2026 - The Grand Plan
Earlier this week I did my review of 2025. It felt a little odd considering there is still so much to come off the plot in the coming months, and yet I find myself looking at 2026. Planning has been in progress since the end of the Summer and then through into late Autumn I started looking for seeds. Our allotment society has a good seed purchase scheme, saving in the region of 50% on the standard price. The seeds are generally very good and the range is quite impressive, but my only gripe with them is the quantity of seed you get in a packet. Because of that, I tend to source my seeds from other places, often coming across varieties that I don't find elsewhere. And then of course, there are the opportunistic finds as you're wandering around a garden centre, or in the case of last Summer, around a French supermarket, where I came across a tomato variety called Tomate Ananas, or Pineapple Tomato. How could I resist? While my planting plan is pretty much all done and dusted for 2026, there are still a few tweaks to make on it, but I'll do that over the course of the Christmas and New Year break. For now though, let's take a look at the varieties that I have planned for 2026.
Starting with some plants that are already in the ground and planted to overwinter for cropping by Spring 2026...
Garlic - Provence Wight
This was a great success last year and one of 3 varieties which I grew. For 2026, I have gone all out, and I'm only growing this variety. I did consider growing Elephant Garlic as well, but the seed is expensive. For size and taste, I think this comes a close second and it also stores very well.
Brussels Sprouts - Trafalgar
These were late in the ground in 2025 and were bought as plug plants from a local nursery. They should get a good start in the new year, but I'm not exactly sure when they are going to be good for harvest. We could either end up with a very early harvest of sprouts by the Summer, or we could be in it for the long haul! Either way, I hope that they do better that the crop of 2025 which never made it off the plot thanks to the white fly.
Raspberries - Polka Autumn Fruiting
The bare root plants arrived a couple of weeks ago and are now in place laying dormant until hopefully waking up in the Spring. If things go according to plan, these canes should be in the ground for at least 5 years and produce well for us. I've been quite envious of other plot holders success with raspberries, this year in particular. Time to give them a go.
Broad Bean - Aguadulce
Making it's second appearance due to the success of last year, I've got a half bed of these broad beans planned. They did very well last year and should produce one of the earliest crops of the year. And, for a comparatively small amount of space, I should get a sufficient harvest to last through to the end of the year and possibly beyond.
Blackberries - Waldo and Loch Ness
2025 was the first cropping year of these plants, and we had a seriously good crop from them indeed. If we were talking about the music scene, we would now be on to the 'difficult second album' stage. You see, blackberry bushes need some looking after, some pruning to help them continue to thrive. From what I understand, fruit develops on the growth of the same year. But when trying to allow the plants to develop and consume the space afforded to them, which took 12 months in itself, it's hard to know how far back to prune them. Too far, and the plants have a lot of growing to do and perhaps won't crop as much. Not enough pruning could leave an abundance of old growth that won't produce anything. So, we will wait and see!
Aubergine - Black Beauty
In my 2025 review, I didn't rate the success of these at all. They were disappointing. So why grow them again? Well, I have the seed and it is still viable. Also for 2026, I am going to try a new tactic. They'll still be grown in the polytunnel, but this year, they're going to be planted direct into the soil instead of into quad grows. Who knows if it will make a difference, but there is only one way to find out.
Beetroot - Rainbow Mixed
A new variety for us. After several successful years of growing Cylindra, it's time for a change, and these look quite fun. We should end up with a good mix of colours for the salad bowl, and they are destined to be grown both outside in a bed, and also under cover in the polytunnel for an extended harvest.
Sweet Pepper - Asti Mixed
The return of the Asti peppers means that we should see if they perform as well as they did in 2025. We even ended up with a second crop off the plants and so hope we have similar success in 2026. A slight change for these is planned though with them be planted direct into the ground instead of quad grows. Perhaps there is a reason why all the good growers grow their peppers in pots, but I'd like to see if there is much difference.
Cucamelon - Melothina Scabra
A return of the dinky little cucamelon! We grew cucamelon plants in pots back in 2024, and they were great. But for some reason, we dropped them from the 2025 list in favour of some other new varieties. You don't need many of these plants to soon be over run with their fruit, so we have plans for 2 of them for 2026 and are looking forward to them making an appearance in next Summers salad bowls.
Kholrabi - Purple
We're yet to find out how well these grow under cover. We have some currently under cover in the mini polytunnel, but they won't be ready until well into next Spring if they even make it through the Winter. We've planned for another sowing of these, but during the other end of the year. It's not a crop that you'd necessarily want an abundance of, so we're keeping the numbers low, and they'll also be grown outside.
Leek - Musselburgh
We've grown this variety for the last several years, but have always faced problems with leaf minor and rust. We have some late plantings in the ground at this moment in an effort to use the cooler Winter weather to protect from the pests. You could ask why are we growing them again if we always come up against these problems? I've been on the lookout for resistant varieties, but the cost of the seed for them is insane in comparison. Not only that, but often you only get as little as 30 seeds in a packet. We'll go with them again and just see how we go. 2026 may well be the last for leeks for a while if they don't do too well.
Lettuce - Hearting Red Cimmaron
We grow lots of different types of lettuce each year. Most of the time as cut and come again, but in 2025 this particular variety we grew on into individual heads. They are cold tolerant and are still producing now and they also taste great! So, in a combination of under cover and in beds, this has earned it's place on the growing list for 2026. I just need to remember to keep sowing through the year for a continual harvest!
Onion - Bedfordshire Champion
Back for it's second year. Not only back, but nudging out the other favourite, Ailsa Craig. We have had such a good year growing the champ, that we're going all in and only growing this variety in 2026. They've been solid and reliable in 2025, so a place well earned for 2026.
Carrot - Berlicum 2, Autumn King 2, Paris Market
Carrots are the staple of many allotment grower, but they can be hard to get right. Over the last few years, we have settled on a combination of these 3 varieties and have found that the best way to grow the Berlicum and Autumn King's is in raised bed or in the much loved bath tub. They don't demand much in the way of nutrition, but with the longer roots, they fair better in total stone free soil or compost to prevent them from forking. Then, not growing so deep, we have the faster growing, but overall smaller Paris Market. All 3 of these have proved their worth to us and give us no reason to consider anything else.
Cucumber - La Diva
2025 was our first year of properly growing cucumbers. 2024 we grew a donated plant in a large tub, which did OK but we didn't know what variety it was. La Diva gave us a good crop through the hottest of Summers and we'll be using the exact same method of growing outside up a modified wire fence panel for 2026. 4 or 5 plants will be enough more than enough to give us more cucumbers than we know what to do with.
Pea - Hurst Greenshaft
The only pea we have ever grown. At one point, I did consider growing a mange tout variety for 2026, if only to avoid the laborious task of podding all the peas after each harvest. But you know what? They taste great, store well and if we could grow enough to last through the whole year by freezing loads, we probably wood. There's a lot to be said about "if it ain't broke, don't fix it!"
Sweetcorn - Elan F1
We gave the sweetcorn a miss for 2025, and looking at other plot holders, it probably was a lucky escape with many people reporting poor crops in size and/or number. We gave it a rest because we had such a good year in 2024, that we still had a load left in the freezer that was perfectly fine and lasted us through until early Summer 2025. The Elan F1 variety is a new one for us though and I look forward to seeing how it measures up against the varieties from previous years.
Tomato - Steak Sandwich and Tomate Ananas
2025 was a mixed year of success with the tomatoes. Outdoor steak sandwich and the other varieties outside went well, the same varieties under cover, not so well. We're having a change of tack for 2026, not least because we can't be doing with any more jars of tomato chutney in the cupboards! Enough is enough and time for that to be given a rest. But, I have saved some steak sandwich seed which went down really well with our salads through 2025. The newcomer for 2026 will be a variety picked up while on holiday while in France called Tomate Ananas. With all the room in the polytunnel already spoken for in 2026, these will join the steak sandwich varieties outside in a bed. I can't wait to see how they turn out.
Parsnip - White Gem
White Gem has become a firm favourite. It's been very reliable for us, seems to do well in our soil and isn't so sensitive to soil that contains the occasional soil. While other growers seem to struggle with germination, we've always got lucky, Another case of if it ain't broke, don't fix it. It stays for 2026.
Potato - Charlotte and Sarpo Mira
For the passed few years, we've grown 3 varieties of potato each year. For 2026, I'm cutting it down to 2. Both of these we grew in 2025 with Sarpo Mira being the biggest surprise. It was the first year we'd grown main crop potatoes in the ground instead of tubs, and the difference was impressive. For 2026, the Charlotte first earlies will be in tubs as normal but for 2026, I've allocated more space to the Sarpo Mira's and hope that they have as much a successful year in 2026 as they did this year. The only question mark we have over them is storage, but so far, we have around a full sack left in the garage, and they show no sign of spoiling yet.
Spring Onion - White Lisbon and North Holland Blood Red
I didn't pay our Spring Onions the attention they really needed in 2025. Don't get me wrong, they did well just being left to their own devices in troughs, In 2026, I'll make more of a concerted effort to grow them through the year and harvest them when they need harvesting, not when I feel sorry for them! The varieties themselves are very good and reliable though. The North Holland make excellent small red onions if you leave them longer and allow them to bulb up. Through 2026, I will be growing them under cover, in beds and in troughs. It will be a good experiment to see what's best!
French Bean - Climbing French Cobra
After the outstanding success of all the varieties of beans in 2025, producing carrier bags full of crops, 2026 is the year I reign it back in again. Out go the dwarf varieties in favour of the sole climbing variety. The Cobra we well in 2025 and stays for 2025, if only because they are much easier to harvest rather than crawling around the floor picking out of bushes of dwarf beans.
Squash - Butternut Waltham and Uchiki Kuri
A familiar sight on out allotment, these varieties have done us well over the years. The Uchiki's were affected a little by the heat and drought during 2025 I feel, but that's no reason to leave them out given they have done really well over previous years. Both varieties are back from 2026 with their own designated bed, but given that the sweet corn is also back on the agenda, there is a change that one or two plant may find themselves amongst the corn too. And who knows, maybe even a little trial growing one on the compost heap too...
Watermelon - Jubilee
This was the most gratifying of all the crops in 2025, but only produce 3 edible fruits off 2 plants. What a treat though! Everyone likes tucking into a watermelon, usually imported from a far off country, or while on holiday in warmer climates. I had no idea that they could even be grown in the UK. Jubilee is supposedly well suited to the UK climate. So happy was I about the success of this harvest that I've allocated the whole of the mini polytunnel to it for 2026, not just 1/2 of it as was the case in 2025. Once the current winter crops are done and dusted, I'll be feeding the soil with all sorts of goodness to give the crop of '26 the best conditions I can give them, and I can't wait!
Pak Choi - Joi Choi F1
This has been a great crop for the shoulder seasons, and something different to what many other people are growing on plots around me. It's easy to grow too much of this crop. 10 plants can be way too much. You don't necessarily want one every week, but they are nice to eat in many different ways. For the times of year where other things take too long to grow and reach maturity before conditions change, Pak Choi is a great way to keep the plot producing during quieter times.
Chinese Cabbage - Wong Bok
Another surprise for 2025, grown for the first time alongside the Pak Choi. It's proved to be a great addition to the late polytunnel crops. We probably won't grow it through the main part of the year, but as space becomes available towards the latter parts of Summer and Autumn in the polytunnels, I'm sure we will find some room for these. However, these were bought as plug plants from our local plant nursery in 2025, so we'll either need to source some seeds or hope that they grow them as plug plants again in 2026.
Shallot - Zebrune
A return of something that I've only grown once before, prior to us getting our allotment. Shallots are popular amongst growers, but the one time we did grow them at home, they didn't go too well. For 2026, with a bit more experience under the belt, I'm mixing it up a bit. I'm not going all in with multiple rows, nor am I doing individual plants. To ease myself back into shallot growing, I'm going to try growing them in bunches, perhaps only around 8, and split them between growing them under cover and growing them out and about in a bed or two.
And there you have it, the grand plan of 2026. This will be the basis of the growing for the year, but it's not a final list, just confirmed. It doesn't mean that I won't react to early failures, or not come home with some random impulse purchase wondering where on earth I'll fit the new additions in. 2025 was a challenging but very successful year full of learning and discovery. 2026 is going to be no different I reckon!
