Heritage Varieties

With outstanding quality and excellent keeping qualities, Ailsa Craig Prizewinner is much loved by both home gardeners and exhibitors producing weighty onions perfect for the kitchen or show bench. A heritage variety and great all-rounder, Ailsa Craig still takes some beating.

Borettana onions are the Italian sports car of onions. Sweet, sleek, and stylish with a wonderful flavour, once a rare treat only to be found at gourmet restaurants. They are a good onion for colder climates, harvested in early autumn they fill the gap between winter-stored onions and the early new ones.

Italy boasts many varieties of onion, but perhaps the most famous is Cipolla di Tropea. It can be sown in either autumn, September to October or in spring, late February to early April. The shape of its bulbs, the deep purple colour, its extraordinary sweetness, and its refined taste, make it one of the most interesting products in the entire Italian agriculture.

Overwintering Onion ‘Senshyu Yellow Globe’ is a hardy and reliable maincrop onion, for harvesting before the traditional spring sown bulbing varieties are ready. It produces heavy yields of semi-globe shaped bulbs with straw coloured skins and matures June to July from an August sowing.

Bunching onion 'Kyoto Market' is an early, vigorous and heavy yielding bunching onion that does not bulb but forms long white stalks with long green foliage. suitable for later crops and for overwintering. This perennial variety splits into bunches as it grows, simply divide the clump to multiply your onion patch.

'Hollow Crown' is one of the oldest varieties of parsnip, with probably still the best flavour of all, with a depth and richness unmatched by most other varieties. It has been grown since at least the 1850's and is still very popular among gardeners in the know.

Although not widely available commercially, the vintage, sugar pod type pea 'Carouby de Maussane' has been enjoying a small-scale renaissance among heritage vegetable enthusiasts. Not only is the flavour superior, but the vines are covered with beautiful lavender and purple flowers.

One of the most well known of the New Mexico peppers, the Anaheim is a slightly sweet pepper with just a little pop, they are great for people who typically don’t like spicy foods. Versatile and family friendly and big enough to be stuffed, if you are bored of the bell pepper, try moving up this small notch.

The 'Scotch Bonnet' was the first Caribbean Hot Pepper to be known by a specific name in the export market. Most commonly found in hot Caribbean dishes, use sparingly, fresh or dried to recipes. Also great for pickling, garnishes, sauces and jerk rubs, it develops a rich, multi-sided, tropical-fruity flavour.

Californian Wonder is the widely adapted standard variety, a favorite with gardeners and for commercial production. It consistently produces large yields of blocky, four-lobed thick-walled fruit that is mild and sweet, tender and flavourful. Perfect for salads, to stir-fries, grilling or stuffing.

'Golden Californian Wonder' is the widely adapted standard variety, a favorite with gardeners and widely used for commercial production. The plant does well in both cool and warm weather. It consistently produces large yields of blocky, four-lobed thick-walled fruit that is mild and sweet, tender and flavourful.

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.