2024 Trials

Trial Vegetables

This is the sixth year of the trials and we have some exciting new additions. We have added a flower trial, herb trial and a youth trial. To see a full description of the trials and what is involved, visit our Vegetable Trial Home Page

The youth trial is intended to get young people involved with the program in a fun way. There will be less reporting requirements .

This year we are focusing on varieties that can be grown in containers. Look for our selections below.  Click the button to go to the order site when you are ready to get started. The deadline to order is February 16 for guaranteed seeds or March 1 while supplies last.

All descriptions and images are from the seed supplier this year Rupp Seeds and Johnny’s Selected Seeds.

Cool-Season Vegetables

 

CARROTS

(Good choice for raised beds and deep containers)

Musico – 
A uniform cylindrical root with well-rounded tips at maturity. Strong attachment for harvest by lifting or bunching. Very good internal quality.
Early
Bolero – 
Bolero is a proven variety year in and year out as a versatile nantes suited for bunching, slicing and baby nantes markets.
Early

LETTUCE

  (Good choice for raised beds and containers)

Barilla – (Butterhead type)
A medium to dark green, thick-leaved lettuce with a strong base and good volume. It is strong against internal tipburn and appropriate for late spring and early autumn crops.
75 Days
Marville de 4 Seasons – (Butterhead type)

Large, ruby-tipped leaves surround tight folded green hearts. Has crispy fine flavor
75 Days

PEAS

Short Story –  
Second early afila with double pods. Creates fantastic yields.Needs no support
58 Days
Little Marvel –
Fine quality, dwarf plant, dependable variety. Needs no support.
63 Days

SPINACH 

(Good choice for raised beds and containers)

Giant Noble –

A smooth leaf, long standing benchmark variety.
45 Days

New Zealand –

A heat and drought resistant variety with spreading, succulent leaves.
60 Days

SWISS CHARD

    (Good choice for raised beds and containers)

Celebration –
A multi-colored chard. It exhibits highly uniform plants with dark green, glossy leaves. It has vibrant multi-colored petioles and venations with high percentage of pink, yellow and orange chards. Great for producing full-sized specialty chard or baby leaf
60 Days
Five Color –
Offers growers a rainbow of stem colors: yellow, gold, orange, pink, violet, green, white, red or striped, plus green, dark green or bronze leaf colors. Has improved tenderness and a mild chard flavor. Can be used fresh as a miniature leaf in salads or cooked when more mature.
60 Days

 

Warm-Season Vegetables

CUCUMBERS

(Can be grown in containers)

Spacemaster 80 –
This productive plant is only 36 inches long, yet bears a big harvest of slender, smooth 7- to 8-inch cukes. The fruit is crisp and tasty, with a satisfying bite just right in a slicer.
60 Days
Bush Crop
This plant produces 6 to 8 inch, slightly tapered fruits on a dwarf vine. A very productive plant, Bush Crop tends to produce small blooming flowers in the spring.
55 Days

GREEN BEANS (Bush)

Dark Horse

Dark Horse is a new high quality bean with dark green, straight pods and good upright plant habit. Expect a 3-4 sieve bean with improved standability that produces high-quality pods.
58 Days

Bronco
High yielding bush green bean with long straight pods that have better flavor than most  other bush green bean varieties.
58 Days

SUMMER SQUASH

One Ball – 
One Ball’s attractive and bright-colored fruits are rounder than Summer Ball, which it replaced. Semi-open, bush habit plants with short spines and very good yields.
48 Days
Eight Ball – An AAS winner. A unique variety for both the commercial grower or the home gardener. Uniform round fruit on an open bush plant
50 Days

PEPPERS (Bell)

Regulator-

Regulator is an attractive, widely adaptable variety. This variety produces a high percentage of four lobed fruit and will maintain size throughout the growing season. The growing area for Regulator is the Eastern US, both in main season spring and fall. Regulator features a strong plant with good cover and a great fruit uniformity.
74 Days

Ninja S10 – 

Widely adapted variety suited where bacterial leaf spot is a concern. Very high yields of extra-large and jumbo fruit with good quality. Fruit are firm, turning from a glossy dark green to a beautiful mature red. The plants are mid strong and vigorous with good fruit setting ability.
75 Days

TOMATO (Slicer)

(Can be grown in containers)

Celebrity – 
AAS winner. Excellent flavor. Fruits avg. 7–9 oz. with more uniform shoulder ripening and better crack tolerance. Healthy plants. Vigorous determinate.
72 Days
Patio –
The Patio Tomato is a hybrid tomato that produces delicious, approximately 4 oz. fruits with attractive dark green rugose foliage. The easy to grow Patio Tomato thrives in pots, patio containers and small gardens,
70 Days 

 

FLOWERS and HERBS

 

ZINNIAS

Benary’s Giant Coral
Recommended by the Association of Specialty Cut Flower Growers. High yields of long, sturdy stems with 4–6″, fully double, dahlia-like blooms. Excellent vase life. Vigorous plants hold up well in summer heat and rain. Low susceptibility to powdery mildew. Cut-and-come-again flower, yielding multiple cuts over the season.
75-95 Days to Maturity
Queeny Red Lime
These 2–3½” blooms have soft burgundy outer petals that gradually lighten to creamy lime centers. A mix of fully double and semidouble flowers with a small percentage of singles. Cut-and-come-again flower, yielding multiple cuts over the season. Previously and widely known as ‘Queen Red Lime.’
75 -85 Days to Maturity

BASIL

  (Good choice for raised beds and containers)

Newton

Fusarium-resistant Italian large-leaf with improved flavor.Consistently produces a classic basil flavor (without the strong notes of anise typically found in basil of this type). Uniform plants. Very similar to Nufar in plant/leaf type and appearance, but slightly later to flower. Leaves up to 4″ long. Ht. 24-30″.

74 Days

Red Rubin

Dark purple Italian Large Leaf type. High yields and great flavor. Flat, 3″ long leaves stand out horizontally. Purple flowers and purple-copper leaves make an attractive garnish. Ht. 18–24″. Also available in organic seed.

  • Edible Flowers: Use the flowers in any recipe that calls for basil, or to garnish drinks, salads, soups, pasta, and desserts. Flavor is of intense basil.

72 Days

 

YOUTH TRIAL

 

GOURDS

Hoargarth
A distinctive new orange and dark green gourd, from Rupp, that will add texture to your fall displays. The wart covered fruit are 7″ wide by 5″ high and grow on an intermediate bush plant.90 Days
Autumn Wings
A unique gourd of many colors with wings, warts, and with the fruit shape of a swan gourd. Its bulb size is 2 1/2 or 3″ in diameter with a neck up to 12″ long.100 Days