Grow your own onions, shallots and leeks with our tasty heirloom varieties! Our range of resilient, heritage varieties are perfectly adapted to the UK climate. They thrive in greenhouses, polytunnels and outside. Shop our seeds and grow your own onions, leeks and shallots from seed!
Onions, Leeks and Shallots
-
Leek 'Carentan'
Carentan is an old European leek variety with stout, thick stems and a beautiful mild flavour. Mentioned in Vilmorin-Andrieux's 1883 book 'Les Plantes Potagères', this variety is a selection from the 'Très Gros de Rouen' leek. With its roots in the Norman city of Rouen, Carentan is an heirloom variety very well adapted to cool summers and grey skies. This is a winter hardy leek, plan to harvest it October-January. We recommend leaving a few leeks in the ground and letting them flower - the pom-pom flowers bring in so many pollinators.Sow: April-May undercover or outside. Sow thickly in a seed bed. You can make a seed bed in open soil or use a crate/large pot filled with a multipurpose compost.Plant: May-June. Separate leek seedlings and trim roots and leaves by two thirds. This makes it easier to plant the leeks. Dib holes 20cm apart. Place 1 leek in each hole for big leeks, 3 in each hole for baby leeks. Do not recover with soil.Harvest: October-JanuaryKitchen: Almost as versatile as an onion. Slow cook to bring out sweetness or roast, barbecue & grill whole to add another flavour dimension. Pairs well with acid - lemon, white wine; fats - butter, cream, yogurt, cheese; aromatics - chervil, chives, tarragon, thyme.~1g/350 seedsGerm 92% Jul 25
£1.95
-
Banana Shallot 'Cuisse de Poulet du Poitou'
Our Desert Island onion. Cuisse de Poulet du Poitou is a banana shallot bursting with savoury-sweetness. Its mild enough to be served raw but really sings when cooked low and slow. The bulbs are about the size of an onion - you get proper shallot flavour without the extensive peeling. And they're beautiful - elegant, elongated bulbs with a rusty-rose skin.Sow in March - 3-5 seeds per modules a la Charles Dowding. Harvest fresh and you can use the stems too. Later harvests have a more pungent flavour. Dry the bulbs out after harvest and they'll keep until December.Sow: multi-sow 3-5 seeds per module, March undercoverPlant: 20cm spacing between modulesHarvest: July-AugustKitchen: Pairs with everything. Use raw or cooked in a myriad of dishes.~1g /250 seedsGerm 94% Sept 25
£2.25
-
Spring Onion 'Lilia'
***COMING NOVEMBER 1ST*** Lilia is a lovely little spring onion - vibrant red, right to the core. Leaves are a deeper shade of green than most spring onion varieties. We love to harvest this variety once it has begun to bulb up. The gorgeous, shiny salad onions have a mild flavour, lending themselves to be eaten raw. Sow: Feb-March undercover, April-July outside. Sow clusters of 10 in modules or sow direct 5cm apart. Stagger sowings every 8 weeks for continuous supply. Plant: 4-6 weeks after sowing, plant clusters 20cm apart Harvest: June-October Kitchen: Best used in salads or slowly caramelised. Notes: Keep cool while germinating. Temperatures above 20C inhibit germination. Allium cepa 1.5g (approx 375 seeds) We pack seeds by weight, the number of seeds in a packet is an estimate. Germ Rate: 92% Sept 25
£1.95
-
Spring Onion 'Ishikura'
***COMING NOVEMBER 1ST*** Vibrant green leaves a top long, slender white stems with no bulbing. Ishikura is a fantastically robust and frost hardy Japanese variety with a crisp texture and mild onion flavour. Awarded an RHS AGM for its vigorous growth. Sow every couple of months for harvests throughout the year. Sow: Feb-March undercover, April-September outside. Sow clusters of 10 in modules or sow direct 5cm apart. Stagger sowings every 8 weeks for continuous supply. Plant: 4-6 weeks after sowing, plant clusters 20cm apart Harvest: Year round Kitchen: Best used in salads or slowly caramelised. Notes: Keep cool while germinating. Temperatures above 20C inhibit germination. Allium fistulosum 1.5g (approx 375 seeds) We pack seeds by weight, the number of seeds in a packet is an estimate. Germ Rate: 91% Sept 25
£1.85
-
Red Onion 'Rossa di Milano'
***COMING NOVEMBER 1ST*** Rossa di Milano is a stunning, deep red Italian heirloom with broad shoulders, tapering down to a narrow root. One we're really excited to bring to UK gardeners. A reliable variety to grow from seed, we sow in February and harvest in late summer. A brilliant storage variety - worth a try if you're after lovely sweet red onions which keep all winter. Sow in March - 3-5 seeds per modules a la Charles Dowding. Harvest fresh and you can use the stems too. Later harvests have a more pungent flavour. Dry the bulbs out after harvest and they'll keep until December. Sow: multi-sow 3-5 seeds per module for bulbs or clusters of 10 for spring onions, March undercover Plant: 20cm spacing between modules Harvest: July-August Kitchen: Pairs with everything. Use raw or cooked in a myriad of dishes. ~1g /250 seeds We pack seeds by weight, the number of seeds in a packet is an estimate. Allium cepaGerm 98% Sept 25
£2.10
-
Red Onion 'Long Red Florence'
***COMING NOVEMBER 1ST*** The sweetest onion in our catalogue with a rich flavour only found in homegrown onions. Long Red Florence is a very versatile Italian heirloom variety which can be cropped as quick-growing, bright purple salad onions or left to mature into elongated, red bulbs. The mature bulbs are so sweet and full-flavoured, delicious in salads or as a rich base for any dish. Sow in March - 3-5 seeds per modules a la Charles Dowding. Harvest fresh and you can use the stems too. Later harvests have a more pungent flavour. Not the best storage onion, best eaten within a couple of months of harvest. Sow: multi-sow 3-5 seeds per module for bulbs or clusters of 10 for spring onions, March undercover Plant: 20cm spacing between modules Harvest: July-August Kitchen: Pairs with everything. Use raw or cooked in a myriad of dishes. ~1g /250 seeds We pack seeds by weight, the number of seeds in a packet is an estimate. Allium cepaGerm 91% Sept 25
£1.75