Top 10 Vegetable Seeds
Tomato Cherry Gardeners’ Delight
If you only grow one type of tomato then make sure it’s one that’s full of flavour. Cherry tomatoes are gorgeous. Pick them straight off the plants and eat them like sweets. Children love them and they are full of vitamins and flavour. Gardeners’ Delight produces lots of small, round deep red fruits and can be grown indoors or out. Sow indoors from January to May and plant outside when the danger of frost has passed. Each pack contains enough seeds for 15 plants and pounds and pounds of tomatoes. Think of the money you’ll save on supermarket cherry tomatoes and invest in one pack to try this season – you won’t be disappointed.
Beetroot Boltardy
If you love beetroot then this variety is a great one to choose to grow. Not only do the plants have perfect globe shapes beets with a fabulous colour and flavour, but you can also eat the young leaves in salad.
Beetroot Boltardy is much slower to set seed which makes it a great choice in warmer climates. You can sow short rows every fortnight to ensure a continuous supply of fresh tasty beets and the larger beets don’t tend to be woody.
Sow from March until July and harvest when the beets are golf ball size or larger. One packet is enough to sow a 5m (15ft) row.
Spring Onion – White Lisbon
It’s easy to add a bit of extra flavour to garden salads, simply sow some spring onions. They are an easy crop to grow and very satisfying. White Lisbon is a tried and trusted variety that has been grown for generations. Seedlings quickly mature into pencil thin succulent stems that are great in stir fries and salads. Sow short rows every fortnight to ensure a continuous supply, once you’ve grown these they’ll be on your seed list every year.
Sow from March to July and from September to October. One packet contains enough seed to sow a 4m (12ft) row.
Carrot Autumn King 2
When you want a really good supply of tasty, chunky carrots you need to choose a Maincrop variety that will mature into the autumn and can be stored and used over the winter. Carrots are a wonderful source of vital vitamins and nutrients and a great garden crop. Choose Carrot Autumn King 2, it’s a splendid Maincrop carrot that has large, heavy roots that can be harvested from later summer into winter. They have great colour and flavour and store well if cleaned and packed into boxes of dry sand or compost. Sow outdoors from March until July and harvest when mature right through to November. One packet has enough seed to sow a 10m (30ft) row.
Radish French Breakfast
If you love radish you’ll love these. Sow a short row every week from March until September and you’ll be harvesting the juicy, tasty roots almost all year. Use the young leaves in salad and pull the plants young for a fresh, spicy kick to salads and sandwiches. One pack contains enough seed for a 6m (16ft) row and you can harvest the plants right into October. If you are new to gardening radishes are a great crop to try and a fast maturing crop for children to use in their vegetable garden.
Carrot Early Nantes 2
Sweet juicy carrots are divine straight from the garden. For an early crop Early Nantes 2 is a great choice. The long, stumpy roots have very little core and a great colour, texture and flavour. Simply delicious with the first crop of peas or grated in salads.
Sow outdoors from February until June. Sow short rows every two weeks or so to create a continuous crop. One packet contains enough seed for a 10m (30ft) row. Carrots can be harvested from May to October.
Lettuce Cut And Come Again
Anyone who regularly buys bags of salad leaves from the supermarket should buy a pack of this seed. Even if you don’t normally grow vegetables, mixed salad leaves is an excellent place to start and you really can grow it on the windowsill in a large pot. One packet contains hundreds of seeds, enough to sow many pots of salad. Simply cut the leaves as they mature and use them fresh. Sow a pot full every ten days for a continuous supply all summer. Each crop can have the leaves harvested several times to produce masses of fresh home-grown salad. All for just £1.79. All you need to do is keep it watered and pick it. Alternatively if you have room you can sow the seed in rows outside from May. Each packet contains enough seed to sow a 15m (45ft) row.
Sow indoors March and April and outdoors May to July.
Herb Rocket (Eruca vesicaria) – Hardy Annual
For an easy to grow salad crop try Rocket. Even just a few leaves of this tasty plant can transform a boring salad into something interesting. They have a distinctive, spicy flavour and are a great addition to sandwiches.
Rocket is extremely easy to grow and one packet will sow a 10m (30ft) row, so there are plenty of seeds to sow a few at fortnightly intervals.
The leaves are particularly tasty when young, simply cut them off with scissors and let the plants grow a fresh crop.
Sow in small pots in a greenhouse from February or outside from March right through to October. Leaves are ready to harvest in a matter of weeks.
Lettuce (Cos) Little Gem
For a small, sweet, easy to grow lettuce you can’t go wrong with ‘Little Gem’. It’s a well-tried and tested variety that keen gardeners grow year after year. What’s more if you pick it and eat it straightaway it has a beautiful flavour.
This one is great for growing in small pots, containers or even on a balcony. Sow the seed into the Westland Instant Planter and you can have your own instant salad planter. You can sow it outdoors from April to July or indoors from March to April. Plants are ready to harvest in a matter of weeks and if you’ve sown them too thickly you can eat the thinnings early. One pack has enough seed for a 10m (30ft) row.
Runner Bean Scarlet Emperor
If you only grow one vegetable this season make sure it’s runner beans. These plants were originally grown for their ornamental flowers and make a wonderful addition trained up wigwams in the flower border. A dozen plants will produce a generous crop for one or two people, but a whole row will help to fill the freezer so that you can enjoy tasty home grown beans through the winter too.
Scarlet Emperor is a great choice. It is a stringless bean. Bees easily pollinate the flowers so that they set well. Expect abundant crops. Sow indoors in April and May and outdoors in May and June. One pack contains plenty of seed for a 4m (12ft row).
NB For full growing instructions read the packets. Unwins seeds are from garden centres.
