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by Lori Rose
We may not be able to do everything we want to do, but we can still garden! Here are some of the newest All-America Selection (AAS) award-winning fruits and vegetables to try this spring.
Pot-a-peno is a fun new jalapeño pepper with a bushy, compact habit perfect for growing in containers and hanging baskets. These little, green jalapeños are the perfect addition to any dish where you want an extra zip of spice. Pot-a-peno peppers hang down beneath the plant making it easy to harvest without damaging the appearance or productivity of the plant. Try them in containers that are at least twelve inches in diameter, or space them eighteen inches apart the ground in full sun in the front of the vegetable garden or flower border. No staking required.
Pot-a-peno plants are about fifteen inches high with four-inch fruits. You can expect up to fifty peppers per plant! Harvest green fruit in about fifty days, red fruit in about sixty days from transplanting. Wait to transplant outdoors until there is no threat of frost and night temperatures are over 45 degrees F, as cold temperatures will severely damage pepper plants.
Here is what the judges have to say about Pot-a-peno: “Love the mild heat, not overbearing to eat fresh” … “I love this pepper! Set tons of fruit. Taste was good and ease of harvest was great, fruit came right off and didn’t damage stems- a very nice feature” … “Really liked the compact form on this pepper. It’s perfect for container gardens.”
Cucumber Green Light is an award-winning mini cucumber that will yield over forty sweet, spineless fruits per plant. In the field trials, Green Light had a higher yield with more attractive fruit, earlier maturity (about thirty-five days from transplant), and better taste than the comparison varieties. “I would absolutely grow this in my home garden,” commented one judge. The vines grow up to six feet, so grow them vertically on stakes or poles about twenty inches apart in full sun for an easy harvest. Pick the fruits when they are small, between three and four inches long, and you will be rewarded with great tasting little cucumbers. Succession plantings (setting one or more plants in the ground each week for three or four weeks) will ensure a summer-long harvest. Fun fact: This cucumber is parthenocarpic, meaning the flowers are all female and the fruits are seedless without needing to be pollinated.
The judges loved Green Light cucumber and said. “The yield of the plant was excellent” … “The entry has nice early mini seedless type fruit with a pleasant flavor and texture” … “The cucumbers are juicy and mild and make a delicious addition to any gardener’s lunch!”
A home gardener said, “This cucumber just wouldn’t stop producing! Even in harsh conditions with minimal care, this cucumber was prolific. The cucumbers were extremely flavorful and had a very thin skin, so no peeling was required.”
Pea Snak Hero yields slender four-inch pods with the long, straight appearance of a green bean but the surprising taste and texture of a snap pea. Stringless, super-sweet edible pods are perfect for healthy, garden-fresh snacking, stir-frying, or freezing for later. The two-foot-long vines can be grown with or without support and are perfect for patio containers or hanging baskets. Or plant them in the ground about two feet apart in full sun. Peas are a great cool-season crop as they can be planted once the soil can be worked and soil temperatures are above 45 degrees F. Transplanting is not recommended, so direct-sow the seed 1.5 inches deep for harvest in about sixty-five days. Frequent harvesting will produce more pods, so keep on picking and munching.
The judges’ verdicts are in: “Snak pea is a good name for it. Children who visited my trial enjoyed eating the entry right off the plant” … “Early long slender tender sweet pods with a very good yield on nice upright and compact plant” … “A staff favorite. Productive, sweet, crunchy, full of flavor.”
“Princely” is defined as being sumptuous and splendid, and Pumpkin Blue Prince lives up to its name. For any edible entry to become an AAS award winner, it must outperform the comparisons, and this pumpkin scored high in the areas of maturity (earlier), yield, fruit size, uniformity, color, taste, and texture. Vigorous vines produce twelve-inch, nine-pound beautiful blue flattened pumpkins with sweet, deep orange flesh. These pumpkins are as pretty as they are delicious. After fall decorating, bake the flesh for a smooth and creamy treat. Don’t forget to roast the seeds with olive oil and salt for a great fall snack. Of all the varieties trialed, Blue Prince was first to flower and fruit which is beneficial for us gardeners with a shorter growing season.
Sow seeds or transplant in the garden about two feet apart in full sun, leaving enough of room for the five-foot vines to ramble. Plant Blue Prince pumpkins as soon as soil temperatures reach 65 degrees. Expect to harvest them in 90 days from transplant or 110 days from seed.
The judges really enjoyed this unique pumpkin: “Overall, if I was looking for a blue pumpkin to display AND eat, I’d pick this entry every time!” … “Very decorative size, shape and color” … “Really enjoyed trialing this variety. Much earlier maturing than the comparisons, which I think should be worthy of mentioning since an early variety that lasts through the season is a huge bonus! Flavor is excellent!”
Summertime means melon time! Gardeners who plant the award-winning Mambo watermelon will enjoy up to four perfectly round melons per plant, with beautiful dark green rinds and deep red flesh. The sweet crisp flesh is extremely tasty, and they will not overripen if they can’t be harvested right away. The nine-inch fruits weigh about eleven pounds at maturity, which is only seventy-five days from transplant, ninety days from seed. A smaller seed cavity means Mambo watermelon almost look like a seedless melon but has the superior taste of a seeded melon. The AAS Judges agree this is one of the easiest watermelons to grow because of high seed germination and vigorous vines. Sow seeds or transplant in full sun after all danger of frost has past, about ten feet apart to allow the long vines enough room to ramble.
The judges raved: “The interior was solid, and a crisp fresh-tasting red meat waited inside. I even stored one for two weeks to see how it held and the meat was the same as the one I ate right in the trials field” … “Excellent, sweet, crisp flesh!” … “For me, it is strange to think that someone could improve something like watermelon, but it happened. The striations and color of the fruit, the health, and vigor of the vines, the taste and texture; all of these attributes went a long way to creating an award-worthy plant.”
We humans gardened in record numbers last year, and that trend is bound to continue. So, whether you are new to gardening or a seasoned pro, try these award winners this season and reap the delicious rewards.
Lori Rose, the Midnight Gardener, is a Temple University Certified Master Home Gardener and member of GardenComm: Garden Communicators International. She has gardened since childhood and has been writing about gardening for over twenty years.