Viewing comments posted by farmerdill

An excellent Mediterranean type zucchini. Pale green cylindrical fruits born on a semi-erect, single-stemmed, open-structured plant. Fruit has drier sweeter flesh than standard zucchini. Hybrid

An early, large Granex type yellow short day with good resistance to bolting. Popular for Vidalia growers

Purple Magic is a very productive variety as well as decorative. A very useful variety that performs well in both spring and winter planting. I am still harvesting in January.

Disease resistance characteristics: Susceptible to southern root-knot nematode, guava root knot nematode and for bacterial root rot.

A new yellow intermediate onion form Crookham aimed at the fresh sweet onion market. I decided to try it as I could not find a new short day onion to trial. It has a relatively long DTM so much is unknown as I am planting on a winter schedule. High tolerance to Pink Root, Fusarium, and bolting. Touted for high percentage of single centers. Globe shaped 3-4 inch bulbs. Update: good producer but three weeks later harvest than average long day varieties. Size ranges from small to Jumbo, much less uniform than Vidalia types.

Spicey Slice is pungent and productive. It did not get a fair trial this year because an extended hospitalization and recovery left me unable to provide any care. When I got back on my feet, weeds completely covered them. Once I got weeds out in late August, they took off and are producing a good crop of medium size (3 inch) peppers. While much smaller than their advertised size, there are plenty of them.

Georgia Boy is a midseason Yellow Granex type approved for growing under the Vidalia trademark. I am 100 miles north of the Vidalia growing area, but I like to compare their varieties when I can obtain seeds. In this year's performance it did well. more erratic in size than some I have grown, but good germination and zero bolting.

This is a long slender midseason variety. Here in the Georgia sandhills it is performing well as an over-wintered carrot. Flavor is very good, just a bit less sweet than a Nantes type. Texture is excellent, not a hit of woodiness even when stressed. Because of its tapered shape and desire to grow about a foot long, deep friable soil at least 12 inches deep is necessary.

Recent comments have brought on a nostalgic mood. I remember my father telling the story about an older farmer in the area, who grew Peach Blow for fall harvest. Seems he stopped by and helped him dig and was given a half bushel for his help. I don't remember much about the potato except that, like Green Mountain, it was only planted for fall harvest. The name always fascinated me. According to the info I can gather, this variety was developed in New Jersey in the 1840's (During the great potato famine) and was passed around among farmers for several years before acquiring the name around 1850. As it was sold in other states it was sometimes called Jersey Peach Blow. In 1863 an improved version was developed from a seedling and was introduced as Thorburn's White Peach Blow.

This variety is not uniform in growth. It sends out many side roots and has a moderate percentage of misshapen roots. Flavor leaves a lot to be desired. Only useful in my opinion as a novelty to brighten up a display. It is relatively early, but there are better tasting varieties that match it in DTM.

Large Romaine with deep burgundy leaves on deep green ribs.

Dark green savoy that has resistance to Downy mildew and white rust. Second year growing and it is performing well. Fast vigorous growth but has moderate germination. DTM 27 days

An 80-day Nantes type developed for over winter planting. Orange 7 x 1.5 inch roots with typical Nantes flavor.

Italian (Romano) type pole bean.

This has been a bad year for summer vegetables, but Autry has been a poor third behind Bayonet and Sun Haven. I am getting a few fruits, but they are small and misshapen. I will give Autry one more trial, hopefully under better conditions, but right now it does not appear to be a keeper

A medium-sized (16-20 lbs.) hybrid Cal sweet type. Dark red flesh is outstanding. Good production but last of my varieties to ripen. Worth the wait.

While 4 of 6 plants succumbed to TSWV, the remaining two grew into large sprawling plants Which set nice trusses of medium large grape type fruits. They are very visually attractive. For me, they are rock hard, very dense. Could do damage using them as ammo in a slingshot. The vines are long, slim and tough, difficult to keep in a 3foot diameter 6 foot cage.

Trying this year to determine if sufficient disease resistance to produce under my conditions. It is showing some effects from TSWV but is producing tomatoes. The plant is not vigorous under my conditions but seems to be trying hard.

A small icebox type melon listed at 6-8 lbs. Cantaloupe size round melon with dark green stripes on pale green. 80 DTM. Dark red firm but tender flesh with high sugar content. Very thin rind is tough enough for shipping. First trial, but excellent production to this point. Better flavor than Sugar Baby.

White super sweet that performs ok under my conditions. Eight inch fully formed ears on a sturdy 6 foot plant. Not as early as advertised. Almost a week later than Montauk. Good flavor and texture, But I prefer Eden in this slot.