What is on your 'must grow' list please?

[The Large One]

My must grow list will start with chillis
Then onions, red,White,spring
Shallots, bananna,Red fleshed, I think picalo
Garlic
Runner beans
Broad beans
New potatoes
Carrots
All the rest will be on space and timings but must admit the lis to grow seems to double every year

[Jamesy_uk]

Well for next year definetly growing another Cumulus sprout or 2 as one plant fed 6 of us for christmas dinner.
Aaran pilots, Jalapeno chilli, gardener's delight and sungold tomatoes, Defender courgette, Cobra french beans and a few different varieties of Squash.

[Thelma Sanders]

My must have list,
Tomatoes Black Cherry for salads, Rio Grande for sauces,
Alderman peas and Sugar Ann sugarsnaps,
Runner beans..any kind
Trionfo Violetto climbing bean,
Courgette Striato D'Italia,
Pentland Javelin new potatoes, Desiree for mains,
Onion Long Red Florence - pick at spring onion size or leave to get bigger,
Hispi and Minicole cabbage.
Leeks and swede.
and as many winter squash/pumpkins as I can fit in

Every year I try a few new, different things but these are my basics to date

[pauco]

Thankyou Paul - I've seen those - why do you want to grow them? For taste? Or look?

To be honest just to see if they are as good a taste, & the size of them.
Will try anything once.They are supposed to be good croppers too.

paul.

[SarzWix]

My must-grow list, which i then add to according to space available and whatever takes my fancy is:

Carrots of many colours
Onions - Red Mammoth (I've never had a single one go to seed)
Garlic - Wight Cristo (always performs well in my soil and stores well)
Tomato - Amish Paste (my favourite cooking tomato)
Cabbage - Minicole (a small tight headed cabbage, great for coleslaw and no waste)
Cabbage - Tarvoy (a savoy type that has always done well for me)
Climbing bean - Cobra and Cosse Violette (both heavy croppers)
Tall pea - Gladstone (from HSL, does well in a dry Spring)
Potatoes - Desiree (cos we love it), Harlequin (same), Sarpo Mira (to guarantee a crop in the event of blight hitting)
Lettuce - Red Iceberg (because it's beautiful, tastes great, and has more nutrients than a green one due to the red)

Hope that's some use to you

[VirginVegGrower]

I daren't write my list down, especially bad/very long after yesterday. Am trying to replan right now on laptop using a shoe horn...you will GET...IN...THERE! Must tie hands at garden centre sale...why oh why am I going? All Snadger's fault.

[BarleySugar]

For me, now I've got the lottie, and thus more space, must haves are:-
Onions, shallots and garlic.
Broad beans
Moonlight runner beans and assorted french beans.
Courgette - tuscany, these did better than the other 2 trialled (Tristran and Romanesco), so I won't need many plants.
Winter squash and butternuts - as many as I can fit in
Potatoes - vitelotte, purple right through and a great favorite with the family, Lady Crystl for new, probably won't bother with maincrop.
Carrots and parsnips - I didn't get these planted this year.
Beetroot - white for the tops, yellow and red for the beets.
Sprouts, kale and cabbage - I was too late to plant seed this year, so bought in some plants. Next year I intend to grow from seed, but space will dictate numbers and varieties.
Celeriac - love this in winter salads, and it has done very well this year again.

Others I will try to fit in
Peas - didn't grow well this year
Sweet potatoes - I saved some small tubers and I'm going to try take slips from them
Outdoor cucumbers - the guinea pigs love them even when they were bitter
Outdoor tomatoes - mainly for green tomato chutney, I grow my main ones in the greenhouse
Assorted salad leaves and lettuce
Anything else interesting/unusual I come by,

Greenhouse - cues, tomatoes, chillies

To avoid - pumpkins, peppers,

No wonder there never seems to be enough space

[BUFFS]

I am drawing up my wish list of what I want to grow this year - if you were new to gardening what would you definitely not want to leave off of your list?

after this years failures,i will take anything that will grow,as this was my worst ever year,due to the peculiar weather,next year WILL be better,so good luck and good growing to one and all,and the very best of everything to you all as you start your growing season..

[FROSTYFRECKLE]

Well for the exotic I'm tempted to buy Cinnamon Vine from Real Seeds (I know, I know get real woman I live in the frozen north! but I am tempted) and I'm still trying to get Dragon Fruit and Pepino Melon to fruit (plants are now nearly two years old). Will grow 2 types of potatoes - Pixie and another (think it begins with a P as well). For tomatoes I'll grow 6 cordon - PW's, OSU Blue, Orange Fleshed Purple Smudged, Violet Jasper, Pink Ping Pong and Imur Prior. The rest of the toms will be in pots and bush varieties. Lots of peas and I'll limit beans to Brejo, Trail of Tears and two others to be decided. Trying to make a bit more space for Squash. Bit of a quandary over seeds given to me in a seed parcel - Szechuan Aubergine. Really tempted. Only one pepper this year (let's hope we get some sunshine) - Curry. Finally Madeley Kale (Asparagus Kale should go to seed next year - fingers crossed) and then I'll alternate between Asparagus Kale and Madeley Kale.

[BeatTheSeasons]

This topic is my favourite subject and my OH's least favourite subject because I ask her this question 10 times a day at the moment.

If I could only grow one thing it would be climbing beans. From one wigwam that takes up 1m x 1m you get more than you can eat for about 3-4 months. And they taste amazing, completely unlike anything you can buy.

I agree with the soya beans/scorzonera comment - I've just composted my entire crop of salsify!

[BeatTheSeasons]

what sort of squash please chris?

We love a variety called Bonbon or Bon Bon. Dark green skin and tasty orange flesh. All the other types we've grown have tasted quite bland, although we've only tried Crown Prince once and everyone else seems to rate it.

If you cure your winter squashes right then you can use them right up until the following spring, which kind of feels like real self sufficiency.

[Jeanied]

Another vote for pumpkin and squash from me as well! I try and raise the plants so I can put them in where the early potatoes have been dug out. As for variety - well go for varieties that suit what you like to eat!

[Corris]

This topic is my favourite subject and my OH's least favourite subject because I ask her this question 10 times a day at the moment.

If I could only grow one thing it would be climbing beans. From one wigwam that takes up 1m x 1m you get more than you can eat for about 3-4 months. And they taste amazing, completely unlike anything you can buy.

I agree with the soya beans/scorzonera comment - I've just composted my entire crop of salsify!

4

Which climbing beans do you recommend please? And I too am driving my OH mad. He's spent four days digging, stood back and leant on his spade today and said 'what will you put in there then' and when I said 'potatoes' his face fell. 'What all that space'.

More digging please dear...

[BeatTheSeasons]

Which climbing beans do you recommend please?

To begin with I just grew runners but since trying out 'french' beans I've realised there is a big variety in tastes. We now grow blue lake, which look a bit like the supermarket kenyan beans but taste amazing. If you look in a catalogue you will see a massive selection of colours, shapes and sizes. I'm also growing (purple) Cosse Violette again this year - a purple bean with a great texture, and recommended by Nigel Slater! Last year we tried the yellow 'shrimp bean' anellino giallo, which I thought was ok but my OH has banned me from growing because she said it tasted too floury.

I think runners are the easiest type to grow, so it's worth having them as a back up.

The best tip you can follow is to pick your beans every day if you can - they taste better young and it encourages them to keep cropping (if you let any beans get really big then the plant stops producing)

Also if you are growing several varieties then try to have them climbing up different supports, otherwise one type may dominate over others.

Make sure your supports are really strong from the outset or you will be outside with cane and strings every time it's windy!

[fruitylou]

Loads!

Cos lettuce
Cucumbers
Cherry toms (ildi produced more on 2 plants than my other 10 put together!)
Sweetcorn (trying bicolour this year)
Winter squashes (boston hubbard, acorn, crown prince, spaghetti, baby bear, pink banana and one I have forgotten the name of, still got 14 on the windowsill waiting to be devoured
Summer squashes (courgettes, pattypans and a knobbly yellow one)
Parsnips
Leeks
Oca (lifted today, its so pretty!)
Mustard greens
Chiilis
Radishes (french breakfast cos its pretty, notice a pattern yet?)
J Artichokes
Dwarf french beans (easy peasy, no staking)
Red and blackcurrants
Strawbs
Rasps
Grapes
Apples
Cherries
Pears
Rhubarb
And lots and lots of garlic (yes, I do smell)

But definately not chard, purple lettuce or khol rabi, tried them all because they looked interesting and didn't like them.