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Marshalls announce Top 10 veg seeds of 2016!

Marshalls Seeds has announced its Top 10 bestselling vegetable seeds of 2016 to inspire grow your own gardeners looking to sow this year.

Launched in 1948, Marshalls Seeds is now established as the go-to retailer for kitchen garden and allotment growers nationwide. Its collection of vegetable seeds and plants are chosen and bred for their quality, yield and flavour, making them a favourite for all.

Its Top 10 bestselling vegetable seeds for 2016 were:

1. Caliente Mustard

Not just a green manure, but also acts as a bio-fumigant for the soil. Suppresses various soil-borne pests and diseases by releasing naturally occurring compounds. Great for improving soil structure and fertility. Sow from March to October. Feefo Review – Produces lush green manure for digging in later

2. Runner Bean Firestorm

Worlds first self-pollinating red flowered runner bean. Firestorm is easy to grow and produces masses of flowers, which set well even in poor weather or high temperatures. The beans are stringless and when picked young they have all the beauty of a classic runner with a more succulent texture closer to French beans. Sow indoors from April to May and outdoors from May to June.  Feefo Review – Fantastic crop last year -ordered again this yearFantastic crop last year – ordered again this year.

3. Beetroot Boltardy

A true gardeners favourite. This Beetroot is a tried and tested variety for early sowing, due to its resistance to bolting. Produces beets with an excellent sweet flavour, smooth skin and deep red tender flesh. Sow from March to July. Feefo Review – An old faithful, germinates every time. Very tasty.

4. Carrot Resistafly

An early Nante-type Carrot with good resistance to carrot fly. Achieves a wonderful crop of long, well-coloured smooth roots. Sow from April to June. Feefo Review – Used for several years with good results

5. Parsnip Gladiator

The world’s first hybrid parsnip! This variety has been bred to be quick to establish and to be more vigorous than the average parsnip, hence the name. A superb F1 hybrid that has the RHS Award of Garden Merit and is ideal for exhibition. It has beautiful silky-smooth blemish free, white skins and a sweet, earthy flavour. Good resistance to canker. Sow from February to May. Feefo Review – Never fails, outside or in the tunnel.

6. Tomato Montello

This vigorous variety is so prolific, producing handfuls of tasty fruit through mid to late summer. Great in containers, baskets or growbags, both indoors and out, this bush variety gets to 90cm in length producing masses of trusses, you don’t even need to pinch out side-shoots. Tomatoes are delicious eaten straight from the plant or added to salads. They also reduce well when cooking, making excellent rich Bolognese sauces and soups. Sow from February to May. Feefo Review – An abundance of tasty plum tomatoes.

7. Pea Douce Provence

A very sweet and succulent pea which is extremely versatile. It can be sown as an over-wintering variety, from March under protection for an early crop, or from April to July as a main crop. Grows to about 2½ft (75cm) needing virtually no support. Feefo Review – Ideal for a variety of spaces and seasons.

8. Courgette Tuscany

Well suited to the UK climate and will fruit well even in the North. Produces high yields of very dark, straight fruits. Plants have an erect, open habit with very few spines, making picking easy. Very good powdery mildew resistance. Sow indoors from April to May and outdoors from May to June. Feefo Review – Excellent croppers. It’s October now and I’m still picking!

9. French Bean Cobra

Climbing French Bean ‘Cobra’ can also be grown as a runner bean. Grow under glass for an early crop. Produces high deliciously tender and tasty crops of exceptional quality beans. With lovely violet flowers, this vegetable makes a beautiful addition to any flower border, making it perfect for smaller gardens. Pods grow up to 8in long and are string-less. Sow indoors from April to May and outdoors from May to June. Feefo Review – Germination is excellent, looking forward to harvesting

10. Broad Bean De Monica

A dual purpose, disease resistant Broad Bean variety which can be sown overwinter for your earliest spring crops. From a spring sowing, ‘De Monica’ is so fast growing and quick to mature, it will be amongst your earliest cropping broad beans too. Plants have a strong upright habit, with 2-3 stems per plant. Pods contain 5-6 large white flavoursome beans and are held off the ground so are kept clean and easy to pick. Sow indoors from December to February. Sow outdoors from March to May and from October to November. Feefo Review – 100% germination, growing just as described

Anna Betts, Brand Manager for Marshalls, said: “During 2016, we noticed growers are moving towards modern varieties due to their disease resistance and reliability. Growers want assurances that their hard work won’t go to waste and will result in heavy cropping tasty produce. They are voting with their wallets by choosing varieties which can deliver outstanding results.”

Available in all good garden retailers or on the Marshalls Seeds website.

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