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Special characteristics
Vegetables and varieties
  • New this year Organic
    172 in stock
    Pea

    Suttons Early Giant

    Probably a strain of the well-known commercial variety Gradus, this pea dates back to the turn of the 20th century. Suttons 1940 catalogue description says, “Still holds its position as one of the ...

  • Organic
    1 in stock
    Pea

    Table Talk

    Our donor was given this by a Yorkshire relative in 1940. He has been growing it ever since. A vigorous, thick-stemmed pea, known to climb 2.4-3m (sturdy supports are essential), with attractive ma...

  • New this year Organic
    39 in stock
    Pea

    Twelve Acre

    Our donor's family have grown this variety for at least three generations, since before 1890, and it has always been associated with Twelve Acre Farm, Eynsham, Oxfordshire. It produces tall, strong...

  • Organic
    39 in stock
    Pea

    Veitchs Perfection

    Thought to have been developed by Veitchs Nurseries of Exeter and Chelsea, this variety is mentioned in Johnson's Gardeners' Dictionary (1842 edition). It is a late variety producing vigorous plant...

  • Organic
    161 in stock
    Pepper

    Soror Sarek

    Our donor picked up seeds of this variety in Croatia and passed on a sample to us. The large, heart-shaped, crunchy fruits start off pale jade (white when cooked) changing through pink, orange-red ...

  • Organic
    142 in stock
    Radish

    White Turnip

    The earliest reference we can find for this radish is in Johnson's Gardeners' Dictionary of 1842; it also appeared in John Forbes' Catalogue of Vegetable and Flower seeds in 1892. Produces slightly...

  • New this year Limited Stock Organic
    33 in stock
    Runner bean

    Chapman's Purple

    Named after our donor who was given seeds of this variety by a friend in Dorset. She knows very little about the history of the beans; however, they produce purple pods, which darken the longer the...

  • Organic
    68 in stock
    Runner bean

    Meesha

    Donated to HSL in 2000 by Oldrich Misa, who spent 10 years developing this bean during the 1970s. The name 'Meesha' comes from the phonetic transcription of his surname. Produced commercially by As...

  • New this year Limited Stock Organic
    47 in stock
    Runner bean

    Simm's Corsair

    Named after our donor, who sent this variety to us in 2004. Over a period of six years, he had stabilised a cross between Red Knight and White Achievement and this variety is the result. It produce...

  • Organic
    36 in stock
    Runner bean

    Sunset

    The one and only, truly original, pink-flowered runner bean, deleted from the National List in the early 2000s. Whilst not the heaviest cropping or earliest of varieties, Sunset most certainly dese...

  • Organic
    100 in stock
    Stem lettuce

    Asparagus

    Originating in China and cultivated for its stem rather than its leaves. First described by Vilmorin-Andrieux (1885) when introduced to Europe, probably by missionary botanists working in China. Ha...

  • Organic
    93 in stock
    Stem Lettuce

    Yings

    As the name suggests, cultivated for its stem. This variety was collected from an allotment in Coventry and is productive both outside and in the glasshouse. Its stems have a distinctive smoky flav...