The first step to growing a great vegetable garden is to select the best varieties.
Which varieties grow best in Dakota gardens?
The answer is simple. To identify the best varieties for gardeners in the Dakotas, we need to test the varieties in the gardens of the Dakotas.
That’s why we started the North Dakota Home Garden Variety Trials in 2008. Every year I have worked with over 200 families to evaluate promising vegetable varieties in their home gardens.
This year we assembled a team of 365 families. Let me share with you a few of the highlights from 2024.
The spring of 2024 was cold and wet. That made it a great year to test super sweet corn. Most super sweet corn varieties struggle to germinate in cold, wet soils.
Under these stressful conditions, we tried a new variety called Bolt. True to its name, the Bolt seedlings jumped out of the ground and produced an early and bountiful harvest of quality corn. It was our highest-rated super sweet corn variety this year. Kate was another strong performer this year.
Good performance in the garden is important, but good performance on the kitchen table is just as important. For the last two years we have tested red carrots. Red carrots may be nutritious, but our team told us that red carrots taste bitter. What good is a nutritious vegetable if nobody wants to eat it? Forget about red carrots.
Fortunately, we found two great orange carrots this year. I encourage you to try Caravel. Our team loved its sweet and crunchy roots. Naval is another great carrot for the Dakotas. It has roots that are beautiful, straight and delicious. Naval roots can be pulled out of the ground easily without breaking.
Asian and snack cucumbers did well in our trials again this year. Summer Dance will delight you with its crisp, bitter-free fruits. Green Light produces an abundance of delicious cucumbers that you eat when 6 inches long and do not need peeling.
This year, we have identified lettuce varieties that tolerate heat and produce a bumper crop of crisp leaves. These “Summer Crisp” lettuce varieties include Muir, Nevada, Magenta and Chrystal. Grow these varieties and you will enjoy salads all summer long.
I always thought romaine lettuce was hard to grow. My team and I discovered it is easy to grow romaine lettuce if you pick the right variety. Great varieties include Fusion, Newham, Bluerock and a new variety called Sunland. These varieties can tolerate heat and produce thick, crunchy, flavorful leaves.
Maybe okra isn’t your favorite vegetable. I understand completely. My wife tells me it is an acquired taste. Okra is difficult to grow in the Dakotas because it demands hot weather and a long growing season. This year we had 15 brave families evaluate okra varieties. We found a new variety, Buffalo Bill 91, which every family liked. A 100% recommendation percentage for any variety is impressive. For okra, it is shocking. It must be a winner.
Other new and notable varieties this year include Abominable pumpkin, which produced stunning, pure white pumpkins. The fruit quality of Butterfingers yellow summer squash was tremendous. The yield of Madonna orange winter squash was truly amazing.
The highest-rated variety we tested in 2024 is not a new variety, but it may be the most dazzling vegetable you have ever seen. The leaf stems of Bright Lights Swiss chard come in brilliant shades of red, orange and yellow. Even if you don’t like the taste of Swiss chard, try Bright Lights. You don’t have to eat it. Just look at it. You will be awed by its beauty.
What I just described is a small sample of what we discovered this year. To learn more about the best varieties for North Dakota, do a Google search of North Dakota Home Garden Variety Trials or go to “>[ndsu.ag/countyoffice](http://ndsu.ag/countyoffice).
