#growing flowers

Planning out the Urban Allotment

If there is a main, single reason, I haven’t been as active as usual over the past period is because of the time I’ve been putting in planning the allotment layout progression for this new year and in preparing the site.  

It’s also time to start the first plants indoors, so I thought I’d share with you what I will (try) to grow from seed and what you should expect to see me writing about a few months down the line. 

The seeds I will be using come from different sources: some were bought online, some at the garden centre where I work, some were bought or collected by my mum and I in Italy, others are part of my collection of saved seeds and some where left by the previous owners of the allotment. 

All this plants are in addition to the plugs I will buy from work for convenience and to the several perennials I have still waiting in pots or dormant in the shed. Altogether, I’ve already planted 150+ different small plants around the allotment, so it will hopefully end up being the biodiversity paradise I’m trying to create. 

Coming to the seeds, here’s the list, which I might edit in time: 

~Root veg:

-CARROT ‘PURPLE SUN’ F1
-CARROT 'ROYAL CHANTENAY’
-RADISH 'FRENCH BREAKFAST 3’
-BEETROOT 'BOLTARDY’
-BEETROOT 'CHIOGGIA’
-BEETROOT -RAINBOW MIX
-TURNIP 'DI MILANO A COLLETTO VIOLA’
-SCORZONERA (Scorzonera hispanica)
-SALSIFY (Tragopogon porrifolius)
-ROOT PARSLEY 'EAGLE’
-TIGER NUTS (Cyperus esculentus)
(I’ll probably buy POTATO ‘HIGHLAND BURGUNDY RED’ soon) 

~Leaf veg:

-SWISS CHARD 'GALAXY’ F1
-SPINACH 'AMAZON’ F1
-SPRING ONION 'APACHE’
-CHICKORY 'GRUMOLO ROSSA’
-SPINACH BEET
-PAK CHOI 'WHITE’ F1
-CORIANDER
(+ I’ll probably buy and sow mixed salad leaves here and there)

~Legumes:

-DWARF BEAN 'MISTIC’
-DWARF BEAN 'ROCQUENCOURT’
-RUNNER BEAN 'SCARLET EMPEROR’
-PEA 'RONDO’

~Cucurbitae:

-SQUASH 'CROOKNECK’
-COURGETTE 'TROMBONCINO’
-COURGETTE 'TONDO DI PIACENZA’
(I might add one winter squash)

~Others:

-ARTICHOKE 'GREEN GLOBE’
-OKRA 'BABY BUBBA’ F1
-TOMATO 'CUORE DI BUE’
-MIXED HOT CAPISCUM ANNUUM
-SWEET CORN 'INCREDIBLE’ F1

~Flowers (for seeds, leaves or for wildlife)

-SUNFLOWER 'VALENTINE’
-SUNFLOWER 'SCHOCK-O-LAT’ F1
-AGASTACHE 'APRICOT SPRITE’
-NIGELLA 'BLUE STARRY SKIES’
-SWEET PEA 'BLUE SHIFT’
-MORNING GLORY 'HEAVENLY BLUE’
-NASTURTIUM 'DOUBLE DELIGHT CREAM’
-NASTURTIUM NANUM 'EMPRESS OF INDIA’
-MELISSA OFFICINALIS
-MIRABILIS JALAPA
-BORAGO OFFICINALIS
-PAPAVER ROHEAS
-MECONOPSIS CAMBRICA
-ONOBRYCHIS VICIIFOLIA
-KNAUTIA ARVENSIS
-SILENE CORONARIA
…and more!