Tomato seedlings thriving in Cowpots, which are made from fully composted cow manure.

New and Improved Vegetable Varieties for 2010

Guardsmark beets

Black Cherry tomato

Calypso cilantro

Dancine lettuce

Finale fennel

Super Delight squash

By Kathy LaLiberte
Director of Gardening

At my house, gardening is more art than science. In the vegetable garden, I strive for bumper crops, high soil fertility and timely succession planting. But my vegetable garden is also a canvas for experimenting with color, texture, form and flavor.

At this time last year, I listed nine new vegetables I’d be trying in my 2009 garden. More than half of them will be back for 2010, including Goldie husk cherries, Fresh Pick green beans, Astro II arugula, and the bitter green spigariello liscia, which I wrote about in a blog post last fall.

After poring over about a dozen 2010 seed catalogs, I've come up with my list of new vegetables to try this year. Some of these varieties have already made their debut in seed catalogs in prior years, but they're all new to my garden.

Beets: Beets have preferred status in my garden. I grow both red ones and golden ones, but have yet to try those red-and-white-striped Chioggia beets. A new variety called Guardsmark is supposed to be an improved strain that keeps its bull’s-eye stripes even after cooking. It’s available from Johnny's Selected Seeds, Gurney’s, Park Seed and High Mowing Organic Seeds.

Tomatoes: Of the 10 tomato plants that I put into the garden, two of them are always Sungolds. I love the color almost as much as the flavor, which is dependably sweet and intense. When I saw the photo of a tomato called Black Cherry, I immediately envisioned a tomato salad with yellow-orange Sungolds and the sultry-colored Black Cherry. Seeds are available from Tomato Grower's Supply, Johnny's, Thompson and Morgan, and Pinetree Garden Seeds.

Cilantro: Happily, I managed to have usable cilantro in my garden for most of the summer and fall. Two reasons for this success: I continued replanting every few weeks, and we had a very cool summer. Since I may not be so lucky next year, I’ll hedge my bets by planting the new Calypso cilantro, which is supposed to be the most bolt-resistant ever. Available from Johnny’s.

Lettuce: My infatuation with butterhead lettuce continues. Last year I tried, and loved, the new variety Ermosa. This year I’ll try two new ones: Skyplus, which has lots of red in the leaves, and Dancine, which is billed as a “baby butterhead.” Who can resist a description as cute as that? Both are available from Johnny’s.

Fennel: I have always hated the taste of black licorice, so until very recently, fennel has been on my do-not-eat list. But ever so gradually I’ve learned to tolerate it and now sort of like it in small doses. No matter how you feel about the flavor, there’s no denying fennel is a beautiful plant. So this year I’ll give it a try. High Mowing Seeds is offering Finale, which they promise produces fat, succulent bulbs perfect for shaving (very thinly for me!) into salads.

Squash: I’m a big fan of kabocha winter squash. It has the smooth texture of butternut and beautiful deep-orange flesh. My only quibble with kabocha is that each plant produces just one or two small fruits. Super Delight, again from Johnny’s, is reputed to be slightly larger in size and better for storing, so I’ll be giving it a try. If you still have winter squash in storage, how about making some winter squash, corn and coconut milk soup? I used a recipe that combines kabocha and butternut squash. I substituted chicken broth for the water, and thawed some of my own corn to make the relish. Delicious.

Kathy LaLiberte has worked for Gardener's Supply since it began more than 25 years ago. She lives and gardens in Richmond, Vt.