It's here! We're super-excited to launch our famous "Second Spring" seed collection today :).

We sell this collection every year in July and August and it's always a massive hit with our customers.

Second Spring's a selection of seeds which can be sown later in the year (in the next couple of months) to keep you fed with tasty and nutritious veg throughout autumn and winter.

Each year we mix it up a bit (while maintaining the real workhorse varieties) and we're really pleased with this year's selection. Read on to get the low-down or click the button below to grab one.

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BUY SECOND SPRING SEED COLLECITON

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​Cima di Rapa - San Marzano​

A really easy to grow broccoli alternative producing tender flowering shoots around 60 days from sowing. Cima Di Rapa (also known as broccoli raab), is actually botanically a type of turnip rather than a broccoli. As such it is very quick to grow and unfussy in terms of its water and nutrient requirements.

The flowering shoots are harvested like sprouting broccoli and if you take care not to remove the lower two leaves you can get a few cuts off them.

Grow

Sow in shallow drills 30cm apart and thin to 10-15cm within the row. Avoid sowing in midsummer as will bolt more easily. Sow July to early September for a late crop (or late winter/spring for a summer harvest).

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​Beni Houshi mizuna​

A striking and unique variety of mizuna with lime green leaves and purple stems. It’s similar in taste to green mizuna and is delicious raw in salads or cooked in stir-fries. With its contrasting colour scheme it’s a real head-turner and is certain to impress.

Grow

For autumn/winter leaves sow from mid August till October. Direct sow in drills 15cm apart or sow in modules and transplant to final spacing. The leaves can be picked individually or treated as cut-and-come-again; spacing can be tighter for the latter option.

​Giant Red Mustard​

Purplish-red and green mustard with large leaves and a fiery spice. The young leaves are of a succulent, delicate and peppery flavour.

When harvested fully matured, the leaves might surprise you with their bold flavour. When cooked or steamed like other greens, however, the taste will be mild and similar to spinach or chard. Giant Red Mustard seeds are also excellent for sprouting.

Grow

As per mizuna - see above

​White Lisbon bunching onion​

The classic spring onion. Long white stems with bright green tops, suitable for both spring/summer cultivation as well as over-wintering.

This is traditionally the most popular variety of spring onion, and an essential addition to the veg patch. Quick, hardy and easy to grow.

Its speed of growth makes it ideal for catch-cropping and year-round cultivation, with its small size meaning it can be easily squeezed into unused corners of the garden

Grow

Sow in drills as close as 10cm apart in well prepared, weed-free soil. Seeds can be 2-3cm apart in the row with no need to thin. Can also be multi-sown into modules, up to 10 seeds in each module.

For an autumn / winter harvest sow in early August, for a spring harvest sow in September.

​Valdor winter lettuce​

A green winter-hardy butterhead lettuce with great taste and texture. It's simply one of the best winter lettuces we have grown. It forms tight medium-sized heads with the classic look of a butterhead. Sown in September, it can be cultivated outside or undercover for continuous picking or left to mature for an early spring harvest.

Grow

Shallow sow in drills 30cm apart, or sow in modules and transplant to final position. For an autumn/winter crop sow in early August, for late winter/early spring crop sow in September/October.

​Claytonia / Winter Purslane​

Claytonia has heart-shaped elegant-looking leaves which are small, abundant and make a great cut-and-come-again salad green. You will get a productive harvest all winter and early spring and, if left to self seed, it will just keep coming back year after year.

It's one of those greens that come up at just the right moment when we're most in need of something fresh, and it self-manages very well which is another reason why we like it.

Grow

Sow seeds from August in well-watered shallow drills or broadcast sparsely; seeds and seedlings should be kept moist. Can also be sown in a seed tray and pricked out into modules. Leave to flower and seed if you want plants to grow again the next season.

​Purple Top Milan turnip​

A flat white turnip with purple shoulders; it’s easy to grow, quick to mature and excellent fresh or for storage. A classic Italian heritage variety from Milan with a creamy white, firm, crunchy and mildly sweet flesh. Eaten pickled, cooked or raw – it's a very versatile vegetable! The leaves are tasty and nutritious and can be cooked just like other greens.

Grow

Sow from mid-July to late August either direct or in modules and transplant to final spacing.

​Corn Salad / Lamb's Lettuce​

An invaluable hardy winter salad for growing outdoors and under cover with a superb nutty flavour. Corn salad or lamb’s lettuce is a small annual plant that forms rosettes of dark green leaves which have a gentle nutty flavour and soft texture, and are extremely popular as salad greens.

It provides a valuable source of fresh greens during the autumn and winter months as it's suitable for growing outdoors with little protection or under cover in the cold.

Grow

Sow between July and October for autumn, winter and early spring harvests. Seeds germinate best in cool, moist soil (5-15°C), but be patient – they can take up to 12 days to sprout. Sow in shallow drills or broadcast and cover lightly with soil.

​Salad rocket​

The nutritious dark green serrated leaves add their fine spice to salads, pasta, pizza, pesto and other sauces, or as garnish. It's quick to crop and easy to grow and definitely one of our favourite leaves. The advantage of growing rocket over the winter is that you get a much longer harvest season, as it should not bolt until spring if kept watered.

Grow

Sow direct into drills 15cm apart, or sow into modules in August and September transplant to final spacing.

​Giant Winter spinach​

A winter variety with large, savoyed, pointy leaves especially selected for winter hardiness. This productive spinach is particularly recommended for autumn and winter cultivation. The dark green characteristically pointy leaves are very aromatic and perfect eaten raw in salads, or delicious cooked.

Grow

Sow in August either in drills 30cm apart and thin to 15cm in the row, or sow in modules and transplant to final spacing.

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Time to sow your chicory and radicchio

If that wasn't exciting enough, the other great news is that now is the optimum time to sow your chicory and radicchio seeds.

As we mentioned in our last bulletin they can be sown mid-June to mid-July, but this week (1st week of July) is optimal.

Ideally sow your chicory seeds in module trays 5mm deep in compost and keep out of direct sunlight to germinate as they don't like to get too hot.

Read on to find out about our wonderful varieties....

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1. Castelfranco - This queen of radicchios is one of the best autumn/winter salad leaves. Castelfranco is best eaten raw to preserve its beautiful delicate variegated appearance.

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2. Rosso di Treviso Precoce (Early) - Treviso is one of the epicentres of radicchio production Italy and this type is excellent both raw and cooked. The tight elongated heads form in late autumn and develop a striking deep red and white colouring bringing a flash of colour and bitter-sweetness to salads.

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3. Rosso di Treviso Tardivo (Late) - this is a forcing type of radicchio. Forcing is the process of digging up entire plants in the late autumn and winter and growing them indoors in complete darkness. What happens next is a kind of alchemy - as the outside leaves rot and turn into a ball of slime, new deliciously mild and crunchy leaves grow in the centre of the plant, which are elongated and curled.

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4. Puntarelle - Unlike most other chicories puntarelle is grown for its flowering shoots rather than its leaves. The shoots are julienned into thin ribbons which are soaked in cold water to remove some of their bitterness. Generally served with a punchy dressing as a delicious winter salad.

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5. Catalogna Gigante - Sometimes referred to as ‘Dandelion Greens’ this chicory is most similar to wild chicory with an open leafy growth habit. Blanched in salty water, drained and then chucked in a frying pan with plenty of olive oil chilli and garlic - it's truly delicious.

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6. Chioggia (506TT) is a classic Palla Rossa (red ball) type radicchio forming a dense round head of red and white leaves. Chioggia is the most common type of radicchio although developed fairly recently. It is just as at home on the grill covered in olive and balsamic as it is chopped raw into a winter salad. A firm favourite among gardeners and growers.

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Happy sowing and growing!

Fred, Ronja, and the rest of the team

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P.S. When sowing your Second Spring seeds make sure you check the sowing guidelines, as it's extra important to time things right toward the end of the summer so that the plants can put on enough growth before the cold weather sets in :)

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