August

Chinatown's produce stands offer many items that make only fleeting seasonal appearances, often so brief that many chefs scarcely have time to figure out how to cook them properly before they disappear for another year. One example is water spinach, a common vegetable in Asian cuisine.

Recommended by the N.I.A.B, Turnip ‘Snowball’ is a very popular first-class, globe variety with solid flesh and a juicy, sweet, mild flavour. They are a fast crop, being ready in just five to eight weeks from sowing. With pure white flesh as its name suggests, Snowball is superb for both table and exhibition.

Purple Top Milan is a classic Italian heirloom variety and is still as popular as ever. Highly ornamental, it has smooth creamy-white flat roots with bright purple shoulders and pure white flesh. A strap-leaved variety, quick to mature and early cropping, it is an ideal 'catch crop' between slower growing vegetables.

Turnip ‘Goldana’ is an improved version of the popular turnip Golden Ball. A maincrop variety that produces uniform round golden roots with tender creamy-yellow flesh. They are much sweeter than regular turnips with an excellent flavour. They can be harvested as a mini-veg or left to mature.

Turkish Rocket is a robust, fast-growing plant and a great, herbaceous addition to permaculture projects, it is one of the most hardy and long-lived of all winter salad greens. It is blessedly simple to grow. Easy to raise, never needs weeding or watering and goes on for ever.

Tatsoi or Rosette Pak Choi is among the most popular of oriental greens and one of the best vegetables to grow in a cool climate. The spoon-shaped, evenly spaced leaves form a plant worthy to be grown for its decorative value alone. Given enough room the plants will form beautiful wide rosettes of regular, concentric circles.

Salsify may be a chic new vegetable with the foodie crowd but it just happens to be an old-fashioned heritage root crop. This unprepossessing Mediterranean winter vegetable has a delicate taste, ever so slightly sweet, some say slightly reminiscent of oysters, so much so that it is also known as the 'oyster plant'.

Salad Burnet is a wonderful old herb that makes a great addition to any garden. It was planted along pathways 'to perfume the air most delightfully, being trodden on and crushed', the delicate leaves have a subtle cucumber flavour and today are used in salads, as a flavouring and to add interest to cold drinks.

Relatively unknown to our shores, Rocket ‘Olive Leaf’ is an excellent selection of the traditional Italian olive leaf wild rocket. With a beautiful light green colour and smooth shape similar to an olive leaf, this perennial form has a distinctive aroma and flavour that is more subtle than the usual wild rockets.

The colourful 'Watermelon Radish' of historic China. The magic is in their bright-magenta interior which is so sweet, crisp, and delicious. A winter radish, for autumn and winter sowing they will tolerate temperatures down to around -3°C. The bright pink and white flesh makes a beautiful accent for any salad. They are also good for pickling. 45 to 55 days.

'F1 April Cross' is a Minowase type hybrid daikon radish. A market leader for its extra-slow bolting habit, tender mature flesh and reliable harvest. Recommended for late summer to early summer harvest and for early winter harvest, they are an excellent variety for home gardeners. Sow seeds after the last frost in spring or in late summer to early autumn. They have a mild taste that is tender, buttery, and mild. 60 days.

Radish ‘China Rose’ is a traditional winter hardy variety that produces long, tapering roots with attractive rosy pink skins and crisp, pure white flesh. Its cylindrical roots grow 15 to 20cm long and add flavour to winter salads. The leaves can also be added to salads and stir fries.

Radish 'White Hailstone' is a brilliant white, sweet, white globe radish. Especially crisp, tender and with a mild flavour that keeps well once pulled. not too spicy and stay mild even as they grow larger.

Not your average radish, Radish ‘Viola’ is one of the jewels of veg patch. This dramatic, magenta-skinned variety is quick to mature and makes a delightful presentation on the plate. High yielding in limited space, they can be grown wherever there is sun and moist, fertile soil, even on the smallest city lot.

Quick to grow and beautiful to look at, Radish 'Rainbow Mixed' is a visually stunning selection of coloured-skinned radishes. A very exciting sight to see when picked and an excellent choice for salads and gourmet dishes.