Hello! Well I hope that all of you snow and cold lovers are happy! For the rest of us – it’s cabin fever ala North Country!

So let’s stay inside and dream of our spring gardens. Let’s think about all of the wonderful new varieties that will love living in our North Country gardens.

All-America Selections has announced their winners for 2009, with one bedding plant and three vegetables. Look for the red, white and blue logo of All-America Selections on seed packets in retail stores, plant tags in bedding plants in garden centers or nurseries, or in mail-order catalogs this spring. Success is almost guaranteed with these varieties of reliable new flower and vegetable varieties.

The four AAS winners for 2009 are:
                   Viola 'Rain Blue and Purple'
                   Eggplant ‘Gretel’
                   Melon ‘Lambkin’
                   Squash ‘Honeybear'
Let’s concentrate on the 3 newest AAS vegetable varieties.

AAS Vegetable Award Winner: Eggplant ‘Gretel’
The earliest white eggplant perfectly describes ‘Gretel.’ Any gardener will agree, the earlier the better; since waiting for the best tasting, most nutritious food from our gardens is not easy. These glossy white mini-fruits are produced in clusters and can be harvested in 55 days depending upon growing conditions.

Like all eggplants, ‘Gretel’ will grow rapidly under warm temperatures, over 55 degrees day and night temperature. The pure white fruit are sweet with tender skin even if they mature beyond the ideal fruit size of 3 to 4 inches. This trait means gardeners have a longer timeline to harvest fruit.

‘Gretel’ plants are relatively small, about 3 feet wide and tall. Since the plant is small it is adaptable to the popular trend of growing edibles in containers about 16 inches deep.

Do you grow melons in your garden? Many gardeners don’t because melons usually take a long time to reach a mature size. But here is one that may tempt even the most cautious gardener.

AAS Vegetable Award Winner: Melon ‘Lambkin’ – sounds cute!
The most important trait of this melon is the flavor. This is the reason to invest your time to grow ‘Lambkin’ in your garden. The oval shaped melon weighs between 2 and 4 pounds with a thin rind surrounding sweet, aromatic, white, juicy flesh.

Another advantage is the earliness. Most other gourmet melons of this type mature much later than the 65 to 75 days of ‘Lambkin.’ Because of the early harvest, the vigorous vines can produce more melons. This results in more melons to share with close friends.

The yellow melon skin with green mottling is unique and named, Piel de Sapo. Labeled as a Christmas melon, ‘Lambkin’ can be stored longer than other melons. They should be stored in a cool place such as a refrigerator.

Most gardeners grow winter squash, and sometimes some of the winter squash varieties have limited production because of powdery mildew toward the end of the season. But here is another almost guaranteed winner.

AAS Vegetable Award Winner: Squash ‘Honeybear'
‘Honey Bear’ acorn squash was bred to be baked and served in the half shell. You’ve heard of clams on a half shell? Well this one is acorn squash on a half shell! The honey in ‘Honey Bear’ refers to the sweet squash flavor when cooked. In addition to flavor, there are three outstanding qualities; the compact plant, high yield, and tolerance to powdery mildew.

The bushy, compact plant will reach 2 to 3 feet tall and spread 4 to 5 feet without vines. The dark green acorn squash weighs about a pound, which is a perfect size for sharing between two people.

The plant produces 3 to 5 fruit per bush. The yield is high due to the powdery mildew tolerance. At the end of the season many acorn squash plants succumb to the mildew and fruit on the plant never matures. ‘Honey Bear’ continues to bear fruit throughout the growing season. From sowing seed in the garden until the harvest of the first squash will be about 100 days. So ‘Honey Bear’ might have to be started from seed indoors to give it a jump start on its growing season.

More on new varieties next week. But for this week – keep warm!

Remember – Eat Smart New York!
Also: Heat Smart New York!
And – Bye – Talk to you soon!
Dolores DeSalvo