5 Garden Vegetable Classics You Must Try This Year!
Quality seeds are the foundation of a successful harvest. For growing strong and hardy plants, it's not possible to use seeds taken from just any plant of a given species. Seeds must come from the strongest and most beautiful specimens with well-ripened fruits. Subsequent sorting and seed storage also play a role - after drying, seeds must remain in cool and dry conditions. Moisture and high temperatures can significantly negatively affect seed germination. Another decisive factor is the length of storage. Even well-stored seeds lose their germination capacity over the years. For example, tomatoes remain viable for 4 to 5 years, while carrots or lettuce last 3 to 4 years from harvest. A safe bet is to purchase seeds from proven brands, where you can be sure of proper storage, variety purity, and freshness.
Kiepenkerl Seeds - A Guarantee of Quality
Kiepenkerl is a top seed producer from Germany that prides itself on the uncompromising quality of its products. For decades, it has been supplying the market with sorted original seeds with high germination rates, earning great customer trust. The distinctive yellow Kiepenkerl logo on a blue background that you'll find on the seed packet guarantees that inside you'll find only the best that modern seed production can offer. From the Kiepenkerl portfolio, you can choose vegetable seeds, herb seeds, internationally awarded flower varieties, or organic seeds that comply with strict regulations.
1. Lettuce
You can grow lettuce in your garden practically from spring to autumn, but it's always necessary to choose the right variety. This is especially true for summer growing - an unsuitable variety would quickly bolt in higher temperatures. Lettuce has a short growing season and is relatively undemanding in terms of soil and crop rotation. You can even grow lettuce several times in succession in the same location. Just don't forget adequate watering.
Try the sowing tape Italian Salad Meadow. In one packet, four types of popular leafy greens await you - chicory, radicchio, arugula, and lamb's lettuce. Thanks to the sowing tape, growing is very simple.
Also try the resistant butterhead lettuce Dynamite with excellent taste and crispy leaves, or the iceberg lettuce Grandes Lago118, which tolerates higher temperatures and stores well.
2. Peppers
Peppers are heat-loving plants whose cultivation requires some gardening experience. If you have a garden at higher altitudes, it's better to get a greenhouse for your peppers. Seedlings are pre-grown from the end of February on windowsills, or you can buy them later at garden centers. During growth, provide them with regular fertilization and adequate watering.
Want to try something unconventional this year? There's still time to grow your own seedlings of Pinokkio pepper with sweet aromatic fruits, which is very productive and disease-resistant.
Also worth trying is the thick-walled juicy Sweetgreen pepper with exceptionally sweet taste, or the very early Yolo Wonder variety with meaty and firm fruits.
3. Tomatoes
Tomatoes are probably the most popular of all garden vegetables. After the May frost period, when they're planted in outdoor beds, seedlings of various varieties are usually available at garden centers, but nothing replaces the wide array of colors and shapes of tomatoes that you can pre-grow at home from seeds. However, you must start sowing indoors no later than mid-March.
Growing the same variety over and over? Don't feel like trying something new? The Roma variety offers medium-sized oval fruits with excellent taste and minimal amount of seeds.
If you prefer tasty cherry tomatoes, definitely try Lupitas F1 tomato with distinctive fruity taste and growth around 150 cm. And if you don't feel like tying tomatoes to stakes and removing side shoots, then you might be interested in the bush tomato Phantasia with sweet taste and pleasant aroma, its disease resistance is another nice bonus.
4. Carrots
Carrots are often classified as crops suitable for beginners, but cultivation doesn't always succeed. The basis is thoroughly loosened soil so that carrots develop well underground. Carrots also don't like farmyard manure. When seeds are germinating in the bed, it's necessary to keep the soil continuously moist, which can be helped by covering with white non-woven fabric.
If you haven't tried it yet, give Nantaise 2 a go this year - a robust cylindrical carrot with excellent colour. It's suitable for both fresh consumption and storage.
Another great choice is the long, slender autumn to winter carrot Lange rote stumpfe ohne Herz 2. It features rapid growth, abundant foliage, and surprises with high yields. If you're looking for a long winter carrot with excellent storage qualities, don't hesitate to try the Rote Riesen 2 variety.
5. Cucumber
Whether for pickling or salads, every cucumber needs well-fertilised, properly worked soil and a warm, sunny location. Long greenhouse cucumbers are grown in greenhouses or polytunnels. Pickling cucumbers or field varieties can manage with outdoor beds. During cultivation, don't forget regular watering and feeding throughout the growing season.
Want to grow your own pickling cucumbers for preserving this year? With the Excelsior variety, it's no problem at all. It's highly productive and exceptionally resistant to unpredictable weather.
You don't have to miss out on cucumber harvests even without a garden. The salad cucumber Ministars can be grown in hanging baskets or window boxes. These mini cucumbers with a chestnut-like flavour will become the curiosity of your balcony. If you want to try something new in the greenhouse instead, choose the guaranteed non-bitter greenhouse cucumber Dominica, which will delight you with large yields and resistance to powdery mildew.