Seed ordering and swapping

It’s that exciting time of year when we decide what to grow next year. Some things are really easy – Lark F1 hybrid sweetcorn, for example. Yes I know they are F1 and that goes against everything I believe in terms of seed swaps and seed conservation but they taste so very good … nothing else will do. If I can’t have Lark, I don’t grow sweetcorn.

Tomatoes – not a success for us this year, so we’re starting with all new seed, a spring-cleaned greenhouse and new pots. I want to grow one plum tomato, a really good tomato for making passata and a sandwich tomato (one with good flavour and not too moist because they make the bread soggy) and I’m open to suggestions on all three.

Peppers – we’re going back to the chocolate pepper this year – it’s the variety called Choco in the USA and it’s been a reliable, sweet, fleshy pepper for us, it’s always cropped well too. We tried Gourmet this year and it was less good. We also grew Padron and Corno de Toro but they were both too hot for salads (for us) so we’re looking for another bell pepper that’s slightly hotter than Choco, but not as fiery as those two.

Chillies - it's always Royal Blacks for us!

Onions – Kelsae are our best performing seed onions. They are utterly dependable and easy to get started if you have a heated greenhouse or electric propagator. And they can become real giants without sacrificing flavour or cutting quality.

What are you growing in 2012?

Labels: allotment chillies, allotment seeds, growing sweetcorn, Kelsae onions, seed swaps, tomatoes