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Choosing seeds
Sourcing and freshness
I have had good results with seed from Real Seeds and Tozers Seeds (commercial/large quantities only), and biodynamic growers Bingenheim Saatgut, whose seeds are now available through Tamar Organics. Check out Seaspring Seeds – see French beans below and for superb chilli seeds, and also worth a try is eBay!
As I understand it, apart from Real Seeds, Tozers, Bingenheim, Franchi (Seeds of Italy), Sativa Rheingau in Switzerland, and Vital Seeds in Devon, most seed has similar origins in multinational seed houses. The seed may be older or younger, according to how much stock of old seed is carried by each operation. The information you see is 'packeted year ending'!
Of the main UK seed houses, my best results have come from Marshalls, mostly. Kings Seeds are sometimes good but with a few shockers such as the hopeless Seven Hills Brussels I grew in 2022.
This ties in with how we need to save more seed, for our own security and success.
See my July 2022 video about seed saving and storage, and this 2017 Saving Seed video. See also my October 2011 blog for saving seed of runner beans and Borlotti. Mostly it is difficult and skilful work to save good seed. Time must be available at certain key moments. Real Seeds offer good advice on this.
Gardeners in Europe
For those on mainland Europe, I point you to Bingenheimer and Sativa as above.
Plus I have a suggestion from Daniela in France to mention Reinsaat (reinsaat.at), quite similar to Bingenheimer seeds – they share some of the suppliers.
And the french Ferme de Sainte Marthe (fermedesaintemarthe.com), organic seed producers with a lovely choice of seeds.
Variable germination
Most of us suffer poor germination from one or more batches of seeds. Often we blame ourselves, unless we have a comparison with another sowing made at the same time and with different seeds. I often do the latter and am shocked at the variability of seed quality.
Comparing germination of the same vegetable, with seeds sourced from more than one supplier, reveals mainly the age of seeds. Old ones germinate slowly and erratically. Also they grow less strongly.
Do complain to the seed company if this happens to you! And save your own seed where possible because then you know it is fresh, as long as you harvest it correctly.
Open-pollinated varieties
'Open-pollinated' means normal/natural breeding has produced that variety of vegetable, and you can save seeds from it. Breeders need to maintain these OP varieties by selection of harvests to grow seeds from.
Many OPs are well maintained. It’s a reason why I appreciate companies like Bingenheimer, Sativa, Seed Co-op, Real Seeds, and Vital Seeds, who are conscientious in their seed production.
However, OP seed production apparently earns less money than breeding F1 hybrids. Probably because of that, the maintenance of OP varietal traits is being allowed to slip.
- For example, Gardener’s Delight tomato in the 1980s was a small, sweet cherry, whereas many ‘Gardener’s Delight’ seeds now grow larger and less sweet fruit, with tougher skins and paler colour. The seed packet has the same name, but results are different. UPDATE: withdrawal of new seed happened for two years while it was being restored, and when you now buy this variety, it should be much better and closer to the 1980s original.
- Since 2019, many of us have experienced disappointment with Greyhound cabbage, which is not inclined to make the tight heart it used to, even after waiting and waiting.
- Boltardy beetroot is not the force it was. Seed producers are not paid enough to weed out (rogue) the misshapen beetroots before they seed, so root quality is declining. I have seen this a lot since 2020 – see this video, for example, and the photo below. Another factor is that some fields of beetroot grown for seed are a little bit too close to fields of Ruby chard, and the pollen can cross-pollinate, resulting in beetroots with small edible root and large thick stems. Pretty, but not the desired result. UPDATE: in 2021, I saved seed from eight beetroots and grew them in 2022, with great results. This is certainly an option if you have time and space.
- Be wary of the word 'heirloom', which means only that a variety originated x years ago and does not guarantee quality, or even flavour sometimes. A Which? Gardening trial in 2021 found the top two varieties for best flavour and yield were both F1 (Big League and Burlesque).
Hybrid varieties
'Hybrids' prefixed 'F1', are from two inbred lines of breeding to achieve desired results, which are then cross-pollinated in isolation. They grow reliably, of a uniform size, can have excellent flavour such as Sungold tomato, and they mature uniformly – this may or may not be what you wish for. It can be frustrating for broccoli in the summer!
Do not save seeds from hybrid vegetables, because they do not grow true and plants are nothing like the parent you saved seed from. I know this from saving seed then trying to grow Sungold F1 tomato. They were hopeless and horrible!
Choose carefully
Choosing a decent variety/cultivar can make all the difference, and chicories for hearts of radicchio are a good example. I had this comment from Wim in the Netherlands, which echoes my experience. The variety I recommend is 506TT – see below.
'In one of your videos you mention a variety of radicchio from Bingenheimer Saatgut. As we are very fond of Palla Rossa chicory I grow it ever since I had my allotment. But often the heads were diseased or even rotten before they were big enough. This year I ordered some Bingenheim seeds: what a difference! Very large healthy heads and not a brown leaf showing! Since I discovered your site and videos gardening is much easier and more fun! And, a bit reluctantly, your ideas are also spreading among my fellow gardeners.'
Learn more about seeds in my Propagation knowledge pack.
Choosing varieties
Which seed variety to buy? The ones I recommend here have worked for me, over several seasons.
Updated December 2023
An asterisk (*) indicates vegetables that grow in half a season (in southern Britain, zones 7-8 roughly), so they can be grown before or after other half-season vegetables. For example, carrots then Oriental leaves or endives, lettuce then beetroot or bulb fennel, autumn-sown beans then leeks or kale, second early potatoes then leeks or broccoli. Italics are for varieties I strongly recommend.
Asparagus
One planting can last for more than 20 years so choose carefully, and buy good quality crowns or seeds. I recommend all-male hybrid varieties, because the spears are fat and the ferns do not grow berries. The latter usually have viable seeds which can become quite a weed, because you end up with too many plants and thin spears.
Ariane F1 is good to buy as seed, sown asap early spring. Transplanting in early summer is an option. The first harvest will be perhaps one year later than if you buy and plant crowns. Having said that, in 2022 the growth of new seedlings by October was almost as strong as from crowns I had planted in April.
Aubergine
Needs warmth, and is best grown under cover. I struggle more often than succeed, because in SW England our summers are rarely hot enough. However, in the last eight summers I have enjoyed good harvests from Black Pearl F1, and even bigger ones from grafted plants of the same variety. However, these are now harder to find after Delfland Nurseries stopped doing retail sales of plants, because they just did not pay. On that note, it’s not easy to buy good transplants, as I keep being told!
In open-pollinated varieties, I like Zora and de Barbentane. In the hot summer of 2022, the growth of de Barbentane was quite remarkable.
In the cooler summer of 2023, de Barbentane was average, as were sweet peppers.
Aubergine de Barbentane finally prolific after hot weather, 5.5 months since sowing in the polytunnel – Sept 2022First big harvest of Boltardy on 25th May 2022 from homesaved seed – 3 months after sowing and 2 months after transplanting
Beans, climbing
The old favourite runner bean varieties such as Scarlett Emperor are good, as long as they have been well maintained by the seed companies. From what I hear, results are variable.
An excellent climbing French bean is Cobra. Or Golden Gate for yellow and flat pods. Borlotti beans are tasty both as green pods, and for dry seeds if you have a long summer.
Beetroot
Boltardy used to be good, see above, especially from sowing as early as February in plugs or pots in warm conditions. I have been successful with early Boltardy since 1983, but now recommend Pablo F1 though it's more expensive for sure. Or save your own seed – see photo above. Seed companies have not maintained the variety, and it’s getting worse. In 2020, as well as the two companies in my photos (below), I heard of bad results from Mr Fothergills Boltardy seeds.
For later sowings from mid April you can sow Boldor and Touchstone Gold for a different flavour and yellow colour. Chioggia gives pretty pink and white stripes when cut, while Cheltenham Green Top is long, sweet and stands well in winter. For winter use, sow from early May to mid-June. Also Robuschka, Cylindra, Detroit and many others.
Boltardy beetroot in October 2020 from the same packet, from Kings SeedsBoltardy beetroot multisown clump in June, February sown and seed from Kings Seeds 2021. More than half of the beets from this sowing in an 8 x 1.5m bed were small or misshapen or very pale coloured, and we put them on the compost heap. The adjacent plantings of Jannis and Pablo F1 grew fine.Pablo F1 comparison sown late February transplanted on 30th March, next to the Boltardy –this is one multisown clump
Broad bean
For sowing in autumn to overwinter, Aquadulce Claudia is reliable and develops great flavour if beans are allowed to mature until white and creamy. It also crops well from sowing by early March. Masterpiece Green Longpod has tasty green beans, sown from February, and Green Windsor has arguably the best flavour of all.
Monica or de Monica grows a smaller plant, 1.2m/4ft high, with pods of 4–5 pale coloured, sweet beans. Broad Bean Wizard, from Real Seeds, are great over winter, and produce a tasty crop in May, with many small pods.
Broad beans are definitely worth saving seed from, but for a variety to stay true, there must be no other variety growing within as much as 50m/164ft. This makes it difficult on allotment sites where many varieties are normally flowering at the same time. I now grow only Aquadulce and I am in about my 15th year of seed saving. Seeds store reasonably well, for up to 3 years.
Broad (fava) bean Aquadulce Claudia, sown in November and this photo is from JuneClaret F1 purple sprouting broccoli, sown in June and this photo is from late April
Broccoli (also see calabrese below)
A common broccoli in climates with mild winters is Purple Sprouting to overwinter, and sowing in June is good for this. I grew Early Purple Sprouting and Late Purple Sprouting for many years, with fair results. However the shoots were thinner every year – lack of maintenance.
Then I tried Claret F1 and have not looked back – large main heads in April, followed by many secondary broccoli shoots, finishing by mid to end May. Worth every penny for this seed!
- Try also Kaibroc and Brokali, for small plants which are very fast at heading into small spears. Sow as late as the end of July, for cropping in October onwards, even into winter. Tenderstem F1 gives repeat picks with sweet shoots.
Brussels sprouts
Once again, as with so many vegetables, the open pollinated, old-fashioned heirloom heritage varieties have not been well maintained for the most part. I receive many questions from people who ask why their Brussels sprouts are not growing firm buttons, and it’s because they are growing the non-hybrids.
Last winter, I spoke with a veteran of the seed trade who had been seed breeding for 40 years. He commented no, and he emphasised the no, Brussels sprouts that are open-pollinated are worth growing, compared to yield and quality from hybrids. He said, for example, that Evesham Special is anything BUT special! I feel we are being taken for a ride here!
Fresh, well grown Brussels have lovely flavours, with less bitterness than is sometimes found in bought buttons. Doric F1, Braemar F1 and Trafalgar F1 have always grown well for me as medium to late croppers from December to March, while Marte F1 and Brigitte F1 are excellent for cropping September to December. Brigitte is my top pick.
Flower Sprouts / kalettes (F1 hybrid cross with kale) have open buttons of sweeter flavour, especially in mid-winter. They grow large plants, are worthwhile.
Cabbage
I am wary of caterpillars in hearting autumn cabbage but using mesh over June plantings, for nine weeks, makes it possible to have some good hearts. Or spray Bacillus Thuringiensis if you can buy it, see the Links page.
Try Piacenza (Savoy type) and Quintal d’Alsace from Real Seeds, while Filderkraut from Mr Fothergills and Bingenheim makes large, pointed hearts which are tender and delicious in coleslaw or for sauerkraut. In November 2011, I harvested hearts of 5–6kg/11–13lb (24 inch spacing) and they were so sweet, but 2012 hearts were only 1kg/2.2lb because I planted them too late (10th July) in a cool summer.
For red cabbage, I like Rodynda and Granat. They both keep for 2–3 months in my shed from a harvest in late autumn.
Sow autumn cabbage for hearting in mid-May for planting by mid-June. For spring cabbage sown late August, all varieties I have grown have performed well, more for leaves than tight hearts. Examples are Wheelers Imperial and Duncan F1, the latter for small hearts, while Wheelers is more for green leaves, over a long period.
Savoy cabbage Paresa F1 can be sown in June and planted in July to harvest in late winter, when greens are so welcome. Savoy hearts are frost hardy.
Granat from Bingenheim seeds, early October from sowing on May 9thFilderkraut October, planted in June after broad beans finished (sown May 10th)
Calabrese
For large, tight heads try F1 hybrids such as Belstar, Green Magic, Ironman and Marathon. More stem and smaller heads over a long period come from Apollo F1. Harvests of smaller shoots and over a longer period are given by open-pollinated varieties such as Green Sprouting.
Bingenheim seeds do an excellent ope- pollinated variety, Calinaro. In 2015 I sowed it on June 20th and planted after broad beans, for heavy crops in October.
Carrot
Early Nantes, for early and later sowings, grow vigorously to a fair size, with good sweetness. Raymond Blanc’s tasting team gave it top marks in a 2014 trial of 32 varieties. Look out for Treenetaler Nantes. While Berlicum and Autumn King varieties are good for sowing by mid-June, to store through winter. Coloured varieties have variable vigour: yellow ones grow easily, purple ones are more tricky, all have different flavours.
For winter harvests of great flavour and storing quality, try the stump-rooted Oxhella and longer Flakee, best sown in June, or even the first week of July.
Cauliflower
It’s fun to grow coloured cauliflowers such as Purple Graffiti F1, and Sunset, which is yellow or orange. Verde di Macerata from Real Seeds grows beautiful and quite large green curds, which mature over more than a month from one sowing date. Romanesco cauliflower is beautiful and worth sowing around the middle of June, for harvests in late autumn. They stand the first frosts of autumn..
The old variety All Year Round is reliable to sow at any stage. Some varieties such as Medallion F1 and Aalsmeer are for summer sowing (second half
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