Page 17 - Simply Vegetables Winter 2020/21

New Cultivars for 2021
KELVIN MASON, NATIONAL MAGAZINE EDITOR
To save you looking through all the catalogues or webpages I have set out below many of the new cultivars that are available this year. In the seed catalogues they are referred to as varieties but are technically cultivars as they have been bred by mankind whereas varieties occur naturally in the wild; I am just being pedantic!!
I have given brief details of each new cultivar based on the information in the companies’ seed catalogues or websites, but hopefully it is enough to tempt you to try something different.
Starting with D.T.Browns who are big supports of the NVS they have a number of new introductions the first being a climbing French bean called ‘Lazy Housewife’. It
is not in fact new but a heritage cultivar introduced back in 1885 and was named ‘Lazy Housewife’ as it does not need destringing. The beans can be cooked whole or shelled and dried for winter use, the pods have a buttery taste and the beans a creamier, heavier flavour (I am not sure what that means!).
A novelty for the show bench is their new carrot ‘Snowman’F1 which produce snow white carrots (they should stand out on the bench!). The roots are said to be of high quality and uniform with a mild flavour and crunchy. They can also be stored overwinter extending your supply.
D.T.Browns are amongst at least 3 companies introducing the tomato ‘Red Veranda’F1, this is a compact outdoor type producing up to 75 fruits per plant with good resistance to Fusarium, Verticillium and some resistance to late blight. It is a cherry type with fruits of 12 to 16 gms and said to be sweet, a plus is that it is early cropping and can be picking by mid-July or even earlier from a mid-February sowing and can still
be cropping in October. Sowings can be made as late as April if you do not have a
heated propagator or greenhouse and still get a reasonable crop. Red Veranda is ideal for growing in pots, baskets or any other containers even in pots as small as 11cm so will be very useful for growers with small gardens, patios or even just the window sill. No staking or support is required as it is a small bush type.
cropper with bicoloured cobs of 20cm length which could also mean they would be useful for the any other vegetable class. It can be grown alongside other sweetcorn cultivars and not affect their quality making it useful where space is limited.
Celery Pink (no pretentious in this name!), this is a U.K. bred cultivar with attractive
pink tinted petioles (stems) said to have a good flavour. It is a self-blanching type that is vigorous and productive.
Broccoli ‘Purple Rain’F1 is also available from Dobies and is British bred so is suitable for U.K. conditions. It is high yielding and has a good heat tolerance (important if hot
They are releasing two new cucumbers the first called ‘Luxury’F1 which is said to rival ‘Carmen’F1 – exhibitors please note! It produces fruits 35 to 40cm long in good numbers and has a good resistance to powdery mildew giving it a long cropping period. The second cucumber is ‘Prolific’ which is being introduced
from the Far East and is a
very productive cooking
cucumber (cucumber
and potato soup is to be
recommended and it uses
up your surplus cucumbers!).
It is early to harvest and the
fruits can be stored in cool
dry conditions for months
(looks interesting). The plants
have a high resistance to
powdery mildew and are
best grown in a greenhouse.
Pumpkin ‘Blaze’F1 is both
ornamental and edible so could be used in the flower garden saving you space in the vegetable patch. The fruit are yellow and orange striped so look nice in the flower area, kitchen and on the show bench where they may do well in the any other vegetable class. The plants are vigorous with a good resistance to powdery mildew and are high yielding.
Sweetcorn ‘Picasso’F1 is another introduction suitable for the ornamental and kitchen garden – dig out your flowers and grow vegetables in the area! The leaves and stems of’Picasso’F1 have an attractive red streak and it is still said to be a reliable
summers become the norm) as well as being slow to
bolt. ‘Purple Rain’F1 can be sown in succession to give
a long cropping period and the first head is cut like a Calabrese and then it sends up long spears over a couple of weeks which effectively gives two crops from one plant. It has a fairly compact habit so would be suitable for container growing, raised beds and small gardens.
Dobies have a number of new vegetable seeds the first is a cauliflower
called ‘Zaragoza’F1 which has been improved and has resistance to clubroot disease (a Bain of many allotmenters life!). It is claimed to be of high quality and can be stored for a while without blowing. If sown from February to July in succession it is ready to harvest from August to late October. Although slightly more expensive than other cauliflower cultivars the clubroot resistance is worth paying for if a problem in your soil.
Moving onto root crops carrot ‘Cascade’F1 is an improved chantenay type that has F1 vigour (heterosis) and good uniformity. It is a stump rooted type, small
Pumpkin ‘Blaze’F1 is both ornamental and edible so could be used in the flower garden saving you space in the vegetable patch
Broccoli Purple Rain F1
Carrot Snowman F1
Celery Pink
Simply Vegetables 17