Each year, the All-America Selections (AAS) tests and introduces new flowers and vegetables to home gardeners. These plants have proven themselves to do well in trials across North America. The AAS winner label is like a stamp of approval.
The vegetable descriptions were taken from All-American Selections material.
Melon Orange SilverWave F1 – This is an exotic melon bred in South Korea with an extremely sweet, orange flesh and unique rind color. Many foodie gardeners are looking to grow something different to Wow! their guests and this melon will do just that. The attractive 5 oval melons produce up to six fruits per vine. Whether grown in a large container or in-ground, its best to grow the vines on a trellis (bracing the melons) for better disease control. This AAS Winner is great eaten alone, in a fruit salad, wrapped with prosciutto or mixed into a smoothie or margarita.
Pepper Just Sweet F1 A unique snacking pepper with four lobes like a larger bell pepper, only smaller. Not only are the 3-inch fruits deliciously sweet with nice thick walls but the plants are vigorous growers (up to 36 inches tall and 15 inches wide) that dont need to be staked because theyve been bred to have a strong bushy habit. Many judges conduct consumer taste tests and reported back that this pepper won those tests, hands down. The Just Sweet peppers are exceptionally bright, shiny and a vivid yellow color with a flavor described as sweet with aromatic accents. This is a great lunchbox item for kids!
Tomato Fire Fly F1 Similar to the Goldilocks story, this adorable newcomer is not as small as a currant tomato and not as large as a cherry tomato, but is a just right in-between size. The fruits produced are super sweet. The pale white to pale yellow round fruits are less than 1 inch in size and weigh about half an ounce. Delicate, translucent skins offer a mild acid flavor that enhance the sweet taste. Theyre small juicy fruits exploding with flavor, perfect for snacking and in salads. Indeterminate plants must be staked or caged as they grow upward to 5-6 feet and have good disease resistance.
Tomato Red Torch F1 Red Torch is a striped, oblong tomato with 1.5 long fruits that weigh about 1.5 ounces. This hybrid is a very prolific early-season producer. The combination of excellent flavor, great texture, and high yields make this hybrid better than other varieties in the trendy niche market of striped tomatoes. Plants have been bred with excellent tolerance to environmental stresses like heat and harsh growing conditions. Fruits are borne on indeterminate vines that grow 5-6 tall and ripen 60-70 days from transplanting. Judges were pleased with both the earliness and yield of this variety in addition to the unique skin coloration.
Tomato Sparky XSL F1 Sparky is one of the few X-tended Shelf Life (XSL) cherry tomatoes available to home gardeners. Sparky brags about being early to mature, prolific and very flavorful. Fruits are well suited for market growers and produce a large number of usable fruits per plant. Youll enjoy gardening with these plants that have excellent tolerance to environmental stresses like heat and harsh growing conditions. Very sweet fruits have an average Brix score of 8.5. Round fruits weigh 1 ounce and are 1inch in diameter. Indeterminate 5-6 plants produce fruits 60-70 days from transplant.
For a complete description of the 2019 All America Selections, visit www.all-americaselections.org
Krista Harding is a K-State Research and Extension Agricultural agent assigned to Southwind District. She may be reached at kharding@ksu.edu or by calling 620-244-3826.
