Regional Seed Vegetable Variety Trials

Vegetable variety trials are important for growers to know what types and varieties of crops are suitable for our growing region.  There are also many seed growers locally that strive to adapt to our specific environment.  This project is a perennial effort to trial local and national veggie varieties and provide informative reports for growers and the public.   

The scientific questions of the first two years focused on testing regional adaptation against seed sourced and bred elsewhere.  We continue to host multiple tasting events each year to gather consumer preference data.  We donate all produce grown. 

Collaborating Researchers: Dr. Amanda McQuade

2022-2023 crop types: Kale, Lettuce, Eggplant, Melon, Chile, Zucchini, Red Chile, Sweet Pepper, Tomato (slicer), Radish, Carrot, Endive 

2024 crop types: Sweet Pepper, Garlic, Salad Mix, Early Carrot, Cherry Tomato, Broccoli, Beets, Onion, Winter Squash, Paste Tomato, Sweet Corn, Spinach 

Outcomes: Annual reporting on continuous variety trials.  Providing research results on productivity of regional and non-regional seed companies and increasing the connection between local seed and local growers.