Viewing comments posted by farmerdill

I first grew Golden Acre in 1952 and still use it intermittently as an early cabbage. It is early, productive, and a relevant size. Very dense ball shaped heads running 3- 5 lbs. In the 50's Jersey Wakefield and Charlestown Wakefield were the spring cabbages of choice. Golden Acre was much more reliable. Flavor and texture were better for raw uses like coleslaw. The Wakefields were better for boiled cabbage. Today it still competes well with modern varieties like Stonehead, Charmant and QuickStart.

An early, almost heatless cultivar developed by Texas A & M. Grows well here and is great for uses where regular Jalapenos are too hot.

An early green Romaine with compact upright growth. Savoyed leaves. Has resistance to Corky Root (Intermediate) and Tomato Bushy Stunt Virus (High). Note that this variety is under Plant Variety Protection.

A new variety from Johnnys. Graffiti has been hit or miss for me as too often summer heat comes on too quickly. Purple Moon is listed as almost 20 days earlier, so hopefully it will solve that problem. I have no trouble with white Cauliflower with 70 DTM. Will report back at end of season.

A blocky green to yellow bell that has TSWV resistance. While it does not hit peppers nearly as hard as it does tomatoes, I am jumping at the chance to trial a bell pepper with TSWV resistance. My vendor suggests this the best replacement for SummerSweet 8610. Let you know at end of season.

A new addition to the Mountain series that has strong TSWV resistance. Slightly smaller than Mountain Spring but is preferable where TSWV is a problem. I am doing my first trial this year

White elongated oval fruit is smooth, firm, and heavy. It has a refined small cap that is usually spineless. Flesh is dense, bright white, and slow to develop seeds. Excellent early and continuous yields. 63 days to maturity.

A small oval medium purple Indian type fruit on a stocky 3 foot plant. Fruit set in clusters of 2-3.

A 50 day cut and come again looseleaf variety. Yellow-green leaves which become increasingly crinkled as the plant matures. Listed as 50 DTM, but I am growing it in late fall and it is taking much longer. Australian heirloom. Very hardy, February and still growing strong.

An early Roma type from Seminis. Plant averages 6 ft at adult height and will spread about 3 three feet. Plant has good disease tolerances including TSWV. Fruit averages 5-6 ounces.

Small (3-5 lb.) personal size red flesh melon. Light green with jagged dark green striping. Minimal seeds.

Huge vine, grows much like the Burgess Trip-L- Crop. Has been disease prone in past trials, but plants this year are quite vigorous. Fruits are slow to set, but large. It is a late variety. Vines still flourishing, Nice large pink fruits but less than dozen per plant. They are very thin skinned and with a wet start to August have cracked badly.

Big Beef with added disease resistance. It has good resistance to Tomato Spotted Wilt Virus, which is a major problem in my area. Plant is vigorous, but spindly; sets fruits more sparsely than the big determinate Saybrook, which I am growing as a control. Round red fruits are smaller and initial set is low. Fruits are hard and rather bland, approach the typical grocery store tomato. Not my favorite by any means, but it has fended off TSWV.

This variety is touted for resistance to Downy Mildew and it has performed well. Not as uniform or productive as modern hybrids, but satisfactory.

A 54 day heirloom from the J. C. Metze family of Newberry, SC. It is similar to the popular Rattlesnake. Growing well under my conditions. Excellent snap beans with meaty pods that hold their tenderness longer than most pole beans. It is often marketed as Selma Zesta

Eden is a pearly white augmented in Crookham's Nirvana series. It's a second early producing 8 inch well filled ears on 6 foot plants. Crisp texture and not overbearing sweetness. Overall a good producer here. Only problem is that squirrels seem to prefer it.

Sweet Emotion is an early Vidalia type onion from Shamrock seeds. A variety of Yellow Granex. It was not a high producing variety at the 2021 Vidalia onion trials. I planted the seed in early September, transplanted in mid December. We had an unusual freeze Christmas week which took out almost three quarters of the plants. The remainder of the plants bulbed in late May. About 25% Jumbos, the remainder medium.

This is a dark green cylindrical squash with resistance to WMV , ZYMV. Spineless, open plant makes harvest easy. Very prolific and fast developing. Have to be picked every other day to avoid gigantic fruits. To date, the best producing zucchini that I have grown.

Excellent performer that heads quickly and consistently. It is small but perfect for a small family.

A 19th Century antique that still performs well. More variable then modern varieties but grows well and is more tender and sweet than many modern cultivars.