How To Choose Vegetable Varieties That Really Perform

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To cut a long story short, the two seedsmen—Bruce and Keith Sangster of Thompson & Morgan- investigated the Fiskeby V, bought up the entire world supply, and introduced it the next season as "the world's most nutritious vegetable". The result: They sold every bean they had . . . and to this day, the Fiskeby V remains Thompson & Morgan's biggest-selling catalog item.

How nutritious is the Fiskeby V Original? According to Thompson & Morgan, the new soybean contains 40% protein, is high in calcium, iron, and vitamins (particularly A, B 1 , B 12 , and C), and has no fat. I've heard it said that the Fiskeby V can totally replace meat as the main protein source in one's diet . . . which is exactly what 80-yearold plant breeder Sven Holmberg had in mind when he created the unique bean.

The nice thing about growing the Fiskeby V is that it thrives on poor soils. (Like all leguminous plants, soybeans take their nitrogen from the air instead of the ground.) Thus, 80 days after sowing seed you not only get a bountiful crop of sweet-tasting, highly nutritious beans (which can be eaten freshly cooked, or dried for long-term winter storage) . . . but you also get a lush, green cover crop that can be tilled back into the ground to enrich the soil.

Already an overwhelming success in Europe, the Fiskeby V soybean is beginning to gain a strong following in the U.S. (where it has been grown successfully as far north as Vermont). Who knows? In a few years, soybeans—the Fiskeby V in particular—may be as common a sight in American gardens as corn, lettuce, or ladybugs.

COMPACT GROWTH HABIT

Today, many breeders are concentrating their efforts on producing crops that take up less garden space, so that those of us who don't have much acreage to begin with can grow a greater variety of vegetables. Cucumbers, cantaloupes, watermelons, and squash are all examples of crops that have been successfully transformed into spacesaving bush varieties.

Unfortunately, with these vining crops there seems to be a distinct link between the area covered by the vine and the flavor of the fruit. This is particularly true of melons: When vines are shortened through selective breeding, taste suffers.

In the past year, however, a few acceptable "vine fruits" have been produced on bushy plants. Burpee, for instance, has introduced a bush-type watermelon (Sugarbush) which—because it only sets about two fruits per plant—retains an appealing flavor. Also, the Park Seed Company has come out with a good-tasting new space-saving cucumber by the name of Bush Whopper (available for the first time this year).

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