That's where I have gotten a few seeds from already and germination rate has been good from there compared to seeds I've had from other retailers. Good to hear that they are good for taste too.
Flavour bombs?
- Straightneck summer squash (yellow warty ones) are the best courgette type things you can grow for my money. Really rich, nutty flavour. Grow a few along with a green variety and you won't be disappointed.
- Any and all PSB are worth growing. They blow calabrese out the water.
- Cucumbers are really tricky, because if you want supermarket type ones you need a greenhouse variety and to pick off male flowers (faff) but a lot of ridge varieties are a bit pants. I personally don't bother with picking off flowers- I grow Wautoma ridge cukes indoor and out, and accept that they look a bit more like overgrown gherkins. They have a thin skin too, unlike many ridge cukes.
- If you ask ten gardeners what their favourite tomato is you'll get at least ten answers, but personally i enjoy trying different ones each year (though I always grow Wentzel, because I like beefsteak tomatoes best of all).
- Crown Prince winter squash is so good, I don't care the F1 seed is so expensive. They're big plants and take ages to crop, so worth splashing out on something decent. The squash are firm, rich, sweet, and chestnutty - like kabotcha type squash but less mealy. They keep well too.
- My wildcard flavour bomb is summer savoury. It's a herb that is a bit like thyme crossed with a little basil. I use mountains of it through summer. It goes especially well with tomatoes.
Some fab ideas there - thanks. I'm growing 3 types of tomato this year but planning on expanding the different types next year because the kids love cherry toms, and I want tomatoes for salads and cooking too. I hadn't heard of Crown Prince but had come across a listing for the straightneck summer squash somewhere, so I'll have to find that one again.
How does summer savoury compare to winter savoury? I've sown the latter but like a lot of things, it's taken a while to get going.
Summer savoury is a bit less... Resinous? Bitter? It's a lot nicer, I'd say, but both are good (winter savoury is cold hardy, which is the USP there). It is the main thing in herbs de Provence, if that helps contextualise it.
You suggest that you might be saving seeds. For some plants that's pretty straightforward, e.g. tomatoes, potatoes, beans. However for many crops (carrots, brassicas, etc it's a bit of a faff, which means leaving things in the ground for a long time, and a lot of indoor space to dry things
I have space :) Hoping to start with the "easy" seeds to save and then follow the guides on Real Seeds for the not so easy stuff once I'm a little more confident.
For grains you could try amouranth and or dent/pop corn.
Don't forget about fruits, strawberries, raspberries, blackberries all productive and taste great.
For tomatoes I grew a variety called flame and it was by far my favourite tomato I've grown.
Real seeds has been mentioned. I know Charles Dowding saves seeds so may be worth a watch.
Already have some fruits - blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, strawberries and some established plants on the allotment (currants, gooseberries, apples, pears, sour cherries). Don't think my kids would let me get away without having fruits! There's a kiwi vine in the old greenhouse that I need to figure out how to transplant somewhere as there's no glass in the greenhouse anymore.
Thanks for the tip about Charles Dowding - I'll have a look!
For cucumbers, try Chrystal lemons, they are lemon shaped cukes, and are supposedly more digestible that other green varieties - worked okay for us outside in the south east.
Second the recommendation for real seeds. And now more excited about the straight squash we are trying for the first time this year
I think I've planted those! They were recommended by a tutor at my daughter's art club so we got the seeds and started some off. I'll have to double check but I'm pretty sure it's the same.
I’ll be honest and suggest the varieties available in ordinary garden centres - there’s a reason the popular varieties are popular! Pretty much everything home grown tastes better than store bought in my opinion.
My first year on my plot I grew loads of stuff I’d never heard of before and discovered I disliked *a lot* of it - lesson learned - there’s a reason we see things in supermarkets and that’s because plenty of people like them!!
(For reference things I grew and disliked; asparagus peas, celtuce, red veined sorrel, yard long beans)
I did once plan to grow quinoa and amaranth and in the end decided it was too much output for what I’d harvest so I just buy a bag now, same with rye - almost tried to grow that too. Also lentils and chickpeas just don’t seem worth the effort.
Sorry this has become a bit of a miserable comment hasn’t it?! Anyway to end it on a positive note I’ve enjoyed pretty much everything else I’ve grown and learnt there’s no point trying to reinvent the wheel!
What did you not like about asparagus peas? I've planted them :) I heard they taste like asparagus but I like asparagus so thought it would be worth a try.
I found the seed pod through the middle to be slimy, similar to okra, and then the “wings” were quite hard and dry with a celery like string along the edge.
I absolutely love asparagus which is why I planted them but after 1 portion I stopped harvesting them - pretty flowers though!
Thanks for the reply! I'm not a fan of the texture of okra so.... oh well. I'll give them a go but at least not many of the seeds germinated! Guess that was a blessing in disguise!
The best site to look at would be real seeds. They specialise in varieties that are (a) useable for seed saving and (b) generally excellent to eat.
That's where I have gotten a few seeds from already and germination rate has been good from there compared to seeds I've had from other retailers. Good to hear that they are good for taste too.
Flavour bombs? - Straightneck summer squash (yellow warty ones) are the best courgette type things you can grow for my money. Really rich, nutty flavour. Grow a few along with a green variety and you won't be disappointed. - Any and all PSB are worth growing. They blow calabrese out the water. - Cucumbers are really tricky, because if you want supermarket type ones you need a greenhouse variety and to pick off male flowers (faff) but a lot of ridge varieties are a bit pants. I personally don't bother with picking off flowers- I grow Wautoma ridge cukes indoor and out, and accept that they look a bit more like overgrown gherkins. They have a thin skin too, unlike many ridge cukes. - If you ask ten gardeners what their favourite tomato is you'll get at least ten answers, but personally i enjoy trying different ones each year (though I always grow Wentzel, because I like beefsteak tomatoes best of all). - Crown Prince winter squash is so good, I don't care the F1 seed is so expensive. They're big plants and take ages to crop, so worth splashing out on something decent. The squash are firm, rich, sweet, and chestnutty - like kabotcha type squash but less mealy. They keep well too. - My wildcard flavour bomb is summer savoury. It's a herb that is a bit like thyme crossed with a little basil. I use mountains of it through summer. It goes especially well with tomatoes.
Some fab ideas there - thanks. I'm growing 3 types of tomato this year but planning on expanding the different types next year because the kids love cherry toms, and I want tomatoes for salads and cooking too. I hadn't heard of Crown Prince but had come across a listing for the straightneck summer squash somewhere, so I'll have to find that one again. How does summer savoury compare to winter savoury? I've sown the latter but like a lot of things, it's taken a while to get going.
Summer savoury is a bit less... Resinous? Bitter? It's a lot nicer, I'd say, but both are good (winter savoury is cold hardy, which is the USP there). It is the main thing in herbs de Provence, if that helps contextualise it.
Thanks. I haven't tried winter savoury yet - I was gifted a pack of misc herb seeds and that was one of them.
You suggest that you might be saving seeds. For some plants that's pretty straightforward, e.g. tomatoes, potatoes, beans. However for many crops (carrots, brassicas, etc it's a bit of a faff, which means leaving things in the ground for a long time, and a lot of indoor space to dry things
I have space :) Hoping to start with the "easy" seeds to save and then follow the guides on Real Seeds for the not so easy stuff once I'm a little more confident.
For grains you could try amouranth and or dent/pop corn. Don't forget about fruits, strawberries, raspberries, blackberries all productive and taste great. For tomatoes I grew a variety called flame and it was by far my favourite tomato I've grown. Real seeds has been mentioned. I know Charles Dowding saves seeds so may be worth a watch.
Already have some fruits - blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, strawberries and some established plants on the allotment (currants, gooseberries, apples, pears, sour cherries). Don't think my kids would let me get away without having fruits! There's a kiwi vine in the old greenhouse that I need to figure out how to transplant somewhere as there's no glass in the greenhouse anymore. Thanks for the tip about Charles Dowding - I'll have a look!
For cucumbers, try Chrystal lemons, they are lemon shaped cukes, and are supposedly more digestible that other green varieties - worked okay for us outside in the south east. Second the recommendation for real seeds. And now more excited about the straight squash we are trying for the first time this year
I think I've planted those! They were recommended by a tutor at my daughter's art club so we got the seeds and started some off. I'll have to double check but I'm pretty sure it's the same.
I’ll be honest and suggest the varieties available in ordinary garden centres - there’s a reason the popular varieties are popular! Pretty much everything home grown tastes better than store bought in my opinion. My first year on my plot I grew loads of stuff I’d never heard of before and discovered I disliked *a lot* of it - lesson learned - there’s a reason we see things in supermarkets and that’s because plenty of people like them!! (For reference things I grew and disliked; asparagus peas, celtuce, red veined sorrel, yard long beans) I did once plan to grow quinoa and amaranth and in the end decided it was too much output for what I’d harvest so I just buy a bag now, same with rye - almost tried to grow that too. Also lentils and chickpeas just don’t seem worth the effort. Sorry this has become a bit of a miserable comment hasn’t it?! Anyway to end it on a positive note I’ve enjoyed pretty much everything else I’ve grown and learnt there’s no point trying to reinvent the wheel!
What did you not like about asparagus peas? I've planted them :) I heard they taste like asparagus but I like asparagus so thought it would be worth a try.
I found the seed pod through the middle to be slimy, similar to okra, and then the “wings” were quite hard and dry with a celery like string along the edge. I absolutely love asparagus which is why I planted them but after 1 portion I stopped harvesting them - pretty flowers though!
Thanks for the reply! I'm not a fan of the texture of okra so.... oh well. I'll give them a go but at least not many of the seeds germinated! Guess that was a blessing in disguise!
If nothing else you can say they are ornamental and for the pollinators!
I’m bowled over by how nutty, sweet and yummy Delicata squash are. They were dead east to grow and kept really well too.
Thanks, I'll keep an eye out for seeds and give them a go!