My All-Time Favorite Vegetable Varieties

February 9th, 2021

   Picking superior varieties is especially important in vegetable gardening since there are so many choices with so much variability in performance.

It’s hard to beat ‘Big Beef’ as reliable tomato variety.

   No plant is perfect and bullet-proof in all aspects and all places, but it is possible to breed for specific traits.

   So what we have is a fairly large and ever-changing lineup of variety choices, each with different strengths.

   Some varieties were bred/selected for resistance to diseases or particular pest bugs, others for size or taste.

   Southern gardeners might want varieties that can take the heat. Northern gardeners might want varieties that mature in shorter seasons.

   The big push lately is to come up with varieties able to deal with our changing climate, especially hotter summers and “flash droughts” interspersed with ever-heavier rain dumpings.

Read more about how important variety-shopping is in a column I wrote for the Patriot-News/PennLive.com.

   In the vegetable garden, I gravitate toward reliable performers year in and year out that yield well in limited space and seldom run into bug or disease issues.

   I’ve also found that quick maturity is a veggie virtue. Being able to get a crop in and out as fast as possible means there’s less chance for anything to go wrong, i.e. animal raids or an overnight, havoc-wreaking weather event.

   I’ve grown and trialed hundreds (if not thousands) of vegetable varieties over the years. I compare old favorites to touted newcomers and have found that sometimes the newbies really are better… but not always.

   The following list is what I’ve found to be the best performers in Pennsylvania’s climate and soils.

   Performance can vary even from garden to garden in the same area, so maybe you won’t get the same results as I have.

   I also haven’t tried everything, so there may be even better performers that I haven’t yet discovered.

   Nevertheless, the following are varieties worth considering:

   Asparagus: Any of the ‘Jersey’ varieties are good (‘Jersey Giant,’ ‘Jersey King,’ ‘Jersey Knight’), but I’m trying a new planting this spring of the purple-shooted variety ‘Purple Passion,’ which has a good reputation and beautiful color.

‘Mascotte’ beans are more slender than most but very heavy producers.

   Beans: ‘Mascotte.’ The beans of this bush-type variety are slender than most, but they’re tender, flavorful, non-stringy, and the heaviest producer I’ve grown. The old-favorite ‘Blue Lake’ is as good as any among pole types.

   Beets: ‘Red Ace.’ A quick maturer with medium-sized roots and a nice, dark color.

   Broccoli: ‘Packman.’ Also quick to produce fairly large heads (50 days) and then good at throwing out side shoots for weeks after the main head is cut.

   Cabbage: ‘OS Cross.’ Huge heads if you like to show off your growing prowess (and make lots of cole slaw). ‘Ruby Ball’ and ‘Ruby Perfection’ are two equally good purple-leafers.

   Carrots: ‘Tendersnax.’ Beautiful long, slender, orange roots with just the right sweetness and crunch. It seems to resist carrot rust flies, too. ‘Sugar Snax’ is also good.

‘Tendersnax’ carrots.

   Cauliflower: ‘Snow Crown.’ It’s common and not new, but I haven’t found anything that beats it.

   Corn: ‘Bodacious.’ The yellow-kernel ears are full and very sweet, plants are disease-resistant, and maturity is fairly quick at 75 days.

   Cucumber: ‘General Lee.’ Slender, dark-green fruits have good flavor, good crunch, and small seeds (when picked young). Yield is excellent, too, and fairly quick. ‘Diva’ is also good. ‘Sweet Success’ is a fast and excellent long English type.

   Eggplant: I’m still looking for a reliable one that flea beetles don’t attack, but ‘Dusky’ is as good as any I’ve grown so far.

   Leek: ‘Lancelot.’ Early, reliable, and starts well from seed.

   Lettuce: Lots of can’t-miss choices here. ‘Summertime’ has done well for me as a crisp-head type. ‘Buttercrunch’ is an oldie-but-goodie butterhead type. ‘Little Gem’ is a good and quick Romaine type. And I like ‘Green Ice,’ ‘Lollo Rossa,’ and ‘Red Sails’ as leaf types.

   Melon: I’ve never had much luck with any. You’re on your own.

   Onions: ‘Walla Walla.’ Not a great keeper, but good size and flavor for fresh use. ‘Candy’ is good all around.

   Peas: ‘Oregon Sugar Pod II.’ Nothing beats it for yield and flavor in a snow pea. (I don’t grow shelling peas.)

‘Mad Hatter’ peppers are heavy producers of these tasty little hat-shaped fruits. (Credit: All-America Selections)

   Peppers: ‘Mad Hatter.’ More a novelty with their lobed, hat-shaped fruits, but they’re quick to ripen red, good in flavor, and spectacular in yield. ‘Big  Bertha’ has done well for me as a large, main-crop sweet bell pepper, while ‘Hungarian Hot Wax’ is my favorite hot pepper (good yield and just the right amount of heat for my taste).

   Potatoes: ‘Yukon Gold.’ Lives up to its gold-fleshed, rich-flavored reputation in my experience. ‘Red Norland’ is my go-to, fast-maturing red potato.

   Pumpkins: No clear standouts, but I’ve been happy with ‘Big Max’ for orange, round, jack-o-lanterns.

   Radish: ‘Red Planet.’ I just found this one after years of ‘Champions’ and ‘Cherry Belles’ and found it to be good-looking, crunchy, just the right size, and above all else, mild in flavor.

   Spinach: I haven’t found any yet that leafminers don’t attack or that don’t get bitter when the weather heats up. ‘Melody’ and ‘Tyee’ are as good as any.

   Summer squash: ‘Cocozelle.’ I’ve been really happy with the durability, yield, and flavor of this striped heirloom. ‘Raven’ is a good dark-green and compact zucchini variety.

   Winter squash: ‘Honeynut.’ Small fruits but great flavor and yield with this butternut type.

‘Valentine’ grape tomatoes.

   Tomato: ‘Big Beef.’ My most reliable, main-season hybrid that I plant every year. ‘Mortgage Lifter,’ ‘Brandywine,’ and ‘Black Krim’ are three of my favorite heirlooms. ‘Sweet Million’ is hard to beat as a cherry variety, although I also like ‘Super Sweet 100’ and ‘Valentine.’ ‘Early Girl’ is still my favorite early-maturer. I’ll take the heirloom ‘Amish Paste’ as my Roma favorite.

   Turnips: I haven’t noticed much difference in these. I go with the common ‘Purple Top White Globe.’

   Watermelon: As with melons in general, I haven’t had much success growing watermelons. Good luck.