Choosing seeds from Catalogues

Choosing seeds from Catalogues

It’s time for us to be looking at seeds now for planting out in the garden for the coming spring. I was talking to garden guru Klaus Laitenberger from Milkwood Farm recently and he thinks the same. So much so that he has set up a mail order seed company in conjunction with Quickcrop selling small packets of carefully selected vegetable seeds that will be ideal for our climate.
I asked Klaus how he went about choosing the right seeds for his company called “The Vegetable Seed Co”

“We selected the best varietes for the Irish climate and for taste and flavour.” Klaus tells us. “They are also chosen for ease of growing.” Klaus also realises that some of the older varieties have a natural resistance to pests and/or diseases “For example Parsnip 'Javelin' is resistant to canker, pea 'Greenshaft is resistant to mildew and onion 'Golden Bear' is resistant to downy mildew and other moulds. “

Klaus has also researched the fact that most customers don’t need thousands of seeds so he is keeping the packets down to a manageable quantity and better still keeping the prices down so we can have more variety in the garden . “All seeds (with the exception of some toms and cucs) are only €2 per packet.” Klaus says proudly and continues. “We stock some interesting mixes , for example a cabbage mix for all season, kale mix, lettuce mix, oriental salad mix. This saves money. One packet of cabbage will give you cabbages from July until January and all from one sowing.”

Klaus is also offering you the chance of saving more money by buying 20 seeds and getting a free metal tin to keep the seeds dry for only. Check out the choices on www.quickcrop.ie

Here are Klaus’s top ten home grown vegetables seeds for this year; all of them have been especially chosen to give great results in our cold, northern gardens:
Klaus's Top Ten Choice:
Broad Bean – Witkeim Manita
Beetroot – Pablo F1
Cabbage – Mix of all seasons
Carrot – Rothild
Courgette – Ambassador
Lettuce – Surprise Mix
Parsnip Javelin F1
Pea – Greenshaft
Scallions – Ishikura
Swede – Gowrie


As we are on top ten lists, let’s have a look at top tips for finding what you want when searching seed Catalogues:

Most descriptions are self explanatory and help us decide what’s best for our own garden.

• Early Maturing -If you want the crop early before main crop harvesting.
• Large Fruited
• Ideal or Suitable for Pots, Raised Beds
• Good for Freezing
• Compact Variety
• Resistant to Bolting, Blight, Carrot Fly
• Recommended for Exhibition – Ideal if you want to take your crop to the Carndonagh show
• Can be grown indoors or outdoors only – this usually applies to cucumbers, tomatoes and tender vegetables where specific varieties have been developed to survive in certain temperatures.

There are other more confusing terms to look out for on the packets. Here are a few.
F1 varieties, or hybrids. These are created by crossing two parent varieties to create a new one with claimed superior traits to either of the parents. Because of the way these are created, the seed is more expensive as it has to be re-created from the parent plants each year and only the company that produces them knows what those parents are. There is no point saving seed from F1 varieties as it will not be the same as the original.
Genetically Modified (GM) seeds. These are created by manipulating the genes of the plants in laboratories and there is very justified concern that these traits could contaminate other crops making them sterile. Thankfully at the moment GM seeds aren’t licensed for sale to amateur gardeners in the EU.
Open Pollinated varieties. These are ones which can produce seed which you can reuse year after year. This is how new varieties developed through most of history as plants cross-pollinate and this results in a healthy bio-diversity of seed types: particularly important as the different traits can often have better resistance to various crop diseases. These are also sometimes called heirloom varieties although this term does get used more broadly.

Organic seed. These are grown by certified organic means without pesticides, fertilizers or herbicides and must also be packaged without being treated with fungicides.

Making choosing simple
Thankfully Klaus has done all of the hard work for us and has come up with the perfect choices for our vegetable gardens. Check them out on Quickcrop.ie