This column is offered as an extension service by the Division of Extension and Community Relations and the Department of Horticulture Science, University of Saskatchewan. Each year seed companies promote new vegetable varieties. They are new varieties that have been given awards for their superior characteristics. The selection trials for the awards are conducted in 27 locations in Canada, Mexico, and the United States. The vegetables are evaluated and selected for flavor, yield, appearance, texture, disease resistance, production and space efficiency, and nutrition.
All new varieties are judges against existing standard ones.
Unfortunately, not all of the varieties promoted by in garden seed catalogues are up to the standards of the All-America selections. Many of these novelty varieties are virtually inedible and often of very poor quality. Although most seed companies include only a few novelty varieties in their listings, some companies specialize in them. Novelties galore Among the many novelties you will want to avoid are Jumbo Tom, a very large tomato, claimed to be a contender to beat the record for the world's heaviest tomato. For several years it was a fad to grow large pumpkins such as Atlantic Giant.