2025 - The Grand Plan
As 2024 comes to a close, I’ve looked back at my successes and failures in an earlier post, rating the crops and varieties that I’ve grown along the way. And while I still have crops in the ground from 2024 to be harvested over the remaining of the winter months, I also have some which won’t mature until late Spring. But that brings me onto what I’ve got in store for 2025.
Taking on the additional half plot next to our current
piece of ground means that our horizons have been expanded. I am part way through the mini-series of
posts looking at building our first polytunnel from First Tunnels and it is
safe to say that a lot of my efforts will be in utilising it throughout 2025,
especially when it comes to spring sowing and extending the growing season.
I’m also looking forward to seeing the new pond maturing
through the year, and the planting around it taking hold to add a splash of
colour to the plot. I’d like 2025 to
also be the year where the plot develops from a place to go not only to work
and be productive, but also a place to spend some downtime where nothing
happens, although it might be said that I spend way too much time up there as
it is!
In my review of 2024, I was amazed when it come to totalling everything
up, at how many different varieties of produce we had managed to produce. Over 34 in total! 2025 Should see us beat that number with the
additional bed space and undercover growing potential the new half plot brings
with it. It’s not necessarily a target
though. If it were, I would just buying
more different packets of seeds and plant one of everything. Some things have been dropped off the list
for 2025, and other things have been added.
All my seeds have been purchased already. Some have already been planted. Some have yet to be delivered. So, let’s take a look at what’s on the
growing list for 2025.
Aubergine – Black Beauty
We’ve never grown Aubergine before, though we do eat them
occasionally. The new polytunnel will be
the home for these plants and should give us the potential for a great crop.
Onions – Ailsa Craig
It’s back to what we’ve had success within the past for
our onions in 2025. After the disappointing results of using sets in 2024, I’ve
looked back to our harvest from 2023 and decided to go back to what worked for us
back then.
Tomato – Red Cherry
This will be the first time we have attempted to grow tomatoes
undercover. Previous years have been
bush and tumbling varieties which have been successful, but in 2025 we will be
extending our variety count by growing at least two of these plants. At the moment, they are destined to be grown
outside in one of the beds, but this may change to being grown undercover.
Sweet Pepper – Cubanelle
Following on from an attempt to grow these in 2024, there
was a bit of a mix up in plants and I’m not sure what I ended up growing pepper
wise in the end. This year though, I’ll
be making a better effort to keep tabs on what’s what amongst the sweet and
chilli peppers.
Carrot – Main Crop Berlicum 2
The carrots in the bathtub were one of the biggest
successes of 2024. In 2025 we’ll be
sticking with the bathtub growing method and mixing it up variety wise after successfully
fooling carrot fly from attacking our crop.
Sweet Pepper – Asti Red/Yellow
A new variety of sweet pepper for us this year. I’ve decided to grow more sweet pepper than
chilli pepper in 2025 and as the seed packet suggests, the seed is mixed red
and yellow, so who knows what will turn up.
What is sure though is that there is a place reserved in the polytunnel
for two of these plants.
Cauliflower – All Year Round
We’ve had reasonable success with this variety throughout 2024. In an allotment site where other plot holders report constant trouble trying to grow cauli, we’ve had some success. Plus, it’s a vegetable that we enjoy. 2025 will see us growing these outdoors, but also, there might be room later in the year to grow some undercover too.
Chilli Pepper – Rocoto Tree Chilli
These are saved seeds given to me by an allotment
neighbour and are one of the few varieties of chilli peppers that produce black
seeds, though the ripe fruit is red in colour.
This will be the only chilli pepper variety we intend growing this year,
so I’ve allocated enough room for 4 of these plants.
Leek – Musselburgh
We really enjoy leeks, but there has often been a battle trying
to avoid infections of rust or attack by allium leaf miner. We have had great success with Musselburgh in
the past, but to try and combat disease and pests, in 2025 I will be planting
in two batches and growing through a more prolonged season, taking harvests in
two periods rather than one. It will
also mean that hopefully we will freeze less of a glut and can enjoy them fresh
for a greater amount of time.
Onion – Bedfordshire Champion
To add to our Ailsa Craig variety for 2025, I’ve also
selected this variety to grow as well.
The onion bed will be half and half between the two different types. Many growers rate this onion highly and seem
to have good success with it. So, it’s
time for us to give it a go as well.
Tomatoes – Red Pear
Another new variety potentially destined for some outdoor
space, we’re looking for 4 of these plants to see us through 2025. The cost of tomato seed is relatively high
given the seed count you get for your money, but this variety is amongst the
cheapest of the seeds I have found so far this winter.
Tomatoes – Pomodoro Roma
A third new variety to grow on and we hope to get another
4 successful plants from our sowings in the spring. Initially, we intend these to be grown in a
bed outside, but we will see how things go.
Tomatoes – Steak Sandwich
The final new variety of tomato for 2025. Over recent years our varieties have all been
small cherry type tomatoes. With the
polytunnel coming into service, I’ve allocated some space for 4 of these plants
and hopefully they will thrive under tunnel conditions, sheltered from
inclement weather and pests.
Brussels Sprouts – Brilliant F1
After giving them a rest for the 2024 season due to a
bumper harvest from the winter before, we’re bring sprouts back to the plot for
2025.
Chives – Polyvit
Though chives are used in cooking and for meals, they
also produce great flowers with a splash of colour for the pollinators. I’m looking for half a dozen of these bunches
to put into several areas around the plot, not for the harvest, but for the
flowers.
Cucumber – Diva
2024 Saw us growing our first ever cucumber plant which
was donated to us from a family member.
It was a good success, and we enjoyed the small harvest we had from
it. We grew it in a pot, but get the
feeling it may have done better in the ground.
For 2025, we’re looking to grow on 5 of these plants in a dedicated
bed. We may get inundated with produce
later in the year, but at least they’re quite easy to give away if we get a
glut.
Kale – Nero di Toscana
We had good growth on the 4 plants in 2024, but ultimately,
they succumbed to caterpillars which damaged the plants beyond the point of
being able to salvage them. 2025 will see
us trying to give them more protection and giving us a longer harvest through
the year.
Pea – Hurst Green Shaft
Tried, tested and trusted for the last 2 years, we’ll be
sticking with this pea variety for 2025.
We’ll be growing them in two different sowings. One started under cover, and the second
direct sown later in the spring.
Spring/Salad Onion – White Lisbon
Through 2024, we grew a good crop of these onions on rotation
in 3 different troughs. We’ll continue this
process in 2025, but also may find room undercover to extend the growing season
by either bringing the troughs under cover later in the season, or by direct
sowing in one of the tunnel beds.
Parsnip – White Gem
This variety is becoming a staple in the allotment. Another successful harvest for 2024 which is
still in progress and will see us through to spring 2025. We’ll be allocating another portion of bed
space to this solid variety.
French Beans (Climbing) – Climbing French Cobra
2 Contrasting seasons of dwarf French beans where 2023
was great but 2024 not so great means that it’s time to give a climbing variety
a go. I’m hoping to give space to 20 of
these plants in one of the beds on the new part of the plot.
Squash – Uchiki Kuri
Success in growing this in 2024 and still enjoying the
harvest from the stored fruits means that we’ll be growing this again in
2025. This time around though, rather
than leave it trail on the ground, I might see if we can get it to climb on a
structure instead.
Squash – Butternut Waltham
In the past, we’ve successfully grown butternut varieties
and in 2024 we were given a plant of a butternut variety by a family member. We didn’t have room in a bed for it, so it
was grown in a large pot, but I think that affected it’s growth. This time, we’re giving this new variety a go,
and it will have some room in a bed instead of a pot.
Spring/Salad Onion – North Holland Blood Red
After the success in 2024 of growing White Lisbon, I
thought it would be fun to try out this red salad onion variety too. It will be grown either in a trough, or under
cover in a bed.
Potato – Charlotte
An early variety which has performed well for us in 2024,
this will be our only early variety for 2025.
It will be grown in pots so if we have inclement early season weather, I
will be able to move them undercover temporarily until weather improves.
Potato – Cara
The first of our main crop varieties. It produced a reasonable crop grown in tubs
for 2024 and made amazing roasted potatoes especially. So, we’re sticking with it for 2025 when we
will be growing it tubs once again.
Potato – Sarpo Mira
The second of the main crop varieties we will be trying in
2025. We haven’t grown this variety
before, but like the Bedfordshire Champ onions, many growers have had very good
success with this variety. In other
first, we will be growing this in the ground instead of tubs and have a bed on the
new part of the plot ready for a couple of rows of these seed potatoes.
French Dwarf Beans – Annabel
We still have viable seed left from 2024, and though the
weather and black fly played havoc with the 2024 harvest, in 2023 it did well
for us, so we’re going to be using up the remaining viable seed and giving it
another crack in 2025.
French Dwarf Beans – Amethyst
Like Annabel, although we didn’t grow this variety in
2023. We still have good seed available
so happily we will be giving it another go in 2025.
Carrot – Autumn King 2
Backing up the Main Crop Berlicum 2 variety being grown
in the bath, we’ll also be adding a sowing of this variety too which has
performed well for us in previous years.
Swede – Marian
Looking to the later part of 2025 and a harvest timed for
autumn and winter, we’ll be giving this swede variety another go after a fairly
mediocre attempt at growing swede in 2023.
Hopefully we’ll have a more successful harvest.
Red Cabbage – Red Drumhead
In 2024, we grew this for the first time, but only in small
numbers. One or two didn’t make it, and
the other plants all came at once. We
managed to harvest and consume one or two, freezing some and the rest were given
away. We always enjoy red cabbage at
Christmas, so in 2025 we’ll be growing some again for a late harvest with an
aim of enjoying some again at the end of the year.
Carrot – Paris Market
This has proved to be a successful end of season sowing
for 2024, so once the first harvest of carrots has been taken in 2025, we’ll be
replacing them with this variety to give us a harvest through to the
winter. We may also have room in the
polytunnel towards the end of the year to grow some undercover that could see us
into 2026 even!
Garlic - Maddock Wight
Garlic - Carcassonne Wight
After giving garlic a partial rest for 2024, save for some replanted elephant bulbs, we decided to bring it back for 2025 in the form of a winter seed pack supplied by the Garlic Farm on the Isle of Wight. The seed pack consisted of 6 bulbs of 3 varieties which have all bee in the ground for nearly 2 months. It's been a bit of a shaky start insomuch as the cold weather hasn't properly arrived and the bulbs have been growing a bit too well so far. Hopefully the weather will cool off in the coming weeks to hold back the growth and allow the bulbs to develop properly.
Broad Bean - Aqua Dulce
This is another first for other household. We've never grown broad beans before, but I've been inspired by surrounding plot holders getting a harvest in before anything else that I've managed to produce. We've allocated half a bed to this crop where it has germinated reasonably well and will hopefully survive the winter.
Calabrese Broccoli - Good Reliable Variety
Chosen as a last minute winter crop in the form of plug plants from a local nursery, we had a spare bed and thought it would be a good to get something in for the winter period. The plug plants had this variety label in them although I haven't managed to find it listed anywhere else so I'm not sure that they simply forgot what variety it was when it was sown by themselves, or if it is just not that well know. Whatever happens, they're already in the ground and growing away into 2025.
Lettuce - Cut and Come Again
We've nearly always got lettuce growing in some form or other. What we've found is that if we plant some into the ground to form full heads, we often end up with a glut and the rest bolts. For that reason, the most convenient way we have found to grow lettuce leaves is in trays as a cut and come again crop. 2025 will see us carry on growing in this way, sowing in rotation into trays. 2025 though will allow us to extend the growing season in the early spring at the start of the year and into winter at the end of the year.
Blackberry – Waldo and Loch Ness
Early in 2024, we bought and planted 2 bare root blackberry
varieties. During the 2024 season, the
plants were left to establish and grow around their supports. As far as I understand, they produce fruit on
the previous years’ growth, which should mean we can enjoy a successful soft
fruit harvest in summer or autumn 2025.
We’ve found that try and plan all you can, but when it
comes to growing, you’ll inevitably end up growing some other crops somehow,
somewhere on top of what you plan to do.
Be it because of people giving you things or buying plug plants from
garden centres to fill in the gaps left by your own failed sowings. So, this list will probably not be the last
and final. It’s always good to at least
start off with a plan though, right?
To finally round off this post, all of this planning has been done using my Veg Plotter subscription, helping me visualise what will be growing where and when. After entering the crop varieties, sowing times and harvest times, it also very helpfully produces a job list for each month of the year to help me keep on top of things. If you fancy giving it a go, I’ve done another post on it which also contains a link which if used to obtain your own subscription will give you 1 free month of use. Check it out here.
Wishing you all the very best for 2025 and looking
forward to smashing it all over again next season!
