Along the lines of the "new thing" post, what are some of the varieties/plants that are proven producers for you that you'll never stop growing?

A few of mine:

Big Rainbow tomato--gorgeous! yummy!
Yellow Perfection tomato--nice size, prolific, early
Hungarian Hot Wax pepper--pretty, prolific, mellow heat
Trionfo Violetto pole bean--prolific, pretty, tasty
Spaghetti squash--no variety--good yield and fun
Parmex carrot--works well in our clay soil, cute/early
Mei Qing bok choi--early, good size for one meal
Blue Solaise leek--awesome, hulky monster leeks
Lemon cuke--I don't pickle it, but it's a prolific seller
Mideast Prolific cuke--my slicer/pickler; it doesn't stop
Bright Lights chard--it's just sooo pretty
:x

Beaute Blanche du Canada tomatoes, mostly for sentimental reasons. It was my first heirloom, and my first success at tomatoes in general. I asked my aunt for a tomato I could eat (the acidic ones just tore up my tummy something fierce) and Beaute was bestowed. I can handle the most tangy 'maters now, but Beaute is my only 'must grow' item.

Yellow stuffer, brandywine, and green zebra tomatoes :x

garlic :x

california poppies :x

lemon balm :x

Costata Romanasca Zucchini
Rattlesnake Pole beans
Mokum carrots
Arugula'rocket'
Kolhribi
Buttercup squash

Garlic!! Jersey Devil Tomatoes

Super question, and I'm going to answer it differently than I would have a year ago.

I have favorites that I have grown for years that I swore I would never go without:

Godfather peppers from Burpee
Salsa peppers from Jungs
Lemon Boy tomato from Jungs

Then I discovered heirlooms. And I realized that the above-mentioned hybrids were not going to be available forever. Indeed, every year their alloted space in the catalog gets smaller. One day the company could quit offering them. While I still grow them, I am actively trying other varieties (all heirlooms) in an attempt to find similar or better varieties. So far I haven't had much luck. Heirlooms are trickier and might take a few years of seed saving to optimize in my garden. Taste and yields have been poor due to bad growing weather.

But the quest goes on. I know they are out there. I just have yet to discover the "varieties I will never stop growing".

Those lists are interesting, I'm taking notes!!

Always a reliable pleasure:

Ollolieberries - you groan when you eat them
Mortgage Lifter tomatoes -- great flavor, not fussy
Red Sangria lettuce, pretty and delicate
Red German garlic - gorgeous and flavorful - withold
water the last week and it gets hot
Sugar Snap peas - wonderful flavor and crunch
Armenian cukes - delicate, edible skin
Atlantic Giant Pumpkin seeds - too much fun. I grow them in wheelbarrows so I can move them.
Candy sweet onions (lower lattitudes)


Loamlump,
Have you ever tried Boxcar Willie tomatoes?

Cherokee Purple tomatoes
Amira slicing cucumbers
Thai Hot peppers
Butternut squash of various varieties

All others vary with at least 3 experiments per year.

Here are my 'keepers':

Tomatoes: Green Zebra and Sun Sugar cherry - only two out of 11 varieties not new. Win out in tastes tests every year with new ones.

Peppers: Bulgarian Carrot (unique flavor, unlike any other, fantastic in salsas and guac.), Rancho Poblano (best of all anchos I have tried), Red Savina Habanero (still absolute hottest), Thai Dragon (most productive thai I've tried, w/great flavor green, red, or dry)Superchili (most useful, all around green, red, and dried peppers, and incredibly productive)

Eggplant: Ichiban (still the best asian variety I have tried, for flavor and production)

Super Sugarsnap Pea (grows over 6 feet on my fences, and keeps me well fed in the garden in season)

Snowpea: Oregon Mammoth Melting (another tall variety, better than those newer 20" ones)

Garlic: Metechi (grows well regardless of cold or mild winter, or summer heat, and INTENSE flavor)

Cucumber: County Fair (the only one resistant to diseases mine get)

Swiss Chard: Bright Lights (adds some color, as well as producing very well and tasting great)

Kohlrabi: Kolibri (a purple variety, which produces best, doesn't get spongy quickly, and stores very well)

Thai Basil: Siam Queen (smallest, but the best thai basil)

Genovese Basil (still the best tasting regular basil)

Most other vegetables I am always looking for improvements in new varieties, and have not come up with any keepers yet.

Dave

Correction: Ranchero Poblano, or Ancho...I realized this when I went into my plant room and saw the flat with the label - too late to edit for this thing!

Sweetpea
I've sunk my teeth into Willies often, but have never asked for seed of my own to grow. Boxcars are a difficult tomato in my neck of the woods to grow successfully.


Message was edited by: loamlump

Red Ruffled peppers
Opalka Tomatoes
Persian Star and chesnok red garlic
italian large leafed parsley
Pink brandywine Tomatoes
Sunsugar cherry tomatoes
butternut squash (I used to think I hated B-nut squash until I started growing it)
Copra Onions
Walla Walla Onions (which I do not sell as such because they have trademarked the name "walla walla"
Bright Light Chard
Forellenschlus lettuce
marvel of 4 seasons lettuce
arugula
Red gold french fingerling potatoes
rutabagas
delicata squash

I want to get organized enough (and find space the pets can't get into) so I can try those Purple Cherokee. I'm trying Creole this year - - I keep hearing everybody rave about the flavor, so I figured I'd try 'em.

As for the rest; they may not be "never stop", but are current favorites, & will plant as long as I can get or save reliable seed.
Mild Banana Peppers, TAM jalapenos, Fooled You Jalapenos
Beans: Trionfo Violetto (1st year trying saved seed), Anasazi
Pingtung Long Eggplant
Tomatoes: Goliath (not bush - hybrid, I know, but so far it's been the most relaible.)
Sugar snap and snow peas (still fooling with varieties, but I want them.)
Lettuces!: Limestone, Red Sails, mild Mesclun mixes - lettuces do WONDERFULLY for me here if planted early enough. And no slugs, either.
Bright Lights Swiss chard
Broccoli
DILL!!!
Lemon Balm, Bay (?Laurel? as in bay leaves for cooking), chives (garlic & regular), Bergartner sage, rosemary, top set onions, pineapple sage, mints, and thymes.
Moonflowers and morning glories
The giant purple (non-edible) beans the guy on Hwy 49 gave me.
Sunflowers
Loofah sponges and gourds
Pelargoniums

Prezzolo Gigante Italian parsley
Basil: Spicy Globe, Sweet Dani lemon, Thai, and Genovese (want to try that huge lettuce-leaf stuff next year!)

I forgot those - - I try to keep my garden stocked with culinary herbs as close to year-round as possible! Virtually all culinary herbs as "must haves" for me.

Beets-Cylinda, they're just so handy for canning
Peppers-Hungarian Yellow Wax
Zucchini-Gold Rush
Lettuce-Tom Thumb

Pretty much everything else, I'm open to change on. But those are tried and true and work for me.

I'm glad to see Opalka tomatoes on someone's list. I'm growning them this year for the first time and have high hopes for them.