Gardening with Allen: 8 new vegetables win AAS awards
By Allen Wilson
Published: January 25, 2018, 6:05am
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Eight new vegetables have been given awards for 2018 by All-America Selections, the independent trialing organization.
Sweet corn American Dream was the top choice of the new winners. It is a midseason bicolor corn with tender, super sweet kernels that is rated to mature in 70 days (probably more like 85 days in our cool climate.) Vigorous, healthy plants grow 6 to 7 feet tall.
Pak Choi Asian Delight is a Chinese cabbage or Chinese celery that outperforms comparable varieties. It is very resistant to bolting and was harvestable long after other varieties have gone to seed. Asian Delight forms small to midsize (5 to 7 inch) heads that have a tasty, tender white rib and dark green, textured leaves.
Three new tomatoes have won AAS awards. Tomato Chef’s Choice Red produces globe-shaped, tomato-red beefsteak type tomatoes. This firm-fleshed delicacy has just the right balance of acid to sugar. It produces a prolific yield of 8-ounce fruits on strong, 5-foot indeterminate vines.
Red Racer, a cocktail size tomato, produces small, uniform fruits with a great taste. Two ounce fruits are larger than cherry or grape tomatoes. Compact determinate (bush-type) plants produce a huge yield 7 to 10 days earlier than the comparisons and are ideal for small space and container gardens.
Tomato Valentine is a very early grape tomato with very sweet taste. It holds longer on the vine without cracking. Sweet, firm, meaty flesh resembles Roma tomatoes. Indeterminate vines need to be staked. Both Valentine and Red Racer are very early varieties well adapted to our short season.
Three new peppers also received AAS awards. Red Ember is an early maturing cayenne pepper. It produces a large number of rounded end fruits on durable medium-size plants. Taste is spicy but tastier than traditional cayenne varieties.
Pepper Roulette resembles traditional habanero peppers in every way (fruit size, shape and color) with one exception–No Heat. It produces a high yield of one ounce fruits with a nice citrusy (no heat) habanero flavor.
Mexican Sunrise Hungarian Pepper has a full spectrum of colors from lime green to yellow, then orange and red as the fruit matures. These earlier maturing conical pendant shaped peppers produce a thick-walled fruit that can be eaten at any stage. The fruits are semi-hot, attractive peppers which can be used for ornamental purposes as well as for processing, pickling, and fresh preparations.
The website allamericaselections.org includes additional information on this year’s award winners as well as previous winners.
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