Seed hunting in Europe

It's that time of year, when gardeners settle down with their seed catalogues to plan their gardens for next year. As a newbie I am very tempted to buy seeds and frequently succumb to that temptation. 

I am always on the lookout for unusual edible plants with brightly coloured fruits, leaves, flowers. One of my favourite hunting grounds is not available to most British gardeners. I spend a lot of time in the Czech Republic and make a point of visiting the garden centres there. 

Czech flower gardens cannot compete with ours, not having the mild British climate, but the Czechs are great vegetable and fruit gardeners. Their shops are full of varieties you don't see in the UK. Some are old heritage varieties. I noticed in the DT Brown Catalogue my sister lent me that all the heritage garlic cloves listed were Czech varieties. I bought mine in the Czech Republic for a fifth of the price.

Others have been bred to the Czech market. It is a market in which people grow fruit and vegetables where they can, including on the balconies of flats. You can buy seeds for "balkonove" tomatoes - tomatoes that grow in pots. I grew two sorts this year and will grow more next. 

Some seeds that are difficult to find in the UK are easy to find there. The Czechs grow hamburg parsley instead of parsnips for example. Even with seeds I can easily get in the UK I sometimes choose to buy in the Czech Republic, because there is such a difference in price. Czech vegetable seed packets seldom cost more than £1 and more often half that. 

Of course not all the Czech varieties work in our wetter climate, but you don't know until you try.