Special to Road Trips for Gardeners
By Diane Blazek for All-America Selections

All-America Selections, North America’s oldest and best known non-profit plant trialing organization has announced five new Winners, all of which are new edible varieties.

Each of the following new AAS Winners was trialed throughout North America by professional, independent, volunteer judges who grew them next to comparisons that are considered best-in-class. Only those entries that performed better than the comparisons are granted the AAS award designation.

Growers, retailers and consumers will find these AAS Winners for sale as supply becomes available through the distribution chain.

And, the first set of AAS winners for 2020 are:

• Cucumber Green Light F1 (pictured, above left)

Bred by Known-You Seeds
This little beauty is an excellent mini cucumber, said many of the AAS Judges. The yield was higher than the comparison varieties with more attractive fruit, better maturity and superior eating quality. “I would absolutely grow this in my home garden” commented one judge. Grow Green Light on stakes or poles for a productive, easy-to-harvest vertical garden that will yield 40 or more spineless fruits per plant. Pick the fruits small, between 3-4” long, and you’ll be rewarded with great tasting cucumbers, even without peeling. Succession plantings will ensure a summer-long harvest.



• Tomato Celano F1

Bred by ProVeg Seeds
Celano is a patio type grape tomato with a strong bushy habit, best grown with some support, such as a tomato cage. This semi-determinate hybrid tomato is an early producer of sweet oblong fruits weighing about 0.6 oz. each. Plants grow to 40” in height and spread to 24” and have excellent late blight tolerance. In comparing it to other grape tomatoes on the market, one judge summed it up by saying “(Celano) is sweeter, the texture is better, the color is deeper, the plants are healthier, and the yield is phenomenal.”



• Tomato Early Resilience F1

Bred by Heinz Seeds
Early Resilience is a rounded Roma tomato with a deep red interior color, uniform maturity and good quality flesh for canning and cooking. Determinate, bushy plants can be staked but not necessary. The AAS Judges noted that this variety was very resistant to Blossom End rot which results in a high yield and less fruit loss. Similar great taste as the comparisons but a much healthier plant and fruits. (See long list of disease resistance below) Overall, this is an excellent variety that would be a home canner’s dream. This could very well replace some of the other Roma varieties as a new standard in the arena, or maybe “colosseum” of Roma tomatoes.



• Tomato Galahad F1

Bred by EarthWork Seeds, distributed by Garden Trends Wholesale
Galahad is a brave new tomato variety that has a high level of Late Blight resistance because both parents are resistant. In this case, one plus one equals a very strong two. Galahad is a high-yielding, great tasting tomato that grows on a strong sturdy plant. Judges agreed that the sweet, meaty flavor is better than that of the check varieties and boasts of being crack resistant. Broad shoulders and large, clean fruits grow on a highly productive, disease-resistant plant. Certainly, a variety you’ll want to use in your battle for tomato greatness.
• Watermelon Mambo F1
  Bred by Known-You Seeds
  Summertime means melon time and Mambo watermelon will grow and yield well even in cool cloudy conditions! Gardeners who plant Mambo will enjoy multiple, perfectly round melons with a beautiful dark green rind and deep red flesh. The sweet crisp flesh is extremely tasty and holds well (doesn’t overripen) if you can’t harvest them right away. Each 9” fruit will weigh about 11 pounds at maturity, which is only 75 days from transplant. A smaller seed cavity means you almost get the look of a seedless melon but the superior taste of a seeded melon. The AAS Judges agree this is one of the easiest watermelons they’ve grown because of high seed germination and vigorously healthy vines.
  

(Photos courtesy of AAS)