Planning 2026, What to Grow, Seed List

I’ve made a start on my 2026 growing plan. The main aim is to provide for our needs without over-taxing myself or over-producing. I’m afraid I’m one of those people who take on too much and end up overwhelmed, so this year a bit of restraint will have to be applied.

My other fault is to just grow too much. Just because I’ve a dozen good cabbage seedlings, it doesn’t mean I should plant them all out when we’re only likely to use half of them.

And no, I’m not going to buy another freezer!

An old Celebrations container (from when you got a decent size!) with my stock of seeds in.

What’s in the box?

As usual, the first task is to go through my stock. With a few exceptions, most of the seeds left over from previous years will be usable this. Subject to them having been stored properly. That is, in sealed packs to keep the air out and, more importantly,the seeds dry. Also a stable temperature. Seeds left in a shed that heats up in the day and then near-freezes at night, rarely survive well.

With seeds like cabbages that I sow undercover and then plant out, the worst case is that the seeds don’t germinate and I need to buy fresh. So I could end up two weeks behind. No big deal, as you have a period to sow in, not an exact date.

Having listed my stock, ordered seeds to fill the gaps. That’s set me back £28.00, which isn’t bad, especially as most of the packets will cover two years. Still, I’ve yet to get the seed potatoes, which will be a few quid.

Potatoes

The potatoes will be picked up from the local garden centre. They’re really good, a wide range, and you can pick your own tubers from the bins. I even posted a little video clip when we went down there last year – pick your own seed potatoes.

I’m mainly sticking to varieties I know will work here for me, this year. Just a few new-to-me varieties.

Leeks

With leeks, I’ll be growing the Bulgarian Giants again, but they do tend to bolt and don’t seem to stand well outside. So, I’ll also be trying Giant D’Inverno, which is a large leek that is said to stand well through the harshest winter.

I was thinking Musselbrough or Blue de Solaise, which I know stand well, but variety is the spice of life. Hence, deciding on Giant D’Inverno.

Onions and Banana Shallots or Eschalion

With onions, I’ve gone back to seed. I find there’s much less bolting with seed than sets but it is a bit more work starting from seed. There’s no point in growing too many, storing in our humid conditions is a problem.

Val wanted me to grow some Eschalion, AKA ‘Banana Shallots’, which are usually started from seed. Strange, 50 plus years of growing and I’ve not done these before. The best variety is Zebrune by all accounts.

Tomatoes

The only new-to-me variety I’m growing is Consuelo Cherry, a blight resistant cordon type. I got these from Marshalls, but they’re commonly available and well-spoken of.

Cucumber

I’ll be growing Marketmore, again. It’s become a standard for us, producing well flavoured and decent sized fruits. However, we like small cucumbers too, if only because my grandson will go through one like some kids eat sweets. So, I’m trying Mini Munch, which the seed merchants are raving about.

Planning Spreadsheet

I find the easiest for me is to list the seeds on a spreadsheet, along with the sowing months. Then, with a bit of sorting, I can produce lists of what to sow each month. Nothing that couldn’t be done with pen and paper, just easier for me with a spreadsheet, which I’ve used in various jobs over the years.

To simplify things for me, I’ve broken the seeds into groups:

• Roots
• Brassica
• Legumes
• Alliums
• Salads
• Other

I’ve saved the sheet as a PDF, which you can access here: Planting Plan Seed List 2026

Important Info on PDF documents

PDF documents are a common format that can be read on all smartphones and computers, but you will need to have the software to do so. Don’t pay for this, don’t click on adverts for PDF readers. You can get the software for FREE from Adobe who invented the format.

You only need paid-for software to edit or write PDF files, not to read them. And not even then, I use the excellent, free Libre Office to write documents and spreadsheets, which can generate PDF files.