2025 All-America Selections Winners

Posted on January 16, 2025 by Dave @ HappyAcres

The lineup of 2025 AAS Winners has been announced, and in the edibles category it includes four national winners and one regional winner. For those who might not be familiar with it, All-America Selections (AAS) is an independent, non-profit organization that tests new varieties of flowers and edibles in trial grounds all over the U.S. and Canada. I grow quite a few AAS Winners in my garden every year, and I always look forward to trying the new winners here at Happy Acres. There are two squashes, one tomato, one pepper and one kohlrabi that made the Winners list for 2025 as well as ten ornamentals.

Kohlrabi Konstance is a new purple skinned hybrid kohlrabi that promises to be crack resistant, and with good flavor. It compared favorably to Kolibri in trials, and one judge noted “This entry impressed me against the comparisons, having significantly more uniform, rounded, crack resistant fruit.” We love our kohlrabi here, and I look forward to growing this one for sure.

Kohlrabi Konstance

Pick-N-Pop Yellow Pepper is a snack-sized mini pepper that grows on disease-resistant plants. The peppers are sweet and crunchy, and produce continuously on medium sized plants. The peppers are ready to harvest in 65 days after setting out plants.

Pepper Pick-N-Pop Yellow

Squash Green Lightning is a green-striped pattypan type summer squash that is early maturing (40-45 days) and grows on a bush type plant. The green stripes and shape are unique, to say the least, and one judge commented “Small seed cavity. Good eating quality.” I look forward to trying this one in our garden.

Squash Green Lightning

Squash Thriller is a striped, Carnival type dumpling squash with 1-2 pound fruits that grow on semi-bush plants. Bred by Sakata Seed, AAS judges have described its rich-orange, dense, and nutty flesh as having a ‘far improved eating quality’ compared to similar types, especially when roasted. It’s decorative as well as tasty, and this National Winner should do well in most gardens.

Squash Thriller

Regional Winner Tomato Tonatico is a red cherry type tomato that compared favorably with Supersweet 100 variety in trials. Judges were impressed by the taste and texture of the easy to harvest fruits that grow on long trusses. The Tomatico disease resistant vines have an indeterminate growth habit, and the fruits begin to ripen about 60 days after setting out transplants.

Tomato Tonatico

A couple of non-edibles look especially interesting to me. Marigold Mango Tango has bi-colored flowers of yellow and red on compact plants that get 8-10 inches tall. Judges were impressed with the long flowering plants that tolerated both cold and hot conditions.

Marigold Mango Tango

And Petunia Shake Raspberry has multi-colored flowers on compact plants that spread about 8-10 inches wide. This one is also well suited for pots and containers, where the abundant blooms provide color over a long period of time.

Petunia Shake Raspberry

For a full list of both present and past winners, visit All-America Selections Winners. Their website also has information on where to Buy AAS Winners.

I hope you have enjoyed this review of a few of the 2025 AAS vegetables winners. For more information about AAS Winners check out:

  1. The 2018 All-America Selections Winners
  2. 2019 All-America Selections Winners
  3. 2020 All-America Selections Winners
  4. 2022 All-America Selections Winners
  5. 2023 All-America Selections Winners
  6. My Favorite AAS Veggies

All photos are courtesy of All-America Selections.

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Looking Back On 2024 – By The Month

Posted on January 7, 2025 by Dave @ HappyAcres

Today I thought I would recap some of what I did in 2024, in a month by month format. It was a busy year, with a lot happening both in the garden and outside it. My wife and I spent some time in January someplace sunny and warm: on the Big Island of Hawaii. We divided our time between Hilo on the east side of the island and Kona on the west side. We toured the Liliʻuokalani gardens in Hilo, which is a lovely Japanese-style garden right in the heart of Hilo, near the bay. And we always enjoy visiting the farmer’s market in Hilo, which I think is one of the best in all of Hawaii. While on the Kona side, we made a trip to the Paleaku Gardens Peace Sanctuary, a 7 acre tropical botanical garden overlooking historic Kealakekua Bay. It’s full of many different tropical plants, and scattered around the gardens are various shrines, including a Hawaiian Heiau, a Native American medicine wheel and a labyrinth that my wife walked.

bridge over pond

Hilo farmer’s market

Stupa

Back home in February, we saw the temperatures moderating enough for the early daffodils to start blooming. I was also baking Ligurian Focaccia Bread, which is my new favorite bread recipe.

first daffodils

Ligurian Focaccia bread

In March, we saw the first asparagus spears poking up! The first asparagus is always much enjoyed  here for sure. We prepare it a number of ways, but Asparagus Mimosa is one of our favorites.

first asparagus

Asparagus Mimosa

The total eclipse of the sun was the highlight of April for many folks around here. We watched it with five people we had never met before, and the day and the event did not disappoint! At the point of total eclipse, it turned dark outside and the birds stopped singing. It didn’t last for long, but it was an event to remember for sure.

waiting outside for eclipse

eclipse just before totality

In May the iris parade started, which is my wife’s annual display of her extensive collection of irises. And I was nearing my peak of spring planting activities.

Old Burgundy iris

bed with brassicas

In June the perennial beds were full of color as plants started blooming. The bees love our bee balms, and my wife love the leaves and blooms on the ligularias.

Ligularia ‘Chinese Dragon’

Pink Chenille bee balm

And in July, many of the hardy hibiscus started putting on a show. We have at least a half dozen cultivars planted, and while the large blooms only last for a day, they are quickly followed by more opening up.

Bleu Brulee hibiscus

Midnight Marvel hibiscus

In August the tomatoes were keeping me busy with harvesting and processing them. Juliet and Zenzei are two AAS Winners that did quite well for me, and both wound up in sauces I froze for later use.

Juliet tomatoes

Zenzei tomato

In September my wife and I traveled to Moab, Utah. We toured and hiked in Arches National Park for three days, and it was the highlight of our trip for sure. The food was outstanding as well. Antica Forma makes their own mozzarella cheese in house. The pizza there was fresh and flavorful, and the crust had a thin bottom and crisp crust. We love arugula on a pizza, and ours were piled high with it!

Tunnel Arch

the Windows Arches

pizza at Antica Forma

In October our persimmons started ripening. It was a good year for them, and I harvested 35 pounds of them in all, and there were a few up in the top of the tree I didn’t get to. I also brought in more of the mature Centercut squashes, which we use like pumpkins.

persimmons

mature Centercut squashes

We had an unusually warm November here, and the garden gave us a surprise harvest of eggplant and sweet peppers. Not as surprising were the fall crop of turnips I pulled, or the kale and collard greens.

early November harvest

Hakurei and Hirosaki Red turnips

collard greens

December was a busy month at our bird feeders. A big Pileated Woodpecker came to visit occasionally, and it was sharing the suet feeder with a little chickadee one day. I also harvested lettuce and other salad greens from our greenhouse.

Pileated Woodpecker at suet feeder

Thai Oakleaf lettuce

I hope you have enjoyed this look back on 2024. I want to thank all of the folks who come here and read my blog, and I want to wish everyone a Happy and Healthy New Year!

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Stars of the Garden 2024 – Part 2

Posted on December 26, 2024 by Dave @ HappyAcres

I hope you enjoyed reading the first part of my annual garden review, and I’m back again today with the second part. Let’s start with tomatoes, which are a favorite crop here and with many other gardeners too. The weather seemed to be favorable for them here in 2024, despite the dry conditions for much of the summer. Too much rain as they ripen can lead to rotting of the fruit, and that wasn’t much of a problem for us here. I harvested just under 100 pounds of them total this year, which is plenty for our needs. I planted less of them than last year, when I got 186 pounds and they kept me busy with processing. As always, I trialed several new varieties, and my wife and I enjoyed several tastings with the new ones compared to our favorites.

Benevento tomatoes

Harvest Moon, Hot Streak, Strawberry Fields and Marmalade Skies were four tomato varieties I trialed this year. I compared Hot Streak to longtime favorite Benevento and new favorite Purple Zebra. My wife and I both agreed Hot Streak was as good as if not better than the Benevento. The Purple Zebra is hard to beat for flavor though, in my opinion.

left to right: Hot Streak, Purple Zebra and Benevento tomatoes

We sampled Hot Streak, Harvest Moon and Chef’s Choice Orange another day for lunch. All were tasty, and there was no clear favorite between me and my wife. I think all three will be in the garden plan for 2025.

tomato tasting

The jury is still out on Strawberry Fields, but since 2024 was a challenging year here for tomatoes I might give it another shot next year. I’m just not sure it is an improvement over the other red slicing tomatoes I grow, including Better Boy, Damsel and Garden Treasure. As for Marmalade Skies, it was disappointing, and made smallish fruits that weren’t particularly tasty. Of course, your results might be different, but I don’t plan to grow it here next year.

Strawberry Fields tomatoes

It was also a great year for the hot peppers I grew. Aji Colorado is a thin-walled pepper great for drying and grinding into powder. It has a sweet heat that’s a bit hotter than a jalapeno. My plants did great this year, and one potted plant kept going until almost November. As such, I have plenty of dried peppers now for turning into chile powder. It was not a good for the sweet peppers though, and the plants struggled to make peppers all season long.

Aji Colorado peppers

I love Sugar Rush Peach for making into hot sauce, but in some years it has been a shy yielder for me here. Not this year though! I had one overwintered plant I set out in the vegetable garden, and it was loaded with peppers all summer long. In all I got more than five pounds of ripe peppers from that one plant – which is a lot of hot peppers! One new pepper I trialed is Aji Dedo de Moca Yellow. I grew it in a big pot, and it was super prolific! The medium-hot peppers make a tasty hot sauce. and I plan to grow it again next year and give it a spot in-ground in the main vegetable garden area. Aji Rico is one of my favorite peppers for making into hot sauce, and to pickle. This 2017 AAS Winner is always productive for me here. Mad Hatter is another AAS Winner I grew, and while it’s not as productive for me as Aji Rico, the fruits are very tasty and have a mild heat level.

assorted hot peppers

Aji Rico and Mad Hatter peppers

It was about an average year for the squashes here. I trialed Butterfingers yellow squash. It produced well, but I don’t think it is nearly as tasty as Tempest, which is my favorite yellow summer squash. We got plenty of the summer types, and I discovered a new favorite treatment for zucchini.

summer squashes

Butterfingers squash

To prepare the zucchini, I sliced it thinly using a mandoline slicer. Then I spritzed the slices with olive oil and sprinkled them with salt. I spread them out on a foil lined baking sheet, and baked them in a 400°F oven for about 10 minutes. Then I sprinkled the tops with grated parmesan cheese and put the pan back in the oven for a few minutes until the cheese had melted. It makes for a tasty and fairly quick treatment to add to our lineup of summer squash recipes.

zucchini with parmesan

I also freeze a lot of the summer squashes for later use. I blanch them in boiling water for three minutes, then drain and spread out on a pan to put in the freezer. We use the frozen squash in soups, and the zucchini is good when added to a fruit smoothie.

frozen zucchini

It was a terrible year for the sweet potatoes here. Our spotty summer rainfall wasn’t enough, and I did a poor job of keeping them irrigated. I dug a total of 33 pounds of them in all. While that may sound like a lot, in 2023 I dug over 75 pounds of them from the same number and varieties of plants. We will have enough to eat, and hopefully enough to make slips for next year’s crop.

Murasaki and Beauregard sweet potatoes

Purple sweet potatoes

I’ll close on a more positive note. It was a stellar year for the greenhouse cucumbers. I harvested 25 pounds of them during the summer months, which was plenty enough for our needs. Itachi, Corinto and Nokya are three of my favorites for greenhouse growing, and they did quite well for me.

L to R: Itachi, Corinto and Nokya cucumbers

Itachi cucumber

I hope you have enjoyed this review of some of the things we grew here in 2024. I’ll be back soon with more adventures from HA, including my plans for the garden in 2025 and a peek at some of the AAS Winners.

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Stars of the Garden 2024 – Part1

Posted on December 18, 2024 by Dave @ HappyAcres

Once again it’s time for my annual review of what did well in the garden this year, and what didn’t. I’ll start with a recap on the weather, since those conditions certainly have a big influence on home and community gardens everywhere including here at Happy Acres. According to my records, in 2023 we got 46 inches of rain, which is about normal for our area. In 2024 so far we have had 46 inches, which again is about normal for us. We had a wet spring, and spotty rain throughout the summer and fall months. Looking at the month-by-month totals helps understand the garden performance more than looking at the overall total, and is one reason I keep records of precipitation. I have been a volunteer weather observer for the CocoRaHS organization for over 10 years now, and share my data with that organization as well as use it myself.

2024 rainfall

late June harvest

As usual, the garden this year gave somewhat mixed results, with some crops doing quite well and others not so well. After looking back at our harvests, I can report that one star worth mentioning was lettuce! I grow it in the greenhouse for much of the year, except for the hottest months. I plant a variety of types, mostly leaf varieties but a few heading ones as well. Hyper Red Rumple Waved and Sea of Red are two red leaf varieties that did well this year. Starfighter and Grazion were the biggest and best green leaf varieties. So far this year I have harvested 25 pounds of lettuce and other salad greens, and the winter crop is now coming on in the greenhouse for our use.

Hyper Red Rumple Waved lettuce

Starfighter lettuce

I did an experiment this year and grew a few lettuce plants in the summer months. I set out several varieties of plants in early June in a bed behind the greenhouse, where I could keep them well watered. They were grown in full sun with no shading, though they did have wind protection. I began cutting the full sized plants in early September, and two of the best performers were Tehama and Cherokee. Both are summer crisp types, and made for delightful salads. I plan to do more experimenting next year, and perhaps get them in the ground a bit earlier.

Tehama lettuce

Cherokee lettuce

The container grown eggplant was another star performer. I grew Fairy Tale, Gretel and Icicle – all three AAS Winners, and they kept us well supplied with mild and tasty eggplant all summer long. Which is a good thing, since the ones I planted in the vegetable garden struggled to get established and suffered from the dry growing conditions. We love these small fruited varieties roasted or grilled, and they wound up on more than one open-faced eggplant sandwich this year. I harvested 26 pounds of eggplant this year, which is quite a bit more than I got in 2023.

eggplant harvest

open-faced eggplant sandwich

The spring planted brassicas took advantage of our abundant rains in April and May, and mostly did quite well this year. I had plenty of cabbage for fresh eating and for making sauerkraut. And the big Kossak kohlrabi did well also, which I use for fermenting into kraut and kohlrabi ‘pickles’ my wife enjoys eating throughout the year.

Quick Start cabbage

Kossak kohlrabi

Broccoli was almost a complete bust though. I’ll have to assess how much space I want to allot for this crop in the future. I do want to try the AAS Winner Purple Magic again, as well as Burgundy which usually does well for me in spring. What I did get of those two was pretty and tasty, and worth giving another try for sure.

Purple Magic broccoli

Burgundy broccoli

I’m going to break up the report into two parts since I have a lot of veggies I want to mention, including tomatoes, peppers and sweet potatoes. So I’ll be back soon with Part 2 of the 2024 garden recap!

 

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November Garden Update

Posted on November 26, 2024 by Dave @ HappyAcres

Today I want to share a few of the things that are growing here this November. It’s been a mild fall so far, with warmer and drier than usual conditions. We finally had our first hard freeze this morning, which is about a month later than average. The unusually warm weather we’ve been having has allowed some of the warm season vegetables to go on producing, including the peppers and a few of the eggplant. I also have cool season vegetables planted too, and they are doing well after our recent rains.

vegetable garden in November

It’s amazing to have peppers still coming on this late in the season, but quite a few of our plants are still producing. And I’ve also gotten a few eggplants, though they are a bit smaller than they might be in summer.

Aji Colorado plant

Dancer eggplant

In late summer a planted a variety of Daikon radishes and turnips. The turnips have done a bit better than the radishes, and I have started pulling them for our use.

turnips sizing up

Hakurei and Hirosaki Red turnips

I also planted the Topper turnip, which makes lots of greens but no edible roots. They are doing quite well, and I have gotten several harvests from them so far.

Topper turnips

My fall planting of kale and collards got a setback when a groundhog managed to get into our fenced garden by slipping under the gate. Most have recovered, and I have shored up the garden defenses to prevent it happening again. I have cut some of the kale already, but I am waiting until we get more frosts to cut the collards. That should make the leaves sweet and tender, and with any luck we will enjoy them through most of the winter.

collards

Meanwhile, one of the Tromboncino vines is still alive, and making new squashes. I harvested these new ones before the freeze came, and they I predict will be tasty and tender. The freeze will surely kill the vines, but they have been very productive this year.

Tromboncino squashes

And last but not least, I set out a few Forum onions sets in the planting holes where the summer squashes were growing. They have started coming up now, and I will pull them as needed for green onions and leave others to size up for next spring. They proved to be quite hardy last year, and I expect they will be this year as well.

onions coming up

And out front of our house, our Encore azaleas are looking good here in November. They might even be prettier in fall than they were this spring. These are re-bloomers that give us a show in both spring and summer.

Encore azaleas

pink azalea

red azalea

That’s all for now. I hope you have enjoyed this update on the vegetable garden here in late November. And I’ll be back soon with more happenings from Happy Acres.

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