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.
An old French variety of climbing bean (Phaseolus vulgaris). Can be eaten young as green beans or allowed to mature and be harvested as dry beans. The dry beans have a striking cream and purple/brown mottled pattern and can be used in stews, casseroles and the like. In Ireland, french beans can be sown directly outside in June when the soil is sufficiently warm. Alternatively, you can plant them indoors in pots a few weeks beforehand to give them a head start on slugs when planted out.
White Gem is a well established parsnip variety. With shorter roots than other varieties, it is suitable for all soils including heavier clay types. It has decent resistance to canker and nice smooth skin.
Direct sow in April/May when the soil has warmed up enough. Parsnip seed is slow enough to germinate and has a lower viability than other seed so early sowings in cold conditions increase the likelihood of seeds failing. Parsnip seed also has a short vitality so it is best not to keep seed for the following year. Sow generously in a drill aiming to drop a seed every 2-3cm and thin out to around 10-15cm when the seedlings have emerged. Make sure the soil does not dry out while the seeds are germinating. Once the precarious germination period has passed and the seedlings are thinned to their final spacing there is very little to do until harvest; just an occasional weeding.
Parsnips store best left in the ground and harvested as required. They are reported to improve in flavour after frost but I don’t notice any difference.
Average 400 seeds per packet.
10g average 2,000 seeds
An early maturing variety which crops well and is resistant to pea wilt and downy mildew. Short growing at around 50cm tall. 6-8 sweet flavoured peas per pod. It is good to make two sowings, in Spring and again in early Summer, to extend the harvesting period.
