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Have you tried any new varieties this year and if so, what did they promise and what did you think of them? I've tried several and the first results are in.
Pea Terrain (T&M)
Claim: High resistance to powdery and downy mildew. Ideal for late crops (sow upto July). Last year my late peas were very badly affected by mildew.
My experience:
Sowed in the usual way for my 2nd maincrop in mid May. I was intending to sow again later, but found that germination was very poor (less than 50%) and I had much fewer than intended, so I used Hurst Greenshaft for my late sowing.
The plants have grown well and are now producing large numbers of pods. The pods are well filled and the peas have exceptional flavour, staying sweet until they are quite large. There are no problems with mildew this year on the Hurst Greenshaft grown next to them, so it is hard to judge this.
Verdict: Apart from the very poor germination I'm impressed and I will certainly grow these again.
Turnip Oasis (T&M)
Claim: A turnip with the distinct flavour of melon. I just had to try this one!
My experience:
Sown direct in a pot in late April in almost full shade and covered with a net to keep off cabbage root fly. Germination was good and I found I had sowed them too thickly. Some small turnips were ready by the end of June, by which time several of them had bolted and the rest followed very quickly.
Verdict: No harder to grow than ordinary turnips (the problems were almost certainly user error). The taste is definitely different, but I would not have identified it as melon. Less turnipy, "fresher" and really very pleasant. I will definitely grow these again and sown them more thinly next time!
Pea Terrain (T&M)
Claim: High resistance to powdery and downy mildew. Ideal for late crops (sow upto July). Last year my late peas were very badly affected by mildew.
My experience:
Sowed in the usual way for my 2nd maincrop in mid May. I was intending to sow again later, but found that germination was very poor (less than 50%) and I had much fewer than intended, so I used Hurst Greenshaft for my late sowing.
The plants have grown well and are now producing large numbers of pods. The pods are well filled and the peas have exceptional flavour, staying sweet until they are quite large. There are no problems with mildew this year on the Hurst Greenshaft grown next to them, so it is hard to judge this.
Verdict: Apart from the very poor germination I'm impressed and I will certainly grow these again.
Turnip Oasis (T&M)
Claim: A turnip with the distinct flavour of melon. I just had to try this one!
My experience:
Sown direct in a pot in late April in almost full shade and covered with a net to keep off cabbage root fly. Germination was good and I found I had sowed them too thickly. Some small turnips were ready by the end of June, by which time several of them had bolted and the rest followed very quickly.
Verdict: No harder to grow than ordinary turnips (the problems were almost certainly user error). The taste is definitely different, but I would not have identified it as melon. Less turnipy, "fresher" and really very pleasant. I will definitely grow these again and sown them more thinly next time!
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