Heritage heroes
Peas with purple pods, citrus-flavoured cucumbers and carrot-like radishes – ‘vintage’ veg g is back in fashion and you can start them now
Traditional crops are making a comeback, stepping out of the history books and back into our gardens!
For much of the 20th century and into the 21st, they were something of a rarity. They date back to a time when people grew fruit and vegetables to eat themselves, but over the years they were pushed aside by profit-led, highly hybridised commercial varieties that produced greater volumes. These were designed to be farmed rather than grown in gardens.
Heritage produce has a wonderful history dating back hundreds of years. These old varieties have been grown and passed down from generation to generation, so they’ve been well tried and tested!
With their unusual, often decorative appearance and distinctive, flavourful tastes, ‘vintage’ veggies stand out against the almost identical-looking but often bland-tasting shop-bought fare. They add new colour and interest to your garden and, crucially, you’ll be helping to preserve the varieties, and save them from extinction.
Cucumber ‘White Wonder’ This creamy-white cucumber
dates back to 1893, when seeds of it were sent to Burpee’s Seed Company by one of its New York customers. ‘White Wonder’ is a short, chubby cucumber 1520cm (6-8in) long with a hint of citrus flavour. It soon produces a large crop with a crispy texture, perfect for fresh salads.
You could start seeds off indoors right now in pots or trays filled with seed compost. Sow the seeds 1cm (½in) deep and water in. Place the pots or trays in a propagator if you have one, otherwise seal them inside a plastic bag. When the seedlings pop up in a week or so, move them to a bright spot in a greenhouse, or on a windowsill, at a temperature of around 15C (60F) until they’re ready to be transplanted outside.
If you’d like to sow them directly into the soil outside, order your seeds now. Prepare the ground to give it time to settle and warm up, then sow in May or June.
Pea ‘Blauwschokker’
A beautiful ornamental as well as flavoursome crop, this old Dutch pea soup variety dates back hundreds of years (its name means ‘blue pod’ in Dutch). A vigorous variety growing 60cm (24in) high, it produces stunning purple flowers, turning into dark-purple pods. These can be harvested young when they’re sweet and tender and eaten as mangetout. If you leave the pods to mature and then shell them, the peas makes a tasty addition to soups. You can sow this pea variety outside now. Choose a sunny site with well-drained soil enriched with compost.
Beetroot ‘Golden’
With its yellow-orange root, this is a sweet-tasting beetroot variety from the mid-19th century. Unlike the purple variety, the flesh doesn’t bleed, and turns into a golden colour when cooked.
Sow from March to July directly outside in shallow drills around 1cm (½in) deep and 15cm (6in) ap apart. Lightly rake over some soil to cover the drill and water in. As seeds tend to produce more than one seedling, thin out weaker plants to 5-7cm (2-3in) apart. The crop matures in around three to four months and can be lifted when small, but will have a fine texture even when left to grow to full size.