Toothsome cucumbers with beautiful deep-green, shiny skin. 'Mideast Peace' has a everything you want in a cucumber - sweet flavour, crunchy texture and it keeps well. Its one of the most robust cucumber varieties we've grown. The plant photos in this description were taken in October! As with all Lebanese-type cucumbers, the fruit are stouter than a standard supermarket cuc - they max out at 15cm. A true dual purpose variety - harvest thumb-sized for pickles or to palm-sized for Shirazi salads all summer long.The vines grow from 1-1.5m and can be trained on strings or left to sprawl although the cucumbers are better quality when trained. Mideast Peace was bred by Dr. Alan Kapuler of Peace Seeds (Corvallis, Oregon) for cool climates and we've found this variety to be both early and prolific in unpredictable British summers.Sow: April on a sunny windowsill or heated propagator at 21C.Plant: Harden off and plant into unheated greenhouse/polytunnel after risk of frost has passed. Usually ready to transplant 4 weeks after sowing. Plant at 60cm spacing, train up strings or leave to sprawl.Harvest: As baby cucs for pickles or for salads.Kitchen: Pickle or eat raw. Pairs with citrus (lemon, lime), aromatics and spices (dill, fennel, coriander, ginger, chilli, black pepper), alliums (spring onion, garlic, garlic chives), fats (sesame, cashew).Notes: Plants can be trained up strings or left to sprawl (and will take up a lot of room!).
~20 seeds
92% Nov 24
Lacey, magenta leaves which are more refined than similar varieties available such as 'Purple Frills' and 'Ruby Streaks'. A stalwart salad mustard for cut-and-come again winter salads. The young leaves are mild, becoming more peppery as the plant ages. Slugs and snails tend to leave this variety alone - perhaps because of its unique leaf shape. The young leaves are mild and become more spicy as they age and spring approaches.
As with most of the salad greens in this catalogue, their use in the UK can all be traced back to the godmother of Grow Your Own, Joy Larkcom. Her book 'The Salad Garden' originally published in 1987 is a seminal work on the subject. Her careful recommendations are both tasty and decorative, as she puts it, salad vegetables which 'feed the body and the spirit'.Sow: mid March-May & Aug-Sept (undercover or outside)
Plant: densely for baby leaves, 20cm for salad leaves
Harvest: 4-8 weeks after sowing
Kitchen: Eat fresh or stir fried. Pairs with citrus (lemon, lime, ponzu), aromatics and spices (turmeric, ginger, five spice, chilli), alliums (spring onion, garlic, garlic chives), fats (sesame, cashew).
Notes: Early sowings benefit from fleece. Sowings bolt around the solstice.
Also available in our 'Cool Greens' winter salad seed collection. Download our Winter Salads Growing Guide to learn more about growing winter greens.
~1g/450 seeds
81% July 25
A productive salad leaf and stalwart cut flower rolled into one. Wrinkle Cress grows quickly and abundantly, adding pep to your salads from autumn through to spring. As the days lengthen, plants throw up shoots full of tiny white flowers which gradually transforming into graceful seed heads. The seed heads can be picked when glaucous green or when dry and silvery. They are super versatile - an easy way to add texture to late summer and autumn arrangements. Use fresh or dried.
Sow: mid March-May & Aug-Sept (undercover or outside)
Plant: direct sow or plant 10-20cm apart
Harvest: Salad leaves 4-8 weeks after sowing. Cut seed heads when the uppermost flowers have faded.
Kitchen: Eat fresh in winter and early spring salads. Pairs with citrus (orange, lemon, lime), aromatics and spices (coriander, ginger, five spice, chilli), alliums (spring onion, garlic), fats (sesame, cashew).
Vase: Expect fresh seed heads to last for a week.
~1g / 400 seeds
Germ 93% Nov 24
A tasty Chinese mustard with brightly coloured stems ranging from purple to fuchsia to baby pink. Leaves are shiny with serrated edges, coloured vivid green or deep burgundy. A colourful addition to baby salad mixes but also tastes great cooked.Vivid choi is slow to bolt, cold hardy and versatile in the kitchen. A good choice for home gardeners looking to grow delicious greens you can't buy in the shops.Sow: mid March-May & Aug-Sept (undercover or outside)Plant: densely for baby leaves, 20cm for salad leavesHarvest: 4-8 weeks after sowingKitchen: Eat fresh, braised or stir fried. Pairs with citrus (lemon, lime), aromatics and spices (coriander, ginger, five spice, chilli), alliums (spring onion, garlic, garlic chives), fats (sesame, cashew).Notes: Early sowings benefit from fleece. Sowings bolt around the solstice. Long harvest period, particularly over winter - you'll have greens from October into spring. Cool weather and plant maturity bring out the purple and pink colouring.
Also available in our 'Cool Greens' winter salad seed collection. Download our Winter Salads Growing Guide to learn more about growing winter greens.~1g/450 seeds
Germ: 97% July 25
Marys Niagra is strictly suited to gardeners with a sweet tooth who welcome a little wildness into their gardens. Also known as cape gooseberries, these berries are all individually wrapped in a papery husk. The orange berries inside taste like the layer of caramelized pineapple you get on a pineapple upside down cake. Totally delicious.Despite having their roots in North America, these grow with wild abandon - the plants are big and the fruits are plentiful. They grow 30cm up and then start to bush outwards to almost 3 foot wide! We think they would look tremendous cascading down the side of a container. Fruits fall off the plant when ripe. You can give them a little shake to encourage them and leave to ripen fully on a window sill. Fruits keep well.Sow: March-April with heat (21-25C)Plant: 50-100cm apartHarvest: July-SeptemberKitchen: Eat straight off the plant or incorporate into fruity desserts - they're particularly good in pavlovaNotes: This variety grows well outside.
~20 seeds
Germ 96% Nov 24
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 95% Nov 24
The best tasting perpetual spinach out there - sweet, tender, verdant green leaves on slim stems. Verde da Taglio is an easy-to-grow Italian heirloom which is perfect for gardeners who want to make the most out of their growing space. A couple of sowings will provide you with year-round greens. This is one of our favourite greens in the catalogue - we grow it every year without fail.Sow: April (undercover) & July (outside or undercover) for continuous supply. Plant: 4 weeks after sowing, or sow direct.Harvest: Baby leaves in 6 weeks, big leaves in 8-10 weeks. Harvest outside leaves.Kitchen: Eat baby leaves raw and cook older leaves - steam, sautee, or braise. Cook stems a little longer than leaves. Pairs with acid (lemon, balsamic vinegar, lime), fats (goats cheese, walnuts, coconut milk, butter), salty (olives, feta, parmesan), aromatics (chilli, nutmeg, dill, fennel, thyme).1.5g / ~75 seedsGerm 83% Dec 24
Smooth, round crimson roots with a good crunch. They look particularly beautiful sliced into rounds, pure white flesh contrasting with the bright red skin. They taste best pulled straight out of the ground, soil rubbed off on a trouser leg. Eat from marble sized, all the way to the size of a ping pong ball. You'll be surprised at how big the roots can get without getting spongy or spicy. This variety has a particularly long harvest window and is resistant to downy mildew. Sow: February (undercover) until May. Sow little and often.Harvest: 4 weeks from sowing, longer if sown early.Kitchen: Raw, pickled or braised. Pairs well with fats (melted butter, aioli, sour cream, yogurt, walnuts), aromatics (rosemary, anise, thyme, dill, mint), citrus (lemon).4g / ~275 seedsGerm: 89% Oct 24
Lovely golden globe-shaped beetroot that bring a bit of sunshine to your plate. This variety has very strong, healthy, upright stems which are sturdy enough to bunch or cook as a green. The roots have a intense, turmeric-yellow colour which persists even after cooking. With such bright colouring, surely these beets are brimming with antioxidants. Beetroot are one of the easiest crops to grow but are a bit of a marmite crop in the kitchen. We find the yellow varieties have a milder, and more aromatic flavour than their red counterparts.Sow: April-July, can be sown in modules or directPlant: 4 weeks after sowing.Harvest: June-OctoberKitchen: Roast or boil. Pairs well with spices (cinnamon, chili, cumin), acid (lemon, balsamic vinegar), fats (goats cheese, feta, walnuts, pinenuts, hazelnuts, pecans), salty (capers, olives), aromatics (mint, parsley, dill, fennel, thyme).~4g/200 seedsBeeWin-00075-TMR-OGGerm 81% Dec 24
Not the most exotic sounding lettuce on our list but Maureen is as reliable as they come. Bred to outperform the standard Little Gem type in resistance to downy mildew and seasonality. Bright, fresh green, compact hearts which are equally at home in a crisp Caesar salad as they are braised with bacon and peas.Lettuce is a very ancient crop, originally domesticated by the ancient Egyptians for its seeds and sap which were used as a pain killer and sedative. The Romans went on to cultivate lettuce for its leaves and used it as a braising green.Sow: Feb-May undercover, May-July outside. Stagger sowings for continuous supply.Plant: 4-6 weeks after sowing, plant 20cm apartHarvest: Feb-AprilKitchen: Best used in salads.Notes: To make the most out of your space, you can sow/plant 10cm apart then harvest every other plant leaving the remaining half to head up. Do not let seeds get hot when germinating. 15C is ideal, anything above 18C encourages seed dormancy.~200 seeds/0.025gGerm 87% Nov 24
An unusual rocket variety with deep green, broad leaves which aren't lobed like standard rocket varieties. It is slower growing and slower to bolt than more vigorous alternatives such as 'Victoria'. A substantial, peppery leaf for salads harvested between autumn and spring.Sow: mid March-May & Aug-Sept (undercover or outside)Plant: densely for baby leaves, 20cm for salad leavesHarvest: 4-8 weeks after sowingKitchen: Eat fresh or just wilted. Pairs with citrus (lemon, balsamic vinegar), aromatics (basil, dill, mint) and spices (chilli), salty (capers, olives, feta), fats (blue cheese, goats cheese, pine nuts).Notes: Early sowings benefit from fleece.
Also available in our 'Cool Greens' winter salad seed collection. Download our Winter Salads Growing Guide to learn more about growing winter greens.~0.5g/250 seedsRocAst-00145-WNO-CGerm 92% Jul 25
Mibuna is your answer to home grown greens from autumn to early spring. Gentle peppery flavour that is hotter than Mizuna, milder than Golden Frills. The leaves are elongated and flex backwards, making a small well for salad dressings to sit in. They are a deep, healthy green colour.Mibuna originated from the Mibu region of Kyoto City in Japan, where it was bred from a mizuna hybrid. It's been cultivated from 1804. Use Mibuna as you would Mizuna - a baby leaf salad, a stir fry green or wilted in ramen. In Japan its mixed with kombu (an umami flavour-rich seaweed) and chilli to make a quick salty pickle called asazuke. A crisp, spicy, umami flavoured side dish - exceptionally moreish.Sow: mid March-May & Aug-Sept (undercover or outside)Plant: densely for baby leaves, 20cm for salad leavesHarvest: 4-8 weeks after sowingKitchen: Eat fresh, pickled or stir fried. Pairs with citrus (lemon, lime, ponzu), aromatics and spices (coriander, ginger, five spice, chilli), alliums (spring onion, garlic, garlic chives), fats (sesame, cashew).Notes: Early sowings benefit from fleece. Sowings bolt around the solstice. Long harvest period, particularly over winter - you'll have greens from October into spring.
Also available in our 'Cool Greens' winter salad seed collection. Download our Winter Salads Growing Guide to learn more about growing winter greens.
~1g/450 seedsGerm 96% July 25
Rothild is a sweet, fragrant carrot which is easy to grow. The roots are bright, cartoon carrot orange, signifying their high carotene content. Intense colouring = more nutritious. A joy to eat and a joy to grow. We find it to be a very productive carrot, yielding lovely long roots even on our heavy clay soil. Sow: May until mid-July, direct sow.Harvest: At least 12 weeks from sowing.Kitchen: Roast, braise or eat raw. Pairs well with acid (balsamic, white wine, lemon), aromatics (cumin, dill, mint, thyme, rosemary, coriander, ginger, chilli), fats (sesame, olive oil), alliums (leeks, garlic).Notes: Sow late May to early June to avoid carrot root fly.~800 seeds/1gCrtRot-00142-MOL-OGGerm 89% Dec 24
Filderkraut is an heirloom cabbage which originates from the fertile plains of South Germany where they know a thing or two about sauerkraut. It's the perfect kraut cabbage - thin tender leaves which hold their bite after fermenting. If you can call a cabbage majestic then this one is it. The pointed Hispi-type heads look very grand in the garden - like minarets rising up from the soil. As well as being great for fermenting, the leaves are perfect shredded in salads or chop the heads into large chunks, marinade and roast.
Sow: March-April (undercover or outside with fleece or cloche)Plant: May, 45cm apartHarvest: Autumn-WinterKitchen: Roast, steam, sautee or braise. Pairs with acidic flavours (lemon, white wine). fats (sesame, bacon, chorizo, walnuts, parmesan), alliums (garlic, leeks), aromatics (mustard, cumin, parsley, coriander, thai sweet basil, ginger).Notes: To avoid massive cabbage heads, grow no further than 45cm apart. As with all brassicas, plant deep to avoid toppling.~0.5g/150 seedsGerm 100% Nov 24
Glossy courgettes in the deepest, darkest green. This well-behaved variety grows in neat, bushy clumps and throws out courgettes over a long period. A great variety to avoid a courgette glut. This is an all-round scrappy variety which was bred in the US for drought tolerance and mildew resistance. The plants have incredibly extensive root systems and are highly adapted to organic cultivation.Sow: April (undercover, ideally at 21C), late May outsidePlant: end May, 60cm spacingHarvest: July-SeptKitchen: Slow cook, BBQ or roast. Pairs with fats (pine nuts, goats cheese, ricotta, feta, halloumi), citrus (lemon) salty flavours (capers, olives, anchovy, bacon), aromatics (coriander, dill, basil, marjoram).~15 seedsCouDS-00148-WNO-C
Germ 86% Feb 25
A crisp, green Batavian type with a hint of an iceberg lettuce about it (in the very best way possible). Leaves are sweet in flavour and well-savoyed so they hold a salad dressing well. Can be grown for cut and come again baby leaves or as a heading lettuce.Lettuce is a very ancient crop, originally domesticated in Africa by the ancient Egyptians for its seeds and sap which were used as a pain killer and sedative. The Romans went on to cultivate lettuce for its leaves and used it as a braising green.Sow: March-July for harvests into autumn. March-April undercover, May outside. Four sowings across the year will have you eating plentiful salad leaves year round if you harvest by picking leaves off the stem.Plant: 4 weeks after sowing at 20-30cm spacing.Harvest: 8 weeks after sowingKitchen: Crisp - perfect for a shredded with red cabbage and red onion for a kebab-style salad.Notes: Do not let seeds get hot when germinating - 15C is ideal, anything above 18C encourages seed dormancy.~200 seeds/0.25gLetBdP-00009-TMR-OGGerm: 100% Dec 24
Golden Frills is a vigorous variety, producing an abundance of lacy, golden-green leaves. A stalwart mustard for cut-and-come again winter salads. The young leaves are mild, becoming more peppery as the plant ages. I find slugs and snails tend to leave this variety alone - perhaps because of its unique leaf shape. Harvest the yellow flowering tips too - they're spicy and sweet.Golden Frills, along with a lot of the popular Asian greens, was popularised in the UK by the godmother of Grow Your Own, Joy Larkcom. Her book 'The Salad Garden' originally published in 1987 is seminal. Her careful recommendations are both tasty and decorative to 'feed the body and the spirit'.Sow: mid March-May & Aug-Sept (undercover or outside)Plant: densely for baby leaves, 20cm for salad leavesHarvest: 4-8 weeks after sowingKitchen: Eat fresh or stir fried. Pairs with citrus (lemon, lime, ponzu), aromatics and spices (turmeric, ginger, five spice, chilli), alliums (spring onion, garlic, garlic chives), fats (sesame, cashew).Notes: Early sowings benefit from fleece. Sowings bolt around the solstice. Long harvest period, particularly over winter - you'll have greens from October into spring.
~1g/450 seedsGerm 91% Oct 24
Aromata is a truimph of sensorial plant breeding - intensely selected for flavour and texture, yielding a slim, butter-yellow variety with a firm texture and intense aroma. A brave new world of culinary possibilities has been opened! Say goodbye to bland, spongy parsnips and hello to crisp, tender roots. This variety is well suited to eating raw - think remoulade and coleslaw.Another great variety from Kultursaat breeders in Germany, developed from an accession from the IPK Leibniz gene bank. Read the breeders story below.Sow: April-early May in May. Kitchen: Pairs with savoury (bacon, marmite), fats (blue cheese, hard cheese), spices (nutmeg, cumin, anise), watercress.Notes: Seeds are slow to germinate, keep soil damp. Thin seedlings to 5cm and keep weeded. Roots are sweetest when harvested after the first frost.
1g / ~200 seeds
PnpAro-00023-TMR-OGGerm 80% Nov 24The Story Behind the Variety...Back in the 90s, breeders at Kultursaat noted a big inconsistency in flavour and texture within individual parsnip varieties. Single varieties yield roots which tasted completely different - some were bland, some sweet, some spongy and some bitter. So they embarked on a long journey to create a variety which excelled in flavour and texture. As a root vegetable and biennial seed crop, the challenge was to find a method to taste test each root whilst keeping them in good enough condition to replant and save seed from the following year. Their solution was to remove a small core from each parsnip to taste. Hundreds of parsnips were tested and the roots with the best eating qualities were replanted to save seed from. This was done for years until the variety was just right. The finishing flourish was to test the variety in different soil types, showing it could grow well in clay, loamy, sandy and upland soils.https://www.kultursaat.org/dateien/zuechtung/sorten_englisch/aromata-en.pdf
Often the best things in life are found in unlikely places. Who would have guessed that earliest and most productive pepper would hail from the warm Middle Eastern gardens of Turkey? Not us. But Turkish Dolma produces bountiful harvests of sweet, palm-sized peppers from July to September. The peppers are blocky with shiny skins which turn from green to red.Turkish Dolma has been bred to be picked green and stuffed ('dolma' is Turkish for 'stuffed) then baked. We find them very versatile peppers in the kitchen. Roast the young fruits whole and eat them seeds and all; fry them up for breakfast menemen (Turkish scrambled eggs) or let them ripen fully for the perfect snack pepper.Sow: Valentines day to end March, with heat (25C)Harvest: July-SeptemberKitchen: Pairs with savoury (olives, bacon, cured pork), aromatic (parsley, coriander, oregano, ginger), spicy (paprika, cumin, cinnamon), fats (avocado, soft cheese, eggs).Notes: Grow in greenhouse or similar. Stake plants using a tripod method - they don't get very tall but branches are liable to snap under the weight of their fruit.
~ 20 seedsPepTDma-00135-WNO-C
Germ: 85% Nov 24
The sweet, tender-leaved basil variety from the homeland of pesto A.K.A. Genoa. These plants produce bountiful leaves which can be harvested young to use in salads or whizzed up into pesto to top pizzas, pastas and minestrone soup. A classic basil variety which we grow alongside our tomatoes every year. We find basil benefits from rich soil and a little shade. Remember it grows very happily in containers too - perfect for a sunny kitchen window sill.Sow: mid March-July (at around 22C)Plant: 20-30cm apartHarvest: 8 weeks after sowingKitchen: Eat fresh or just wilted. Think pizza, pasta, pesto (and soup).Notes: Bolted plants bring in a tonne of pollinators. Best grown undercover for unblemished foliage.~0.5g/300 seedsBasSwG-00054-MOL-OGGerm 79% Dec 24
Our pick for a classic salad rocket - green, lobed leaves with strong peppery flavour. A fast growing, vigorous variety which works well as a cut-and-come-again salad leaf. It bolts faster than our other salad rocket variety 'Astro' which is slower growing. Ideally, you'll sow this variety thickly in successions. The flowers are a delicious salad ingredient too. It makes a flavoursome addition to salads from autumn until early spring. Sow: mid March-May & Aug-Sept (undercover or outside)Plant: densely for baby leaves, 20cm for salad leavesHarvest: 4-8 weeks after sowingKitchen: Eat fresh or just wilted. Pairs with citrus (lemon, balsamic vinegar), aromatics (basil, dill, mint) and spices (chilli), salty (capers, olives, feta), fats (blue cheese, goats cheese, pine nuts).Notes: Early sowings benefit from fleece. Sowings bolt around the solstice.~1g/500 seedsRocVic-00112-CNS-CGerm 100% Nov 24
This heritage Italian variety of chicory is one of our favourites. Sweet flavour and crisp texture - this is a variety for chicory noobs. It rivals iceberg lettuce for crispness but with a much more aromatic, complex flavour. Outer, deep green leaves have more radicchio bitterness than the yellow hearts. Pan di Zucchero grow to an impressive size - about 40cm long - a satisfying green to grow. Sowing and planting timing is important to grow chicory successfully. Sow in mid-late July and plant out promptly. Chicory like to germinate in the cool. Sow: mid-late July. Keep seeds cool while germinating.Plant: 4 weeks after sowing.Harvest: October-December. Chicory is frost tolerant but the outside leaves can suffer, looking rotten and slimy. Hold your nerve and peel them away to reveal the jewel-like chicory heart. Kitchen: Best raw in salads but can also be cooked. Cut the hearts in half, marinate and griddle or barbecue. Pairs well with acid (lemon, balsamic vinegar, orange), fats (blue cheese, walnuts, hazelnuts), salty (capers), sweet (winter squash).~0.5g/350 seedsChicPZ-00031-KNG-OGGerm 77% Dec 24
Photo courtesy of Springtail Farm
Purple Top Milan is bred to grow fast and be eaten young. Harvest when they are ping pong sized and cook whole - skins and all. We are really happy with this selection of the variety - the roots are beautifully flattened with excellent bright violet colouring. They have a nice firm texture and well-balanced flavour. Turnips excellent way of making use of any gaps in the vegetable garden which begin to show in late summer. It's worth having a packet of seed spare just in case!Sow: Valentines day-March (undercover), July-August (direct)Plant: multisow and plant 20cm apart or sow direct and thin to 5-10cm apart.Harvest: 6-8 weeks from sowingKitchen: Eat fresh, pickled or stir fried. Pairs with acid (lemon, lime, ponzu, balsamic, wine), aromatics and spices (coriander, ginger, five spice, chilli, thyme), alliums (spring onion, garlic), fats (bacon, sesame, cashew).~1g/450 seedsGerm 97% Oct 24
Uber has all the vigour of a salad rocket with wild rocket flavour. It adds another dimension to a salad mix. Plant grow fully upright, even in winter, making them easy to harvest. It makes a flavoursome addition to salads from autumn until early spring. Leave to bolt - the flowers are delicious and provide early forage for pollinators.Sow: mid March-May & Aug-Sept (undercover or outside)Plant: densely for baby leaves, 20cm for salad leavesHarvest: 4-8 weeks after sowingKitchen: Eat fresh or just wilted. Pairs with citrus (lemon, balsamic vinegar), aromatics (basil, dill, mint) and spices (chilli), salty (capers, olives, feta), fats (blue cheese, goats cheese, pine nuts).Notes: Early sowings benefit from fleece. Sowings bolt around the solstice.~1g/500 seedsRocUb-00110-CNS-CGerm 89% Nov 24
