[Rob the rake]

Since then I've always sprayed them with Bordeaux mixture ...

Just to flag up that the use of Bordeaux mixture has been banned in the UK for several years now

Oops! Yes, I'm aware of this; perhaps I should have used more discretion.

[Rob the rake]

My only real experiment is to see if crimson crush are really safe from attack by blight.
Last year I had a terrible attack just as the toms were getting into full production.
Pleased I could just get 10 seeds from premier for a couple of pounds and successfully germinate them in my propagator. Still bringing inside on cold nights fingers crossed it won’t be too long before they can go outside.

"As you're keen on organic methods, Rob, you could try soluble aspirin around the roots, as the willow extract helps keep blight at bay - we use it every year and fingers crossed for this year..."

This is something I used to do every year, putting a single tablet beneath the root ball at planting time. I forget where the information originated from, but the upshot was that aspirin encourages a healthy immune system for the growing plant. However, I spent 5 long years battling appalling sciatica (hence the hiatus from this site) and almost gave up my plot, so it's something I'd forgotten. Thanks for the timely reminder; I'm profoundly grateful. (Insert thumbs up icon here!)

[Rob the rake]

I'm trying a Watermelon - Mini Love from T&M, was worried as I don't have heated greenhouse but 2/4 have popped through...
Fingers crossed....

Good luck! I've grown melons (not watermelons, mind) in an unheated house with pretty reasonable success, so there's every chance they'll do well. I used part of an old tennis net as support and also supported the fruits with onion bag style nets tied into it.

[Aunt Sally]

Since then I've always sprayed them with Bordeaux mixture ...

Just to flag up that the use of Bordeaux mixture has been banned in the UK for several years now

Yes, Rob… please don’t encourage our members to break the law.

[Rob the rake]

Since then I've always sprayed them with Bordeaux mixture ...

Just to flag up that the use of Bordeaux mixture has been banned in the UK for several years now

Yes, Rob… please don’t encourage our members to break the law.

Duly noted. Considering the thousands of tonnes of poisons sprayed on the food consumed by most of the general public it's hardly a crime of any magnitude to use it, but I accept that I overstepped the mark and I apologise.

[Rob the rake]

One I missed out: Thimble lettuce. Looks very much like a Little Gem variant and I'm hoping it doesn't have the same tendency to go bitter when the sun finally shows its face. Hmm, I feel a new topic coming on...

[Subversive_plot]

The Malabar spinach sounds very interesting indeed, not least since any true spinaches I've grown seem to bolt faster than a rumbled shoplifter. Spinach beet has had to suffice over the years. I like yellow beets, so i'll keep an eye out for the Touchstone Gold, too.

I have very good results by planting spinach in early autumn and letting it winter over to harvest in spring.  I've had great results with the variety Bloomsdale Long Standing. I've posted in the Grow Your Own section about chitting spinach with  cold temperature to get good germination.

[coldandwindy]

I'm sowing a few new-to-me varieties this year, which always elicits a mixture of excitement and trepidation, in equal measure. What new stuff have you been tempted to try?

Pepper "King of the North" (inside),
Raab Broccoli  'Cima di Rapa' (outside)

[lettice]

I've always grown Cobra French beans, but this year am also trialling Blue Lake.
Heard good things on here and elsewhere, so though I'd give them a go.
I have always had an amazing crop for many months from Cobra, but they do go wild in their growth spread.
The blue lake have so far in the greenhouse produced 100% germination and very strong little plants to be planted out later next month.

Always trial a few new varieties of potatoes along with my staples.
This year I am growing Sally, Sarpo Una,  Aaron Victory and Alouette.
Will also be growing Cara and Nicola again that I grew successfully many years ago.
So far the Sally and Nicola are growing very well with good strong growth..
The other maincrops have not been in long but all breaking soil nicely already.

Have grown all kinds of cherry and tumbling type tomatoes over the years and still drop back to my Garden Pearl and Cerise Cherry.
Am trialling Mr Fothergills Bush Cherry Falls this year.
So far 100% germination and strong little plants that have survived their first pot move, now growing well in the greenhouse in their bigger pots and will later next month be transplanted outside to their final destination pots and hanging baskets. 

I also grow carrots, but only as baby carrots in pots.
Have grown my staples Amsterdam and Touchon over the years, but this year am also trialling Burpees Short 'n' sweet. Only just sowed last week outside in pots, so not sure on how they are doing yet.

I'm for the first time growing Cosmos, Dianthus, Gazania, Verbena and Petunia from seed.
Had good germination indoors and after their potting on into larger pots in the greenhouse, have now moved some outside a few weeks back and are all doing nicely.

[lettice]

New to me, this year, are Brussels sprouts Crispus. A plot neighbour gave me some of his crop to try and they were the sweetest sprouts I've ever eaten. So had to grow them myself this year

Have grown Crispus in the past and they were a good reliable cropper and very tasty. They also do overwinter well if you plant them out a bit later, so still picking until late Winter
I do though much prefer my many years of growing trusted staple Groninger.
But, also last year I grew a vairy called Darkmar and it produced wonderful over wintering very dark green sprouts, still producing until early March and also the best Brussel sprout tops I have ever had.

[rowlandwells]

sorry I forgot to mention 2 more varieties of lettuce we are trialling Gondar and Faro [pelleted seed]  Moles seeds can't think of anything ells at present 

[Subversive_plot]

Yes, Rob… please don’t encourage our members to break the law.

It's interesting... Bordeaux mix is allowed in organic farming over here.  Why was it banned?

[Aunt Sally]

Yes, Rob… please don’t encourage our members to break the law.

It's interesting... Bordeaux mix is allowed in organic farming over here.  Why was it banned?

It’s very dangerous for wild life, SP, especially if it gets into water courses. 

Bordeaux mixture has been found to be harmful to fish, livestock and—due to potential buildup of copper in the soil—earthworms.
The chemical was in use as a blight preventive in the potato country of northern Maine by 1921.  It started to be used by the United Fruit Company throughout Latin America around 1922. The mixture was nicknamed perico, or "parakeet", because it would turn workers completely blue. Many workers would get sick or die of poisoning due to the toxic chemical.

It was invented in the Bordeaux region of France in the late 19th century. If it is applied in large quantities annually for many years, the copper in the mixture eventually becomes a pollutant. As such its sale and use is illegal in Great Britain and most of the European Union.

It may be considered “safe” by some to use on a small scale but it is definitely illegal to use it in the UK.

[Contadino]

Raab Broccoli  'Cima di Rapa' (outside)

Can I ask when did you sow that? I've tried February, April and September sowings but it's never performed well. God, I miss Cima di Rapa.

I'm growing gerkins for the first time this year. Quite mundane compared to everyone else. :-)

[Rob the rake]

I've always grown Cobra French beans, but this year am also trialling Blue Lake.
Heard good things on here and elsewhere, so though I'd give them a go.

I'm for the first time growing Cosmos, Dianthus, Gazania, Verbena and Petunia from seed.
Had good germination indoors and after their potting on into larger pots in the greenhouse, have now moved some outside a few weeks back and are all doing nicely.

Blue Lake are my go-to French bean despite trying many others over the years. Yields are huge, they have the culinary "snap and squeak" factor that I enjoy, but most of all they taste so good! I used to grow them up a net in the back of a cold greenhouse, with the net continuing up to the apex. Grown this way the yields are truly enormous, but since the kids left home we no longer need the same quantity.

Like you, I'm growing bedding plants for the very first time, having finally moved to a house with a garden. It's adding a welcome new dimension to my gardening repertoire, one that is highly satisfying. From the list you've given we seem to be growing similar flowers, too. Good luck!