LOGAN, UT – It is that exciting time of year when it’s again time to plant. It can be a bit overwhelming, however, as gardeners try to determine which variety will grow and produce the best. Consider these vegetable varieties that are scientifically tried and tested. 

• Bush green beans - If there’s such a thing as an “elite” bean, Jade is it. Jade has excellent quality and high yields. Blue Lake is the standard against which all others are measured. Tendergreen and Slenderette are also high-quality beans.
 
• Yellow wax beans - Golden Rod and Gold Crop are productive and flavorful.
 
• Pole beans - Blue Lake Pole is an old standby; however, Fortex is regarded by some as the highest quality bean available.
 
• Shell (dry) beans - Pinto is a vining type that sets the standard for dry beans. Jacob’s Cattle (also known as Anasazi or Trout Beans) is a short-season, bush- type dry bean that does well in our climate.
 
• Edible soybean (edamame) –A seldom-grown vegetable that is so good, it’s almost addictive. Boil the pods whole in salted water and squeeze the pods to “shoot” the cooked soybeans into your mouth. Good varieties include Envy and Bee Sweet.
 
• Beets - Detroit Dark Red has been a long-time favorite. Red Ace and Red Cloud are hybrids that produce sweet, uniform beets. Chiogga is a high-quality heirloom variety that has a “bulls eye” of alternating red and white rings when sliced.
 
• Turnips - It is hard to go wrong with Purple Top White Globe, but Tokyo Cross and White Lady are white hybrids that mature in only 30 to 35 days.
 
• Carrots - Nantes-type carrots have superior flavor, and their blunt tips help them perform well in clay soil. Examples include Scarlet Nantes, Nelson, Mokum, Ingot, Ya Ya and others.
 
• Cucumbers - Sweet Success is the slicer that keeps people coming back for more. Sweeter Yet is similar in size and quality. Diva and Muncher have few spines, thin skins and are high quality. Good pickling types include Little Leaf, County Fair and Homemade Pickles.
 
• Tomatoes - Reliable varieties with medium to large-sized fruit include Celebrity, Hamson (also known as Utah Canner and DX5212), Fantastic, Champion, Early Girl, Better Boy, Ball’s Beefsteak and others. Sweet 100 and Sweet Million are cherry tomatoes that have performed well.
 
• Sweet corn - There’s probably no such thing as bad sweet corn, but varieties vary in earliness, sweetness and kernel texture. Sugary extender (SE) varieties have tender kernels, true corn taste and a slow conversion of sugar to starch. Sugar Buns is a proven early SE variety.  Main season SE corns include Miracle and Incredible. Lancelot is a main season bi-color SE corn with large ears and high quality. Synergistic hybrids (a new class of sweet corn) combine the flavor and holding ability of SE corns with the sweetness of the super sweet varieties.  Serendipity is a main season, bi-color synergistic hybrid with excellent flavor.
 
• Broccoli - Premium Crop and Packman produce large heads of superior quality and an extended harvest of smaller side shoots. Green Comet is a good early broccoli.
 
• Cauliflower - Yes, you can grow cauliflower in your garden. Snow Crown, Amazing and Self-Blanche produce large, high-quality white heads. Cheddar produces medium-sized orange heads (high in beta carotene) that help dress up a relish tray. Grafitti produces large heads of vivid purple cauliflower.
 
• Spinach - Popeye was right. Spinach varieties differ mainly in how quickly they bolt (go to seed) and in their leaf shape. Savoyed (crinkled) leaves are harder to clean than non-savoyed (smooth) leaves. Melody has long been the standard for quality among savoyed spinach varieties. Tyee is a semi-savoyed type that is slow to bolt. Space is a productive smooth-leaf variety.
 
• Lettuce - For home gardeners, crisp head (iceberg-type) lettuce is harder to grow than Romaine, butterhead or loose-leaf types. Parris Island Cos is the standard large Romaine lettuce variety; Crisp Mint and Winter Density are similar green types. On the other end of the spectrum, Little Gem produces a single serving-sized head. Silvia’s deep red leaves are eye catching in both the garden and the salad bowl. Buttercrunch is the most common butterhead type. Leaf lettuce varieties include Salad Bowl (green), Red Sails (greenish-red) and Ruby (dark red).  Or, you can buy a mixture that includes several types and colors.
 
• Swiss chard - Swiss chard is actually a beet that doesn’t produce a root. Lucullus is the standard white variety, while Ruby Chard produces leaves with wine-red stalks. Bright Lights is a mixture of white, red, pink, yellow and orange Swiss chards.
 
• Peas - Lincoln has been a long-time favorite because of its tender, sweet peas. Dakota  and Maestro are good early varieties for those who can’t wait to get the first peas of the season.  Green Arrow produces long, plump pods. 
 
• Potatoes - Red Pontiac is a popular late-season storage variety that makes great mashed potatoes. Kennebec is a white potato that stores well, has shallow eyes (making it easy to clean) and works well for boiling, baking and frying. However, Kennebec must be hilled well to prevent the shallow tubers from poking out of the soil and turning green. Red Norland is an early variety that produces great “new” potatoes in midsummer. Viking is a new favorite with its bright-purple skin and snow-white flesh. Yukon Gold is a yellow-fleshed variety that is very popular.
• Sweet potatoes - Many are surprised to learn that you can grow this heat-loving crop in Utah. Sweet potatoes are purchased as “slips,” which are small plants. Georgia Jet produces sweet potatoes every bit as large (and as good) as those you buy in the store.
 
• Radishes - Easter Egg Radishes produce red, white, pink and purple roots. Cherry Belle and Champion are good red varieties. French Breakfast produces oblong radishes that are red with a white tip.
 
• Onions - Onions are available as plants, seeds or sets (small bulbs). Plants are the way to go if you want large onions. Copra is hard to beat as a long-term storage onion. Candy is another good yellow storage onion. Superstar (also called Sierra Blanca) produces large white bulbs with a very mild flavor. Walla Walla is a popular mild yellow onion. If you want bragging-sized onions, Ailsa Craig and Big Daddy are hard to beat.
 

By: Dennis Worwood - May 18, 2012