It is fairly self-explanitory, Hywell. First Earlies are ready to harvest early in the season and are the ones that you just rub the skin off with your fingers. Second earlies follow them and are a little 'tougher' and fill the gap between First earlies and Maincrop. Exactly how long they all take to mature after planting depends on where you live as does the date for starting to harvest them. Most gardeners tend to grow First Earlies for their wonderful, fresh taste and main crop to keep.

Thank you :)

First earlies are the most profitable varieties to grow as they mature when they are still expensive in the shops. Main crop varieties are usually less expensive and take a lot more space up. You can also sow early varieties later in the season as they will take less time to mature so can be used to fill a vacant spot up.

Hi Hywel

Ones I have tried and do well with us are:

Epicure , originally grown in Scotland so ideal for us here in Wales,( wetter and colder).

The other I have grown is "Swift" the name says it all.

Hope this helps

Gg

Thank you Jimmy, I may try to sew some later on. It would be nice to have a few late ones.

Thank you Gg One of the varieties I've bought is actually Swift. I'll try to get Epicure too.