Unwins Seeds & Plants have this stunning looking purple khol rabi. I’ve only eaten the green stuff previously but I’ve got a packet of seeds so will be giving it a try this year!

Kohl Rabi – Azur Star Seeds £1.49
A very quick growing crop the purple swollen stem has tender white flesh. The leaves can also be eaten like cabbage. Sow outside until the end of August or under cover for a later harvest.

Quick vegetable to grow. Fairly easy. Requires some thinning but that’s about it. Water if dry weather persists.
Unwins Seeds & Plants have this selection of beetroot seeds.
Enjoy beetroot pickled or cooked and sliced in a salad. Grate or juice raw beetroots for all the healthy taste!

Beetroot – Cardeal Seeds (Gro-sure) £2.49
Beetroot Cardeal has been specifically bred for baby beet production. It has an excellent globe shape with a refined tap root and has very healthy erect foliage with partial resistance to downy mildew. It is extremely sweet with the highest sugar content of any commercial beetroot.

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Unwins Seeds & Plants has these new items today

Micro Veg Gro-Tray Set £4.95
Our Micro-Leaves have been so successful we have now designed a special Gro-Tray to make growing extra easy! Plus – we’ve included a purpose made cellulose Gro-Felt Mat used by professionals for micro leaf production. Ensuring good water absorption and retention for quick germination. And of corse they are biodegradable and can be composted. Gro-Tray set consists of 5 Gro-Trays with propagation lids PLUS 10 Gro-Felt Mats! Four Simple Steps to Success:   Moisten Gro-Felt Sow Micro Seeds  Cover with clear Propagator lid  Harvest after around 7-14 days!!  

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The humble radish can be ready to eat in as little as 30 days.

Unwins Seeds & Plants just added these new lines

Radish – Mantanghong Seeds £3.99
Outer skin is greenish and white with bright magenta flesh and is crisp with a mild sweet and slightly nutty taste. They will survive all but the hardest frosts. Good for salads and the large roots can also be served as a winter vegetable.

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Four Seasons Greenhouse Gro-System is a new style container that will help you grow more. It’s moveable so you can start things off outside and move them into a greenhouse as the weather gets worse. It’s flexible so you can do the reverse at the end of winter – start things off inside and move it outside!
It’s available at Unwins Seeds & Plants today.

Four Seasons Greenhouse Gro-System x 3 £11.95
Grow Greenhouse Crops 12 Months a Year!  To increase greenhouse productivity we have developed a new type of Gro-Bed.
The great big collapsible Four Season Gro-Bed just needs 4 canes to slide in the special sleeves at the top for rigidity. Then fill with good loamy soil or compost and you’re ready to grow. The bag has 4 strong carry handles so it can be moved in and out of the greenhouse.
It’s designed to be just perfect in terms of size. At 80cm (32in) long and 54cm (21in) wide 6 will fit neatly into a 8ft x6ft greenhouse.
Start autumn crops outdoors and when your summer growing bag crops are finished move your Four Seasons Gro-Beds inside. You can also repeat sow and harvest super quality salads all summer long. Please note: canes not supplied.

Sadly not of mine, but what a great idea – regular photos of this allotment put together in a timelapse.

Victorian Kitchen Garden is highly recommended
http://youtu.be/7xvhv1YY7Kk

Perennial Vegetables – this book comes highly recommended by a friend

Perennial Vegetables

Imagine growing vegetables that require the same care as the flowers in your perennial beds and bordersono annual tilling and planting. They thrive and produce abundant and nutritious crops throughout the season. In Perennial Vegetables, author and plant specialist Eric Toensmeier introduces gardeners to a world of little-known and wholly under-appreciated plants. Ranging beyond the usual suspects (asparagus, rhubarb, and artichoke) to include such eminori crops as ground cherry and ramps and the much sought-after, antioxidant-rich wolfberry (also known as goji berries), Toensmeier explains how to raise, tend, harvest, and cook with plants that yield great crops and satisfaction. Perennial vegetables are perfect as part of an edible landscape plan or permaculture garden. Profiling more than a hundred species, with dozens of colour photographs and illustrations, and filled with valuable growing tips, recipes, and resources, Perennial Vegetables is a groundbreaking and ground-healing book that will open the eyes of gardeners everywhere to the exciting world of edible perennials.

This other book by UK author – Martin Crawford – a director of ‘Gaia’ – is due out on 5 April 2012 – How to Grow Perennial Vegetables: Low-maintenance, Low-impact Vegetable Gardening
is well worth putting on your wish list!

Perennial vegetables are a joy to grow and require a lot less time and effort than annuals. In this book Martin Crawford gives comprehensive advice on all types of perennial vegetable (edible plants that live longer than three years), from ground-cover plants and coppiced trees to plants for bog gardens and edible woodland plants. There are many advantages to growing perennial vegetables, for example: * they need less tillage than conventional vegetables and so help retain carbon in the soil * the soil structure is not disturbed in their cultivation * they extend the harvesting season, especially in early spring * and, of course, they are much less work. Part One looks at why and how to grow these crops, and how to look after them for maximum health. Part Two features over 100 perennial edibles in detail, both common and unusual – from rhubarb to skirret; Jerusalem artichoke to nodding onions. This book offers inspiration and information for all gardeners, whether experienced or beginner, and also includes plenty of cooking tips. It includes beautiful colour photographs and illustrations throughout.

Thompson & Morgan just added this collection of broad beans

Broad Bean Collection – 3 packets – 1 of each variety (150 seeds in total) £5.99
Collection comprises one packet each of Aquadulce Claudia, Imperial Green Longpod and Express.Aquadulce ClaudiaThis variety is universally recognised as being best for an autumn sowing. It establishes itself very quickly and will produce a very early crop. It is white seeded and the pods are up to 15-18in long.Imperial Green Longpod15-inch+ pods with up to nine large beans. Succulent, tasty and suitable for freezing. (Green Seeded)ExpressThis is the fastest maturing variety of any broad bean and an early spring sowing will out yield all others. Up to 34 good pods per plant! It is also winter hardy, outstanding for deep freeze as it does not discolour and probably for the same reason is particularly tender and tasty. It replaces Imperial Green Windsor over which it is a considerable improvement.

I love broad beans! They’re so easy to grow! You can start them off in pots or put the seeds straight in the ground. Pots are great as you can start them off sooner, although they are winter hardy so can be planted in the autumn. Easy and so fab to grow. Pick young and enjoy them lightly steamed for best flavour.

They’re easy to grow – just put them in and forget about them almost! If they start getting blackfly on the tops pinch off the top bit. But they won’t damage the plants really so you could leave it until you see them rather than picking them off in advance.

Pick beans from the bottom of the plant.
Don’t worry if they fall over in the wind, as long as they haven’t snapped they’ll keep going.

Broad Bean ‘Witkiem’ – 1 packet (30 seeds) £2.99

Broad Bean ‘The Sutton’ – 1 packet (30 seeds) £2.99

Broad Bean ‘Medes’ – 1 packet (30 seeds) £2.99

Broad Bean ‘Imperial Green Longpod’ – 1 packet (50 seeds) £2.99

Broad Bean ‘Express’ – 1 packet (30 seeds) £2.99

Broad Bean ‘Aquadulce Claudia’ – 1 packet (30 seeds) £2.89

Broad Bean ‘Masterpiece Green Longpod’ – 1 packet (50 seeds) £2.49

Broad Bean ‘De Monica’ – 1 packet (40 seeds) £2.49

Broad Bean ‘Bunyard’s Exhibition’ – 1 packet (30 seeds) £2.29

Broad Bean ‘Jubilee Hysor’ – 1 packet (50 seeds) £2.29

Broad Bean ‘Crimson Flowered’ – 1 packet (30 seeds) £1.99

Broad Bean ‘Dreadnought’ – Heritage – 1 packet £1.99

Broad Bean ‘Green Windsor’ – Heritage – 1 packet £1.99

Broad Bean ‘Statissa’ – 1 packet (12 seeds) £1.89

What a brilliant idea from Thompson and Morgan.

New product at Thompson & Morgan

Sunday Lunch Vegetable Collection – SPECIAL OFFER – 6 packets – 1 of each variety (1120 seeds in total) £7.47
Imagine going out into your garden and picking all the vegetables you need for your Sunday roast! You’ll have the satisfaction of knowing that you grew them yourself and that they are as fresh as they could be – and all for the price of a few packets of seed! Vegetables taste so much better when they have just been picked or pulled from the ground. Don’t waste your time with supermarket veg – there’s not much goodness or flavour in veg that’s been sitting on a shop shelf for a week and then in your fridge for a few days!
The vegetables featured here are easy to grow and will help create a delicious and nutritious Sunday lunch.
Sunday Lunch Vegetable Collection comprises one packet each of:

Broad Bean Aquadulce Claudia (50 seeds)
Brussels Sprout Trafalgar (40 seeds)
Carrot Tendersnax (250 seeds)
Cauliflower Gipsy (30 seeds)
Parsnip Gladiator F1 Hybrid (300 seeds)
Pea Hurst Green Shaft (450 seeds)

This vegetable mix is a great starter pack for someone wanting to get into gardening! It’s some easy things to grow – the broad beans and peas are really easy, and the root veg need very little skill other than sowing at the right time of the year and keeping watered as the roots develop.
Cauliflowers aren’t difficult, but with the brussel sprouts are easiest started in pots and then firmly planted out.