December 1, 2004

By Lori Bushway

ITHACA, N.Y. – Gardeners poring over seed catalogs this winter have a new resource to help them choose which vegetable varieties to grow.

“Our Vegetable Varieties for Gardeners website makes it easy for gardeners to compare varieties and become more aware of the wide diversity of varieties that are available,” says Lori Bushway, Senior Extension Associate in Cornell University’s Department of Horticulture.

The website (www.cce.cornell.edu/veg) profiles more than 2,000 varieties. Gardeners can search or browse for varieties, view details for each including how long they take to mature, and find links to seed companies that sell the variety.

Bushway is especially excited about the feature that allows gardeners to rate and review varieties. “The site is like an Amazon.com for vegetable varieties, only we don’t actually sell the seeds,” she says. “At Amazon’s website, you can study reader ratings and reviews to see if you want to read a particular book. At our site, you can read gardener ratings and reviews to see if you want to grow a particular variety.” The site was developed and is hosted by Cornell Cooperative Extension.

If gardeners want to rate varieties not yet listed on the site, they can add them to the database through an online form. “Gardeners love to try new things and share what they learn,” observes Bushway. “So we’re especially interested in hearing from them about unusual varieties and ethnic specialties that have performed well for them.”

For decades, Cornell has published an annual list of varieties recommended for gardeners. “Gardeners look to us for recommendations. But we can’t test all of these varieties,” says Bushway. “The best way for us to help gardeners choose varieties is to engage them directly, making them a essential part of the process by gathering information in their own gardens, then sharing that information with their fellow gardeners through the website.”

The site also includes links to other Cornell gardening resources, including online growing guides for more than 60 garden crops. While the project initially is focusing its efforts on New York and the Northeast, Bushway welcomes reviews and ratings from gardeners in other regions.

“All gardening is local,” she adds. “Our goal is to connect gardeners with their neighbors and others who have similar growing conditions to help them pick winners for their garden.”

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