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One question always heard when Master Gardeners get together is “So which tomatoes are you going to plant this year?” Substitute almost anything else for “tomatoes” and this is the single burning issue people have now that all the seed catalogs have arrived.

I have canvassed our own Master Gardeners with this question, “what are your favorites when you plant?” This article will deal with vegetables; next week will be annuals and perennials.

With literally hundreds of tomatoes to choose from and new ones being developed constantly, there still seem to be some old favorites. “Better Boy” and “Celebrity” are varieties mentioned for taste, texture and canning. If you want early tomatoes, Burpee’s “Fourth of July” and Jung’s “Wayahead” are the picks. The sauce tomatoes “Opalka”, a heritage variety, and Jung’s “Margherita” get the highest marks. The hands-down cherry tomato is “Sweet Million” for mouth watering taste!

There is no equal to onions grown from seed, especially if you plan to store them for the winter use. I have tried a lot of onions over the years; what follows are my favorites. Two onions that keep reliably all winter include “Copra”, a yellow onion and “Redwing” a red. Redwing is a wonderful red onion that looks and tastes so good in a salad. We are still eating nice hard onions in late February. If you want to go out in the garden, pick an onion to throw on the grill with some kabobs, “Walla Walla” and “Ailsa Craig Exhibition” are the top picks. They are the sweetest, juiciest, and mildest of all - just don’t plan to keep them too long. For bunching onions “Heshiko” is tops. I get fresh seed every year from Pinetree in Maine.

Corn is such an individual favorite, dependent upon location, soil, and variety, that it is hard to come up with clear picks here. Among the normal varieties, Gurney’s sells a lot of “Honey and Cream”, and Jung has “Butter & Sugar” and “Silver Queen”. If you prefer the sugar enhanced (se) varieties, Gurney’s “Double Delicious” and the gold standard “Kandy Korn” are wonderful as long as we have a long growing season. The newer super sweet varieties (sh2) include “Northern Xtra Sweet” from Gurney and a favorite from Jung, “Krispy King”. You have to find one that works for you here.

Carrots are an easy pick. Master Gardeners root for “Sweetness III”, “Tendersweet”, and the old standby “Scarlet Nantes”. “Detroit Dark Red” and “Red Cloud” are beets that have no equal in the North.

Peas and beans are great crops for northern gardeners. “Blue Lake”, “Derby”, “Masai”, and “Maxibel” get the top marks for string beans. “Super Sugar Snap” and “Sugar Lace II” are the picks for edible pod peas. For pole beans the vote goes to “Kentucky Blue.”

If you like squash, there are two winter varieties you have to try, “Sunshine” and “Sunspot”. Possessing absolutely wonderful texture and flavor, they usually keep into April. Another Master Gardener reports “Bon Bon” as her favorite. “Cocozelle” is a great zucchini type.

Last, I will describe some of the peppers that are top picks. Sweet bells include Jung’s “Fat N Sassy,” “Margaret’s,” and “New Ace,” a great cool weather pepper. My favorite sweet pepper is “Carmen,” a horn-shaped pepper that is quick to turn red and delicious. Hot peppers could take pages but some of the favorites include “Garden Salsa,’ “Anaheim,’ “Serrano,’ and “Holy Mole.’ “Fooled You” is a jalapeno without the heat, great for mild salsa.

Advice is as good as how much you pay for it, but maybe these Master Gardeners have already paid the price through their trial and error. Drag out the seed catalogs, try some of these and dream about that first juicy tomato this summer. Good gardening!

Wally Peck

Beltrami County Master Gardener