Posted on by Mark Linton

The First Seed Catalog

The first seed catalog arrived today. It was from the <a href="http://www.vermontbean.com/" title="Vermont Bean">Vermont Bean Seed Company</a>. As such, I guess it is officially time to start thinking about what next year&rsquo;s garden will look like. I am going to use the <a href="http://pubs.cas.psu.edu/freepubs/uj250.html" title="Pennsylvania Vegetable Variety Recommendations for the Home Gardener and Bedding Plant Grower/Garden Supplier">Pennsylvania vegetable variety recommendations</a> from the <a href="http://www.cas.psu.edu/" title="PSU College of Ag Sciences">Penn State College of Agricultural Sciences</a> as I guide to help in my selection.



You can find some interesting varieties through the <a href="http://www.all-americaselections.org/" title="All America Selections Offical Web Site winning seed selections">All-American selections</a>. You can also get seeds on the Web from:

Tomatoes

The <a href="http://www.burpee.com/shopping/product/detailmain.jsp?itemID=556&amp;itemType=PRODUCT&amp;iMainCat=13&amp;iSubCat=1864&amp;iProductID=556&amp;iSubSubCat=1864" title="Burpee - Tomato Bush Early Girl Hybrid">Bush Early Girl</a> is the earliest of the recommended early tomatoes at 60 days. At 4 inches across, it supposedly has the largest fruit and is very flavorful. It has a compact 18 inch, self supporting bush. The <a href="http://www.stokeseeds.com/cgi-bin/StokesSeeds.storefront/3fd23c6f00864d902747cf366ce306ce/Product/View/343A&amp;2D1" title="343A Ultra Sweet Vft">Ultra Sweet</a> staker, is another early tomato at 62 days. It supposedly produces 10 ounce, flavorful, red meaty fruit. It is resistant to verticillium wilt, fusarium wilt, and mosaic. The <a href="http://www.johnnyseeds.com/catalog/vegetables/detail2.html?edit_id=483&amp;cat_id=459&amp;parent_id=458&amp;prodname=First%20Lady%20II%20(F1)&amp;name=Indeterminate%2FStaking&amp;top_name=Vegetables&amp;subcatname=Tomatoes&amp;topcatid=1&amp;page=1" title="Johnny's Selected Seeds: Vegetables: Detailed Product Information">First Lady (II)</a> is another recommended early tomato at 65 days. A staker, it supposedly sets clusters of delicious, midsize (5 to 6 ounce) globe-shaped fruit with deep red color inside and out. They are smooth, medium firm, and seldom crack. It is resistant to the alternaria stem canker, fusarium wilt, nematodes, tobacco mosaic virus, and verticillium wilt.



In the Early/Mid category we have <a href="http://www.jungseed.com/detail.cfm?SKU=00175" title="Celebrity Hybrid">Celebrity</a> at 70 days, <a href="http://www.parkseed.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/StoreCatalogDisplay?storeId=10101&amp;catalogId=10066&amp;langId=-1&amp;mainPage=prod2working&amp;ItemId=5433" title="Park's Gardens: An early, extra-large beefsteak tomato with huge yields and good adaptability.">Big Beef</a> at 73 days, and <a href="http://gardeners.harrisseeds.com/cart/detail.asp?subcat=90&amp;product_id=0852" title="Harris Seeds - Product Detail">Better Boy</a> at 74 days. Celebrity and Big Beef are resistant to verticillium wilt, fusarium wilt, nematodes, alternaria stem cancer, mosaic, and stemphylium. Celebrity is determinate and crack resistant, producing 8 ounce fruit. Big Beef is indeterminate and produces 10- to 12-ounce beefsteak fruit. Better Boy is resistant to verticillium wilt, fusarium wilt, and nematodes. It is an indeterminate, producing 10-ounce fruit.



For main season varieties, we have Mountain Delight at 76 days, <a href="http://www.burpee.com/shopping/product/detailmain.jsp?itemID=590&amp;itemType=PRODUCT&amp;iMainCat=13&amp;iSubCat=243&amp;iProductID=590&amp;iSubSubCat=1865" title="Burpee - Tomato Burpee's Big Girl Hybrid">Big Girl</a> at 78 days, and Delicious&sup1; at 79 days. Big Girl supposedly combines the quality of Big Boy with resistance to verticillium wilt and fusarium wilt, producing 12- to 16-ounce, smooth, crack-resistant fruits with mouth-watering flavor.



Finally, in the paste varieties, we have <a href="http://www.burpee.com/shopping/product/detailmain.jsp?itemID=481&amp;itemType=PRODUCT&amp;RS=1&amp;keyword=paste" title="Burpee - Tomato Viva Italia Hybrid (Paste)">Viva Italia</a> at 72 (80) days and <a href="http://www.burpee.com/shopping/product/detailmain.jsp?itemID=1432&amp;itemType=PRODUCT&amp;RS=1&amp;keyword=paste" title="Burpee - Tomato Roma VF">Roma</a>&sup2; at 75 days. Viva Italia is supposedly the best tomato for soups and ketchup. Vigorous determinate plants, resistant to verticillium wilt, fusarium wilt, nematodes, anthracnose, and stemphylium, yield an abundance of 3 ounce fruits. Roma is the classic paste tomato. Determinate plants, resistant to verticillium wilt, fusarium wilt, and anthracnose, have bright red, plum shaped, paste-type fruits with meaty interiors. 

&sup1; Delicious is <em>not</em> a hybrid



&sup2; Roma is <em>not</em> a hybrid