I’ve been looking back at the 2025 veg gardening trials and what turned out to be a very difficult season. There were a few things that shrugged off the heat and lack of rain, but many more struggled.
(Seed given. Not paid.)
There was a surprising success story. The cabbages did very well – surprising not only because of the challenging summer but also because my sandy soil really isn’t suited to brassicas.
Cabbage ‘Verve’ from Suttons Seeds obviously hadn’t read the memo and has thrived, producing several heads of cabbage with a bit of crunch and a good flavour. Admittedly, they’re not footballs but still far better than I’d hoped for and the lack of rain meant sharing them with fewer slugs and snails.
Runner beans were a disaster and the French beans in the 2025 veg gardening trials looked to be headed the same way. The first sowing produced a few beans before giving up the fight so I sowed some more in late summer. This produced an autumn crop that, thanks to the late first frost, kept us in beans for a few weeks.
Dwarf bean ‘Mistik (seed from Chiltern Seeds) had inky purple pods with a fabulous flavour – a definite winner. The dainty plants would be ideal for a container.
‘Yin Yang’, another dwarf French bean, this time from Kings Seeds, produced flat pods on slightly bigger plants. These beans can be eaten ‘green’ or allowed to ripen so that you can use the beautiful black and white beans as a pulse. As my crop was so late in the year, we had to eat them ‘in the green’ but they are on the list to try again next year. The green beans were lovely and the striking dried beans would be a great addition to stews etc.
The final bean in the 2025 veg gardening trials was a more traditional climbing French bean, ‘Vine’ from Suttons. This had delicate, slender green beans. The flavour was fine but wasn’t our favourite.
The raised beds in my big greenhouse were again filled with aubergines, chillies and peppers among them this rather cute aubergine. ‘Baby Black Jack’, seed supplied by Suttons, is a smaller version of the familiar ‘Black Jack’ aubergine. Not only are the fruits dainty, the plants are small, making them perfect for a container. The only downside is you would need several plants to produce enough aubergine for a moussaka.
The peppers were a colourful mix. ‘Hamik (seed from Suttons) produced really striking orange fruit on compact plants. They were crisp and had a sweet flavour. ‘Paragon’, from Kings Seeds, had red fruit, again with a good flavour.
Both peppers had thin skins, possibly due to the heat – I think it got too warm even for them!
‘Midas’ (seed from Chiltern Seeds) is actually a cross between a sweet pepper and a chilli. As such, it has a slight kick to it, making it an interesting addition to a salad.
The greenhouse is also where I grow basil and ‘Minette’ (Chiltern Seeds) was part of the 2025 veg gardening trials. Don’t be fooled by the tiny leaves. This basil had a strong flavour. It’s a dwarf variety – another suited to container growing – and didn’t flop about in the way some varieties can. The plants were small, sturdy and kept going until frost hit the unheated greenhouse.
It wasn’t a good year for squash. Despite frequent watering and mulching the bed overwinter with composted manure, they never really took off. We did get some fruit but they were disappointingly small.
I’d been interested to try ‘Crown Prince Pink’ (Chiltern Seeds) as the more commonly grown ‘Crown Prince’ has long been a favourite. The pink version didn’t disappoint. It had the same bright orange flesh with a great flavour. However, for me, the contrast between the orange and the pink skin wasn’t as striking as with the blue-grey ‘Crown Prince’.
Lettuce wasn’t particularly happy in the heat. I did have success with a couple of varieties though. ‘Oakus’ (Suttons) has the deepest red leaves that looked stunning in salad. The flavour was good and we had a few pickings from each plant.
‘Greenpick’ (Unwins Seeds) was a softer lettuce with beautiful frilled leaves. Again, each plant produced several pickings and it has a good flavour.
Beetroot had to be sown again as the first crop sulked. ‘Red Shine’ (Suttons Seeds) had deep red, small beet with lovely strong flavour. These were another late summer sowing.
I love watercress but had always thought it needed to be grown in fresh, running water until a display at RHS Hampton Court in 2024 (read about it here). It can be grown in containers, just keep them well watered.
The seed for this came from Stocks & Green and I grew it in a container in a shady spot with a tray underneath to ensure the soil was kept moist. It also needed protecting from hungry pigeons who like watercress as much as I do. The leaves were small but with a really strong flavour and it’s still producing. Definitely a winner.
While the summer sun was so much more welcome that constant rain, it was challenging for anyone trying to grow. I’ve talked to many gardeners who found even normally reliable crops failed.
I’m already starting to think about how things could have been improved – digging a trench for runner beans and filling it with compost is one thing I’ve not done for a while and may start again this year. I’m also going to plant at least one squash into the compost heap. Small things but they may make a difference.
For some years I’ve grown watercress in my greenhouse in a soil-filled plastic trough sitting in a tray filled with water. I have to sow it in succession, as I can usually only harvest it for about 6 weeks. It perks up lettuces and other salad leaves grown in the garden in the summer and in the greenhouse at other times.
That sounds a great idea. It would certainly protect it from the pigeons!