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Diversity..........or a stick in the mud?

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  • #1

    Diversity..........or a stick in the mud?

    When I was a child, brought up in a Yorkshire village, in pre-supermarket days, I had never seen, let alone eaten many foods that are commonplace nowadays such as peppers, chillies, garlic, aubergines, sweet potatoes Jerusalem artichokes, asparagus, sweetcorn,figs, blueberries and lots of herbs.

    I now grow most of the above regularly, and the rest I have grown but then stopped either because I don't like them ( Jerusalem artichokes - why did I not try them first?) or I have decided they are not worth the effort. (Sweet potatoes).

    However, I find I tend to stick to the same varieties when I find one that works for me and my heavy soil. Sweetcorn is Lark, sweet peppers are Gypsy etc. Some plants, for example potatoes, I'll try a new variety as an extra or if someone has recommended it but maybe I am turning into a stick in the mud.

    Are the rest of you more adventurous than me or do you stick with tried and tested.
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  • #2
    I'm very much of the "grow what you like, like what you grow" school of thought.


    What annoys me is the difficulty of keeping the same variety when buying general retail seeds.

    There was a yellow bush tomato I grew a few years ago called something like "California Gold" - cannot find it again. Maybe I need to go to specialist tomato vendors...

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    • #3
      Good post.
      We are blessed with the variety of supermarket fruit and veg these days, although the quality is sketchy, the ethics of flying it around the world questionable, the use of man made chemicals and packaging appaling and the taste not even on the scale. I won't mention the density of nutrients because that is open to argument.
      But the reality for us is that although we can bulk buy cheap potatos/onions/runner beans/frozen peas etc. there is a sense of satisfaction in dedicating soil space to these crops. you can't beat that taste of harvesting and eating veg withing hours.
      We suffer like most, with the seasonal element of our harvests. Deep freezing, dry storage, pickle/preserving help and we have discovered like @greenishfing, that we are successful with some things more than others and tend to stick with those. I guess we are still learning with others, and then there are the years when crop X is just poor seemingly for everyone.
      I think this year has been our most successful to date (I hope I've not spoken too soon), and with good planning, regular work and some luck it can only get better.

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      • #4
        Originally posted by bikermike View Post
        I'm very much of the "grow what you like, like what you grow" school of thought.


        What annoys me is the difficulty of keeping the same variety when buying general retail seeds.

        There was a yellow bush tomato I grew a few years ago called something like "California Gold" - cannot find it again. Maybe I need to go to specialist tomato vendors...
        Annoying that isn't it. We've even been known to smash a particular shop bought tomato and save the seeds when we like the taste and form. That has worked well for us so far because tomatos are quite easy to seed and grow.
        We have learned what we are good at and in our soil. A bigger lesson was not to grow too much of what is easy if we can't eat it all or store it for later. (courgettes/cucumbers/rhubarb/runner beans/broad beans).

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        • #5
          Originally posted by bikermike View Post
          I'm very much of the "grow what you like, like what you grow" school of thought.


          What annoys me is the difficulty of keeping the same variety when buying general retail seeds.

          There was a yellow bush tomato I grew a few years ago called something like "California Gold" - cannot find it again. Maybe I need to go to specialist tomato vendors...
          This is the reason I started growing non F1 varieties, so that I can save my own seed where practical.

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          • #6
            agreed, although I'm having problems with declining seed quality, my saved peas have been rubbish, and my beans are from 2017 as they were bigger than the 2018 ones. I'll see how they get on.

            A learning wossname. I've collected parsnip and green manure seeds for the first time this year. May collect fennel and beetroot seeds too.

            The no-dig facebook page (run by Charles Dowding's other half) expressly does not recommend saving cucumber/squash/courgette seeds due to risk of poisonous cross-breeds.

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            • #7
              Originally posted by bikermike View Post
              The no-dig facebook page (run by Charles Dowding's other half) expressly does not recommend saving cucumber/squash/courgette seeds due to risk of poisonous cross-breeds.
              I follow Real Seeds advice on seed saving - there's plenty of advice on how to save cucurbit seeds to avoid cross-pollination. https://www.realseeds.co.uk/seedsavinginfo.html

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              • #8
                I shall look at that, thanks

                Mike

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