I read a piece in The Sunday Times this week by that very reliable garden expert, Toby Buckland, in which he lists his top ten ‘grow your own’ varieties. I expected to see the usual suspects, including Brussel sprouts and ‘heritage’ beets, but his choice was a pleasant surprise. So, for those of you who didn’t get it straight from the horse’s mouth – here it is again. He also told a little garden anecdote which, since I love garden history, I will pass on too. It’s always difficult for gardeners to judge just the right moment to sow vegetable seeds. Apparently Victorian gardeners had a fail-proof method: they dropped their trousers and sat bare-buttocked on the earth. If the experience was pleasant enough, the time was right – if it was rather chilly on the skin – it would be too cold for the seeds too. Very sensible I reckon – will you be giving it a go?
His top ten are: Salad Rocket (childsplay, this one):Cucamelon, very trendy tiny little melon shaped cucumber; Potato ‘Winston’ – tennis ball size tubers in less than 10 weeks; Squash ‘potiron rouge vif d’Etampes – bright Cinderella like pumpkins; Tomato ‘Apero’ – mini plum tomatoes great with an evening drink; Chili pepper ‘Aji Limon’ – hot with a lemony tang, sounds great to me; Sweetcorn ‘Northern Extra Sweet’ – does what it says in the name; Climbing French bean ‘Cheroke Trail of Tears’ – small and string free and prolific; Spinach ‘Reddy’ great zingy, green taste. And that’s it. If you manage to get all this going this year let me know what you think.
