Pickling Cukes

Folks ask me what HPS seed cuke varieties are best for pickling. Here are our choices (bush varieties):

Pick a Bushel. 50 days. 2014 AAS winner. Sweet, firm, and crisp. Harvest at 3” gherkin size for great pickles or mature at 6” for eating fresh. Compact, semi bush type plants only spread about 24”. Well suited for patio growing.
Bush crop 62 days. Compact bushy plants produce 6-8” fruits. 3 ft. vines perfect for containers or small garden spaces. Dependable yielder.
Bush Pickle 50 days. Compact 3-4” fruits. Prolific tasty crisp, whole pickles.
Homemade Pickle. 55 days. Medium green fruits Harvest when 1.5” for tiny sweets, 5-6 inches for robust dills and spears. Flesh is solid and crisp with superb sweet flair. Vigorous vines and heavy yielders.

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Cukes

Cukes (aka cucumbers) HPS. Here are a few of our favorite burpless types. As the name suggests, “burpless” varieties reduce digestive problems like reflux.

Diva – 58 days. 2002 AAs winner with a proven record. Seedless and burpless all female variety – doesn’t require pollination. Got a greenhouse? Plant a seed or two in a hanging basket and enjoy some early cukes in your salad! Sweet, bitter free, crisp. Spineless. Tender skins particularly when harvested at 4-8”. High yielder and has a great resistance to disease.
Tasty King 62 days. Japanese slicing type. Bitter free and burpless, crisp, 10” long.
Nokya (Johnny’s seed) 55 days. Productive and flavorful long asian cucumber. The most exceptional parthenocarpic cucumber of its type, delivering high yields of excellent quality cucumbers that are sweet, crunch, and 11-13” long with small seed cavities. This is the one we grow for all the pickles we make here at the farm. We have limited quantities.

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Let’s Talk Cauliflower

Cauliflower – HPS seeds. Hands down, our favorite variety is Snowball Self Blanching – 68 days. It has self wrapping leaves that curl upward and cover the heads to keep the sun from ruining the bright white color. A long time favorite! Great for freezing, steaming, roasting and ricing.

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Cabbage Varieties

Cabbage – HPS seeds. There are lots of varieties to choose from!

Golden Cross Improved. 40 days. The earlier ball head variety. 2 – 2.5 lbs. Firm, solid and short-cored. Great for small gardens.
Superstar – 80 days. AAS winner. 3 lb. round heads have great taste, Excellent holding ability, disease resistance.
Stonehead – 60 days. An AAS winner all the way back in 1969 and still a top variety choice! 3.5-4 lbs. Holds well with less splitting in the garden.
Premium Late Flat Dutch – 100 days. If you want bragging rights in the neighborhood, this is the one. Huge flattened heads are often more than 12” across and 10-15 lbs. BEST for making kraut!

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Broccoli Varieties

Broccoli – HPS seeds. Which variety suits your garden best?

Castle Dome – 50 days. Adaptable to heat and cold – therefore longer growing season.
Godzilla – 110 days. Heavy heads that are easy to harvest. Leaf attachments are small and lower on the stem for quick trimming. Unlike other broccoli, this one is best to produce attractive, dense, non woody stems that are superbly edible.
Thunder Dome – 90-95 days. Heads weigh over a pound each. Good shelf life. Bred for the coldest months. You can start this one early.
Durapack 16. 90-100 days. Strong heat tolerance (even in our heat). Can be planted in the early summer for late summer or fall harvest. They have 7” heads. Use this one for a second crop!

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