Page 18 - Simply Vegetables Winter 2020/21

in size so not suitable for the big shows but with good uniformity may win at the smaller shows. A big plus is that it can be grown
at high density to produce many small carrots and give a high yield per area. They can be thinned and the thinning’s used in salads and the remaining plants left to grow larger. It is early cropping and slow to bolt and can be sown from February to July
for June to September harvesting; I would expect February sowings would need to be under cloches or fleece in many parts of the country.
Next is a Pak Choi called ‘Macau’F1 which is another plant with a compact habit so again suitable for growing in small places which is useful as many people have smaller gardens and plots now. Pak Choi is not widely grown but is worth a try to test the taste especially if you use stir-fry cooking.
It is said to have good bolt tolerance and will hold for up to 2 weeks in the summer without going to seed. It can be sown in succession from March to mid-August to harvest from late May to December so a useful late cropper.
A new sugar snap pea called ‘Sugar Lace’ is said to produce extra thick juicy pods and not need much support if grown in blocks. Claimed to have powdery mildew resistance which is often a problem on late sown peas. ‘Sugar Lace’ can be sown from March to June to harvest from June to September so could be useful for later sowings to get a late crop of peas. It grows to a height of 60 to 70cm so a low growing pea.
As a lover of the super-sweet sweet corn
I am always interested in new super-sweet cultivars and they have improved enormously over the last few years. ‘Illusion’F1 is said to be more tender than existing super-sweet cultivars and is also suitable for growing in the U.K. as it has good cold weather vigour; which should make it useful for early crops and an advantage for early shows. Although the cobs are white with the odd yellow kernel, the cobs are approx. 20cm long and fill right to the tip (again good for showing). For early crops sow in late March indoors and through to May for the later crops.
‘Simiane’ is a banana shaped shallot
said to have a sweet flesh with pink internal rings. It can be used as a spring onion or left to mature into torpedo shaped shallots. Sow from February to June ready to harvest
Cucumber (Indoor) Luxury F1
during September / October. Members who read Kitchen Garden
or watched the TV programme with Rob Smith in will be familiar with him, he works for Dobies and has his own range in the their catalogue which includes some new cultivars or some newly available heritage types. He has a couple of lettuces with coloured leaves; the first is ‘Bronze Beauty’ with oak shaped long leaves with a bronze tint on young growth. It is heat tolerant so useful if we continue to get hot summers and is slow to bolt which means a longer cropping period. The leaves are said to be super sweet and the plants
growing courgettes up poles or trellis as they take up less space and make use of the vertical area which is especially useful in small gardens or plots. ‘Wave Climber’ produces tendrils so with a bit of training will climb up supports, the vine can grow up to 5m but will be less if pinched out. It produces dark green fruit 20 to 25cm long and is said to be very productive.
Continuing the climbing theme
next is climbing French bean Borlotti ‘Stokkevitsboon’ (try saying that!) again making use of the vertical space. It produces pink speckled pods which would look
would not look out of place in a potager garden or flower border. As well as tolerating heat it will also grow in
semi shade. Sow from late January indoors and March to June outdoors to harvest mid-April to October.
Pak Choi is not widely grown but is worth a try to test the taste especially if you use stir-fry cooking
attractive in the flower garden and the pods can be eaten fresh or the beans dried to use in soups and stews.
Mangetout pea ‘Golden Sweet’ is a golden coloured pea with violet flowers and leaf nodes that are red. Again a plant which should look good in the flower garden making full use of your area, the pods should also look attractive and stand out on the show bench (something
Lettuce ‘Speckled Trout’
is an old Austrian heritage
cultivar which is very cold
tolerant and also slow to
bolt. It is a cos type and the
leaves are bright green with red splashes and claimed to taste sweet. Sow from February to June.
different!), and should catch the judges eye. It is another climbing plant growing up to 2m high making use of the vertical space. The peas are said to be sweet tasting and can be eaten fresh in salads or stir-fry. Another pea is ‘Rapid’ a fast growing plant up to 1m high and will crop in June from a March sowing. If sown in succession it will harvest from June to August and would be useful in containers and raised beds.
Most companies seem to bring out new tomatoes and Garden Organic are no exception as they have ‘Dora’ with heart shaped fruit and is a bush type of approx. 40cm height so again useful in containers. Also available is tomato ‘Cherokee Purple’ which is said to originate from the Cherokee tribes of the USA. It is a beefsteak type with fruit of approx. 340gms with a pinkie red colour and said to be sweet.
Suttons have a new pea called ‘Proval’ which can be sown from October to Mid- December and February to July giving a long cropping period and making use of the ground over a long period especially during the winter time. It is said to be high yielding with 7 to 8 peas per pod and the plants
Tomato ‘Bloody Butcher’ is an early cropping cordon type producing golf ball sized fruit with a blood red juice, hence its name; it has a long harvest period even
in cool conditions. Another tomato new
to the Rob Smith range is ‘Big Brandy’ a cross between two heritage cultivars (‘Big Dwarf’ and ‘Brandywine’ a well-known heritage tomato). ‘Big Brandy’ produces pink beefsteak fruit of 350 to 425gms and is higher yielding than either parent.
The Organic Catalogue which is part of the Dobies company includes some different new seeds which are all organically grown so suitable for any of our members who grow to strictly organic principles. The first is broad bean ‘Eleonora’ a small plant of 40 to 80cm height making it ideal for container and raised bed growing as well as windy sites. The flowers are scented and good for bees.
Courgette ‘Wave Climber’ is a climbing courgette hence its name; we have had a couple of contributors to Simple Vegetables in recent years who have mentioned about
18 Simply Vegetables
Cucumber (Indoor) Prolific
French Bean (Climbing) Lazy Housewife