There are a few veggie standbys I make space for in my garden each year: Lacinato Kale, Tromba D'Albenga Squash, Verte A Carde Blanche Swiss Chard , and Franchi Sementi's Red Pear Tomato. All are delicious, easy and exceptional. But the real fun is choosing and testing new varieties.

The star winners from 2009's garden were the Gold Medal Tomato (Baker's Creek Heirloom Seeds), Super Marconi Pole Bean (Franchi Sementi), Giant Aconcagua Pepper (Tomato Growers Supply Company), Sweet Cayenne Pepper (Tomato Growers Supply Company), Machiaw Eggplant (Johnny's Selected Seeds) and Baby Bear Pumpkin (Johnny's Selected Seeds).

Early and late blight were the bane of eastern tomato growers in 2009. The unusually cool, moist weather encouraged the fungal diseases and weakened most tomato plants, but 'Gold Medal' proved to be remarkably resistant and continued to produce when the five other varieties I grew succumbed ('Aunt Ruby's German Green', 'Speckled Roman', 'Amelia', 'Paul Robeson', and 'Dr. Wyche's Yellow'). Moreover, this large slicing tomato had excellent flavor and fruit density. Its slightly tart,  wonderfully sweet fruits were delectable. We ate them for weeks with just a little extra virgin olive oil, a sprinkling of good vinegar, salt and cracked pepper.

The massive gold fruits of 'Gold Medal' are streaked with red. They are highly disease resistant as well as delicious.

Broad pole beans are more popular in European gardens than American. I first ate them in Germany when my father-in-law bought them at a local farmer's market. Their huge size made me think they'd be tough and stringy, but boy was I wrong. The large, broad beans had superb flavor, great meaty texture and absolutely no strings. Franchi Sementi's Super Marconi pole bean is the only cultivar I've found that's just like these beans. The vines are high performing and yielding and the beans perfect! I grew both a summer and fall crop with comparable success.
Fresh Super Marconi pole beans are some of the best you will eat.

Green peppers are not my favorite, but I enjoyed eating the tangy immature fruits of the 'Giant Aconcagua.' As advertised, these giant peppers were crunchy and sweet when green and even nicer when they matured to red. They were huge, maturing to between eight and 12 inches, and very easy to grow. One caveat is they must be staked. I forgot to stake two, and they fell over like dominos during the first heavy storm of the season.

The unusual pepper, 'Sweet Cayenne', was also a flavorful high producer. Its slightly spicy fruits were unusually long and matured to deepest red. I added lots to my homemade salsa. They added wonderful flavor without all the heat. Renee's mild habanero peppers were also interesting, flavorful and prolific. They had heat but not so much you wanted to pull your head off.

The long, zesty fruits of 'Sweet Cayenne' had only a little heat and lots of flavor.


Mild habanero peppers are both pretty and flavorful. Mild is a relative term here; they still pack quite a bit of heat.

Granted, I hate to battle flea beetles, but I love eggplant. The super long, lavender, Asian type, 'Machiaw', had thin skin, sweet flesh and high yields. They were tender, perfect for stir fry and never tasted bitter. Early in the season the plants had a few potato beetles, but they disappeared after I picked them off over the course of a few days. Flea beetles were never a big problem, much to my surprise.

The perfect little pie pumpkins produced by 'Baby Bear' are easy to grow and much loved by children. My toddler carried them around and enjoyed watching them converted into pie. She'll be growing them again in her own garden plot this year.

On the flipside, some of the 2009 cultivars I grew last year were disappointing.

Despite its interesting flavor, the dark Russian tomato 'Paul Robeson' (Baker's Creek Heirloom Seeds) was the first to croak from blight. It had zero resistance. I only harvested a handful of fruits before the vines died. Consequently, I threw this one on the garbage heap, figuratively and literally.

Refrain from growing 'Paul Robeson' if tomato blight is a problem in your area. It is highly susceptible.

Though high-yielding and insect and disease resistant, the summer squash 'Lemon' (Baker's Creek Heirloom Seeds) had to be harvested as tiny baby squash or the skin was too thick and tough (nothing is nastier than tough skinned summer squash). I like to have the option of harvesting my squash a little bigger, so I won't grow this again. Burpee's standard pattypan, 'Sunburst', is far superior in texture.

This three by three inch Lemon squash already had skin too thick for good eating.

Almost all my seed catalogs are in. I can't wait to choose this year's test lot.