Cream of the New Crops for 1983

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Among our best bet new crops for 1983 is the Big Pick tomato.
Among our best bet new crops for 1983 is the Big Pick tomato.
2 / 6
Pride And Joy bicolor sweet corn won top honors.
Pride And Joy bicolor sweet corn won top honors.
3 / 6
Sugar Bon, a dwarf sugar pea, is a productive early-maturer.
Sugar Bon, a dwarf sugar pea, is a productive early-maturer.
4 / 6
This old squash standby is Waltham Butternut.
This old squash standby is Waltham Butternut.
5 / 6
Euro-American is a succulent burpless cuke.
Euro-American is a succulent burpless cuke.
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For superb sweet fruit, give the Chando cantaloupe a try.
For superb sweet fruit, give the Chando cantaloupe a try.

Never, in close to 20 years of gardening, has my plot produced as abundantly as it did last summer. And that achievement came as a bit of a surprise to me, because the weather in our mountain valley in eastern Kentucky was either extremely hot or downright cold, and ranged from very wet to very dry. In short, 1982 didn’t offer what I’d consider ideal gardening conditions!

I’m inclined, therefore, to attribute my success to the fact that I had more outstanding new varieties to include in last year’s trials than I’ve ever had before. And those cultivars produced so well (despite the “off” summer) that my family had all the fresh vegetables we could eat, can, and freeze … and plenty left over to give away.

Here’s a rundown on the new crops that promise to be tops in your garden for ’83.

Princely Peas

Although I usually plant my early crops in February, I was forced by extreme cold to wait until mid-March to put out the coolweather lovers, such as peas. Despite that late start, however, my garden produced an abundant harvest of the early bloomers.

  • Published on Mar 1, 1983
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