Brian Minter: Mini vegetable varieties have so much potential in our gardens

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It’s frustrating when a great idea fails to capture the imagination of folks and sits on the sidelines.

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We had a visit last week from Felicia Vandervelde, who is the Canadian regional account manager and manager of product development with the PanAmerican Seed Company in Chicago.

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I had been so excited a couple of years ago about their new line of miniature vegetables and wrote an article on them. So my first question for her was, “How are the Kitchen Minis series of tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers going?”

“Not great”, she said. “They’re not yet meeting our expectations. We have to find the right niche for them.”

Essentially, kitchen minis are a new type of smaller tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers that overproduce delicious fruits comparative to the size of the plants.

The intent was to copycat window sill herbs like basil, and to pick them fresh until they finish, compost them, and start new plants. They were especially suitable for patios and small space gardens, and for windowsill and container growing.

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The tomatoes will produce an abundant crop over a few weeks and then, as determinate varieties, will finish producing. If you plant them in the garden in late spring, Vandervelde says, they will grow and continue to produce crops over the summer. The peppers and cucumbers will just keep on producing smaller but delicious fruits.

PanAmerican has three tomato varieties: Red Velvet F1, Cocoa F1, and Siam F1. All three do best in six-inch (15 cm) pots, and while the two red cherry types produce sweet red fruits, Cocoa F1 has delightful, delicious burgundy red fruits.

They have quite a few more peppers available, the newest being the Fresh Bite series which bears sweet mini-Belle types in green, orange, red and yellow. Fruits are about 2.25 inches (5.7 cm) long and 1.25 inches (3 cm) wide. You can eat them fresh for salads or pop them on the grill.

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For those who like a little heat in your peppers, you can spice up your tastebuds with Hot Burrito, Hot Fajita, and Hot Lemon Zest, all of which average 3-4 inches (7-10 cm) long by one-inch (2.5 cm) wide. Tamale and Taquito feature spicy, but not too hot, fruits ideal for stir fries and tacos.

We tried these a couple of years ago in late summer and I was very impressed with the yield on every one of these varieties. We had them in a cool greenhouse and I was amazed at how long they kept producing.

This year, we were sent the first trials of a mini potted cucumber called Quick Snack. Trying new plant varieties is always interesting and, wow! This one is a winner.

Growing rather quickly and vigorously, this compact little plant bears 3-4 inch (7-10 cm) rich green cukes which taste like a traditional burpless cucumber — crisp, sweet, and delicious. Grown by themselves, they are seedless. If planted near other varieties with male flowers, you may find some seeds.

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One of the great joys of a garden is being able to taste-test as you walk through. Bite-sized vegetables are ideal and so far, this is a prime example of an overachiever. It performs best in a container with a trellis for support and in less than a month, from a started plant, you’ll discover the true meaning of the name Quick Snack!

Vandervelde suggests that perhaps these plants present the greatest opportunity in the shoulder seasons.

Young, started plants with such short production times would be perfect to plant and enjoy early in the season while our other vegetables are just beginning to grow. If you have containers for your vegetables, I suggest putting starter plants out as early as your night temperature will allow, because they will give you fruits far earlier than any of the other varieties.

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You will still be able to enjoy your traditional vegetables later, but the joy of having the earliest fresh produce from your garden is always a treat.

We’re starting some now to see how long they will produce into the fall with cooler weather and shorter days.

To date, some of these seeds are available only to commercial growers, so you might have to settle for transplants, but I think these mini kitchen varieties have so much potential in our gardens, as well as on our windowsills. Grown properly, can produce both our earliest and the latest crops and in a world of ever-increasing food costs, they have an important role to play.

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