The Carrot Tops Allotment Blog!

The Saturday before last – the weather was absolutely fantastic and I found myself (like so many other people with gardens and allotments) getting my hands dirty and getting stuck in. I’ve been itching to get things sowed into the ground and it was a good opportunity to get all the seeds I’d purchased into one of the beds I’d prepared earlier.

My main focus of the day was to sow or plant at least half of my Victory Garden and then see what happens over the next couple of weeks.

Broad Bean – Karmazyn 

I’ve never grown Karmazyn before and this particular broad bean is a heritage variety which produces pink beans –  a bit different from the Exhibitions.  Because I’m growing these straight outdoors, in a bed that’s quite large with very little shelter this type of broad bean is great for exposed areas. They’re also said to produce high yeilds, so great for feeding a family of four.

Brussels Sprouts – Darkmar

The brussels sprouts I grew last year were a massive disappointment – I didn’t end up picking any at all! Darkmar produces a bountiful crop toward the end of the season. This means I’ll be harvesting from the end of autumn and well into Christmas.

Turnip – Snowball

No sooner than I started sowing these seeds that they started to germinate and poke through the ground. As the name suggests, Snowball produces white globe shape tender turnips and are an early variety, meaning I can pick them quite early on in the year. Perhaps when they’ve all been picked I can grow something else there! The question I have now is, do I need to thin them out?

Carrot – Berlicum

This is one of many types of carrot that I’m growing this year. This type of carrot can reach up to 20cm in length in sifted soil (I’ve done my best to keep the ground as free as possible!).  This is carrot that stores well and can overwintered for a maincrop.

Beetroot – Cylindra 

It feels like years since I’ve grown beetroot! I usually grow the round versions, but this has cylindrical roots. Cylindra is quite a slow growing variety and will bolt later on in the year, but luckily has a good resistance to disease.  These will be great to use in a Barszcz soup. (Yes I know I spelt Barszcz wrong in my original recipe – my apologies to the Polish nation!)

Savoy Cabbage – Winterking 

I tried to grow a savoy cabbage last year and failed miserably – I suspect that the seeds were out of date! The Winterking just sounds like a total don of a cabbage.  Savoys are a traditional hearty variety which as far as I know can be used in just about anything. They’re also hard as nails and will survive the winter.

Pea – Hurst Greenshaft 

Make peas not way! The Pea Hurst Greenshaft is said to be a prolific early maincrop variety producing a healthy amount of peas per pod. These are meant to freeze well, which means they’ll be great to use in the winter.  I’ve sown quite a few seeds, more than what I need as last year I didn’t sow enough, and so I just ended up eating the one or two pods straight away.

I have no idea how my Victory garden will turnout, or what problems I will face – as with most things in life you have to tackle these sorts of things head on.