Submitted Photo Jade 2 bush string beans, a high producing variety, will literally produce right up to being killed by frost.

There are a great many excellent varieties of garden vegetable available to home gardeners. And each year plant breeders introduce more varieties with improved characteristics. So it is not difficult to find well adapted varieties which will produce good quantities of great tasting veggies.

Each year I like to try a few new varieties to compare to those which have produced exceptionally well for us. Sometimes they will replace the one that has been previously planted because they produce equal or better and have superior eating and/or growing characteristics. But, sometimes we have varieties which have stood the test of time and are not replaced by the “new kids on the block” in our garden. These are by no means the only good varieties available. But they are the ones which have been exceptional for us.

Jade 2 bush string bean is a high producing variety which will literally produce right up to being killed by frost. The beans pods are long, very thick, meaty and flavorful. They are slow to develop seeds so you can miss picking for a couple of days and still have high quality beans. By keeping the beans picked, Jade 2 literally produces right up to frost.

Barracuda Hybrid carrot quickly replaced my previous favorite, Hybrid Sweetness 3, because of its sweetness. Barracuda is an excellent flavored, high yielding variety which also stores well. It is very crisp and exceptionally sweet! The sweetness is what really appeals to me. We dig our carrots after a couple of frosts. By being exposed to light frosts, the carrots naturally will sweeten up even more.

Mortgage Lifter tomato proves that newer isn’t always better. This is an heirloom variety from back in the 30s. This variety is a heavy producer of big tomatoes. The fruit are very thick and meaty, and have an excellent tomato taste. These two characteristics are what set Mortgage Lifter above other varieties.

Green Arrow pea is a high producer of excellent flavored peas. The only down side to this variety is it is not resistant to powdery mildew. So we plant it where it gets early morning sun and good air movement to reduce this disease. But otherwise it beats all the others in every way.

There are a great number of sweet corn varieties. So many that it is almost overwhelming. But, for us, Peaches and Cream has been easily the best, year after year. It yields well, holds quality well, and is excellent flavored. It is not unusual for it to hold good eating quality for 10-14 days beyond the time you can first harvest it.

The last variety I want to mention is one we will try for the first time this year. It is a winter squash that was developed by a North Dakota business, Prairie Road Organic Seed at Fullerton. It has the unusual name of “Uncle David’s Dakota Dessert Squash.” Don Kinzler, who is a longtime horticulture professional from Fargo, brought it to my attention in his blog. You can find his blog and read about this variety here: https://growingtogether.areavoices.com. I will report back this fall about our experience growing it as well as any other new varieties we grew.

Try something new in your vegetable garden this year. And share what you learn with others. It is part of the fun of gardening!!

Ken Eraas is horticulture assistant with NDSU Extension Service/Ward County. He can be reached at kendell.eraas@ndsu.edu.