New All-America Vegetables --Some Sweet and Some Hot
Vegetables earning a coveted All-America Selections status for 1988 are an interesting lot, ranging from sweet to hot. At the sweet end is a corn aptly named Honey ‘n Pearl, that just might tempt me into growing my own corn again, even though it takes up half of the vegetable plot.
Honey ‘n Pearl refers to the bicolored kernels, some white, some yellow, a characteristic found in other extra-sweet corn varieties. If you have never grown any of the relatively new extra-sweet corn varieties (also called “elevated-sugar” types or “sh2”), you are in for a very pleasant surprise--they taste remarkably different, and you will not find them in the market.
Even if you did, they wouldn’t taste the same, because corn loses its sweetness within minutes of picking, though new varieties remain sweeter than they used to. The old corn maxim is “first bring the water to a boil and then pick the corn.”
To pollinate properly, corn must be grown in blocks so the wind can carry the pollen from one plant to another. In earlier writings, we suggested planting corn in three or four short rows, and recent experience suggests that these rows needn’t contain more than five plants each, so blocks can be of 15 or 20 plants. Plants can be spaced only a foot apart, in rows 30 inches apart, so the minimum planting of corn will take precisely 6 by 10 feet of garden space, or 60 square feet, a big chunk of turf.
Time for a Party
It is not a good idea to plant a plot any larger than this, because corn tends to ripen all at once, and even if each plant only produces three ears, you’ll have 45 ears of corn to consume in a week or two. If I do plant corn again, I think I’ll plan a party to coincide with this great harvest.
The press release on Honey ‘n Pearl says it must be planted all by itself or much earlier or later than other varieties that might be nearby--or the quality will be affected by cross-pollination. It also suggests planting only after it is quite warm. In Southern California we can plant corn from March through July, so a good planting month might be June. It supposedly is ready for harvest in about 80 days, so plan the party for late August.
At the hot end is a new pepper named Super Chili. It is billed as “the first hybrid chili pepper (it is an F1 hybrid) bred for increased yields and ornamental value.” And, these are not little chilies, but average about 2 1/2 inches long. The color changes from green to orange to red, and the peppers don’t hang down but stick straight up, so put this one near the front of the vegetable garden where it can be admired by all, even if it is sampled by only the few.
Super Chili can be dried or used fresh, and the plants grow to about 2 feet across and are ready for harvest in 75 days, though peppers will probably keep coming until frost kills the plant. Peppers often act like shrubs in Southern California, producing all year long, but they do best in hot weather, and June is probably the best month to plant them.
There is also a new bell pepper named Mexi Bell that should surprise some cooks because it is “mildly hot.” The press release says that “commercial growers and home gardeners should clearly label Mexi Bell to avoid confusion with sweet bell peppers.”
It goes on to say that “the amount of hot flavor can be controlled by either removing (milder) or leaving (more pungent) the white ribs” so you can calm down the peppers served to the kids. These bell peppers can be harvested when green, brown or red.
An Okra Named Burgundy
Okra fanciers should be thrilled by a new All-America Selection named Burgundy that has burgundy-colored stems and dark green leaves with deep-red mid-ribs. The plant grows to about 4 feet tall, and pods can be picked when even 6 to 8 inches long and still be tender. Oh, the fruit is also burgundy-colored.
It beats me why anyone would grow cucumbers because those at the market do the job and the plants take up a lot of space and produce way more than you can eat, or more than I can eat anyway, but if you are determined, take a look at another of the All-America Selections--a dwarf cucumber plant named Salad Bush.
This cylindrical slicing cuke (it’s not for pickling) is about eight inches long and the plant only takes up two square feet of garden space, making a compact bush. It also has “improved resistance” to some of the many diseases that plague cucumbers--powdery mildew, downy mildew, target leaf spot, cucumber mosaic and scab.
All of these All-America Selections are available from most seed companies and may even be found as bedding plants this spring. It is too early to plant right now but not too early to order seed. Two of the better-known catalogues are those of Park Seed, Cokesbury Road, Greenwood, S.C. 29647-0001, and W. Atlee Burpee & Co., Warminster, Pa., 18974.
These seed companies also have their own new introductions. Burpee, for instance, has a new sweet corn called Breeder’s Choice, a green-fleshed cantaloupe named Sweet Dream, a pretty golden bell pepper named Golden Summer, a very pretty, green-striped winter squash named Sweet Dumpling, and an improved Pixie Hybrid II tomato, which is one of the best to grow in containers.
Park Seed also has lots of new veggies, including several you could plant now--a new cauliflower named Ravella, a gourmet “petit pois” pea named Giroy, a red, crinkly lettuce named Selma Lollo, and a radicchio named Giulio.
Just looking at the names of these new vegetables, you can see where vegetable gardening is going--sweeter or more exotic.
