In My Seed Box For 2027 - Pak Choi

Review Of Seed Stocks in Packets Sow 2027 

Pak Choi Red - 25 Seeds -  42p - Seeds To Suit - Sow by July 2027  

Another easy and fast to grow variety but the purple reddish top and bright green stem make it stand out. Can be used as baby leaves in salad or left to mature and used in a stir fry. Cold weather only enhances the colour 

• Progress sow from March through to October. Young plants may need some protection in very cold weather 
• Days to germination : 7- 24
• Optimum soil temperatures  10C and above.
• Seed Spacing 16cm 
• Row Spacing: 60 - 80cm 
• Plant Spacing: 30 - 46cm
• Location: Sunny 
• Moderately hardy and can be sown as soon as the soil is workable through to late season 
• Direct sow as transplanting is not recommended 
• Keep soil moist to prevent bolting 
• Progress sow every 2 - 3 weeks for continuous harvest 

• Spacing Guidelines
  Full-sized plants: Space 15–20 cm (6–8 inches) apart. This gives 4 plants per square foot grid.
  Baby leaves: Space 10 cm (4 inches) apart or about 9 plants per square foot
  Rows (traditional gardening): Space rows 30 cm (12 inches) apart.
  Planting Depth 8mm

Pak Choi White Stem  - 50 Seeds -  62p - Seeds To Suit - Sow by June 2027

Easy and fast to grow. This Chinese non headed cabbage reaches 20 - 25cm and produces tender , loose spoon shaped leaves with thick white ribs. Perfect for oriental dishes and salads  brings a crisp and mild flavour to the table. Ready to harvest in around 45 days  

• Progress sow from March through to October. Young plants may need some protection in very cold weather 
• Days to germination : 7- 24
• Optimum soil temperatures  10C and above.
• Location: Sunny 
• Moderately hardy and can be sown as soon as the soil is workable through to late season 
• Direct sow as transplanting is not recommended 
• Keep soil moist to prevent bolting 
• Progress sow every 2 - 3 weeks for continuous harvest 

• Spacing Guidelines
  Full-sized plants: Space 15–20 cm (6–8 inches) apart. This gives 4 plants per square foot grid.
  Baby leaves: Space 10 cm (4 inches) apart or about 9 plants per square foot
  Rows (traditional gardening): Space rows 30 cm (12 inches) apart
  Planting Depth 8mm

Review Of Seed Stocks in Packets Sow 2028 

Pak Choi Red - 25 Seeds -  42p - Seeds To Suit - Sow by June 2028 

Another easy and fast to grow variety but the purple reddish top and bright green stem make it stand out. Can be used as baby leaves in salad or left to mature and used in a stir fry. Cold weather only enhances the colour 

• Progress sow from March through to October. Young plants may need some protection in very cold weather 
• Days to germination : 7- 24
• Optimum soil temperatures  10C and above. 
• Location: Sunny 
• Moderately hardy and can be sown as soon as the soil is workable through to late season 
• Direct sow as transplanting is not recommended 
• Keep soil moist to prevent bolting 
• Progress sow every 2 - 3 weeks for continuous harvest 

• Spacing Guidelines
  Full-sized plants: Space 15–20 cm (6–8 inches) apart. This gives 4 plants per square foot grid.
  Baby leaves: Space 10 cm (4 inches) apart or about 9 plants per square foot
  Rows (traditional gardening): Space rows 30 cm (12 inches) apart.
  Planting Depth 8mm

Pak Choi White Stem  - 50 Seeds -  62p - Seeds To Suit - Sow by June 2028

Easy and fast to grow. This Chinese non headed cabbage reaches 20 - 25cm and produces tender , loose spoon shaped leaves with thick white ribs. Perfect for oriental dishes and salads  brings a crisp and mild flavour to the table. Ready to harvest in around 45 days  

• Progress sow from March through to October. Young plants may need some protection in very cold weather 
• Days to germination : 7- 24
• Optimum soil temperatures  10C and above. 
• Location: Sunny 
• Moderately hardy and can be sown as soon as the soil is workable through to late season 
• Direct sow as transplanting is not recommended 
• Keep soil moist to prevent bolting 
• Progress sow every 2 - 3 weeks for continuous harvest 

• Spacing Guidelines
  Full-sized plants: Space 15–20 cm (6–8 inches) apart. This gives 4 plants per square foot grid.
  Baby leaves: Space 10 cm (4 inches) apart or about 9 plants per square foot
  Rows (traditional gardening): Space rows 30 cm (12 inches) apart.

Growing Pak Choi from seed

Seeds should be sown 1cm deep in finely raked, moist soil. To ensure plants produce miniature Pak Choi, sow seeds in a grid pattern 5cm apart and 10cm between rows. To extend your harvest, seeds can also be started off earlier or later than stated if grown in a greenhouse border.

Growing Information

Seeds should be sown 1cm deep in finely raked, moist soil. To ensure plants produce miniature Pak Choi, sow seeds in a grid pattern 5cm apart and 10cm between rows. To extend your harvest seeds can also be started off earlier or later than stated if grown in a greenhouse border.

In My Seed Box For 2027 - Index

Tidying Up The Patio & The Small Shed

 

Kelly helped me tidy the patio up and bag all the detritus I manged to get out of the small shed at the back on the right yesterday. She then took it all down the dump, so I have a clearer working environment on the patio.

I continued to fill bed 6 with windfall apples and leaves from the trees swept up from the paths.

I trimmed back the agapanthus and added the cuttings to bed 6.

Bed 6 with windfall apples and leaves from the agapanthus and trees swept up from the paths.

Bed 5 Olla's to be added to this bed and Worm Tower in the middle

Bed 4 now with a layer of vermiculite and mulch compost to be mixed in with the power planter and terracotta watering spiks to be uses. Worm Tower to be installed in the middle of the bed . 

In My Seed Box For 2027 - Radish

 

I see these as not really needing a bed of their own but as squatters/ row markers at the end of other vegetables like Parsnips and carrots that take a time to germinate and show where they have been planted. 

With good storage conditions Radish seeds can last between 5 - 8 years and with most companies only allowing 2 - 3 years between the packing date and the sow by date, I have seeds for quite a few years to come. 

Prices are at the time of purchase and not current. 

Review Of Seed Stocks in Packets Sow 2024

De dix huit jours      –     2g Seeds -    20p – Lidl - Sow by 12/2024

Saxa 2                    –     2g Seeds -    20p – Lidl - Sow by 12/2024

Vienna F1                - 2g of Seeds -    40p - Lidl - Sow by 12/2024

Felicia - Dobies       - 300 Seeds - £ 1.99 or 900 Seeds - £3.00

10% Discount on Seeds To Suit using code MANVSLUG10 at checkout

Review Of Seed Stocks in Packets Sow 2025

Sparkler 3               –   460 Seeds -    50p^ – Wilko - Sow By 2025

Whitella F1             –   300 Seeds -    50p^ – Mr Fothergill's - Packed year ending Jun 2023

Winter Watermelon Red Meat -  50 Seeds - 49p - Seeds To Suit - Sow By 2025 

^ Bought in wilko 50% Seed Sale for 25p         

Review Of Seed Stocks in Packets Sow 2026

New to Suttons for 2024

Royal Purple          –   200 Seeds -    £2.49 – Suttons - Sow By 2026   

Review Of Seed Stocks in Packets Sow 2027 - 2028

Black Spanish Long  –   50 Seeds -  49p – Seedmegastore saved July 2026

Winter Watermelon Red Meat - 50 Seeds -  92p - Seeds To Suit - Sow by July 2027 

Alphabetical Listing of varieties previously grown 

                                            Sowing            Harvest

Breakfast Mix                     Jan – Oct         Mar - Nov 
Bright and Spicy Mix          Mar – Sept       April -  Oct

Cherry Belle                       Mar – July        May - Oct
De dix huit Jours                Mar – Nov        May - Oct

Eiszapfen                           Mar – Sept       April -  Oct

Felicia                                Mar – Sept       April -  Oct     

Flamboyant 3                     May – July         July – Sept

French Breakfast 3            Mar – Sept       April -  Oct - Unwins

French Breakfast 3            Feb – Sept       April – Oct - Mr Fothergill

Icicle (Long White)            Feb – Sept       April – Oct

Royal Purple                      Mar – Sept       May -  Oct

Saxa                                   Mar – May        May - Oct

Scarlet Globe                     May – July         July – Sept

Sparkler 3                          Feb – Sept        April – Oct

Vienna                                Apr – Aug         May - Oct

Typical Notes about Radish 
   
Suitable for indoor and outdoor growing

Sow at 4 Week intervals

Prefers a moist well drained soil in full sun

Sowing Instructions

Sow thinly, 10mm (1/2” deep) deep in drills 300mm (12inch) apart in soil which has been raked to a fine tilth. Water the ground regularly especially during dry periods.

Growing Instructions

When large enough to handle, thin out seedlings to 25mm or 1 inch apart. Keep plants cool and moist to prevent running to seed.

In My Seed Box For 2027 - Index

Painting The Infill Panel

This morning I painted the Infill Panel this morning so that I can add Debris netting or wire to keep the cats out of the Space Saver Greenhouse 

The foliage on Bed 1 is looking very lush for a couple of downpours of rain, and Bed 2 is starting to show from the rear bedroom

Bed 1 vegetation looking lush

Bed 2

Bed 6 now with all the old rotting decking tiles and woodchips brought back from the allotment last weekend.

View from Bed 6 to 4

View Bed 3 to 1

Ultrasonic Cat Deterrent 

Back British Farming

Farmers & growers are facing a cashflow crisis and need urgent action to plan next year's food production

Farmers and growers produce the food on our tables, but right now many are fighting for their future.

The worst drought in 50 years has led to failed crops, severely reduced harvests and poor grass growth. Soaring fuel, fertiliser and energy costs are adding to the pressure, while livestock and dairy farmers face the UK’s most significant bluetongue outbreak on record.

Without urgent help, some farmers may not have the funds they need to plant next year’s crops or keep their businesses going. That puts the future of British farming, and our supply of homegrown food, at risk.

We are calling on the government to provide short-term loans and introduce a fallen stock scheme, giving farmers the breathing space to recover and plan for the year ahead.

Add your name and stand with Britain’s farmers. Together, we can urge the government to act now to protect the future of British food.

Thought For The Day

 

In My Seed Box For 2027 - Index

 

To find the information for a particular variety of vegetable being grown for 2027 use the index below. Hyperlinks will be added over the next three months as I catalogue the seeds I already have; and add to the list those I have either bought or new varieties that have been sent to me by seed suppliers including:-

Dobies, D.T.Brown, Marshalls, Mr Fothergill's , Organic Gardening Catalogue, Seeds To Suit, Suttons, Thompson & Morgan to trial and blog about. 

For over 10 years the seed companies listed above set me packs of seeds for new varieties of vegetables that have been added to their catalogues annually to trial and blog about. 

There are posts on this blog re all the seeds and gardening products I have received to trial since 2015 from all of the above companies, after manvslug.uk and I were recognised as gardening press and invited to the annual gardening press event in London  

Vegetables & Fruits 

Aubergine Beans Beetroot Blueberry Broccoli Brussels Sprouts Cabbage Spring Greens Carrots Cauliflower Celeriac Celery Chard Courgette Cucumber Gherkin Goji Berry Grapevine Red Green Manure Herbs Kale Leeks Lettuce Luffa Marrow Onion from Seed Onion Sets Pak Choi Parsnip Pepper Potatoes Pumpkin Radish Raspberry Salsify Shallots Spinach Spring Onions Squash Strawberries Sweetcorn Swede Tomatoes Tree Spinach Turnips Water Melon 

Thought For The Day

 

Signs Of Life In Bed 2

View from Rear Bedroom, grass is recovering nicely after a couple of days with rain

 

Further to sowing bed 2 last week there are signs of life.

Left of Bed 2

Right Of Bed 2

View From the Kitchen Door

Two Crimson Blight Resistant Tomatoes Crush & Plum. 

Can you spot the tomato turning red ?

Spotted first Crimson Tomato going red

View of Beds 1 to 6 from patio

Planning and Reviewing September in Previous Years

Reviewing the diary over the last thirteen years for September

2013 - My First September having obtained the allotment in October 2012 - At the first of September 9 of the 16 beds were complete and had been used for growing during 2013 the central path of 600 x 600mm heavy duty ex council road slabs was finished. My first corn on the cobs were harvested and a major hit with my daughter Kelly, A second visit to the Wyevale 50p seed sale was made. I was still harvesting red tomatoes and Blight hit on the 14th September. Last runner beans harvested last week of September.  

2014 - Dorking Wyevale 50p seed sale 2nd September, two £5 Space saving water butts picked up for the greenhouse from TESCO due to a marketing error they had to honour. First discussion with Redrow regarding them helping us form a drop off and pick up area, I didn't know then that it would take another four years to actually make this happen. Harvested carrots and obtained more composting bins off Freecycle. Repairing Planting membrane and making new planting membrane using the trusty soldering iron. Making a Pop Bottle Greenhouse, if only I had known then what a pain in the arse getting rid of it was going to be! Harvesting.   

2015 - Took on additional plot on Spencer Road as I thought there would not be anywhere to drop off and pick up at Mill Green once the development was completed and negotiations re it's formation were not very good with the Council and Redrow at that time. Harvested sweetcorn mid September   

2016 - Tomatoes finally turn red and are harvested. We found a source for woodchips, 2nd Visit to the Wyevale Seed Sale, 72 Senshyu Yellow Japanise Onions from seed to overwinter, Seed Sorting and Labels, 2nd week of September harvesting Sweetcorn. Crimson Crush, Butternut Squash, meeting with council and Redrow as mound of excavation behind access gate.     

2017 -  Allotment work party arranged to clear the area for the drop off and pick up area on Mill Green, Sarpo Spuds, Pumpkin, Marrow, Sweetcorn, Walking Onions, Wilkinson's Sale, SoilFixer SF60 Overwintering Onions Experiment, Timber Bench taken to site and made into a Potting Bench. Still harvesting Cucumbers at the end of the month.

2018 -  3rd Sept harvesting sweetcorn, 7th September Wilko seed sale, Second week harvesting tomatoes, followed by harvesting Beetroots and pickling, carrots and cucumbers & weeding .Power Planter trial and review. Infrastructure cutting up timber joists and painting them ready to make bed frames up for plot 1 

 

2019 -  Seed saving Cucumbers and harvesting Marshalls Alliance Sweetcorn.12th Sept Carrot harvest. Making a beach hut for a wedding! Using the Power Planter to install kerbstones around the allotment. Harvesting Butternut Squash. Bonfires on Allotments are a contentious issue.

2020 -  Marshalls Autumn Catalogue arrived,  Ken Muir's fruit & Suttons Catalogues arrive. Pre Blight Tomato Harvest. New Potatoes from the last 3 buckets harvested. Green Toms in Greenhouse Turn Red. Thompson & Morgan's Autumn Catalogue arrived. Mr Fothergills Autumn Catalogue arrived. Green manure grown.  Spent Compost from tomatoes and potatoes added to beds. My videos were shown on Sean James Cameron podcast. D.T.Browns Autumn Catalogue arrived. Clearing around the shed ready for demolition of wall. Planning the Square Foot Gardening beds. Another temporary roof covering on the plot 1A shed. Decanting contents of the shed to a tarp covered palleted bed with blue water pipe hoops as demolition of wall expected . Mentioned in dispatches on Thompson & Morgan's blog.

2021 -  Marshalls Autumn Catalogue arrived, Stemster - Main Crop - Dobies harvest, nice quantity and size. Pickling Beetroots. Trimming Paths during the 2nd week of September. In My Seed Box For 2022 - Index. So many cucumbers and tomatoes from the greenhouse this year. Andy & Emma gave me some help weeding the plot. D.T.Browns Sarpo KilifiPotatoes Potato in bucket yields were good and the potatoes were a reasonable size. Raspberries and Rhubarbs first year, limited Raspberry harvest and no harvesting of the Rhubarb this it's first year. I started looking at my seed stocks and resourcing seeds from well known co operative seed suppliers. Last year we had an Indian Summer and at the end of September storms came and hit the UK 

2022 - Harvesting the last of the potatoes, RIP Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, Great year for quality cabbages,  More Freecycle slabs for paths picked up, Harvesting the last of the tomatoes, Review of Autumn Catalogues, Review of the first growing year of the KC5383 Grapevine Plant - Flame Red  (seedless) grapevine, Undertaking review of what's in my seed box for 2023, Harvested the last of the celery and runner beans, gave excess to plot neighbours,  Sowing green manure, Second sweetcorn harvest.

2023 - I had my Mask/Shell made for the radiotherapy treatment and the 5 weeks of radiotherapy started . My mobility and energy levels were at an all time low following the radiotherapy. Harvest potatoes, tomatoes, cucumbers and onions. Compost making using two Daleks on bed 5. Modifications made to the path in front of the potting shed as I could not get in and out as the step was way too high for my reduced mobility to managed. I managed a few visits to the allotment towards the end of the month, to harvest what I had managed to get in the ground, with the assistance of my daughters.  

2024 - First time ever Blossom end rot on tomatoes. Harvesting potatoes in buckets. Maxifacial and Haematology appointments this month. Grapes from the allotment harvested. I bought a Bamsa mini  chainsaw. Harvesting Potatoes and Tomatoes. In My Seed Box updated. Potting shed painted with V33. V33 Review written. Reviewing New seed catalogues. Onion Beds harvested and weeded. Woodchip arranged and dropped off in car park, paths refreshed with new woodchips. I started planning alterations to the layout of the allotment and the introduction of raised beds dur to my Autoimmune dieses & rheumatism following treatment for my cancer. We went back to a traditional padlock & key system as the combination locks were getting difficult to read and move. 

2025 - St Georges Hospital to get the results of my latest Pet Scan from the Haematologist. 10th September Back British Farming Day. Harvesting Raspberries and Potatoes. Trimming the path between plots 1 & 2 and 1A and 2A.  Planting out Dwarf French beans in the climbing framed greenhouse. Tomato seed saving from Big Mother Fucker and Tennis Ball given to me by Jim a plot neighbour. In potting shed as raining, shucking Climbing French Beans and Shopping around for best prices for various varieties of Vegetable's.  Rheumatology Appointment at St Georges, I started looking at what is in my seed box for 2026

To Do List   

Mill Green - Plot 1

• Greenhouse 1 - Currently being used to house all the cardboard to be used in the new raised beds, The Loft Conversion has been rebuilt.   
• Infrastructure - Convert standard 2.4m x 1.2m beds to 2 number 1.2 x 0.9m Raised beds with a path between for bed
• Shed Clearance  - Clear excess items from Shed and Potting Shed
• Rear Beds - Clear Bindweed from last beds on Plot 1
• Sign Posts  - Fabricate and take to plot and install 

Mill Green - Plot 1A

• Greenhouse 1A - Wally is going to have this Greenhouse
• Cast Iron Garden Bench  - Andy Plot 12 is going to restore Timber and Give a new home. 
•   
• Shed - now Empty other than items I don't need 
• Comfrey Pipe - To be moved to Plot 1A
• Comfrey - Take Root Cuttings.
• Plot Signs - Make two number Plot 1 & 1A signs 
• Grape Vines - Take Cuttings