December

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.

This incredibly succulent, melt-in-your-mouth raw salad green has recently gained popularity in the gourmet greens world, attracting both world class growers and chefs. Best used fresh and tiny, these elegant leaves bring a rich, tart-creaminess to delicate, micro-green salads.

Pea 'Sienna' is a superstar - an excellent hardy, early variety that is well adapted to cool soils and early spring weather, and produces a very fast crop. Very easy shelling, with excellent sweet flavour - open the medium sized, blunt pods and enjoy the first, sweet, plump, green peas of the season!

Round seeded 'Feltham First' can be relied upon to produce a substantial crop of large pointed pods packed with tasty, sweet peas early in the summer. It is a traditional high-yielding favourite with good cold tolerance. Suitable for autumn or spring sowing.

Pea 'Douce Provence' is a compact variety which is extremely versatile. Consistent and reliable it produces large crops of sweet and succulent peas. Strictly speaking it is a round seeded first early variety but it can also be grown as an over-winter pea to produce of the earliest harvests of the season.

Dwarf Canton White is a short and squat variety, often known as Baby or Squat Pak Choi. Tender and delicious, with a compact habit, this fast growing vegetable can be harvested at any stage, for 'baby leaf or left to mature to thick succulent white stems.

Origanum syriacum, commonly called Syrian oregano or Zaatar, is a special oregano that is more aromatic than the European variant that blends hints of Oregano, Thyme and Marjoram. It is similar yet distinctive, and gives great fragrance to a roast or rub.

The difference in taste between fresh oregano and the store-bought dried variety is like night and day. Its spicy yet refreshing flavour contributes to Italian, Greek, and Spanish cuisine. Fresh oregano adds a boost of flavour that just can't be beat. Easy to grow either in the garden or indoors.

Members of the oregano family are an essential plant for a well-stocked, sunny herb garden. Fragrant and very decorative, Sweet Marjoram is an essential culinary herb, good with veal, beef, lamb, roast poultry and fish. The leaves are best used fresh, as their flavour is sweeter and milder.

Lettuce 'Gustav's Salad' is an heirloom butterhead variety that is compact and silky soft with a a delicious melt-in-the-mouth flavour. Upright, small and compact this sweet and buttery lettuce is reliable and perfect for growing where space might be limited. A new staple in the salad garden, the eating quality is of the next level.

Lettuce Meraviglia d'Inverno is truly a ‘Marvel of Winter’, it is from one of the coldest regions of Italy and is hardy to around minus 10°C (14°F). Compact and tender, it will stand in perfect condition right through winter and can be harvested from September right through to March.

This French butter-head lettuce is famous for its signature butter-head shape boasting the appearance of a bibb-type rosette with an array of beautiful colours ranging in bronze, gold, red and green. The “Four Seasons” will thrive in a range of climates and its texture always remains crisp and its taste unforgettable.

As its name suggests, this classic butterhead lettuce can be the basis of fresh daily salads throughout the year. This is no 'supermarket' variety, but rather a proper lettuce with an exquisite flavour unavailable from anywhere but from your own vegetable patch.

Grano Violetto is a unique and colourful early maturing broad bean. This very hardy variety is suitable for sowing from October. The plants grow to 90cm tall and are highly productive even at the lower parts of the plant. Harvested while still green, the purple coloration appears once the beans are dried.