Sunday 16 November 2025

Which test seeds are joining us next year, and which didn't make the cut?

Of the 8 seed varieties we tested this year, 4 are moving forward for 2026: summer endive, cut-and-come-again kale, butterhead lettuce and two-colour loose-leaf lettuce. The other 4 are being set aside for now: cos lettuce, pointed cabbage, chard and summer spinach.

Eight packets of Makkelijke Moestuin test seeds from 2025 — *Eight seed varieties tested in 2025*

In 2025, we tested eight new seed varieties for Makkelijke Moestuin, ranging from compact kale to crunchy loose-leaf lettuce. Together with more than a thousand MM gardeners, we investigated whether they suit raised-bed growing and fit our system.

How and why do we test?

Seeds are an important part of Makkelijke Moestuin, so we're always looking for new varieties. They either need to be a valuable addition to the packets we already offer or better than our current varieties.

But we only know whether they're really suitable after we and other MM gardeners test them thoroughly. That's why we put together a test bundle every spring and add it to the shop.

This year, more than 1,000 MM gardeners received the packets:

The eight Makkelijke Moestuin test seed packets for 2025 — *Eight packets containing the 2025 test seeds*

People posted extensively in the community about how well the varieties emerged, whether they grew well, how they tasted and the big question: should they be added to the app?

We tested them too, mainly in Den Andel. We monitored the plants closely and combined our observations with the information in your posts to create detailed charts full of data for the app.

Now, at the end of the season, it's time for our conclusions.

The winners:

Large Greensboro butterhead lettuce ✅

This butterhead grows so large that it easily fills an entire square. One mature head makes an enormous bowl of salad. But if you regularly pick some of the outer leaves while it grows, you can harvest from it for a very long time.

A mature Greensboro butterhead lettuce filling a square — *A mature head of Greensboro butterhead lettuce*

Start seeds indoors or sow: March to August

Harvest: May to October

Plants per square: 1

Advantages: germinates well and forms an attractive, compact head. The tender, buttery leaves taste delicious.

Keep in mind: this new variety will replace our current winter lettuce. The seeds come in clay pellets, so it's best to start them indoors. Read in Dutch why some seeds come in clay pellets.

Summer endive Anconi ✅

This endive is easy to grow and develops quickly without any fuss. You can start harvesting the outer leaves after two months. New leaves keep growing from the centre, so you can continue harvesting throughout the season. Or harvest the whole head after about 12 weeks and sow another one in a different square.

A mature head of Anconi summer endive in SonjaMM's MM-Hero raised table — *A mature head of summer endive in an MM-Hero raised table (photo by SonjaMM)*

Start seeds indoors or sow: March to August

Harvest: May to November

Plants per square: 1

Advantages: grows quickly, isn't troubled by disease or wet conditions, gives a long harvest and many MM gardeners find it tastier than our current variety. Read SonjaMM's detailed community report.

Keep in mind: this new variety will replace our current winter endive. The seeds come in clay pellets, so it's best to start them indoors. Read more about clay-pelleted seeds in Dutch.

Two-colour Batavia loose-leaf lettuce Trival ✅

Everyone is enthusiastic about this lettuce too. You can harvest it for a long time, the leaves stay tasty and the head looks beautiful. The leaves are so large that you only need about five for a big bowl of salad.

A two-colour Trival Batavia lettuce after repeated harvesting — *Two-colour Batavia loose-leaf lettuce after 10 weeks (photo by MirjamM23)*

Start seeds indoors or sow: March to August

Harvest: May to November

Plants per square: 1

Advantages: germinates well, grows quickly and its red colouring means slugs largely leave it alone. MirjamM23 puts it like this: 'We're incredibly enthusiastic about this beautiful lettuce, which brightens both your vegetable garden and your plate. We'd already harvested leaves from the 10-week-old head in the photo five times, and continued for another three weeks. Only then did the leaves become a little less tasty.'

Keep in mind: this new, slightly crunchier variety will replace our current loose-leaf lettuce. Its seeds also come in clay pellets, so it's best to start them indoors. Read more about clay-pelleted seeds in Dutch.

Cut-and-come-again kale Karillo ✅

You can start harvesting this compact kale after just 7 to 8 weeks, compared with 3 to 4 months for ordinary kale. Its leaves regrow faster, and the plant grows more upright than traditional varieties. If you regularly harvest the lower leaves, one square is enough, just as it is for dino kale.

A compact Karillo cut-and-come-again kale plant in early July — *Cut-and-come-again kale on 4 July, started indoors on 23 March (photo by VeraMoesmuis)*

Start seeds indoors: March to April / Sow outdoors: May to June

Harvest: June into the following year

Plants per square: 1

Advantages: grows quickly and easily, produces much more than other varieties and suffers less from pests than other brassicas. Its mild, tender leaves work well in smoothies, omelettes and stir-fries. Sowing in July works well too.

Keep in mind: this new variety will replace our current purple kale. Starting seeds indoors in early spring is sensible, but keep the seedlings somewhere cool and bright because they quickly become leggy. From May to July, you can sow directly in a square, although caterpillars and other pests are then more likely. Regular harvesting stops the plant taking up too much space.

The varieties that didn't make the cut:

Fast-harvest chard Charlie ❌

This chard was meant to emerge more quickly and reliably than our current variety, allowing you to harvest it much sooner. Unfortunately, very few seedlings emerged, and some testers got none at all 🙂

That's a real shame, because the seeds that did emerge grew into beautiful plants with delicious leaves and stems that you could harvest all year.

Large Charlie chard plants growing after a difficult start — *Huge chard plants that are still producing*

But if the seeds don't germinate reliably, they don't suit Makkelijke Moestuin. Unfortunately.

Summer spinach Cugoe ❌

You normally sow spinach either in early spring or at the start of autumn. That's why we were very curious about this variety, which can also be sown in summer.

Cugoe summer spinach growing before bolting in warm weather — *Summer spinach: delicious, but still bolts fairly quickly in warm weather*

The plants emerged well and had tasty, mild leaves, but they still bolted quite quickly in warm weather. Most testers therefore weren't very enthusiastic.

Compact pointed cabbage Sonsma ❌

We debated this one for a long time. When it succeeds, it's by far the most delicious pointed cabbage you can imagine, so it has plenty of fans.

But many testers lost their crop. Butterfly caterpillars were usually responsible, often going unnoticed until they'd already eaten much of the inside. Cabbage root fly larvae also caused damage, especially when the cabbage was sown later.

A compact pointed cabbage protected from slugs and caterpillars — *Pointed cabbage needs good protection from slugs and caterpillars*

So until we find an effective and easy solution, we're setting this test variety aside.

Cos lettuce Tendita ❌

Another difficult decision was Tendita cos lettuce. We're huge fans ourselves, as is SonjaMM, who wrote a wonderful test report.

But many MM gardeners didn't enjoy the firm, crunchy leaves that we like so much. This lettuce therefore didn't make the cut for many testers.

A mature Tendita cos lettuce grown by SonjaMM — *Tendita cos lettuce (photo by SonjaMM)*

Unfortunately, this one isn't moving forward either. Unless we hear from very many people about how disappointed they are, in which case we might still be persuaded 🙂

What happens next?

Four new seed varieties will definitely be added next year: butterhead lettuce, summer endive, two-colour loose-leaf lettuce and cut-and-come-again kale.

We're already turning all the collected data into steps for the app:

when, how and where to sow
how long it takes to reach the next step
what those steps involve
what can go wrong and what you can still do
whether the plant needs anything extra
how and when to harvest

Robbin then creates an illustration for every step and we add everything to the app: step by step, with the right information, correct dates and proper placement.

New seed packets

We'll also need new seed packets, with an attractive illustration, the right information, a barcode and so on.

Fortunately, we have some help this year. Take a look at this image of the summer endive:

Tessa working on the illustration for the summer endive seed packet — *Illustration for the summer endive seed packet*

Lovely, isn't it?

It was made by Tessa. She already regularly helps us pack orders, and she's now also doing a design internship with us.

Thanks to the community 😀

There's quite a lot involved before we can add new varieties to our range. That's why we're so grateful for the community's help with testing, reporting results and sharing photos of the different stages.

So if you helped test this year, thank you very much.

We'll create another test bundle next year. We've already found, among other things, a compact tomato with exceptionally tasty little fruits: