The Pick of the Crop
(Page 5 of 6)
March/April 1984
By Brent Elswick
Another melon on the same order is Sluis & Groot's Pancha.
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The best new American-type cantaloupes I ran across are Gold King from Petoseed and Red Queen from Gleckler's. The first is destined to take its place alongside other Petoseed greats, such as Suticoy and Supermarket . . . and the second, a redfleshed, Asian development, deserves all of the fame it'll probably receive. Its large fruits are sweet and tasty, maturing within 90 to 100 days.
For a superior new compact cantaloupe, try Park's Bushwhopper, with sweet, tender fruits that come three or four to a plant. I also think that Petoseed's Bush Star, a disease-resistant plant with quality fruit, will become a leading compact type in the future.
Oddly enough, the best watermelon in our patch was an updated version of an old favorite, Peacock. Burrell calls this offering the Improved Peacock, and I think it's perfect for home gardeners. The flesh has a delicious sweet flavor, the rind is tough and good for shipping, and the plant is quite disease-resistant. Finally, I'd like to note one perennial that has impressed me. Wayside Garden's Cherry Crimson rhubarb is one of the best "dessert" crops I've found.
CUCUMBERS,ZUCCHINI, AND SQUASH
There were several very fine cukes in my '83 garden. Burpee's Pride, for example, is an extraordinary new hybrid that bears over a long period of time while maintaining its quality. Vermont Bean Seed's Early Triumph is another great new slicer. And the hardworking folks at Ferry-Morse have come up with a terrific new pickier, Spear-It. It's perfect for small, whole pickles and makes a great addition to any salad when mature. Another new pickier of note is Agway's aptly named Picarow. Its tremendous production and tough, diseaseresistant vines are the main factors recommending this cultivar.
Unlike last year, when at least a dozen zucchini varieties starred in my trials, only two warrant mentioning for 1984: Zuchlong (from Ferry-Morse) and Black Magic (from Vermont Bean Seed and Henry Field).
As for yellow winter squash, I had great success with Agway's Autumn Pride. The vines are compact and the size of a summer squash plant . . . while the fruits look like long pumpkins, and their flesh is very creamy and high in natural sugars.
AND FINALLY . . .
The last crop I usually plant is sweet potatoes. And Park's new variety, Vardaman, was head and shoulders above the rest this past year. Its bush plants bear abundant yields of large potatoes that are deep orange and excellent in quality.
In summary, I'm amazed that many new breeds of vegetables performed so well in spite of the capricious weather. Their successes say a lot for the seed producers who work so hard to reward our gardening efforts with bountiful, tasty harvests.
SOME SUGGESTED SEED SOURCES
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