Variety trials, vegetable workshops set for August

Heidi Rader stands in her corn plots at the Georgeson Botanical Garden,

Heidi Rader will lead three workshops in August on the vegetable variety trials she is conducting at the Georgeson Botanical Garden and offer tips for growing the vegetables she is testing.

The free workshops will take place in the garden’s Beistline Outdoor Classroom from 5:30 to 7 p.m. Rader, a tribes Extension educator for the UAF Cooperative Extension Service, will talk about growing carrots, beets and beans on Aug. 7; corn and celery, Aug. 14; and Brussels sprouts and watermelon, Aug. 28. Participants may taste test the varieties and learn about the best practices for growing these crops.

Six varieties of celery are being tested in the trials.

This is the second year of a five-year variety trial project funded by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture. Rader said the goal is to help gardeners and farmers choose varieties that grow well in the Interior. As the vegetables mature, they will be evaluated for yield, taste, plant and seedling vigor, harvest period and susceptibility to pests.

Eleven varieties of beets, 12 varieties of carrots and six celery varieties are being grown in replicated trials. Twelve varieties of Brussels sprouts, 10 bean varieties, 14 varieties of corn and four types of watermelon are also being evaluated for more rigorous tests in the future.

Participants are asked to sign up for the workshops at http://bit.ly/2z4FxVF. Rader is also taking recommendations on what should be tested in the future. A short survey is available at http://bit.ly/2A9JjNX. For more information, contact Rader at hbrader@alaska.edu or at 452-8251, ext. 3477.