I know I have commented in the past that some years are sparse as far as new varieties and other years are bountiful. This year is not just bountiful, but crazy, new varieties coming out of our ears and every other cliche in the book crazy. Part of it is that there are a number of tomato varieties that have been kicking around for a few years but the breeder seems to have released them more generally to some of the big name catalogs now.

(No, orange cauliflower is not a new variety, it’s been around for awhile. But, I thought it was a good picture to include.)

So, I am probably going to do several posts over the next month or so highlighting some of the new things that have piqued my interest. The problem is there are so many cool things out there, that I don’t want to just rehash each catalog entry! I’m going to be challenged to only write about my favorites.

One thing that I saw this morning, that I’m super excited to try out are these Heart & Star Molds for vegetables. Oh yes, if I have my way, we will have some heart and star shaped tomatoes and cucumbers this year! (I don’t always have my way though…I guess I have a garden at home to play in too!)

Of interest to those of you with small yards that love plums, this variety, ‘Japanese Burgundy’ claims to be self-pollinating and columnar. Might be interesting to try.

Do you love to grow ‘Early Girl’ tomatoes? Well, this variety, ‘Summer Girl,‘ is supposed to be earlier and bigger.

You know I love colored carrots, right? This is a new red variety: ‘Red Samurai.’ It makes me hungry for carrots! (Okay, maybe it is just close to lunch time.)

Okay, just one tomato entry for this post. A couple years ago, ‘Indigo Rose’ was the hot new tomato with the purple/black skin when ripe. This year there are four more new varieties with the high anthocyanin content and that dark purple/black coloration. If you like novelties, these will fit that bill! The four varieties are ‘Indigo Apple,’ ‘Indigo Kumquat,’ ‘Indigo Blue Beauty,’ and ‘Indigo Blue Berries.’

I’ll have some more new varieties to talk about after Christmas!