Allotments

Pea 'Terrain' is a recent introduction and one of the most the most exciting developments of recent times. Yield, pod quality and taste – Pea Terrain couldn’t be beaten. Considered the most mildew resistant pea available this powerhouse pea is ideal for late summer sowing, especially in June/July enabling peas to be picked into November and up to a hard frost.

Baby Bear is a unique size and shape, and is often called 'the perfect mini pumpkin'. Deep orange and weighing around 2lbs, with 5 and 8 pumpkins per vine the fruits are about half the size of a normal pie pumpkin. The flesh is excellent for pies and the hull-less seeds can also be eaten raw or toasted.

Baby Boo is a charming, all-white, miniature pumpkin that is popularly used for table arrangements for Weddings, or for for Halloween and for Xmas. Children love them because of their miniature size and they make wonderful Halloween 'Ghosts'!

Jack O' Lantern is a traditional pumpkin, especially bred for carving out Jack O'Lanterns for Halloween. A long established favourite, with medium orange colour and sweet flavoured flesh it makes a superb carving pumpkin and a tasty cooking pumpkin.

Looking exactly like fairy tale pumpkins in children’s storybooks, Musquée de Provence is a gorgeous French pumpkin that is one of the only pumpkins that is eaten raw. Sweet with a light crunch and typical nutty taste, the very fine-grained flesh is considered by many to be superior to any other.

Pumpkin 'Small Sugar' is a unique size and shape, and is often called "the perfect mini pumpkin". Deep orange and weighing around 2lbs, with 5 and 8 pumpkins per vine the fruits are about half the size of a normal pie pumpkin. The flesh is excellent for pies and the hulless seeds can also be eaten raw or 'toasted.

Pumpkin 'Wee-Bee-Little' is an award winning little pumpkin that is very endearing. Remarkably miniature and averaging 8 to 9cm in diameter, they are delicious and decorative, they are the perfect size for children to grow and for small hands to hold. 12 weeks to harvest, each plant producing an average of 9 fruits per plant

The Minowase is the finest daikon radish variety for summer to autumn harvest. Sown from mid June to mid July, it can be harvested during cooler weather until the first mild frosts. They store beautifully and excel in stir-fries and roasts, the flesh is tender, buttery, and mild.

Root Parsley Hamburg is an off-beat, dual purpose vegetable that deserves to be better known. The root can be left in the ground all winter and dug up as and when your Sunday roast requires and the luxury of having plenty of leaves to snip from the garden in winter can’t be overstated.

Salsola komarovii, popularly known as Okahijiki is considered to be one of Japan’s oldest vegetables. A gourmet specialty, it is found in the wild growing in salt laden coastal marshes. A first tentative taste of a sprig reveals a surprising texture, the tubular leaves and branched stems are juicy with a crisp texture and salty flavour.

Shallot 'Zebrune' is a heritage variety that has recently been revived. It is very productive and has good resistance to bolting. Torpedo shaped, with superbly coloured pinky-brown skin this type are often called ‘banana’ shallots in the cookbooks, they are increasing in popularity for gourmet cooking.

Anyone who has had the pleasure of traveling to countries such as Japan or China will appreciate the bewildering but totally delicious array of vegetables on offer there. No wonder the Japanese have no problem reaching their official recommended intake of not merely five, but 17 portions of fruit and veg per day!

Spinach ‘F1 Piano’ is a modern, variety with smooth, green leaves. Highly productive, it is completely resistant to all races of spinach mildew and is very strongly resistant to bolting. With these properties it ranks among the most successful varieties for summer and autumn cultivation.

Mexican Tree Spinach is the latest ‘new’ arrival on the veg-growing scene. With a hundred different names including 'Micro Glitter Spinach' - this is a beautiful plant to have in the garden or allotment. Vivid pink tinged triangular bright green leaves with each new set of leaves blushed a shocking magenta.

'F1 Autumn Crown’ is a new butternut crossed with a Winter squash, Crown Prince F1, which produces the shape of one parent and the buff colour of the other. More importantly, it has inherited early ripening from Crown Prince, setting fruits at least a month before the previously available fastest butternuts.

'Blue Kuri' is a traditional open pollinated Japanese squash that has lovely blue-green skin. This beautiful sweet, versatile squash matures in 95 to 110 days to a convenient 15 to 20cm in diameter. Rich, sweet and nutty, the contrast between blue rind and orange flesh looks great on the plate.

Buttercup squash is a variety of winter squash that's considered the sweetest of squash. Attractive green, slightly ribbed fruits each have a distinctive blossom-end button and flattened turban shape. At around 1.5kg, use for roasting with the joint, soups and pumpkin pie.

Adaptable to many growing and soil conditions, Squash ‘Delica F1’ performs best in moderate temperatures. It consistently produces high quality, dark green striped fruit with a bright orange, creamy interior. The flesh is of excellent quality, sweet with a delicate taste of chestnut.

Winter Squash 'F1 Honey Bear' is a high sugar Acorn type squash. Mini-acorn fruits are just the right size halved for single servings. The compact plants have a semi-bush habit, are early to mature and high yielding. The sweet golden-orange flesh has a flavour that hints of hazelnuts and pepper.

Blocky, deeply ribbed and extremely bumpy, for most of the season they are a gorgeous dark green to charcoal black, but in autumn 'Futtsu Black Early' mature in a fascinating metamorphosis, to a grey-bloomed dusty orange. Harvest in the midst of their transformation for funky autumn displays or wait for them to ripen completely for maximum flavour, nutty and sweet with hints of chestnut.