It’s not too early to start thinking about mouth-watering
vegetables and brightly colored flowers.
We’re talking award-winning vegetables and flowers, courtesy of
All-America Selections.
It’s not too early to start thinking about mouth-watering vegetables and brightly colored flowers.
We’re talking award-winning vegetables and flowers, courtesy of All-America Selections.
AAS is a nonprofit organization that evaluates new seed-grown flowers and vegetables from around the world for home garden performance.
All of the 2005 award winners will be available this coming garden season in seed or already-started transplant form.
This week I’ll be covering the three vegetable winners; next week, we’ll review the three flower winners, including one flower winner from Goldsmith Seeds in Gilroy.
All the winners have been tested at independent test gardens throughout the country. Goldsmith Seeds happens to be one such All-America Selections test site. The site includes a retail locator section, which provides some of the retailers offering AAS winners.
n “Sugary” tomato. With a name like this, you just know that this tomato is all about sweet flavor.
This tomato variety is actually a sort of cross between cherry tomatoes and Sweet 100. Specifically, you get oval-shaped tomatoes that are slightly larger than regular cherry tomatoes, and they grow on clusters similar to grapes and to what you’ll get with Sweet 100.
The fruit is a distinct shape that makes this variety stand out. But like its name, the sugar content will make you remember this tomato. In fact, the sugar content is nearly 10 percent higher than most other tomato varieties.
“Sugary” tomato will ripen within 60 days from transplanting. Being a cherry type, they can easily be grown in containers or in the ground. Plants are vigorous and may need a little pruning to contain growth. “Sugary” sets a new standard for cherry-size tomatoes.
n “Fairy Tale” eggplant. This is a petite eggplant that features miniature fruit that are just as good to look at as they are to eat. Fruit are elongated oval eggplants that are purple/violet with white stripes.
They bear on small plants that are less than 3 feet tall and wide, which makes them ideal for growing in containers.
Taste of the fruit are sweet, not bitter, with a tender skin and few seeds. Fruit can be picked when they are quite small at one to two ounces, or they can be left on the plant to double the weight; the flavor and tenderness remains.
“Fairy Tale” eggplants are recommended for marinating or grilling. Harvest can begin around 50 days from transplanting. This is the first eggplant to win an AAS award since 1939.
n “Bonbon” winter squash. Three improved traits distinguish this winter squash. They have a restricted habit, ripen early and have superior eating qualities. “Bonbon” has an upright, semi-bush habit that needs less garden space. Mature vines spread about eight feet. Fruit ripens with around 80 days, which is a full week earlier than other varieties.
This squash has a thick orange flesh. When cooked, it delivers a sweet flavor, hence the name. The boxy-shaped, dark green squash has silver stripes, and each fruit weighs about four pounds.
All these All America Selections winners will be available at garden centers this spring and summer. You can also buy seeds from large mail-order seed companies. For information go to www.allamericaselections.org. Next week, I’ll review the AAS flower winners.
