i try a lot of varieties to see which grows the best in my environment.

I agree with Randy. There is enough genetic variation between varieties that you need to trial a bunch of varieties to find out what grows well in your soil. To some extent soil will affect flavor and keeping qualities as well.

Katey

Over the years I have figured out what to grow. part of my decision is based on customer satisfaction (I don't poll them but I do keep record of how things sell at each market-if something is consistantly selling well or out that i know to regrow that variety) i like to try new heirlooms every year. it may be a new tomato or bean or zucchini. that depends on the catalogues, if there is something that catches my eye i probably will buy some seed and see how it works. I tend to give a new variety 2 to 3 years to see how well it really grows around here. marketing wise I just take in new items after i have tried them and teach the public about the item. this year it is lemon cucmbers. i grew them for the first time last year and the did well bothin the garden and at market. this year had an all new market and thus all new customers to teach about the lemon cuke. It is becoming a favorite at this market so it will get a 3rd year and will likely go into the permanent rotation. there are many heirloom varieties that taste so much better than the hybrids that it is worth the effort to grow them and educate your customers so they will buy the crop. Italian zukes are wierd looking compared to black zukes but they are wonderfully tasty compared to black zukes so I grow them and get a good price for heirloom zukes. but it took a season to build up the customer base. most people would look at the specialty zukes and ask if we sold zucchini and thus the education started.

I have also had many things either no grow well or not sell well. okra we have a market for but have yet to get a decent crop in 5 tries. I have tried putting them under plastic for warmth and irrigating but no matter what we get tepid results at best. Pity as there is a call for it.

Than I have had some prolific crops of things the public will not buy. When that happens we drop the item from the rotation. flowers fell into this catagory. had nice flowers but poor sales so decided not to continue cut flowers (but have a nice perrenial bed of flowers for our efforts which is very nice).

I find it takes trial and error and good record keeping to figure out this question

lucy

I found the same thing with flowers - too many other people doing them at our market (2 very high quality growers plus every craft stall has a few bunches) so they were a hard sell. I also found I didn't like doing the bunching and it was too time consuming.

For otehr varieties I have been doing what others here suggest - trying new things, taking them to market and helping customers learn about them. The lemon cukes are very attractive so a lot of people ask about them and will buy one or two to try. The other thing that has been popular is an italian heirloom squash called Trombincino. Wierd shapes (quite phallic, some of them!), but attractive and lovely flavor, and all the seeds are at one end so you get a lot of seed-free flesh. Plant is also prolific and healthy. I get people coming back and asking for them specially.

Kevin

I'm not a market grower but the ones selling in Vienna, Virginia (D.C. area) seem to grow the latest and greatest super wiz bang hybrids. It's to the point where their vegetables taste like the ones from the super market. I sometimes wonder if they buy their produce from a distributor.

ItÂs amazing to watch people, young and old, gleefully snatching up tomatoes that taste like cardboard. Last year, one grower proudly displayed a sign about their Hanover tomatoes. Their customers just didnÂt know that those tomatoes were nothing more than super hybrids bred for early & great production, disease & pest tolerance, no staking/pruning required, etc. without regard for flavor.

And then there's corn, a subject that should be covered in its own posting. The corn sold at the farmer markets here has a yucky sweet taste and a terrible texture. The shame is that their customers don't know better!

Then I find myself a good ways out in farm country. I stop at a roadside stand to check out the corn. The guy tells me it is Silver Queen. I'm delighted. Later that evening I find myself facing a juicy steak fresh from the grill and a nice looking ear of steamed corn on the cob. You guessed it, it wasn't Silver Queen and it was on par with the yucky stuff sold around here. I did get some good corn this year but I had to grow it myself and I don't have enough room to have fresh corn all season.

Below are answers to some of my questions to market growers:
Q: What variety of tomato is this?
A: ItÂs a red beefstake.

Q: What variety of green bean is this?
A: I donÂt know.
ThereÂs one grower that knows the variety of green bean that he is selling and he brags about them. He says that they sell them to a popular restaurant in the area. TheyÂre called Tema.

Q: IÂve never seen a squash like this, whatÂs it called?
A: I forget the name but it is an old heirloom.
Later I find it at JohnnyÂs (www.johnnyseeds.com). ItÂs Zephyr, and it is not an heirloom.

TheyÂre not all bad though and I do have a favorite one but she only sells tomatoes and fruits.

I wonder if this is the case in other large metropolitan areas? Hopefully others will let us know their experiences.

Paul