Cornell Web Site Helps Gardeners Choose Vegetable Varieties

 Gardeners poring over seed catalogs this winter have a new resource to help them choose which vegetable varieties to grow. 

 The Vegetable Varieties for Gardeners Web site (www.cce.cornell.edu/veg ) makes it easy for gardeners to compare varieties and become more aware of the wide diversity available of varieties that are available. 

 Gardeners can search or browse through more than 2,000 varieties, view details for each including how long they take to mature, and find links to seed companies that sell the variety.

 "The site is like an Amazon.com for vegetable varieties, only we don't actually sell the seeds," says Lori Bushway, Senior Extension Associate in the Department of Horticulture. 

 "At Amazon's Web site, you can study reader ratings and reviews to see if you want to read a particular book. At our site, you can read gardener ratings and reviews to see if you want to grow a particular variety," she adds. The site was developed and is hosted by Cornell Cooperative Extension.

 "The best way for us to help gardeners choose varieties is to engage them directly," says Bushway. "We're making gardeners an essential part of the process by gathering information in their own gardens, then sharing that information with their fellow gardeners through the Web site." 

 The site also includes links to other Cornell gardening resources, including online growing guides for more than 60 garden crops.