

Suttons………………… A4 Portrait………………….. £1.99……………………. 171………………. Veg seed & plants Floral & Equipment

Kings …………………..A4 Landscape………………. £1.50…………………… 161…………….. IMHO The most informative catalogue

Marshalls.......................................... £1.99

Unwins............................................. £1.99

Mr Fothergill...................................... £1.95

Thompson & Morgan .A5 Portrait ………………..£1.95 ………………..80 …………Reasonable selection potatoes, but pricey







Van Meuwen ……….ODD Portrait……………. from £4.95…………….. 48……. Mainly floral PLANTS . no seed & little veg choice

IMHO = In my humble opinion
Marshalls, Unwins & Mr Fothergill catalogues not received
P & P prices shown are seed only orders
DT Brown probably has widest selection of seeds @ 99p
P & P for non seed items varies from £3.95 to as much as £9.95 per order
Found the Van Meuwen catalogue layout messy

Spuds:- for the last few years the undergardener + I have bought from the high street garden centre simply because we want the high street to survive beyond coffee shops and estate agents.

We do much the same for seeds, although I do check through the catalogues and look for particular varieties. There are always a few I send off for.

That is a very handy write up, Pa Snip, i'm sure it will prove very useful to quite a few people.

Wonder how many catalogues can go in the compost bin?

I too am buying from high street shops this year more to save on the postage and being able to see what I am buying.

I tend to buy Wilko own brand. Much cheaper.

Shallot Man wrote:I tend to buy Wilko own brand. Much cheaper.

Yes Wilko is as good a option as any except the range is a bit more limited and not as much in some packets. Perfectly good value though

I've bought some things from Premier Seeds Direct on eBay. Lots of stuff at 99p and 25% off if you buy 5 packets. If you wait for a discount coupon as well even less, bought 5 packets last week for £3.35 delivered. Done alright in previous years.

Geoff wrote:I've bought some things from Premier Seeds Direct on eBay. Lots of stuff at 99p and 25% off if you buy 5 packets. If you wait for a discount coupon as well even less, bought 5 packets last week for £3.35 delivered. Done alright in previous years.

Sounds like value for money.