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The concept is simple: View ratings and read reviews of vegetable varieties at this site to help decide which might perform best in your garden. While you're visiting, contribute your own reviews and ratings to our database to share with your fellow gardeners which varieties performed best or which performed not so well for you. (You'll need to create a garden profile to rate and review vegetables.) Just to avoid confusion, when we refer to a crop we mean a type of vegetable, such as tomatoes or beans. When we refer to a variety, we mean a type of crop, or cultivar, such as 'Brandywine' tomatoes or 'Kentucky Wonder' beans. Topics on this page:
Benefits to Authenticated Users Click here for a brief tutorial about the benefits of having an account with Vegetable Variety for Gardeners. Finding varieties Click here for a quick tutorial on how to use the search form to find varieties. Regardless of whether you are rating varieties or reading ratings and reviews, your first step is to find the varieties. You have many options:
Tip:
The default search ("All") looks for each word of the entered phrase in the variety name,
crop name and variety description fields. Use the 'in' drop down box to restrict the search
to either the crop name, variety, or description field. Tip: The results page supplies summaries
of each variety, including Overall Rating (1 to 5 stars), Days to
Maturity (usually a range because catalogs don't always agree; NA =
not available), and a brief description. Limiting results Registered users will have the option to limit search results by their gardens state or frost-free season. You will need to login to use this feature. Once you are logged in you will see additional search criteria in the search menu with these options. Reading reviews Click here for a quick tutorial on how to read details and reviews of varieties. When you click on a variety name on the search results page, you go to that variety’s profile page. There, you will find additional information, including:
 Below this
information are additional comments and reviews from fellow
gardeners who have rated the variety. When you first view them, they
are sorted with the most recent review listed first. But you can use
the drop down box (right) to sort them other ways that may be more
helpful for you.Tip: After you read a review, click on yes or no to indicate whether or not the review was helpful. That way, gardeners can sort the reviews so that the most useful ones will rise to the top. Tip: Note where the reviewers are from. If you garden in the Adirondacks, you might put more stock in reviews from nearby gardeners as opposed to those in Long Island. Click on the reviewers name and you can view their profile and learn more about their gardens and what other varieties they recommend. You must create a profile and be logged in to read additional information about other gardeners. (See below.) Create your profile to rate varieties Before you can rate varieties, you need to create a profile. It's quick and easy. Here are a few tips:
Be sure to check the box if you would like to receive occasional updates via email about new features at the site and other site news. We will email no more than one per month at the most. (We don’t like spam either.) And we will keep your email private. (We have only sent a mass emailing once in the last 5 years) We will also keep your demographic information private, and only use it in aggregate. We hesitate to ask for this information, however we beleive it is important to ensure that we accomplish our project goals. Some tips:
Rating varieties You must be registered and logged in to rate varieties. After you register and log in, you need to find the variety you would like to rate. (Tips for searching or browsing for varieties above.) Click on the variety name on the search results page to go to the profile page. Click on the review variety link to go to the review submission page to provide a review and various ratings of the variety from 5 stars (best) to one star (worst). Tip: Overall, taste and yield ratings are self-explanatory. But what about ease/reliability? If a variety is dependable for you, easy to grow, not overly vulnerable to pests or diseases, and one that you might recommend to an inexperienced gardener, rate it high. If a crop is relatively difficult to grow, performs erratically, and you would hesitate to recommend it to an inexperienced gardener, rate it low. Use the provided review text box to write a review of your experience with this variety or make comments about the variety. Please do not feel like you need to write a comprehensive guide to growing the crop. Instead, use the space to pass along key information or growing tips other gardeners might want to know. Feel free to share any growing, storing, cooking or harvesting tips or anything else about the variety to make the review useful to the next gardener. For example:
You may add to or edit your previously entered reviews from the My Varieties page. We encourage adding to a review of a variety from year to year if the garden conditions used to grow the variety from year to year do not chang. Now you can search or browse for another variety to rate. Tip: Click on My Varieties in the page header to view varieties you've rated grouped by crop. If you make a mistake or change your mind, click on Edit Rating or Delete Rating to change or remove your ratings and reviews. Adding a new variety If you can't find the variety you want to rate in our database, you can add a new one. Tip: Please doublecheck to make sure the variety you're looking for is not in the database. If you misspell the variety in the search box, you may not find it. Try browsing crops without searching for a specific variety name to ensure it is not entered before you add a new entry. After you've exhausted your search for the variety, click on the Add A Variety link at the bottom of the search results page. Complete the form on that page (including the name of the company where you can buy seed and the url for their website) and click on submit. Your addition won't be immediately available on the website. We are notified by email that you've added a variety. But then we need to approve your addition before it becomes part of the database. We don't provide 24/7 coverage, and in fact sometimes are away from our desks, out of town or on vacation. We will notify you by email when your variety is added and ready for you to rate and review. |
Browse crops. Use explore variety
box located in the left sidebar of every page to see a
listing of all the crops in the database. Click on a crop and search to view a list
of all varieties of that crop. Best used for casting a wide net.
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Cornell Garden Based Learning, Cornell University College of Agriculture & Life Sciences, Horticulture Section