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Native to eastern Europe, Red Cabbage Kalibos is a beautiful carmine red colour with an attractive pointed head. High in sugar, Red Cabbage Kalibos is noted for its sweet flavour but it does not hold its colour or structure when cooked, it is however perfect for grating raw into salads where the distinctive colour adds beauty to the bowl. Can be harvested as greens or left to make a dense heart.
Kalibos is best sown late to mature in late summer and autumn. This east European heirloom variety makes a tasty and colourful addition to any vegetable garden.

Seeds per packet (approx.): 0.30 gm

This delightful maincrop carrot Atomic Red has large, bright red roots up to 11 inches long. Rich in vitamins and minerals, carrot Atomic
Red is especially high in the anti-oxidant lycopene, which is also found in tomatoes and highly regarded as a cancer-preventing nutrient . When raw the roots of carrot Atomic Red have a somewhat rough appearance but when peeled and cooked the carrots turn blood red in colour and the flavour and texture are also significantly improved. As with all carrots, when planting, pick a sunny spot, dig the ground well (at least one foot deep) and remove any rocks or stones which might get in the way of the growing crop. Matures approx. 75-80 days after sowing.

Seeds per packet (approx.): 350

Launched in 2005, Cosmic Purple is a great addition to meet the growing demand for purple carrots. Carrot Cosmic Purple is a maincrop variety that produces beautiful medium length roots with smooth purple coloured skin and coreless orange flesh. One of the strangest carrots you'll ever see, when cut, this carrot looks like no other, with purple, yellow and orange circles. A high sugar content gives the roots a sweet flavour and makes it very popular with children. The coloration of the skin deepens with maturity and Carrot Cosmic Purple does a much better job of retaining its colour after cooking than most other purple types.
Roots grow to approx. 7 inches long and are ready to harvest 65 to 70 days after sowing.

Seeds per packet (approx.): 350

Carrot Lunar White is a 19th century Belgian heirloom variety that produces 12 to 24 inch pure white tapered roots with green shoulders.
A very high yielding variety, Lunar White will outperform most orange carrots, although it is more susceptible to frost damage. This wonderful white carrot is almost coreless, with a nice mild carrot flavour and a crispy, crunchy texture. Particularly delicious when picked small, carrot Lunar White is excellent in green salads and gourmet dishes. They can be used in any recipe calling for standard orange carrots, but they are a nice addition to any dish where presentation highlights their clean moon-white colour.
As with all carrots, when planting Lunar White pick a sunny spot, dig the ground well (at least one foot deep) and remove any rocks or stones which might get in the way of the growing crop.
Although the roots remain under ground, the hips can show a bit of green, so you may want to hill up the soil around the plants as they grow.

Seeds per packet (approx.): 350

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Castor Bean Plant is an annual with large purple leaves.
Native to Africa but now found growing all over the world.
If you need a big, fast-growing plant, Castor Bean is the one to choose.
This beauty quickly sprouts into a tall plant up to 5 ft. high with huge, exotic looking leaves which are often almost 3ft across.

Plant singly, as a screening plant, or in large flower beds in parks and bigger gardens.

Seeds per packet (approx.): 5

At last, it’s possible to harvest lettuce plants of different types and tastes from a single sowing. If you've never grown your own lettuce plants to experience that fresh from the garden taste, try this superb mixed pack of lettuce seeds. An exciting blend of specially selected varieties to provide a range of colours, textures, tastes and leaf types to your salad bowl. Sow at two-week intervals to provide a continuous supply of leaves throughout the season. Exceptionally useful where space is limited.

Seeds per packet (approx.): 350

Spanish Daisy is an easy to grow annual plant for hanging baskets, flower beds and rock gardens.
Originally from Central America, it has been growing wild in Southern Europe for many years and is now being hailed as one of the greatest horticultural discoveries of recent years.
The masses of small flowers are pink when they open, rapidly turn white, and finally as they mature change back to rose-red giving the plant an unusual and constant two-tone effect.
This compact jewel is beloved by bees and butterflies and will also make an outstanding contribution in a wildlife garden

Seeds per packet (approx.): 60

Annual plant with aromatic leaves for cucumber souring. Dried leaves are good for salads, cottage cheese, fish, roast meat and sauces.
Basil came originally from India where it was used to cleanse and protect Hindu houses and temples.
The flavour is sweet but slightly peppery. It is used extensively in Mediterranean and Greek cooking, blending particularly well with tomato dishes, soups, pasta, risottos and eggs. It also goes well with pork and cheese dishes.

Seeds per packet (approx.): 325

Koralik is a determinate bush variety with high yields of small fruit.
Late maturing, Koralik has exceptionally high tolerance to blight.
Fruits weigh 12-15 gms, are an appealing bright red colour with a sweet flavour and all tomatoes on a truss ripen together.
Koralik will thrive outside in wet seasons where other varieties fail.
Grow in a container on the patio or in open beds. Use for salads or chutney.

Quote / growing advice from one of our customers - "These toms will have a real place in the future of my allotment as despite their small size they crop late and they crop so profusely that we make soup and other preserves from them. I would like to add some real advice to your customers from past experience. They grow as a bush, needing no after-care at all, but it might be useful to learn from our experience and grow them through plastic sheeting to avoid fruits from being spoiled by the soil. We tried this last year and it was a winner.
They are resistant to disease, surprisingly prolific, what people buy these days in large quantities and they are so versatile. We intend starting them off earlier this year, now that we have cracked their method of growth."

Seeds per packet (approx.): 30

Plant Types - F1, F2 or OP
Varieties of plants from seed can be presented as different product types, which depends on their mode of propagation.

Open pollinated (OP) varieties: these are the most simple in concept. Plants are selected to have similar performance, for habit and flowering period. They are then grown together and allowed to pollinated each other. Uniformity of the variety is dependent on how well the stock is maintained - poor stock maintenance leads to variable varieties with indifferent performance. Our suppliers select and maintain their own stock seed for most of the varieties offered.

F1 hybrid varieties: these result from crossing together two pure-breeding parents. Generally, F1 varieties are more uniform and vigorous, with better overall performance than OP varieties. Parent plants are generally grown under cover with most species requiring hand pollination. Parent lines must also be maintained.

F2 hybrid varieties: seed collected from F1 plants is F2. Uniformity and vigour is less than the parent F1 variety, but can be better than equivalent OP varieties.

Seed Production
The production of seed, particularly for ornamentals, is a mix of gardening art and science. In order to produce quality seed many factors have to be combined together.

Parent stocks: these must be high quality and uniform. We maintain our own stocks, and much of our trialling effort goes into proving parent stock quality.

Isolation: in order to prevent cross-contamination between different varieties these have to be grown far enough apart to stop bees travelling between them. Many different locations are needed. Each crop is visited several times during the growing season.

Growing: both in greenhouse and field the crop needs to be well grown and kept weed-free. Stressed plants rarely produce high germinating seed.

Climate: the climate of the production area needs to be chosen carefully to suit the needs of the plants, combined with the choice of greenhouse or field production.

Harvest: harvesting when seed is properly ripe, and immediate post-harvest handling of the seed to properly condition it, are crucial to the final out-turn. For many species, including most F1 varieties, this phase is carried out by hand.

Seed Testing: seed is regularly tested in-house to ensure that only quality seed with good germination and vigour is supplied.

Growing Trials
A trialling programme is central to many aspects of quality control. It enables the trueness to type of a variety to be judged, the uniformity of production mother stock to be assessed, and as an aid to sales and marketing.

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