All-America Selections is the place to go for the next best thing to guaranteed success in your garden. AAS has celebrated more than75 years of providing those plants to gardeners that are tested nationally and proven locally. Each year AAS tests a number of plants that are evaluated by a network of independent judges who determine which plants exhibit superior garden performance. For gardeners, this is a great bit of advice to help us in achieving success in our gardens.
It is sometimes difficult to get the seed desired when the winners are just announced, but if you go to the All-America Selections website they list the seed houses that sell seed of the winning plants. The URL is http://all-americaselections.org/buy_winners/index.cfm.
Japanese Red Kingdom F1 mustard is an exciting selection to grow if you are a foodie or just someone who appreciates unique flavours and colours in their food. This winner not only has a delicate mustard flavour, but the reddish purple colour is exquisite. This selection was chosen as a winner as the judges noted how that vibrant colour continues throughout the season. The mild mustard green could also be used as an ornamental in containers in the garden. It does not bolt easily unlike many other mizunas (Japanese mustard) and thus produced a better yield throughout the season, even under warmer, intense light conditions.
Bunching Warrior onion, has a name that is well chosen for the ability of this onion to grow quickly, mature early and still produce a uniform crop of slender, crisp, tasty onion stalks. Even if you want to maximize the harvest time, Bunching Warrior will hold in the garden much longer than comparison varieties in the trials. Try this selection raw or as a delicious grilled vegetable to accompany your faviourite entrées.
Two peppers made the list this year. Cornito Giallo F1 was chosen for the exceptional sweet yet fruity flavour as well as the early bloom it exhibits. The peppers are plentiful and start as small green fruits developing into bright yellow jewels well into the fall season. Escamillo F1 was the other winner for 2016 and is also an early bearing pepper, but with a more compact habit. Although small, it has a high yield of peppers per plant and the fruit is conveniently held off the ground for easy picking and less waste. It is excellent raw, but exceptional fire roasted. Don't miss trying this pepper for a flavourful summer season.
Watch next week for the remainder of the edible winners for AAS in 2016. It is great that over the years, AAS has recognized the trend for home gardeners and commercial growers to have a need to grow more quality food for their tables. Thank you AAS for striving to ensure gardeners across North America have the opportunity to access as close as a guarantee we can get in the garden.
Here is hoping 2016 is a sure-fire success year in the vegetable garden.
— Hanbidge is a horticulturist with the Saskatoon School of Horticulture and can be reached at 306-931-GROW(4769); by email at growyourfuture@gmail.com or check out our website at saskhort.com.
