All-America Selections introduces the first AAS Winners for the 2016 garden season

DOWNERS GROVE, IL – All-America Selections has announced another group of edible AAS Winners for home gardeners, gourmet gardeners, farm-to-table growers, market growers and anyone interested in a unique, delicious addition to their vegetable assortment.

These three winners are the first for the 2016 garden season. Additional winners will be announced this fall and winter as the 2015 trials conclude and the breeders meet specified criteria.

The first group of AAS Winners for 2016 includes:
Bunching Onion Warrior (Regional Winner)
Mizuna Red Kingdom F1 (National Winner)
Radish Sweet Baby F1 (Regional Winner)

All-America Selections has had bulb onions as award winners in the past, but Warrior is the first bunching (or green) onion. Similarly, there have been green mustard AAS Winners, but never a red Mizuna (or Japanese Mustard). Sweet Baby radish joins nine other radishes that are previous AAS Winners adding a violet colored beauty to an assortment of radishes that range from white to red.

With this announcement, these varieties become available for immediate sale to the commercial market. Brokers and growers can purchase these varieties immediately. Retailers and consumers will find these winners for sale for the 2016 gardening season as supply gradually becomes available throughout the chain of distribution.

Read more about the AAS 2016 Edible winners:

Bunching Onion Warrior
Regional Winner (Mountain/Southwest, Southeast)

Now home gardeners have an easy-to-grow bunching onion (also known as a green onion) that is an All-America Selections Winner. Warrior grows quickly and thus matures early, producing a very uniform crop of slender, crisp onion stalks that are easy to harvest and clean. Can’t get to your harvest? No worries as Warrior will hold up in the garden longer than similar varieties that were grown as comparisons in the trials. Warrior can be used raw to add texture, flavor and color to all kinds of dishes or they are delicious grilled whole as part of a grilled vegetable platter or entrée accompaniment. Bred by Seeds By Design

AAS Winner Data

Genus species: Allium fistulosum
Common name: Bunching onion
Fruit taste: Pungent
Fruit size: ½ inch wide
Fruit shape: Thin and cylindrical
Fruit color: White and green
Plant height: 20-24 inches
Plant width/spread: 1-2 inches
Plant habit: Upright
Garden location: Full sun
Garden spacing: 3-4 inches
Number of fruits: 1

Length of time to harvest: 60 days from seed, 30 days from transplant
Closest comparisons on market: Tokyo Long White Bunching, Ishikura Improved

Genus species: Brassica juncea
Common name: Mizuna, Japanese mustard
Leaf flavor: Very flavorful and mild
Leaf color: Glossy dark purple
Plant type: Biennial
Plant width/spread: 15 inches
Plant habit: Low growing
Garden location: Full sun
Garden spacing: 1 inch
Length of time to harvest: 3-5 weeks from sowing seed
Closest comparisons on market: Komatsuna Red Fine F1, Garnet Red

Radish Sweet Baby F1
Regional Winner (Great Lakes, Southeast)

Sweet Baby accurately describes the look of this beautiful purple/white/rose colored radish. The All-America Selections Judges commented on the improved exterior quality of this radish, in addition to the uniform size and the excellent taste, which was crispy, crunchy and slightly spicy. The internal color ranges from pale purple to white with violet streaks to mostly white with just a few purple splashes of color. Sweet Baby proved itself to be quick-growing, maturing in just 40 to 45 days which means many home gardeners can have successive sowings for season-long radishes. Bred by: Asia Seed Co., Ltd.

A complete list of all AAS Winners since 1932 can be found here. Note that this list of AAS Winners can be sorted by flowers from seed, flowers from cuttings and vegetables.