What I'm growing this year

[hologramgarden]

Writing this to look back on in the future, but if anyone wants reviews/opinions on any of these varities I'll be happy to update later in the season.

I run a school garden so am lucky to have two very large polytunnels (30mx10m) and lots of outdoor space.

Tomatoes

• Sweet Million (cherry)
• Sungold (orange cherry)
• Minibell (cherry)
• Black Cherry (as the name suggests)
• Chiquita (pink plum)
• Orange Santa (yellow plum)
• Apricot Dream (orange plum)
• Marmande (beefsteak)
• Black Russian (black/purple beefsteak)
• Orange Wellington (orange beefsteak)
• Black Krim (black/purple beefsteak)
• Ananas (orange beefsteak)
• Zlatava (Salad/Beefsteak orange on the outside red inside)
• Country Taste (red beefsteak)
• Yellow Brandywine (yellow beefsteak)

Chillies

• Caldero (1,500-5,000 scoville)
• Cherry Bomb (2,500-5,000)
• Tokyo Hot (20,000-30,000)
• Demon Red (30,000-50,000)
• Chenzo (45,000)
• Birdseye (50,000-100,000)
• Patio Fire (unsure)

Sweet Pepper

• Sweet Wonder
• Salad Festival
• Mohawk
• Oxhorn
• Beluga Lilac

Cucurbit

• Cucumber (all feminized)- Telegraph, Bella, Carmen
• Cucamelon
• Pumpkin - Atlantic Giant, Rocket
• Squash- Butternut, Buttercup
• Courgette - Defender, Genovese, Jemmer

Allium

• Onion - Stuttgarter Giant, Bedfordshire Champion, Karmen (red), Vision (red), Red Baron, Red Sunrise
  
• Spring Onions - White Lisbon, North Holland red
• Leeks (grown as baby leeks, not sure variety)
• Garlic - Solent Wight

Salad

• Lettuce: Tuska, All year round, Tantan (little gem), Intred (red little gem), Ice Queen (Iceberg), Freckles, Italian Mix
• Salanova Lettuce- Descartes, Expertise, Telex
• New Zealand Spinach (spinach taste but doesn't bolt until August even in the south)
• Bright Lights Chard
• Beetroot - Chioggia, Bolthardy, Golden Wonder
• Salad Turnip (tokyo)

Herbs

Perilla (shisho or japanese basil), Rosemary, Thyme, Sage, Oregano, Basil, Parsley, Stevia, Spearmint, peppermint, swiss mint, moroccan mint

Other

• Sprouting Brocolli - Early Purple, Early White
• Kale - Russian Red, Cavelo Nero, Redbor
• Sweetcorn - Media? Medzia? something like that
• Peas - Alderman
• Beans - Dwarf French (tendergreen), Climbing French (cobra)
• Carrot - Early Nantes, Autumn King, Mixed colour pack (justseed)
• Potatoes - Charlotte
• Jereselum Artichoke
• Khol Rabi - Delicacy White, Purple Vienna
• Aubergine - Early Long, Moneymaker

[Snoop Puss]

That's an impressive list. You work at an enlightened school. How many pupils are there?

[Jay-ell]

Nice list. Can imagine all those cherry toms disappearing into little mouths when your backs turned. Lets hope they don't get them confused with the Cherry Bombz.

Is it green or red Shisho? I've a packet of red Shisho but haven't decided if i'm going to sow it, the places I've read say that it's mainly used to give colour to a certain type of pickle. Not sure everyone would like the pickled cucumbers to be blood red (I would, but I'd probably have to stuff pickled onions with something so they look like eyeballs if I was going to use that in pickles).

[Penellype]

Nice list, but no parsnips?

Loads of nice veg there and an enormous amount of space. The indoor riding school at our livery stables is 20m by 40m so you have 3/4 of that area in your 2 polytunnels - that's HUGE!

[Scarlet]

That's seriously large poly tunnels for a school! How old are the kids? That's going to be very full on keeping those going.

Are you planting everything undercover?
Is the school closed over the summer?

[veggiechicken]

Can you explain what you mean by "feminized cucumbers" please, as I thought Telegraph had male/female flowers.

[hologramgarden]

That's an impressive list. You work at an enlightened school. How many pupils are there?

So unfortunately this gets a bit complicated, the garden was designed and funded by the previous headmaster who believed gardening was as important as any other subject, but due to the very restrictive school syllabus and standardised teaching methods, not to mention lack of funding, it's no longer entirely run by the school. The land is sublet to a non-profit and a kindergarten, I work for both. We sell the veg to the teachers, parents & to local campsites, all the money is reinvested.

So while the secondary school (of approx 1700 kids) partake in some gardening, due to the kids having to give up their lunch time or free time, it's not very popular. The kids from the kindergarten however are there most days with me for a couple of hours in the morning.

Nice list. Can imagine all those cherry toms disappearing into little mouths when your backs turned. Lets hope they don't get them confused with the Cherry Bombz.

Is it green or red Shisho? I've a packet of red Shisho but haven't decided if i'm going to sow it, the places I've read say that it's mainly used to give colour to a certain type of pickle. Not sure everyone would like the pickled cucumbers to be blood red (I would, but I'd probably have to stuff pickled onions with something so they look like eyeballs if I was going to use that in pickles).

All the chillies are in a seperate tunnel for this reason! haha

It's called bi-colour shisho, green on the top of the leaf, purple on the bottom. It has an aniseed-like taste and the flowers are very sweet.

I've seen it used in herbal drinks and it turns the water a nice shade of purple, haven't tried it myself but will this year.

Nice list, but no parsnips?

Loads of nice veg there and an enormous amount of space. The indoor riding school at our livery stables is 20m by 40m so you have 3/4 of that area in your 2 polytunnels - that's HUGE!

Ha so parsnips are one that slipped my mind this year, probably due to the fact last year I sowed loads without realising they were out of date seeds! Shame really as I'm sure you're aware the taste of a homegrown parsnip is fantastic.

We also have 40+ blackberry plants, and approx 50 fruit trees outside. The site is around 2 acres but if I'm honest the size of the polytunnels is a bit disproportionate for the amount of outdoor space. Will update with photos when I sort my phone out!

That's seriously large poly tunnels for a school! How old are the kids? That's going to be very full on keeping those going.

Are you planting everything undercover?
Is the school closed over the summer?

It's a lot of work and I was exhausted last summer! Luckily I'm still young so can handle a graft

All cucumbers, melons, aubergines, peppers, the vast majority of the tomatoes, half the courgettes, & the salanova lettuce go indoors. Everything else is outside. Have a large heated propagator so everything going indoors is started nice and early.

It is shut over summer but I'm still there.

Can you explain what you mean by "feminized cucumbers" please, as I thought Telegraph had male/female flowers.

Hey it's 'Telegraph Improved' an all-female F1 variety, the others are also all-female varieites, the seeds are pricey but it's worth it imo.

[Scarlet]

Please keep us updated....would love to see some photos! A few more posts and you can load some up.
But OMG.....40 blackberry plants

[Jay-ell]

It's a pity that the kids don't get involved as much. Think how it could be linked to their lessons - Home Economics (do they still call it that) obviously with the cooking but think things like History (the plants the tudors grew), English Lit (the herbs mentioned in Shakespeare's plays), Geography (plants from Asia, South America, Europe, etc), Art (plants for dyes and pigments)

[Jay-ell]

Please keep us updated....would love to see some photos! A few more posts and you can load some up.
But OMG.....40 blackberry plants

I assumed they were planted around the perimeter like a cattle kraal to keep the kids in. The thornier the better.