Week 32 - Bright Colors - at Compositionally Challenged 365 day 223 Fresh-picked Sungold cherry tomatoes soon to be cut in half and tossed with fresh basil, extra virgin olive oil, and balsamic vinegar. Mmmmmm. I can hardly wait!

This is a great time to be a gardener. The temperatures are getting warmer and the days are getting longer. Spring is coming!

Many of us will be planting a garden soon. The good news is there are lots of new varieties available this spring that were bred to be absolutely delicious. North Dakota State University Extension will be testing many of these varieties, and you are welcome to join us in our tests.

We are testing a revolutionary new golden beet called Badger Flame. This gourmet beet has flaming red stripes and was bred to taste mild and sweet without the earthy flavor of normal beets. It’s a chef’s delight!

Dark Horse may be one of the highest-quality beans ever. It has dark green, crisp pods that are easy to harvest from upright plants.

Dolciva is a new carrot from Switzerland that has exceptional sweetness, a juicy crunch and stores well.

Some new tomatoes are worth noting. At the top of the list is Sun Orange cherry tomato. Gardeners in our project have raved about the intense, fruity flavor of Sun Gold in the past. This year, the breeder of Sun Gold released Sun Orange, which has larger fruits and resists cracking better than Sun Gold. I can’t wait to try it.

Tomatoes with determinate (compact) vines are easy to grow and do not need to be pruned. Roadster has done well in our trials and its new sister Rambler is available now. Rambler is reported to produce high yields of extra-large, dark-red, smooth, flavorful fruits.

New “Plus” tomato varieties are now available. Celebrity Plus, Better Boy Plus and Big Beef Plus have superior flavor and resist diseases better than the standard Celebrity, Better Boy and Big Beef varieties, respectively.

I can’t wait to try the new heat-tolerant lettuce varieties available, including Gatsbi and Shirane Sky. We will be enjoying crisp lettuce all summer.

There is a new pickling cucumber called Provision with dark green, crisp fruits. Its vines resist diseases and won’t overrun the garden. I never seen such a dark green pickler.

Patty pan squash may be easy to grow but it lacks flavor. A minister from Logan County on our team grows vegetables for those in need. He told me it would be a sin to give people such a terrible-tasting vegetable. Now there is hope. There is a new, award-winning variety called Green Lightning that is beautiful and reportedly tastes delicious.

Gardeners in North Dakota and in nearby counties of adjacent states are welcome to join our team and test these varieties. Go to our website to request our catalog. You can find the North Dakota Home Garden Variety Trials via a Google search or access it directly at ndsu.ag/homegardentrials.

Many Extension offices in North Dakota will be offering free samples of several tomato varieties during the Spring Fever Garden Forums. For more information, go to ndsu.ag/springfever25.