A Capsicum pubescens chili with medium large fairly hot orange coloured fruits. The latin name refers to the hairy leaves of this pepper and, along with the black seeds, is what marks them out from the other Capsicum species. This type of chili are also often referred to as ‘Bolivian Hairy’ or ‘Rocoto’ chilies. This one originates from Guatemala of course and I sourced the seed from a chili enthusiast in La Palma.
It can be used like any chili – fresh, made into a paste or dried. The flesh is thicker than other chilies and has a higher moisture content. They are quite juicy. I prefer to cook them fresh and use other chilies like cayenne for drying.
As Capsicum pubescens grows at higher elevations than other species it is relatively cold tolerant and hardier than other chilis. It still won’t survive frost but it is possible to overwinter them in Ireland if they are brought in and protected for the winter months.
Start seeds as early as possible with supplementary heat and light if necessary. The plants should have as much vegetative growth as possible before flowering and producing chilis. They can be grown in pots but large pots are needed to allow the plants to reach their full potential.
Capucijner is an heirloom purple podded pea. Young peas can be eaten raw but the variety is typically used for its dried peas which were a staple food in Holland some time ago. They’re an excellent addition to soups and stews. A tall vigorous pea which needs supporting.
Sea plantain (Plantago maritima) is the seaside cousin of ribwort plantain and a much nicer nibble. Though a coastal plant, it can be occasionally found inland at lake shores and mountains. It should grow fine in any free draining soil as its close relative staghorn plantain (P. coronopus), also a coastal plant, is cultivated by salad growers in many areas.
A native plant to Ireland, sea plantain typically flowers from June to September in the wild. When seed heads are ripe they can be cut and hung to dry upside down in a paper bag. Enough seed will fall out for you to replant again. Seed is tiny so difficult to separate from the chaff if you break up the dried flower heads.
‘Hetman’ is a great tasting stringless sugar snap pea. Crops early and heavily but within a short window, so I would succession sow this one to spread out the harvest. Reaches a height of 100cm so needs trellising.
Sugarsnap peas have edible pods that lack the fibrous ‘parchment’ layer which is present in the inner walls of the pods of other peas. They are great for eating raw or cooking al dente.
This red haricot bean came from Hodmedod’s in the UK. It is a variety which was bred by the late Colin Leakey who was a prolific plant scientist and breeder. He had a lot of expertise with Phaseolus vulgaris in particular and was heavily involved with adapting beans to grow better in UK conditions.
‘Stop’ is grown as a canning bean in the UK so it is a bush variety for combining. I’m not sure if combining beans in Ireland will ever be feasible due to the necessity for dry conditions at ripening and harvest time. However, at a home scale, whole plants can be pulled in to bring in and dry when weather dictates. It is possible to grow a considerable amount of your own protein this way. A few square meters yields around a kilo of dried beans. I found it grew very easily, ripened early and had a good yield.
‘Red Baron’ is a very reliable red onion which stores as well as white onions in my experience. Good sized deep red skinned onions with great flavour. Produced good seed grown outside in 2022 despite of the wet Autumn.
A traditional Spanish variety known as the ‘tapas chilli’ as that’s where they often end up. Padrón (Capsicum annuum) produce lots of medium sized chilis which can be picked young and green or let to ripen to red and hotter. Plants grow to about 70cm tall. They get laden with fruits and quite top heavy so need supporting or they will fall over. Take care when sowing as the capsaicinoid chemicals which give chillies their heat is abundant on the seeds.
Zebrune is a heritage variety grown widely in France where shallots are revered in cooking. Torpedo shaped, they are often referred to as ‘banana’ shallots. Milder and sweeter flavoured than onions. Just as easy to grow. When dried well shallots can be stored for even longer than onions.
Being daylength sensitive, shallots grown from seed should be planted as early as possible. This allows the most opportunity for growth before the bulbs start forming. I aim to start them in a heated propagator from around February.
‘Apache’ is a very attractive lettuce (Lactuca sativa) with deep red crinkled leaves. It grows in a loose rosette and can be harvested as a cut and come again salad or by the whole head. It is suitable for growing all through the season.
Lettuce is best grown as transplants. Can be started off in modular trays from as early as January if you have a heated propagator (be careful to not let lettuce seed get above 23°C as the seed can go dormant then and not germinate). Sow seeds very shallowly or just sit on top of the compost and water gently. From spring no additional heat should be required.
One I tried in my pursuit of good dwarf beans (Phaseolus vulgaris) to produce dry beans in Ireland. I sourced ‘Aura’ from Poland where it is grown on large scale and was reported to be a very early maturing variety and highly resistant to diseases. It was both those in 2023 where it produced a healthy crop of dry beans in the very wet and windy summer.
Strong stems which keep the beans off the ground and prevent the crop from lodging. Plants are about 40cm tall and flowers are white. When ripe the pods are pale yellow. If weather is bad when ready to be harvested the whole plants can be pulled up and brought inside to dry before shelling.
Wait until the soil has warmed up sufficiently if direct sowing. This means May/June in Ireland. Sow ~10cm apart in rows with 50cm between.
‘Wasabino’ is a variety of mustard (Brassica juncea) which has a gentle horseradish/wasabi flavour along with the usual spicy kick. Young leaves are light green, with serrated and wavy edges and are ideal baby leaf salad. Older leaves are tougher and better for stir frying. Very cold hardy so if you have a polytunnel you could grow it all year round.
The Orca (Orcaaasaa♫aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa … Orca .. Killer Whale) Bean is a dwarf french bean known for it’s distinctive pattern on the dry seed. Grown this year to mark the 22nd anniversary of an infamous fishing trip taken by three killer whales to Cork City.
Also known as the ‘Ying Yang Bean’ … for some reason. They can be eaten as fresh beans or used like haricot beans when dried. Wait until the soil has warmed up sufficiently if direct sowing. This means May/June in Ireland. Sow ~10cm apart in rows with 50cm. Can be sown a few weeks earlier in a polytunnel or glasshouse.
A long podded french bean (Phaseolus vulgaris) which yields heavily. Pods are dark green, round and 17-19cm length. Resistant to bean mosaic virus and anthracnose. Wait until the soil has warmed up sufficiently if direct sowing. This means May/June in Ireland. Sow ~10cm apart in rows with 50cm.
On a home scale climbing french beans are more productive than dwarf varieties. French beans also yield more in a glasshouse or polytunnel. However, with market gardening in mind, it is not so practical to support large numbers of plants and tunnel space is precious. So I am interested in how productive dwarf french beans can be when grown outside in Ireland. I hope to do a proper variety trial soon. It would be important to have varieties with different maturation rates to spread out the harvest window. Caruso is considered a mid season variety.
Red Orache is a very attractive and easy to grow plant which can be used like spinach. When young you can eat the plant whole. If you let it grow on it will reach a height of more than 1m and then only eat the leaves as the stem will be fibrous. It will not bolt like spinach.
Seeming like an exotic thing to me, I was surprised to see how well it coped with the dismal summer of 2023.
However, maybe I shouldn’t have been surprised as it is a member of the Amaranthaceae, or goosefoot, family and looks a bit like a large red coloured fat-hen.
