A Year To Germinate ? What Are They ?

[snohare]

So there I was at the lottie yesterday, in the hail and the rain...and in an old fishbox that I had filled with soil last year, I saw some seedlings, fresh out from under the ground.
Last year I put in several types of seeds - turnips, lettuce, chard - some of which never came up, or were I presumed eaten by slugs.
I have no idea what varieties I put in there. But it looks like some of the lettuces have taken a year to germinate. Is that possible ? Has anyone had this happen to them before ?
The seedlings are very bright red, if not almost purple, with narrow upright leaves. Anybody got any idea of what they might be ? I have no record of what I bought last year in the way of seeds. Not a mistake I will be making this year ! Possibly something from Real Seeds...
Needless to say I have no photos, as my mobile phone battery was dead.

[mothhawk]

Well, not turnips, they're green and crinkly. Probably chard or beet but could be lettuce - have a taste and see.

[veggiechicken]

Really Red Deer Tongue lettuce
Prove me wrong by putting up a photo

[Snadger]

Stratification is a wonderful thing. I grew Tullameen raspberries from seed which took a year to germinate and I had the same problem because the writing had vanished on the label over this amount of time!

I reckon yours is chard though!

[veggiechicken]

My kiwiberries took a year to germinate - but they're green

[snohare]

Hmmm... Red deer tongue does sound familiar...but then again, it might be rainbow chard ? It's very red, anyway...and having seen countless red deer corpses, I can tell you it is not really very like a red deer's tongue, even after it has been shot !
(They always hang out of the beast's mouth when it dies. Not at all decorative as these cute wee seedlings are.)
Well, we shall see. If the slugs are merciful...

[Irish-Veg]

I got some seeds just last week for a dwarf bananna plant & pomengranate that can take anything from 1-12 months to germinate, hope they dont though

[Aberdeenplotter]

does this mean your new landlord has said Let us allow young Kenny to keep cultivating our patch?

[veggiechicken]

Nah, Sno probably found them sprouting under his bed

[Nicos]

Are you 100% they are not weeds?

...just a thought!

[snohare]

Yes indeedly AP, I do still have the plot ! I'm not sure if it has actually been sold or if it's merely a new manager - the chap I spoke to did not have a great command of English - but either way, I still have the right to grow.
What a mess it is though. Jings. The ground elder is everywhere, hiding everything (not necessarily a bad thing), the netting frames are all in need of repair or replacement (I have most of the materiels, so I'm fortunate there), and the dockens are doing the docken thing.
But first on my list of things to do I think is create a wee sitooterie, that will shelter Holly and I from the elements.
Meantime, back at home, I am tidying up my drawers for another root veg season...no weeds found yet...unless you count dandelions as non-crops.