Mentions in the factsheets

AGM and non-AGM Vegetables

Carole and George were taking another look at the Award of Garden Merit (AGM) versus non-Award of Garden Merit (non-AGM) vegetable trials. To recap, those vegetables with an Award of Garden Merit should be readily available, consistent in cropping, flavour taste etc. and disease free. We are comparing these with similar varieties that don’t have an AGM. Those with an AGM and those without have been grown at Beechgrove and on George’s allotment in Edinburgh to compare crops.

In a previous programme (12) the results of the radish trial had already been established. Radish ‘Scarlet Globe’ (AGM) had produced a consistent sized crop and had a really good taste. Those that had been growing at George’s allotment in Edinburgh were just a little bit further on than those that had been grown at Beechgrove.

Radish ‘Prinz Rotin’ (non-AGM) had produced a couple of malformed radishes and also some had split. They were also larger in size and therefore a bit woody so the AGM variety was the clear winner here.

For lettuce, the following varieties were grown: ‘Iceberg Lakeland’ (AGM) produced 1250g crisp, tight hearts which tasted good with a delicate refreshing taste and ‘Webb’s Wonderful’ (non-AGM) also produced 1250g of crisp, loose hearts with a coarser texture. This was very slightly bitter in taste. Both crops prior to harvest were at the point of bursting due the heavy rain and began to rot. The AGM variety was again the clear winner.

With the carrots trial there was not a lot of difference between ‘Trevor’ (non-AGM) and ‘Marion’ (AGM) at present. It would however be worth doing a taste test on this later on.

For the peas, the non-AGM variety ‘Boogie’ is an interesting one as it holds three pods at each node and is self-supporting. The AGM variety ‘Onward’ holds one or two pods per node. ‘Boogie’ is also much shorter in height and the pods are slightly smaller and very round in cross section. It also has reduced leaves and greater amount of tendril growth and so does not need as much support. It is one of the cultivars that are grown on a field scale for processing.

On George’s allotment, ‘Boogie’ had a final yield of 1lb 3oz and ‘Onward’ (AGM) so far had cropped 1lb 5oz and there will still more to pick. So it was looking neck and neck so far on both varieties.

So overall the AGM crops were slightly ahead although only time would tell.

AGM ‘Onward’

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Non-AGM ‘Boogie’

 

 

 

 

 

Featured AGM and non-AGM vegetable varieties:

AGM Broad Bean ‘Dreadnought’
AGM Broad Bean ‘Perla’
AGM Broad Bean’ Witkiem Vroma’
Broad Bean ‘Talia’
Broad Bean ‘Greeny’
Broad Bean ‘Bunyard’s Exhibition’
AGM Pea ‘Onward’ (main crop)
Pea ‘Boogie’ (main crop)
AGM Carrot ‘Marion’ F1-Nantes type
Carrot ‘Trevor’ F1-Nantes type
AGM Leaf beet (Rhubarb/Swiss chard) ‘Bright
Yellow’
Leaf Beet (Rhubarb/Swiss chard) ‘Vulcan’
AGM Lettuce ‘Lakeland’ (Iceberg)
Lettuce ‘Webb’s Wonderful’ (Iceberg)
AGM Beetroot ‘Boltardy' (round)
Beetroot ‘Detroit’ 2 (round)
AGM Radish ‘Scarlet Globe’
Radish ‘Prinz Rotin’
AGM Spinach ‘Emilia’ F1
Spinach ‘Picasso’ F1