Sweet Tomato Test Garden

Chioggia Beets  This is an Italian heirloom beet that got its start before 1840.  Chioggia, pronounced key-oh-jah, is a city of Northern Italy near Venice. The surrounding region is known as the Veneto and it's famed for it's vegetable production.  Tops are green with pink-striped stems.  Fast growing and long-standing with a sweet flavor that will add More Info »

   Brussels Sprouts HEIRLOOM. The semi-dwarf plants are stocky with leaves closely spaced, so there are lots of tasty sprouts on the short, self-supporting stems. Introduced at the end of the 19th century, this was once one of the most important commercial varieties. It's still a great pick today.   Packet contains 15 seeds.  

    Brussels Sprouts Long Island Brussels Sprouts. Heirloom variety. These semi-dwarf plants are stocky with leaves closely spaced, so there are lots of tasty sprouts on the short, self-supporting stems. Introduced at the end of the 19th century, this was once one of the most important commercial varieties. It's still a great pick today.  I start More Info »

 Cabbage Ruby Perfection The No. 1 mid-late red cabbage. The heads are medium-sized, dense, and a uniform high-round shape with good wrapper leaves. Good field holding ability. Matures just in time for late summer crops or fall harvest for medium-term storage. They have good holding ability or can be stored for a few months. Resistant to More Info »

Snow Crown Cauliflower Have you ever seen such a beautiful picture of a cauliflower?  They look like this in the garden, too.  I use a clothspin to clip the leaves together to keep the sun off of the developing bud - this helps to keep it this beautiful.  Its vigor and rapid growth make it More Info »

 Georgia Collards An old favorite introduced before 1880 also known as "Creole" and "Georgia Green" Collards. The plants bear a loose cluster of slightly crumpled blue-green leaves. Plant height 2 to 3 feet. Produces delicious, tender, juicy greens with a cabbage like flavor. A vigorous non-heading variety. The plants can stand light frosts. Tolerant to More Info »

 Crenshaw Melon These melons were bred by crossing casaba melons with Persian melons, also sometimes called muskmelons. Large melons with wonderful sweet flavor! A family favorite that grows best in warm, dry climates. Fruit are oval-shaped and green-yellow, salmon pink flesh with good yields. Will slip off the vine when ripe. The vigorous vines produce bumper crops More Info »

Crimson Sweet Watermelon AAS Winner, Heirloom. Fine flavor, good keeping ability and only a few small seeds. We get abundant crops of round melons that can grow 25 to 40 lbs. This is a favorite at the test garden. These are big plants.  Packet contains 10 seeds

 Armenian Cucumber Heirloom variety.  Loves to grow in the desert heat.  Introduced from Armenia to Italy in the 1400's.  Bitter free and crunchy with mild and sweet flavor.  Long fruit, best eaten when 12-24" long.  Heavy yields. Botanically, a close relative of the honeydew melon. Heirloom, Grown organically.  Packet contains 15 seeds.

Lemon Drop Cucumber Lemon yellow cucumbers are tender and sweet, excellent for salads and pickling. Don't be fooled by this heirloom's unusual shape - these bright yellow balls are excellent for salads and pickling. They have a clean, crisp taste and are never bitter.  Normal-sized vines yield heavily and for a long time.  Packet contains 15 seeds

 Eggplant, Clara High-yielding plants of beautiful white eggplants that are non-bitter.  Fruits are 6-7" long by 4-5" diameter.  We get pound after pound after pound from these plants, fabulous producer.  These and most other eggplants turn to yellow as the season progresses - still yummy - just yellow.  This is a hybrid variety.  Matures in More Info »

Eggplant, Rosa Bianca A gorgeous white and pink blushed Italian variety with a delicate, mild flavor, creamy consistency, and no bitterness. Considered one of the best by gourmet and gardeners alike.  A beautiful Italian heirloom, somewhat similar to 'Listada de Gandia' with creamy white base color and pink-purple irregular stripes radiating from the top. Most More Info »

Green Magic Broccoli Grows well in Las Vegas and is a favorite at the test garden. Early and uniform.  The most attractive early broccoli that we have found in our trials.  Green Magic is much more uniform and forms a tighter head than other early varieties.  This hybrid produces semi-domed heads with fine beads that are More Info »

  Jalapeno Pepper Dark green, pungent 3" hot peppers are excellent fresh or pickled. Zesty flavor is great in Mexican dishes.  Since so many recipes call for this pepper almost every garden needs a Jalapeno pepper plant.  Contains 15 seeds.

 Black Tuscan Kale Lacinato or "dinosaur" type.  Thought by many to be the tastiest of the true kales, and due to its dark green color, likely the most nutritious. This variety comes from the Tuscan hills of Italy, where it can be found in nearly every garden. The plants with their long blistered dark green More Info »

 Kohlrabi, Winner White kohlrabi. About 45 days to maturity. Freshest, fruitiest taste. Holds well in the field  without splitting.  Pack contains 15 seeds.

 Carrots Leslie's Open Pollinated Carrots.  This is seed I collected from the Test Garden. I grew many varieties including Danvers, Scarlet Nantes, Ya Ya, and others whose name tags were lost. I used them for eating fresh, juicing, stews, salad, etc.  These seeds could be any one of these excellent varieties or a mixture.  The More Info »

Outback Lettuce A Romaine type lettuce.  This is not a floppy leaf lettuce - it has structure to the leaves. I plant these as a border plant and also in my large pots around the trunks of dwarf trees. This looks very pretty and makes a decorative cover over the soil. Plant attractive lettuces in More Info »

Galia Melon "Arava" This green-fleshed tropical melon is deliriously aromatic, sweet and crisp. Arava is a reliable producer year after year. Galia melons were developed by crossing a honeydew to a cantaloupe, resulting in a perfectly round melon with smooth, netted skin that turns yellow when ripe. Produces heavy yields of blemish-free, 3-4 lb. melons. More Info »

  Melon, Delicious 4-5 lbs., round-oval muskmelon with salmon-orange sweet flesh. A popular home garden variety.  Very early, 6" in diameter melon that reaches 2-3 pounds in size. Deep salmon flesh is sweet, rich and aromatic.  Highly recommended for those trying to get to market early. Disease Resistant: Fusarium Wilt resistant. Packet contains 15 seeds

Melomon Melon AAS Winner: 2013 AAS Winner! Plants are earily, strong and high yielding. Fruits are uniform in shape, ideally perfect for the market grower and home gardener. Melon has the flavor of a delicious sweet-tangy honeydew. This is an All American Selections Winner.   Contains 15 seeds

Sharlyn Melon Excellent in hot, dry climates.  Fruits are 6-9 pounds. This melon boasts a juicy, sweet, and aromatic pale-green flesh which turns orange around the seed cavity.  Very consistent taste and flavor.  Excellent for farmers markets. Heirloom variety, Grown organically. Packet contains 15 seeds

 Bunching Onions 60 days. White Lisbon is a scallion, also called a green or spring onion and sometimes referred to as a bunching onion. A popular variety for decades because it produces dependably in widely varying conditions. It thrives in a wide range of soils, is heat and cold tolerant, and can be sown successively More Info »

Pak Choi  Toy Choy An early-maturing, compact baby pak choi that is perfect for home gardeners and specialty growers. This dwarf Canton type produces glossy, dark green leaves atop broad, milky white petioles. Tolerant to heat and well suited for production in the summer months. Harvest early or as soon as buds begin to appear More Info »

Pepper, Habanero Red This is the famous 10-alarm pepper from the Caribbean.  Its name means “from Havana.” The 1-inch, wrinkled, green fruits turn orange. To complement its searing heat, Habanero has a delicious, pungent, smoky quality unlike any other pepper; many people find its flavor and aroma irresistible in sauces and salsas apart. Use rubber More Info »

 Small Sugar Heirloom.  Small Sugar pumpkins have very smooth textured, bright orange flesh and the finest flavor for making mouthwatering pies. Vines develop 4-6 round, orange, slightly ribbed, 7 inch diameter, It is very fine-grained, scrumptious sweet and sugary, and keeps well.  110 days.  Packet contains 15 seeds.

Out of Stock Spinach, Green Magic Heavy, continuous yield of thick-textured, crinkled, glossy, dark green leaves. My favorite variety! Green Magic matures quickly. Seed germinates best when temperature is around 55F.  It is difficult for me to germinate the seed in the hot desert in the early fall because of our warm desert temperature, it More Info »

Butternut Squash.  Prized for its straight necks, rich, dry, yellow orange flesh, nutty flavor and high yields. Fruits are 3 to 6 pounds and exceptional keepers. One of the most popular types of baking squash. 83-100 days.  Packet contains 15 seeds. Heirloom.  Grown organically.

Sunshine Squash Winter Squash.  Tender flesh is smooth, sweet and bright orange.  Use for baking, mashing, and pies. Beautifully colored, deep scarlet fruits are slightly flat-round and average. 3-5 lbs. each.  Vigorous, short vines. Its fruit appearance and eating quality are superior to other varieties of this type.  The bright and beautiful color look fabulous More Info »

 Sunshine Squash This is an All American Selections Winner.  Which means it is a superior plant in many ways. Tender flesh is smooth, sweet and bright orange.  Use for baking, mashing and pies or to simply decorate the garden.  Deep scarlet fruits are slightly flat-round and average 3 to 5 pounds each.  Vigorous, but shorter More Info »

Squash, Zucchini.  48 days to harvest. Dark Green Zucchini seeds produce dark green, uniform 8 to 10 in. fruit that is easy to harvest. Very productive plants.  Packet contains 15 seeds Heirloom, grown organically

 Swiss Chard AAS winner.  Lightly savoyed, green or bronze leaves with stems of many colors including gold, pink, orange, purple, red, and white with bright and pastel variations. The flavor is milder than ordinary chard, with each color a bit different. Direct seed or grow from transplant which allows separating out the individual colors. Suitable More Info »