What to Sow in May

Kale Black Tuscany, also known as Cavolo Nero, is a great easy-care veg that is packed full of vitamins. It has a long harvest period from the summer through the winter (it is hardy to -15C) to early spring when it will bolt and flower. The flowers can be eaten...

Courgette Defender F1 is an excellent variety that produces lots of mid-dark green fruits with lovely firm flesh. It is a very easy to grow, compact plant with an open habit so the courgettes are easy to see & pick. Courgette Defender is a versatile gardeners' favourite because it is...

Celeriac Giant Prague is an heirloom variety that was introduced in 1871 and is still perhaps one of the standard cultivars. The roots have a slight taste of celery (which it is related to but is easier to grow) and aniseed. The leaves are celery-like. It has large, white, 5”...

Runner Bean White Lady is an outstanding white-flowered bean producing the most tender, thick, and succulent pods that you will ever taste. The delicious long, mid-green beans of Runner Bean White Lady are stringless with a wonderfully smooth texture. Runner Bean White Lady produces white flowers that are not so attractive...

Basil Sweet Thai Herb Seeds are an eastern Basil used in many Thai and oriental dishes and adds a spicy aniseed/basil flavour to food. It can be used raw in salads or tossed into Thai curries just at the end of cooking. Sweet Thai Basil grows to around 30-40cm tall...

Spring/Salad Onion White Lisbon is an excellent salad onion that is relatively low maintenance and not only suited to overwintering producing early crops but good for successional spring/summer cropping too (sow at 3 weekly intervals). Salad Onion White Lisbon is very quick growing and produces the classic bulb type salad...

Amaranth Red (also known as Calaloo, Rajgira, Lal Saag) have intense reddish leaves with cherry pink stems and has a slightly nutty flavour. It is very easy and quick to grow and can be eaten as a microgreen, babyleaf or up to mature leaf size. Interesting facts...Aztec tribes consumed Amaranth...

Peppermint has attractive, fragrant dark green serrated leaves and produces little mauve flowers. It has a strong flavour so use sparingly, great in puddings, chocolate mousse and tea infusions. It is best to remove the flowers as soon as they appear as they will reduce leaf production. Peppermint grows to...

Cucamelons are small grape-sized fruits that have the taste of cucumbers with a hint of lime and the shape of a mini watermelon with a patterned green shaded skin. Cucamelons have a hard outer skin with a crunchy texture and are perfect eaten raw in salads, pickled like gherkins, added...

Caliente Mustard 199 is an excellent green manure that has biofumigant properties. (Biofumigation is the suppression of soil-borne pests & diseases by the release of naturally occurring gases). By combining the lush organic matter with the plants biofumigant properties the activity of beneficial soil microbes is increased, so they can...

Red Clover is a fast growing perennial green manure. It is the best variety of clover for fixing nitrogen from the air, weed suppression & improving soil structure. Its roots penetrate deep into the soil and help to improve its structure by binding soils together (especially light ones) and this...

Crown Prince F1 is generally thought to be one of the best all-round squashes with the sweetest tasting flesh. It is very reliable & productive and has excellent storage qualities & can last for up to a year if stored in a cool, dry place. Crown Prince F1 squash has...

Crimson Clover Green Manure is a good choice for smothering weeds, fixing nitrogen from the air and is a fast-growing bulky green manure. It has deep roots that penetrate the soil and bulky furry foliage that once dug in helps to improve soil structure. It is not always winter hardy...

Parsley Plain Leaf Herb is also known as French Parsley and has serrated fine leaves that are generally regarded to have a slightly better flavour and texture than curly parsley. It is the one that the continentals grow and use and is the 'true Parsley variety'. Parsley is one of...