Perhaps the only thing vegetable gardeners enjoy more than harvesting their crops is making plans for the coming growing season. Garden catalogs fill the mailbox and online seed houses come alive with tempting photos of luscious ripe harvests, which makes this a perfect time to plan the spring garden! Here’s a look at what’s new for vegetable gardeners in 2008.
Bean ‘Gold Dust’ bears butter-yellow wax pods set high on upright bush plants. Good disease resistance and uniform pod set. 56 days. (Stokes)
Beet ‘Touchstone Gold’ adds a bit of color to the garden with yellow midribs contrasting with the bright green foliage. The pale orange skin of the roots conceals bring golden, sweet, smooth flesh on the inside. 60 days. (Johnny’s, Park)
Brussels Sprouts ‘Falstaff’ is a purple Brussels Sprout, about the same color as red cabbage. 96 days. (Cook’s, Gurney’s)
Broccoli ‘Blue Wind’ offers early, medium-sized, blue-green heads with small, tight beads. 49 days. (Johnny’s)
Carrot ‘Sugarsnax’ boasts exceptionally sweet flavor, high-beta carotene content, and resistance to a wide range of diseases. The long, slender roots reach up to 12 inches. 68 days. (Burpee, TM)
Carrot ‘YaYa’ is an early, short-and-sweet carrot, just 6 inches long, bright orange, and loaded with flavor. Make successive sowings every few weeks for a continuous supply. Ideal for raised beds and container gardens. 60 days. (Johnny’s, Park)
Cauliflower ‘Graffiti’ yields a deep purple head that does not need to be tied up to exclude sunlight, like traditional white cauliflower. Purple color fades when cooked. 80 days. (Jung, TM)
Sweet Corn ‘Quickie’ brings early yields of 7-inch, bi-colored, Sugar-Enhanced (SE) ears. 68 days. (Cook’s, Gurney’s)
Cucumber ‘Green Fingers’ yields prolific, smooth, baby Persian-type cukes with crisp yet tender skin. Harvest when 3-5 inches long. Powdery mildew tolerant. 60 days. (Renee’s)
Eggplant ‘Dancer’ features medium-sized, nearly cylindrical fruits that are a shiny, dark pinkish-purple with high-yielding, vigorous plants. 65 days. (Johnny’s)
Eggplant ‘Hansel’ is the only All-American Selections Vegetable Winner for 2008. The slender, finger-like fruits can be harvested as baby eggplants at just 2 inches, or allowed to reach up to 10 inches. Fruits are glossy, dark purple, tender skin and few seeds. 55 days. (Park)
Eggplant ‘Little Prince’ is perfect for container gardening, bearing clusters of 3-4 inch glossy purple fruits on plants that top out at 24 inches. 65 days. (Renee’s)
Onion ‘Lilia’ is an Italian, long-day type, with gorgeous, deep dark reddish-purple skin and flesh topped by dark green tops. Harvest young plants for “green” onions or mature for a longer, darker crimson bulb with a rich bite. 130 days (Park, TM)
Pepper ‘Orangesicle’ bears tapered 4- to 6-inch fruit with smooth, glossy skin and crisp, sweet, thick walls that ripen to bright orange. Excellent for salads, roasting or stuffing. 70 days. (Park)
Hot Pepper ‘Ladybug’ is a miniature hot cherry type, good for fresh eating, pickling or as an ornamental. 65 days to green, 90 days to red ripe. (Johnny’s)
Hot Pepper ‘Zavory’ is the first mild habañero, just 100 Scovilles (heat units), compared to the normal 300,000 units of typical Habañeros! The numerous, small green fruits ripen to shiny, cardinal red in late summer on vigorous, 30-inch plants. 90 days. (Burpee)
Pepper ‘Flavorburst’ bears loads of giant, sweet, blocky bells, which start out as bright green and ripen to golden yellow. 72 days. (Burpee, Park)
Tomato ‘Italian Ice’ is a sweetly mild, snack-sized fruit, with clusters of 1-1.5-inch fruits that ripen to an ivory white. Indeterminate. 65 days. (Burpee)
Tomato ‘Razzle Dazzle’ is new hybrid said to have silky-smooth texture and flavor. The uniquely colored fruits are shiny, deep raspberry, somewhere between red and pink. The 12-ounce fruits develop over the whole growing season on indeterminate plants. VF12 resistant. 75 days. (Burpee)
Tomato ‘Tangerine Mama’ is a bright-orange paste tomato on indeterminate plants. 68 days. (Burpee)
Tomato ‘HoneyBunch’ bears loads of miniature, one-fourth to one-half-inch bright red, sweet-as-honey fruits. The indeterminate vines produce long trusses of these ‘currant’-sized fruits early and throughout the summer. 60 days. (Burpee)
Tomato ‘Smarty’ is a small, one-half ounce, sweet red grape-type fruit. The large, vigorous plants are determinate in habit, and very productive. 60 days. (Johnny’s)
Watermelon ‘Ruby’ is a hybrid seedless with, of course, ruby red flesh. Weighing in at just 6-8 pounds, it’s easy to store in the fridge.
85 days. (Burpee)
These are just a small sampling of what’s new for 2008. Transplants of many of them will be available at your local garden center later this spring. Seeds are available at many local garden centers. Specific sources indicated after entry and their contact information follow. Try some of these new cultivars, along with your old standbys, so you’ll be able to give them a fair comparison.
Burpee – Burpee Seeds http://www.burpee.com
Cook’s – The Cook’s Garden http://www.cooksgarden.com
Gurney’s – Gurney’s Seed and Nursery http://gurneys.com
Johnny’s – Johnny’s Selected Seeds http://www.johnnyseeds.com
Jung – Jung Quality Seeds http://www.jungseed.com
Park – Park Seed Co. http://www.parkseed.com
Renee’s – Renee’s Garden http://www.reneesgarden.com
Stokes – Stokes Seeds http://www.stokeseeds.com
TM – Thompson & Morgan http://www.tmseeds.com