Garden Tips: New veggies judged superior

From time to time, I have written about the All-America Selections. These are new flower and vegetable varieties that have been judged to be the best performing new varieties for gardeners. All-America Selections is an independent nonprofit organization with the mission of “promoting new garden varieties with superior performance judged in impartial trials in North America.”

When gardeners start ordering seeds or plants, they may see a variety that is new and improved, or better tasting, but they have no way of knowing the truth of these claims. However, if a new variety is a national All-America Selection, it is likely to perform well and offer something new or different than similar varieties. In fact, not only must an AAS selection perform well in trials around North America, it must also “have at least two significantly improved qualities” over current varieties to be considered for selection.

While in the past flowers seemed to be the main focus of AAS selections, vegetables have been front and center in recent years. I suspect that is because many seed companies have been putting their energy into developing new and improved varieties, the focus of many gardeners.

Let’s take a look at some of the new veggies winning the AAS designation this year. A tomato called Chef’s Choice Green F1 is a modern hybrid that looks like an heirloom with large (9 to 10 ounce) beef-steak type fruit.

The fruit of Chef’s Choice Green F1 are pretty with green and yellow-striping. The flesh has a sweet, citrusy taste and good texture. Existing varieties that it resembles are Aunt Ruby’s Green, an heirloom, and Fried Green F1. Other desirable characteristics of Chef’s Choice Green F1 include its “well-behaved” 5-foot-tall indeterminate vines and resistance to numerous diseases. Seed for this tomato can be bought at Totally Tomatoes at totallytomato.com.

On the other end of the spectrum of fruit size is Candyland Red, a currant-type tomato with small half-inch red fruit. These little fruit are sweet and richly flavored. Candyland Red resembles Sweet Pea and Matt’s Wild Cherry tomatoes, but differs from other currant-type tomatoes because its growth is not as rampant. Plus, the fruit forms on the outside of the plant, making harvesting the tiny gems easier. While more compact in habit than similar varieties, these plants still grow 6 to 8 inches tall and should be spaced 3 inches apart, with staking provided for support. Seed of Candyland Red is also available from Totally Tomatoes.

Other AAS vegetable selections include:

▪ Pepitas F1 is a beautiful yellow-orange medium-sized pumpkin with green stripes, making it useful for fall decorating. In addition, its flesh can be baked and the naked or hulless seeds (pepitas) can be roasted and eaten. It will be available in 2017.

▪ Prizm is a short kale (10 to 24 inches tall) with bright green ruffled, curly leaves. The almost stemless leaves are tender with good flavor. The plants quickly re-leaf after harvesting. This kale is compact enough to be grown in containers and raised beds. Remember, kale is a cool-season plant and should be started early in the season. It also should be available in 2017.

Look for 2016 and previous years’ AAS selections when buying garden seed. They are varieties that should do well because they are “tested nationally and proven locally,” All-America Selection’s tagline.

This story was originally published February 7, 2016 at 6:07 AM with the headline "Garden Tips: New veggies judged superior."