The alternative guide FOR cool stuff to grow
JAMES WONG
The great Sow-A-Long!
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fear not! This year I'll be posting absolutely everything I'll be planting
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Love 'Grow Your own', but Confused about exactly what to sow & when?
right here (EXOTIC OR NOT), complete with live updates on twitter &
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HOW IT WORKS
I've made a big old list of all the stuff that I'll be planting this year right here (scroll down to check it out). Over the course of the growing season I'll be ticking off exacty what I'm sowing and when, updating you guys live through facebook and twitter as I do it.
This list includes both tried & tested favourites that I've grown for years, as well as a whole bunch of new stuff that I am excited about trialling for the 1st time. I'll post open and honest updates about my successes and failures so we can compare our experiences across the country (maybe even the world!)
Oh & just to prove that I'm not an exotic crop nazi, I've included plenty of regular high-value, yet easy-to-grow veg too, that I love to grow alongside more weird & wonderful stuff.
February
Blueberry 'Pink Lemonade'
PLANTED 13/02
A new shocking pink blueberry hybrid that I'll be trialling in 2013. Said to be 2x sweeter than the regular ones & evergreen too!
NEW! - GROW FROM PLANTS
PLANTED 13/02
Key to the Codes
BUFFALO CURRANT 'Fourberry'
An exciting new cultivar of the American 'buffalo currant'. High yielding & super ornamental, I am SO excited to trial these.
What do the codes mean?
NEW! = A new plant that I have yet to trial, but my research suggests is likely to perform well in the UK climate. Who knows,it could be a 'crop of the future'? Or maybe a total failure? The fun is in finding out!
TESTED = A crop that has consistently proved easy-to-grow, super tasty & high yielding in my tiny back garden trials. I know it's a real winner!
SOW FROM SEEDS = I am going to grow this crop from seed this year (although you can often buy 'em as small plants too). This is often the cheapest way.
GROW FROM PLANTS = For better results (or sometimes simply as a cheat's short cut) I'm going to start this crop by buying small plants rather than seeds.
NEW! - GROW FROM PLANTS
Broad Bean 'Crimson Flowered'
A stunning heirloom variety that I grow both to pick when still pea-sized and sweet & for their tender young leaves in spring.
TESTED - GROW FROM SEEDS
honeyberry 'edulis'
THAI PEA AUBERGINES
SOwn 13/02
NEW! - GROW FROM PLANTS
Ever wondered what those crisp, slightly bitter 'peas' you get in Thai Green Curry are? Well here's your answer. Reputedly the only hardy aubergine you can grow too, to -3C!
An edible honeysuckle bred in the former USSR - said to be super hardy and with an intense blueberry-like flavour.
NEW!- GROW FROM SEEDS
SOWN 13/02
Surprisingly easy-to-grow, I like to sow these in bags of old coffee grounds (no really!). I promise to blog about this soon!
TESTED - GROW FROM SPORES
PEA 'KELVEDON WONDER'
Homegrown peas that'll knock the socks of anything you buy in the shops. Never let it be said that I'm an exotic crop snob!
TESTED - GROW FROM SEEDS
Oyster Mushrooms
Sown 13/02
Pepper 'Poblano'
PLANTED 13/02
TESTED! - GROW FROM SEEDS
An amazingly richly-flavoured Mexican pepper with a sweet smokey flavour a world away from any supermarket type.
Pepper 'LIPSTICK'
SOWN 13/02
A super-early pepper that apparently will ripen just fine outdoors even in the UK climate. Can't wait to test it.
NEW! - GROW FROM SEEDS
SOWN 13/02
PINKCURRANT 'ROSA SPORT'
You'll never find these refreshing, champagne-hued berries in the supermarkets, so I can't wait to trial these!
NEW! - GROW FROM PLANTS
March
CHOP SUEY GREENS
A super fast-growing oriental veg with a deliciously savoury herby flavour & golden daisy-like flowers to boot.
TESTED - GROW FROM SEEDS
Being fully hardy in the UK, with a little indoor ripening these exotic fruit might just prove a viable option in Britain. I'll trial 'em & report back!
NEW! - GROW FROM PLANTS
PERSIMMONS
Tomato 'YELLOW PEAR'
These are easily the best flavoured tomato I've ever eaten, so I REALLY hope they'll grow outdoors in the UK. We'll see...
NEW! - GROW FROM SEEDS
MOOLI 'MAn TANG HONG'
TESTED - GROW FROM SEEDS
Ration-book radish's exotic oriental sister. Crisp & peppery in salads or mild & melt-in-the-mouth in curries, pasties & homemade dim sum!
Parsley up top, sweet parsnip-like roots down below, this old-school variety of parsley gives you two crops for the price of one!
TESTED - GROW FROM SEEDS
Hamburg Parsley
Rat's Tail radish PODS
Crisp, mustard flavoured 'chilies' that grow in great big bunches on super fast growing, frost-tolerant plants.
TESTED - GROW FROM SEEDS
TESTED - GROW FROM SEEDS
Inca Berries
Sticky-sweet golden berries, each encased in its own little paper lantern. Way easier than a tomato!
PASSION FRUIT 'INCENSE'
A hybrid derived from the 'Maypop' - a hardy edible passion fruit from the Southern US. Let's see if it makes good eatin' in the UK.
NEW! - GROW FROM PLANTS
WILD WHITE STRAWBERRies
Pineapple-flavoured mini strawberries, whose ivory colour makes 'em virtually invisible to marauding birds.
TESTED - GROW FROM SEEDS
STRAWBERRY 'SNOW WHITE'
A new variety of ice-white strawbs with bright red pips. Apparently with great flavour too. Definately something I needed to try!
NEW! - GROW FROM PLANTS
I had to give these mini peppers a go. From Northern Spain (a similar climate to Cornwall) these should grow wonderfully outdoors.
NEW! - GROW FROM SEEDS
PADRON PEPPERS
CARROT 'DEEP PURPLE'
Antioxidant-packed and flourescent purple to their core, these heritage carrots are a huge favourite of mine.
TESTED - GROW FROM SEEDS
GOOSEBERRY 'WhiNHAM'S INDUSTRY'
Lemon Eucalyptus
Like a super-charged lemongrass, packed with sherbety citrusiness. Fantastic to whizz in cocktails or char on sticky BBQ ribs. Yum!
TESTED - GROW FROM SEEDS
Spring Onion 'APACHE'
TESTED - GROW FROM SEEDS
Crisp, sweet spring onions with a deliciously mild tang.
I grow these guys every year for fresh spring salads.
A gooseberry sweet enough to eat straight from the bush? That's what this heritage variety promises!
NEW! - GROW FROM PLANTS
April
Squash 'POLO'
TESTED - GROW FROM SEEDS
Creamy white, UFO-shaped squash. Nice and early yielding too. Truly stunning sliced & grilled on the BBQ.
Bramely apple flavoured
'spuds', with tangy sorrel-like leaves. Two crops for the effort of one & completely blight proof!
TESTED - GROW FROM TUBERS
PERUVIAN EARTH APPLES
Enormous sweet potato-like tubers that taste like a cross between water chestnuts & pears. Crisp, sugary & oh-so juicy.
TESTED - GROW FROM PLANTS
New Zealand Yams
Asparagus PeaS
Crisp, nutty pods of deliciousness on pretty scarlet-flowered plants. True gourmet flavour with none of the fuss.
TESTED - GROW FROM SEEDS
Squash 'CROOK NECK'
Grape-sized 'watermelons' that taste of pure cucumber with a tinge of lime. A vigourous climber with iron-clad drought tolerance.
TESTED - GROW FROM SEEDS
CucaMelons
An exotic squash that can be picked young and scoffed like a courgette. Said to have a far superior nutty flavour & deliciously firm flesh.
NEW!- GROW FROM SEEDS
Sugar Leaves (AKA. Stevia)
TESTED - GROW FROM SEEDS
Quinoa
Dazzling flowers, spinach-like greens and great handfuls of trendy superfood grain all from the same plant.
TESTED - GROW FROM SEEDS
TomatilloS
Deliciously tart, lime-flavoured 'tomatoes' from Mexico. Essential to any 'South of the Border' cook.
A wonder herb containing a chemical that's 300 times sweeter than sugar but with none of the calories! No, really!
TESTED - GROW FROM SEEDS
Both far easier an tastier than spinach, these are a great option for an edible ornemental.
TESTED - GROW FROM SEEDS
SWISS CHARD 'BRIGHT LIGHTS'
Stunningly peppery flowers & leaves. Plus tasty seeds which you can pickle to make delicious homegrown 'capers.'
TESTED - GROW FROM SEEDS
NASTURTIUMS
CHICKPEA 'PRINCIPE'
Sweet, nutty pods with a flavor somewhere between pistachios & spring peas. FAR tastier (& easier) than uber trendy edamame.
TESTED - GROW FROM SEEDS
JAPANESE BEEFSTEAK PLANT
TESTED - GROW FROM SEEDS
Flourescent purple leaves with a rich, smokey cumin-type flavour. Delicious in salads, soups and tempura.
The incan cucumber relative that tastes (amazingly) like roast peppers. Each super high-yielding plant can kick out over 100 fruit too!
TESTED - GROW FROM SEEDS
Inca Gherkins
BEETROOT 'CHIOGGIA'
An old-school Italian variety with an intense sweet flavour and stunning concentric circles at its core. Tasty edible leaves too!
TESTED - GROW FROM SEEDS
TESTED - GROW FROM SEEDS
PURSELANE
Crisp, juicy salad greens with a flavour somewhere between bramley apples and mangetout.
Technicoloured, Caribbean 'spinach' that's beautiful enough to hold its own in the flower border. Super easy-to-grow too.
TESTED - GROW FROM SEEDS
CALLALOO
ELECTRIC DAISIES
Grow your own popping candy!
A single bite gives you the sensation of an electric shock followed by deliciously fizzy tingliness.
TESTED - GROW FROM SEEDS
MAY
TESTED - GROW FROM SEEDS
POPCORN 'FIESTA'
Disco coloured corn cobs that you can dry & bung in the microwave to fire out little white clouds of deliciousness.
A super-quick maturing papaya variety that might just ripen in time if grown as an annual in the UK. Who knows they do it in the US!
NEW! - GROW FROM PLANTS
PAPAYA 'RED MARADOL'
A Southern Italian cross between a cucumber & a melon. Used in salads like a intensely fragrant, crisp cuke.
NEW! - GROW FROM SEEDS
CAROSELLO 'MIRA'
SWEET POTATO 'BEAUREGARD'
An exciting new cultivar that crops well even in our less than idyllic climate.
TESTED! - GROW FROM PLANTS
Impossibley fragrant berries that were once Queen Victoria's favourite fruit.
TESTED! - GROW FROM PLANTS
CHILEAN GUAVAs
SWEETCORN 'JADE BLUE'
Super-dwarf plants only 2-3ft high, bearing waxy, chestnut flavoured cobs. Perfect if space is at a premium.
TESTED - GROW FROM SEEDS
WATERMELON 'CREAM OF SASKATCHEWAN'
I'm getting increasingly excited about the potential of growing early-cropping, cool-tolerant watermleons in the UK & the is said to be one of the best.
NEW! - GROW FROM SEEDS
NEW! - GROW FROM SEEDS
SWEETCORN 'RUBY QUEEN'
Blood red cobs of supersweet sweetcorn, packed with antioxidants.
DWARF BEAN 'VALDOR'
Buttery, tender, pencil-thin pods that grow on 1ft-high plants. Perfect as under planting beneath tall sweetcorn.
TESTED - GROW FROM SEEDS
WATERMELON 'GOLDEN MIDGET'
Continuing on my quest to find an early-cropping, cool-tolerant watermelon that'll fruit in the UK, this is a promising lead.
NEW! - GROW FROM SEEDS
NEW! - GROW FROM SEEDS
MELON 'TIGGER'
A stunning, mega-fragrant melon from the Caucasus that's only the size of a cricket ball. It's earned its place in my trial for its name alone.
WATERMELON 'INGRID' (GRAFTED)
The near-miraculous vigour that grafting provides makes this one of the best bets to grow outdoors in the UK. Watch this space...
NEW! - GROW FROM SEEDS
Musk melon 'Emir' (GRAFTED)
melon 'OUTDOOR WONDER'
NEW! - GROW FROM PLANTS
Another promising variety, said to fruit outdoors without any coddling in UK summers. Will it live up to the hype? We'll see...
CUCUMBER 'MINIATURE WHITE'
With this variety, specially bred for the UK climate, anyone can grow melons outdoors even in blustery old Blighty.
TESTED - GROW FROM PLANTS
Mini ivory-white cukes that grow on mega-productive, diminutive 3ft plants. Ideal for my tiny garden I hope.
NEW!- GROW FROM PLANTS
SOYBEAN 'SUMMER SHELL'
Soy might have failed my trials 3x, but being the eternal optimist I wanna give this new, UK-bred variety a chance.
NEW!- GROW FROM PLANTS
NEW!- GROW FROM PLANTS
CHILIES'MEDINA' (GRAFTED)
I'm a real chili fiend, so I just had to try out this new grafted form that promises maximum crops for minimum effort.
SWEET PEPPER 'MILENA' (GRAFTED)
Peppers are tricky to get away with in the UK without a greenhouse. I hope grafting may change that. We'll see.
TESTED - GROW FROM PLANTS
TOMATO 'BELRICCIO' (GRAFTED)
TESTED - GROW FROM PLANTS
One of my favourite tomato varieties for flavour. Grafting makes them even earlier & way more productive.
THAI BASIL 'FLoral SPIRES'
NEW! - GROW FROM SEEDS
A super-fragrant variety of exotic Thai basil, specially bred for its stunning lavender flowers. Who could really ask for more?
CORIANDER 'LEMON'
In Asia it is not coriander leaves but its fragrant roots that are actually the most valued part. I love this new citrusy variety.
NEW!- GROW FROM PLANTS
Soy BEAN 'Black JeT'
A high moutain papaya relative, with a built in tolerance down to -2C. Might just fruit when grown as an annual in my backyard...
NEW! - GROW FROM PLANTS
BABACO
RUNNER BEAN 'HESTIA'
TESTED - GROW FROM SEEDS
Dwarf runner bean plants that make an ideal groundcover under corn plants, giving you 2x the crops from the same space.
A new soy bean, bred specifically for short, cool summers. I'm skeptical after many past failures with soy, but will give it a try..
NEW!- GROW FROM SEEDS
JUNE
Supermarket radish's exotic oriental sister, with a far richer, creamier bite. Ideal of curries, stir fries & even homemade dim sum.
TESTED - GROW FROM SEEDS
MOOLI
© 2013 James Wong
Radish 'German salad'
A fantastically crisp, quick maturing, heirloom radish from Germany. Great for plugging gaps in beds between plantings.
NEW! - GROW FROM SEEDS
SHARK's fin Melon
The most cool tolerant of all the pumpkin & squash family, producing masses of creamy textured, delicately flavoured fruit.
TESTED - GROW FROM PLANTS
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