Page 20 - Simply Vegetables Winter 2020/21

is a winter hardy savoy type that can be harvested from December to March and is tolerant to alternaria disease.
Calabese ‘Kaibroc’F1 said to be good tasting and can be harvested from the primary head and then the side shoots, the stem is also said to be edible.
There are two new cauliflowers in Select’s catalogue, the first being cauliflower SV5818AC this is a potential cultivar for exhibitors as it produces large curds that are well covered by the leaves whilst growing.
It matures in 80 to 85 days from planting
out with a good white colour. The other new cauliflower is ‘Oviedo’ this can mature in 69 days from planting, so if planted in March will be ready for July.
Soni 8307 is a salad / bunching onion that is vigorous and quick growing, it is slow to bulb and would look good on the show bench or table. It has a mild flavour.
Pea Style is a semi-leafless type producing large pods with up to 10 peas in a pod; and it produces masses of tendrils that can be used as pea shoots in salads or side dishes. It is maincrop pea.
Select seeds have two new cultivars of sprouting broccoli the first being ‘Purple rain’F1 which is also being offered by D.T.Brown. it is a compact plant and is ready for picking from October and has a long cropping period. The second cultivar is ‘Red Fire’F1 this is ready
The French Bean ‘Lazy Housewife is also offered by D.T.Brown and does not require destringing hence its name. it was bred in 1885 by the W. Atlee Burpee so is well tried and tested.
Lettuce ‘Crisp Mint’ is a romaine cos type that is also a heritage cultivar, they are said to stand well in the spring and autumn. The outer leaves are large and coloured mint green hence its name and the heart leaves are nearly white and have a crunchy texture. Lettuce ‘Baby Oakleaf’ has a compact habit so is suitable for container growing or small plots where space is a premium. The leaves can be picked individually and used as salad leaves, the plants stand well and are slow
to bolt. A third lettuce is ‘Oakus’ which has dark purple leaves and will give colour to a salad or could be used in the flower borders.
A new patty pan squash is ‘Greendisc’F1 which is a high yielding plant producing round fruits which are best harvested when 5 to 7cm in diameter as they are tender at this stage. The fruits are green with some stripes.
Parsnip ‘Sabre’F1 looks like it could be useful for exhibiting as it as a very white skin with a good finish. It is early to mature and will grow up to 1.5m when grown in a drum or similar container, it looks well worth a try.
Crunchy King is a new radish with a red skin and white internal flesh producing cherry shaped roots that are tolerant to pithiness.
‘Crokini’F1 is a new cherry type tomato, it has good disease resistance even to late blight. It is a good cropper and the plants are vigorous and the fruits don’t split easily. ‘Summerlast’F1 is a patio type tomato with a height of 40cm and fruits weighing 45gms. It has blight resistance and is a determinate cultivar.
‘Tamari’ mixed is a turnip with red or white skins and white flesh, they are 5 to 10cm
in diameter and can be used raw in salads when small or cooked once they are mature.
Moles seeds have a range of new cultivars the first being a melon named Charmont F1 which is a charantais type that produces a good yield of round fruits that weigh 1 to 1.2 kg. The fruit has a green skin and orange flesh with a sweet taste and will keep well for a couple of weeks. It has resistance to Fusarium and powdery mildew.
Microgreens are become very poplar these days and are well worth growing as they can be grown in the kitchen, greenhouse, and cold frame. Moles have a number of different plants that can be grown as microgreens. They have two new selections, one being Pak Choi and it was bred for microgreen production. The other new microgreen is a red amaranth which will add a bit of colour to you salads; again it was bred for microgreen production.
There does not seem to be many new cabbages being developed these days, possible as it is not a trendy food at present and people prefer other tastes. ‘Tantour’F1 is a well shaped hybrid suitable for greens production during the spring, summer and autumn, and hearts production in the spring and autumn. It will stand for a while before bolting.
‘Sunshine’F1 is a climbing French bean that has been out a couple of years now, the pods are a bright yellow, stringless and are approx. 17cm in length with a round profile. They have white flowers and seeds.
Onion ‘Fasto’F1 a second early cultivar producing attractive, high quality globe shaped bulbs. The skin facilitates easy cleaning and they are good for long term storage. As the old skins can be peeled they may be O.K. for exhibiting in the under 250gms classes.
Moles have two new seeds that are organically grown the first is lettuce ‘Admir’ which is an oak leaf type with glossy leaves. It can be sown for spring, summer and autumn harvesting and has some tolerance to tipburn and resistance to lettuce aphid and mildew.
Courgette ‘Tosca’F1 is very productive and suitable for allotment growing; the plants are a bush type and are compact and have tolerance to powdery mildew. The fruits
are dark green and 18 to 22cm in length. If started early they can be harvested early.
Kings also have tomatoes ‘Buffalosun’ and ‘Crokina’F1 as new for 2021, details of these are above as other seed companies have them as well.
Sorry for the repeat of the Select Seeds part but I typed this before Davids article (Page 38) arrived. - Ed
from February onwards and said to be an outstanding cropper.
Spinach ‘Acadia’ has dark green semi-savoy like foliage and holds well as not prone to bolting. It can be sown for all year harvesting
Sweetcorn ‘Goldcrest’F1 is a super sweet and Xtra tender type producing good quality cobs.
The French Bean ‘Lazy Housewife is also offered by D.T.Brown and does not require destringing hence its name
It can be sown nearly all the year round to provide a succession of crops.
The next cultivar is one of the new crosses between the French and runner beans, ‘Tenderstar’, it has pink and red bicolour flowers so would look nice in the ornamental part of the garden or growing up a trellis or pergola; saving space in the vegetable area. It is British bred so should be suitable for our climate. The pods are smooth and fleshy, and are also stringless with a
Tomato ‘Buffalosun’F1 is a
beefsteak type with orange
fruit and can be grown for
the early shows if sown in January, it will
be ready for a July show. (So ideal for the New Forest Show! – Ed). It is also claimed to have good late blight resistance. Select supporters have a new cherry type tomato called ‘Sweetie’. It produces fruits of 1.5cm dia said to taste good on vigorous plants. It is also available from Kings Seeds.
Kings seeds are also supporters of the NVS and have a good selection of seeds in their 2021 catalogue. The new cultivars include:
Purple Sprouting ‘Claret’F1 which produces heavy yields from vigorous plants and is ready for picking in April / May so is a late cropper but this will be useful as it is around the hungry gap period.
Kings also have cauliflower ‘Zaragoza’F1 as have Dobies (see above). A new courgette is ‘One Ball’ which as the name suggests produces round fruit; they can
be harvested from the size of a golf ball up to tennis ball. The fruit are yellow so would stand out in displays or on the show bench. The plants have a bush habit of growth giving a high yield.
tender texture. The pods are approx. 20cm long and it is a heavy cropper.
‘Polar Bear’F1 is a new pumpkin, white
in colour and producers large fruits that can weigh 15kg upwards giving plenty of flesh for cooking and could be useful to give colour
in displays.
Kings have three new sweetcorn available for 2021, the first is ‘Amaize’F1 with creamy yellow kernels said to have a good taste. The second sweetcorn is ‘Picasso’F1 said to be one of the sweetest corns around. The cobs are bicoloured and the flowers (tassels) are purple so could be used in the ornamental garden. The stem and leaves also have a
tint of purple on them. The cobs are 20cm long and can be eaten cooked or raw. The third sweetcorn is ‘Snobaby’F1 it is grown for the baby corn which are cooked in stir-fry dishes. It produces a number of baby cobs from quite early in the season.
‘Bellandine’F1 produces plum shaped tomatoes with a good flavour which weigh 180 to 200gms; with virtually no seeds and has good resistance to blossom end rot which will be useful in hot dry summers.
20 Simply Vegetables