Anyone Interested in Exchanging Tips for Varieties of Veg?

[RuralLass]

Okay, I admit it..... I'm a bit obsessive about growing my own. So much so, that I have a bash at most veg types & test loads of varieties of each crop. Even set up a database to capture all thoughts, recommendations etc. OCD or Wot!! But fact remains that there are simply masses of varieties for most veg & new ones coming out all the time. So I thought it might be a good idea to talk to folks, pick up tips & share my own favs...... If anyone's interested, dive on in.

I'm having real problems with leeks, and need help.

I've got my leeks in, and carefully dropped them into what were at the time 6 inch deep holes in my lovely raised bed so that they would grow all tall and straight and pale and leek-like, and puddled them in thoroughly.

However, I'm in East Anglia, we've got a real drought on, and the soil is like dust. (Well, dust that's rich in organic matter, but just falling apart). The deep holes have crumbled away so that the leeks are just sticking up in little depressions in the bed.

What on earth can I do? There's surely going to be no white leek bit at all?

Grendelsmum, I wouldn't worry too much. All the holes for my leeks seemed to have filled themselves in but they're looking ok and growing still so fingers crossed, should be ok. Are you watering them well?

Rurallass, well I'd love to hear your favourites. Have got an allotment now so always looking for new ideas - sounds impressive!

I'm still trying stuff out but some of my most successful ones so far have been ...

Boltardy beetroot
Charlotte potatoes
Blue lake french beans
Prinz celeriac
Oregon sugar pod - sugar snaps

I won't grow Maris Piper potatoes again as they're covered in scab. Having looked online, it seems this variety is really susceptible to scab so no more of those for me.

I mean your database sounds impressive (not my allotment )

Hi, GrendelsMum & Doozle,

Leeks-wise, as Doozle says, no worries. Soil falling into holes is pretty much inevitable, even on heavy clay soil like mine - doesn't seem to make much of a diff; I'm guessing the crumbled soil isn't so compacted as to reduce the increase in girth. Key really is to keep up consistent watering - use a rose on a can or lightish spray on hosehead, if you want to reduce crumbling to min.

Doozle - some thoughts on veg that might be of interest:

-Pots: if you like Earlies (great, as avoids issues with blight) but would like to try something that isn't a waxy / salad type, try Sharpes Express. Really tasty & more versatile.

• Beetroot - I love it but the colour / stainin issue irks!! Some great golden varieties, which have a slightly milder, sweeter taste but don't write off your clothes, if spilt!

• French Beans - I like a very thin 'filet' type & my fav was Capitole. Seems you can't get that any more, so am trying Green Arrow this year & it's looking pretty good, so far.

• Celeriac - one I haven't tried, yet & I do so love Celeria remoulade. But, if you like that 'celery-ish but a bit diff' flavour, consider having a bash at Bulb Fennel - incredibly easy from seed, has a lovely crisp texture similar to the best celery, fresh tangy aniseed flavour raw (great in salads) but cooks to taste much like celery. I've done a variety called Finale & it's super.

-Oregon Sugar Pod - what a good idea to do sugar snaps or mangetout (think Oregon is mangetout & I'm doing this year, too)- they are relatively expensive to buy, often come from Kenya & the like & yet are dead easy to grow.....And the mega bonus - don't get Pea Moth!! I'm doing Zuccola Sugar Snap this year & it's pretty good. If you want an eccentric Mangetout that you will NEVER find in shops, try heritage variety Carouby de Maussane. It's big (both plant & fruits), bold, ugly enough for supermarkets to reject (!), but crops over a long season & tastes great, even when pods are overgrown.

Empathise with your scab issue. My bane has been blight for last few years. Wiped out a whole crop of maincrop pots, in 2008. But a bit of advice from bitter experience (literally bitter) - treat the specifically disease resitant varieties with caution, as most have a pretty poor flavour. If you want to take a few risks, I'd recommend Ratte, which is Maincrop but have a wonderful taste of chestnuts. And phureja varieties like Mayan Gold are worth a try - markedly different taste, very buttery & a touch more resistance to blight.

Hope waffle above is of interest. Will have a hack through database later & pick out my top 10 veggies!!

Thanks, that's a real relief. We've been watering assiduously, so they should be okay.

I'm growing asparagus peas for the first time this year. Now they've got off to a good start, they really are looking quite decorative, but we'll have to see what the taste is like!

I'm also growing Fennel. I had no success at all last year (no germination), but this year it's doing well.

Hi, GrendelsMum.

Good luck with the leeks - delicious stuff! Did you grow from seed or plantlets? Must admit, I'e become a bit lazy with onions & leeds & go for sets / plantlets, as seed performance has been a bit patchy for me.
. But, with around an acre, have to be a bit lazy about one or two thingees..... Mowin' the grass takes the better part of a day!!

Asparagus Peas - interesting crop, one of first unusual veg I trialed, yonks back. Tip - Make sure to harvest when young, as they toughen up & become a bit stringy. Hope you enjoy them.

Had some noticable failures with unusual veg Chickpea Principe flopped (grew well but no ripened peas - think we don't have enough sun to ripen). Lupini, a dwarf bean - don't know what went wrong but were utterly disgusting, incredibly bitter

But likewise successes - if you like 'drying' beans, give a try to either Pea Bean (climbing) or Yin Yang (dwarf). Both have the most beautiful beans - about the size of a large pea but wiht an incredible 'half & half' patter or cream & dark colours, creating something very like the Yin Yang mandala pattern - unusual & very tasty.

Oh & one thing to throw out to all. I'm a bit of an evangelist about hydroponics. Very easy to use & phenomenal productivity for relatively low operating cost. Anyone want to know more, just let me know

For potatoes - Belle de Fontenay and Juliette have both been reasonably good for yield despite the lack of water and both have excellent flavour.

We had Blue Danube as a trial from T&M - on the one hand the yield wasnt great. On the other hand they are such a beautiful jewel like purple colour that you do find every one!

Thanks for the recommendation on Blue Danube, SuzieHomemaker - totally new one on me & sounds most intriguing. I did try one called Vitelotte (dark purple Maincrop) in 2008 but, thanks to that dreadful wet Summer, lost the whole lot to Blight - poobah!

Belle de Font is one of my favs - big thumbs up on taste &, being 2nd Early (some suppliers say Early Maincrop - same-ish diff), avoids the dreaded B. BF15 is an offshoot of Belle & well worth a try, too - Edwin Tucker reckon better yield but always a bit of a lottery.

Oh..... here's a conundrum. I grow lots of garlic each year. Try various types &, this year, included 'Marco'. Foliage has died back now & am harvesting but weird thing has happened: all Marco heads have not split into cloves but have formed single bulbs about 2cm across. Absolutely delicious, have to say, but haven't had any other variety do this before. Anyone come across it?

Thanks a lot for your suggestions Rurallass, will bear them in mind.

I double-checked my sugar snaps and they are called Delikett, not Oregon Sugar Pod. Still very good though!

While we're on the subject of garlic, can you recommend some varieties for me to order soon. I like really large bulbs (pref for roasting and also using generally in kitchen) but the elephant garlic looks v expensive so am not sure out of all the others what to get.

Oh and no, I've not come across the non-cloving issue before, how strange.

Delikett..... yum!! My mangetout & sugar snaps have just gone over, so am green with envy!!

Garlic: Elephant Garlic, as I am guessing you know, isn't really garlic at all but looks like a giant version of it, has a slightly milder but similar taste. Nice but I've grown over several seasons & found a bit unreliable &, as you rightly say, expensive.

Like you, I favour the bigger cloved versions. Various options - Mediterranean Wight & Purple Wight were good for me - reliable bulking up, nice big heads. Albigensian Wight also good & big but I had some problems with failures.

Did you know that, unlike potatoes, you can actually plant fresh garlic you buy in shops (not the smoked version) & it will grow 'true' to type. So, if you find a garlic you like at, say, a farmer's market or good food store, separate out the cloves carefully to avoid damage particular to the base & plant out the cloves in Autumn in usual way & you're rolling!! That way, it should be quite cheap & you should get just what you are after.

I second RuralLass about using shop bought garlic. One of my rows this year was from a bulb bought in France. The quality was great and better than my so called seed bulbs. We are off To France in a couple of weeks and I will pick some more up and plant these.

I have a feeling that the problem with bulbs not splitting is to do with drought but I'm not absolutely certain. I will have to check this.

Thanks, SuzieHomemaker - drought would make sense. I avoid watering Garlic & Onions too much but suspect that, this year, I may well have overdone the undoing, if you see what I mean, especially over the dry Winter / early Spring. That said, the single bulbs of Marco are absolutely delicious. My current fav recipe is to mince a good whack of Marco Garlic with fresh Inferno chilli (real find this year, long 'bull's horn' orange scarlet pepper, medium to hot with very fruity flavour). Then add good hit of lime juice (maybe lemon as alternative), chunks of butter, salt & pepper & mash together thoroughly. All volumes to taste. Roll up in clingfilm, twisting ends like a Christmas Cracker to make a wee sausage & pop in freezer to firm up, until needed - keeps for ages. Remove from fridge about 5 mins or so before needed, to soften slightly. Absolutely scrummy, thinly sliced & put onto of steak, BBQ'd meats, grilled veg or halloumi etc.

Brill, thanks again for your suggestions. I was going to order some from a seed company so that's really good to know you can plant ordinary garlic. Will watch out for some of those ones in Oct/Nov.

I looked up about the bulb not splitting and apparently it is caused by water stress and possibly not getting a cold snap over winter (hardly last winter!) so I guess that the culprit was drought.

The recipe you suggested sounds delicious - I think I will be giving that a go. I have a shopping bag full of garlic! I put mine in in autumn last year and was harvesting in early July.

Another seed tip - Courgette Goldrush. It is a beautiful bright yellow and highly prolific. We are eating some fresh and the rest is being sliced, roasted in the oven then frozen. We had some of that today fried up with garlic - a beautiful, courgetty and garlicy mess!

I also have Courgette Goldrush and it's been amazing - still going strong, kids love it (because it's yellow).

I have had appaulling failure this year with both my garlic and red onions - been watering most days so not sure where I've been going wrong? Any ideas?

Ditto my pumpkins, just all male flowers and nothing else! (BN squash doing OK though)

My asparagus peas are vile, definitely not doing next year.

leeks all got taken by the birds here (grew them from seed, and everything!)

Carrots - early Nantes have been tasty and true
Beets - boltardy good (but Lidl seed better )
Beans - have grown a huge range, but Anna (from Seeds of Italy) good
Potatoes - pink fir apple - a fab waxy potato - produces well, keeps well, tastes totally yum
must look up my others - but have to say that Lidl seed was cheap and germinated at about 90%. Organic seed at about 40% (it was last year's which doesn't help)

grown lots of different letuce this year,but the rocket is gorgeous,its really peppery and its great to just pick what you need.

grown lots of different lettuce this year,but the rocket is gorgeous,its really peppery and its great to just pick what you need.

Glad Seeds of Italy has come up. Big upside with their seed - huge amounts in most of packs, so great value; many toms, for example, have 300, 450 or more seeds per pack & it lasts well, to boot! Am just in process of choosing varieties for next year, as I grow plants for local schools & the volume is a great bonus.

My other fav supplier is Plants of Distinction (Gardening Which? recommended) but be warned, once you start looking through their online catalogue, you'll be hooked! Fantastic quality & some unusual & gorgeous varieties - their peppers are 2nd to none.

Whoamireally, so sorry to hear you've had problems with your onions, garlic & squash. Red Onions - must admit, I've found red varieties a lot less reliable than white. I'm a bit lazy with onions - I buy Autumn Planting Sets & Spring Planting plantlets from someone like Dobies or Fothergills - good value, have some attractive collections of varieties at lowish prices. I've found Forum & Centurion reliable. The Kelsae is fun, too - great big bulbs.

Squash - Find it can be a bit hit & miss but generally get a few successful fruits per vine and size & quality, versus shop bought, makes it well worthwhile. Hours of sun per day seems to be crucial (so a good, sunny spot) plus decently fertile soil, regular watering & good, reliable pollination (plenty of bees etc). Plants seem to lay on male flowers in the earlier stages of growth cycle, throwing out female ones later so I try to germinate seed as early as poss & plant out as soon after last frosts as I can. Fingers crossed, your plants will lay on viable fruit soon.

OOOoooooh, just have to add this recommendation. Have done loads of new (to us) carrot varieties this year & just 'taste tested' them. Most good (agree with Drivingmisscrazy that Nantes variants are always favourites) but two are really exceptional - Volcano & Sirocco. Both very brilliant orange, sweet, richly & intensely flavoured. Volcano is quite extraordinary - so strong, it's almost perfumed!! Both make lovely crudites. Oh & Jeanette is looking good for a 'utilitarian' variety with good flavour that's dense enough to stand well into Winter.

PS: beds all netted against Carrot Fly, which is revolting! Have tried the supposedly resistent varieties in the past but, to be honest, found I agreed with the Carrot Flies in that I didn't want to eat 'em, either!!

I'm going to put in a recommendation for Aubergine 'Calliope' (F1), for growing outside / on the patio. I got a plant from a neighbour, and it's doing extremely well in my veg patch despite the drought. It grows fairly small aubergines (10cm), which are probably better for our climate. I'll certainly grow it again.

Oh, I had an allotment neighbour who was positively insane on the question of strawberry varieties - he grew nothing else -, and trialled new ones every year.

His recommendation for a strawberry variety is 'Tenira', for growing outside in East Anglia, and I've certainly been very satisfied with the plants he gave me.

Brill, GrendelsMum... Was hoping for a rec on a good strawb, so will definitely try Tenira. And Calliope sounds very interesting, too.... small enough to cook whole, maybe?

Mmm, you probably could cook them whole, although it hadn't occured to me. We've not yet eaten the first - I'm expecting it to be ready in a week or two, so I shall report back on the taste.

Does anyone else do this idiotic thing? When I have a vegetable I'm particularly proud of, I can't bear to pick it - so one year, I had a particularly handsome lettuce and a large and beautifully glossy aubergine, and refused to pick them until they'd gone past their best. I'm just not really a veg gardener at heart, I think!

You are not exactly alone, GrendelsMum..... Our folly of choice is to pick a beautiful, say, cabbage & then take photos, with one of us holding up & looking utterly gormless!!