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Spring 2006 Variety Trial Winners
Superstar Lettuce, Carrots, Peas and Spinach
Every garden has clear superstars. These model citizens of the
vegetable world are varieties that almost never let you down.
They taste great, are easy to grow and are reliable producers
with good yields. Now that spring is coming to a close, it's
time to figure out who the superstars of your spring garden were
and make sure that they get their props!
My organic garden had several superstars this spring. I grew all
of my plants organically and none of them had significant
problems with diseases or insect pests.
Carrots are notoriously slow and finicky
germinators but Minicor demonstrated that not all carrots
deserve the bum rap. Minicor sprouted quickly and grew into
hardy, leafy plants. The carrots were uniform, slender, sweet,
and early (about 63 days). I harvested them over a one month
period and they stayed tender and sweet even as they grew
larger, which they did without branching or becoming "rooty".
An honorable mention in the carrot department goes to Purple
Dragon, because they are good, robust growers and the purple
color of the carrots is just stunning!
Tyee SpinachBeat Bloomsdale Long Standing and Space by a
wide margin. Tyee germinated the fastest, produced harvestable
baby spinach the earliest and continued growing at a quick clip
which allowed me to harvest it several times over a five week
period. Tyee didn't bolt, even when temperatures reached into
the 90's.
These huge, vigorous vines produced
hundreds upon hundreds of sweet, crisp peas. I have never grown
a snap pea variety (or any other type of pea, for that matter),
that can compare with them, and this year was no exception.
I've grown
dozens of varieties of lettuce and I happen to think that
lettuce is a thing of beauty. That said, Oreilles du Diable was
the most gorgeous that I had ever seen. I was captivated!--I
took pictures to remember it by before I harvested and ate it.
By the way, I enjoyed every bite!
These are all vegetable varieties that I wouldn't hesitate to
grow year after year and I feel that I could rely on them as my
main sources of their respective crops. They are widely adapted
varieties that can be grown in many areas of the country, not
just the Southeast, where I live. So, give them a try! These
vegetable superstars will make any garden shine!
For More Information:
Fedco Seeds
Order your Sugar Snap Peas at Amazon!
See Also:
There's a
Goosefoot in my Garden
It's Easy to Grow
Great Garlic
How Does Your Garden Grow
Part One: Getting to Know Your Soil
Bountiful Basil
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