What Varieties Do You Recommend?

As part of my HND course I have to cultivate a small plot at RBGE this year (You can read about last years plots here: http://www.rbge.org.uk/the-gardens/edinburgh/Student-Plots) and we have a prescribed set of vegetables which we have to grow on our plots as well as a designed section of our choosing. The garden has to look good (eg: some veg cropping, plants flowering) by early to mid June 2011, can anyone recommend from experience some good early varieties of the following vegetables? also it would be helpful if they are good at surviving in cold weather:yez: I've had a look into some varieties but there changeable if you think others would be better

• Broadbean - perhaps 'Aquadulce Claudia'?
• Pea - I was thinking 'Meteor'?
• Lettuce - not really sure...
• Carrots - 'Early Nantes 2'?
• Onions - again not sure...

Thanks!

Carl

 

Hi Aesculus, I think I said to you that I saw those student plots at the Botanics in Edinburgh. Nice to see them again - thanks for the link.

Broadbeen - I grew Aqudulce this year and the crop failed, but so did everyone elses around here so don't know what the problem was. Generally broad beans are tough stuff and you should really be allright with anything. Go for Aquadulce if you fancy it.

Peas - I grew Meteor this year and they did well. Kelvendon Wonder always do well for me too.

Lettuce - if you grow some of the cut and come again varieties you'll get good colour in your bed and you can cut out any bits not looking perfect for the show.

Carrots - Early Nantes are reliable if you don't have the carrot fly there. You might want to grow your carrots under fleece to get a good start and to keep the fly off. They can live their whole life under fleece.

Onions - I only grow red onions and Red Baron always does well for me.

Do let us see your bed when you start to plant it.

 

Brilliant thanks for the tips! i espeacially like the idea of the cut and come again lettuce:wink: and I have been told that carrot fly is a major problem on the plots however we were told that last year the group used a fleece barrier (fleece wrapped around canes) and that stopped any problems.

I look into some of the veg recommendations as well also I've been saving plastic milk containers for cloches =]

Keep the info coming =]

 

Hi Carl,

Just planted a load of Yellow Globe onion (winter). It says, "An early variety producing golden skinned onions, perfectly round & sweetly flavoured"

For lettuce, I go for lollo rosso as the slugs dont eat em.

 

Yes, watch out for the slugs and your lettuce, Aesculus.
I second Ziggy on the Lollo Rosso - one of the cut and come again varieties.
The slugs never touch them - but I seem to be blessed and don't have a real slug problem in my garden.

The Red Baron onions - I plant them now from sets. They have never bolted on me.
Also I plant some shoulder to shoulder and use the green shoots as spring onions using all the green parts.
I plant shallots now too and garlic.
How much scope do you have for your own ideas Aesculus. Maybe we can give you some suggestions.

 

Am E mailing you some slugs right now Alice :thumb:

 

Other then the prescribed vegetables we can grow anything we like:thumb: only constraints are that no live plant material must come from outside of the Botanic Gardens (risk of disease spread...) and items such as onion sets and seed potatoes must be from a reputable source and okay-ed by the botanic'ss staff before being planted.

I'm currently thinking on a Light and Dark themed colour scheme so whites, silvers, purples, reds, bronzes.

so far the plants I'd like to use:

Prescribed Vegetable Area

• Broadbean 'Aquadulce Claudia' (T&M)
• Pea 'Meteor' or 'Feltham First' if available... (T&M)
• Lettuce 'Lollo Rosa' & 'Yugoslavian Red' (T&M)
• Carrots 'Early Nantes 2' (T&M)
• Onions 'Red Baron'

Designed Area (Plants so far)

• Cobaea Scandens v. 'Alba'
• Helianthus Annuus 'Claret F1 Hybrid'
• Cleome Spinosa 'Helen Campbell'
• Antirrhinum Majus 'Nanum Bronze Dragon'
• Senecio Cineraria 'Silver Dust'
• Ricinus communis ‘Carmencita Pink’

Alice where did you get your 'Red Barron' sets from to plant now? as T&M say they don't ship until March

 

I get the Red Baron sets from my local nursery. They know what grows here and what people do.
I'll kook at your designed area tomorrow. As I read it you have to grow from seed. A few tricky ones in there.

 

well I like a challenge:hehe: there will probably be some extras in there two as I'll be swapping seeds with others in the group as well:thumb: I've also noticed that chiltern seeds will do most of the seeds for an average saving of 50p or more on every packet compared to thompson and morgan