What's your favorite vegetable variety?

[TheSeedObsesser]

I'll add --

Country Gentleman for sweet corn. Nice, heirloom, shoepeg variety. I've found that raccoons have trouble stealing off of taller corn stalks.

Detroit Dark Red for beet. Heirloom/OP. Easy to find, overall a great beet.

Crystal Apple Cuke. Heirloom. Good straight from the vine with skin on.

Uzbekski Cuke. Heirloom. Looks more like a potato than a cucumber, skin has a netting/russeting type of thing. This one can get large without turning bitter. It can also take warmer weather. Skin has sweet flavor.

Speckled Trout Back Lettuce. Heirloom. Speckled Trout Back is the translation of it's hard to spell Austrian name, which is why I stick to the translation. Romaine type, can take warmer weather without getting bitter.

Carol, I've been considering New Zealand Spinach. Does it take summer heat well? Will heat make it bitter?

 

[NwMtGardener]

I only have a few things "dialed in" to where i can really say this variety is my fave. Part of that is because like HEchicken, i dont always label perfectly or keep great records, so I forget!

But these are my definites:
Lettuce: waldmann green
Hot peppers: thai hot dragon
Summer squash: cocozelle zucchini
I also concur with other's mention of the blue lake pole beans, i tried kentucky wonder and thought they were more "stringy" than the blue lake.

OH! I forgot the muncher cucumer, YUM!

 

[digitS']

AMKuska, you are over there and right next door to these folks: WSU, Puyallup. This outfit is THE Washington State extension research. Yeah, I know that WSU is over here almost astride the border but that makes no difference. That is the ag research. You've got the vegetable and garden center within a couple of miles from your home.

I used to get a little irritated with WA extension because it was 99% focused on the wetside of WA. Over the last 10 years, Spokane has done a little better but their old trick of referencing to the Westside fell far short of being helpful to the drysiders. Go in sometime, search extension's website for variety advise. It's all for your backyard!

Here's another idea for a summer lettuce, and I feel pretty good about bringing DW around on this one. A Batavian (Summercrisp) type lettuce - I like Nevada.

Now, you might think, "Oh, he likes it because he's over there in near desert-like conditions." Well, yeah maybe. But, Batavia is a part of the Netherlands - not anyone's idea of a desert. I see people talking about summercrisp lettuce all over the internet, Nevada & other varieties.

In fact, the Netherlands must be a lot like your part of the world! I think you could just hold off on a garden this year and catch a summer flight to Amsterdam! Research, you know .

Steve

 

[Carol Dee]

Carol, I've been considering New Zealand Spinach. Does it take summer heat well? Will heat make it bitter?

SeedO, my in-laws always had New Zealand. It even self seeded for them and came back each spring ! Our summers get pretty hot and humid and it keeps producing as long as you don't let it bolt. I don't think it ever got bitter. So far DH and I have had to plant each spring to fill in where it did not return. But our patch is in full sun, theirs had some afternoon shade.

 

[AMKuska]

AMKuska, you are over there and right next door to these folks: WSU, Puyallup. This outfit is THE Washington State extension research. Yeah, I know that WSU is over here almost astride the border but that makes no difference. That is the ag research. You've got the vegetable and garden center within a couple of miles from your home.

I used to get a little irritated with WA extension because it was 99% focused on the wetside of WA. Over the last 10 years, Spokane has done a little better but their old trick of referencing to the Westside fell far short of being helpful to the drysiders. Go in sometime, search extension's website for variety advise. It's all for your backyard!

Here's another idea for a summer lettuce, and I feel pretty good about bringing DW around on this one. A Batavian (Summercrisp) type lettuce - I like Nevada.

Now, you might think, "Oh, he likes it because he's over there in near desert-like conditions." Well, yeah maybe. But, Batavia is a part of the Netherlands - not anyone's idea of a desert. I see people talking about summercrisp lettuce all over the internet, Nevada & other varieties.

In fact, the Netherlands must be a lot like your part of the world! I think you could just hold off on a garden this year and catch a summer flight to Amsterdam! Research, you know .

Steve

What wonderful advice. Thank you so much!!

 

[TheSeedObsesser]

SeedO, my in-laws always had New Zealand. It even self seeded for them and came back each spring ! Our summers get pretty hot and humid and it keeps producing as long as you don't let it bolt. I don't think it ever got bitter. So far DH and I have had to plant each spring to fill in where it did not return. But our patch is in full sun, theirs had some afternoon shade.

All that needs to be said, they're on my shopping list!

I save a lot of seeds, so will want them to bolt eventually. Sounds like they make more need with some afternoon shade.

 

[Jared77]

Black Krim is one of my must haves. But then I love the flavor that black tomatoes have. Black Krim is my favorite of the black tomatoes I've tried. Another must have is Red Pear. They are little salad sized tomatoes that pack a whallup of flavor. Not super sweet they taste like a regular sized tomato but in a miniature size. But very rich flavor & insanely productive. Produced early & was almost 2-1 in tomatoes produced against the sweet 100 next to it & both plants were similar in size.

I do early girls too because they as reliable as a German train schedule. They fill the pot so it's hard to argue with them but I am looking for an heirloom alternative.

I also like a good yellow tomato the sweetness is a good change & offers a nice layer of flavor especially in salsa or pico. Right now it's been Lemon Boy but I'm trying to expand on that. We'll see where it goes.

I'm a BIG fan of Kentucky Wonder pole beans. They are tasty & when you find some that you miss & they get big it didn't matter they were still stringless. Very productive & hearty. Was the only pole variety I could find & have bern very pleased with them. Haven't had any reason to grow anything else.

Those are my usual suspects.

 

[digitS']

DW and I agree on some hybrids. I grow the SE sweet corn varieties because most can get started a little better in cold soil.

Cherry tomatoes? We must like sweet. Sungold & SunSugar are more like candy than some of the other cherry tomatoes! She thinks Super Sweet 100's are wonderful. I like Sweet Chelsea, maybe mostly because of its nice size.

The golden cherries, Sungold & SunSugar, are the earliest tomatoes in my garden. Or at least, right there with Bloody Butcher. There are just about no tomatoes that I don't like but those are some that DW and I agree on. Not the Bloody Butchers. Those are like that old high school friend she is barely tolerates showing up for a beer every 6 months, or so.

Steve

 

[so lucky]

Black Krim is one of my must haves. But then I love the flavor that black tomatoes have. Black Krim is my favorite of the black tomatoes I've tried. Another must have is Red Pear. They are little salad sized tomatoes that pack a whallup of flavor. Not super sweet they taste like a regular sized tomato but in a miniature size. But very rich flavor & insanely productive. Produced early & was almost 2-1 in tomatoes produced against the sweet 100 next to it & both plants were similar in size.

I do early girls too because they as reliable as a German train schedule. They fill the pot so it's hard to argue with them but I am looking for an heirloom alternative.

I also like a good yellow tomato the sweetness is a good change & offers a nice layer of flavor especially in salsa or pico. Right now it's been Lemon Boy but I'm trying to expand on that. We'll see where it goes.

I'm a BIG fan of Kentucky Wonder pole beans. They are tasty & when you find some that you miss & they get big it didn't matter they were still stringless. Very productive & hearty. Was the only pole variety I could find & have bern very pleased with them. Haven't had any reason to grow anything else.

Those are my usual suspects.

Pretty odd that some people say KY wonder pole is stringless, and others say it is too stringy. I wonder if there are different strains for sale that are incorrectly labeled KY Wonder. Are there any safeguards against genetic dilution or contamination of the old OP varieties? I guess I'm asking how we can be sure that the OP seed we buy is from the true stock. Buying from a tried and true company, perhaps. @Jared77, where do you buy your KY wonder pole bean seed? (sorry, you may have mentioned it, but I am kinda absent minded lately)

 

[baymule]

OK, my favorite vegetables......
GIANT RED MUSTARD, they go by several different names, but look the same to me. These are the most tender greens ever! They look like winter flowers in the beds and are beautiful. They cook up green, while the "pot likker" is a clear purple. Hands down favorite!
http://www.rareseeds.com/japanese-giant-red-mustard-greens/

MAESTRO ENGLISH PEAS, grew them 1st time last year, growing them again this year from seed saved. Prolific, tasty and easy to grow.
http://www.bountifulgardens.org/Pea-Maestro/productinfo/VPE-4802/

THAI #3 LONG GREEN BEANS, this is the 5th year I have grown these. I have saved seed and given away hundreds of seeds to others. These vine like mad, produce beans like crazy. If only one person on the block raised these beans, there would be no hunger.
http://www.rareseeds.com/thai-3-extra-long-bean/

VIOLET'S MULTI-COLORED BUTTERBEANS, I read about these on a thread right here on TEG! I ordered some immediately and planted them last year. They were a big hit here at our house and I saved seed to plant again this year! This is a link to the thread with ordering info.
http://www.theeasygarden.com/threads/butterbeans.11642/

TROMBONCINO SQUASH, what fun! Another "weird and different" vegetable on my list. I trellised them last year on cow panels. I think I will let them run on the ground this year. Vine borers finally wiped them out, but they put up a good fight. They put out little rootlets at the leaf joints that if they were in contact with the soil, they would have rooted and maybe I wouldn't have lost them to heat and borers. I chronicled them in this post:
http://www.theeasygarden.com/threads/tromboncino-squash-vine-borers-pg-4.13616/