How do we decide which new varieties of fruit plants are the best?

A good question, and the answer is easy. You can taste the difference!

At grownforyou.co.uk we take great care in the selection of every variety of fruit and vegetable plants we sell. Obviously we can't taste every single variety that is available, but we do as much as we can and work very closely with our suppliers and growers to make sure we get the best. When you see a new variety on the website it really means that we have tried it and thought WOW!

We were lucky enough to be invited to a trial site where some brand new and completely exclusive varieties of soft fruit plants are being assessed before being sent out to the growers, who will ultimately be selling the produce to all of us through our green grocers and supermarkets as well as pick your own farms and farm shops. Not forgetting that these plants are also going to be grown by keen gardeners, young families and grow your own enthusiasts and supplied by us!

These trial sites aren't open to the general public, in fact very few people in the trade ever get to see where the selection takes place, let alone wander around on a Saturday morning tasting the best selections. Unfortunately as it is all a bit top secret we can't divulge where we were, but what follows is a bit of an insight into how a lot of the fruit you eat gets to you.

Much of the fruit we eat is either a traditional variety or is bred from an old variety to give better characteristics for certain uses. New varieties can come from breeders from all over the world, and the job of developing these and getting them onto our plates takes years. Not only do the plants have to be grown but the varieties have to be assessed on a number of different factors which are important to a whole range of potential markets. Whilst to many of us the term "shelf life" represents the worst of buying our fruit from supermarkets, it is refreshing to know that in general flavour is still considerd the key ingredient of any successful variety. It is really essential though when selecting plants for growing in the garden that the taste and plant vigour are both excellent. Whilst those 2 factors do often appear in varieties we really look for flavour above everything, and we really like to sample the fruit straight off the plant, which is how we hope most of our customers will be trying their fruit for the first time as well.

So that is why we take the time during the summer months to go on at least three of these tasting trips, to make sure we catch the best of the early, mid and late seasons for all the fruit plants we supply. So far we have done 2 of these trips, and a third is planned in the next couple of weeks.

Trial sites in general are not that big. The plants are planted out under polytunnels, or direct into the soil without any protection, depending on the variety

Where possible the growers try and make sure that the plants will be grown under the same cultural conditions that they would be once planted out on a field production site. Very often, new varieties will be planted alongside tried and tested varieties so the growth can be assessed and most importantly, a direct comparison of the flavour of each can be made. It is really important to know how, for example, a new Raspberry variety will taste next to Tulameen, or one of the other popular varieties.

The main point is to try as many of the varieties as possible, and as you can see from the missing raspberries in the pictures we did our very best in that regard!

It is also very important that more than one person try each variety and everyone gives their opinion. It isn't good enough to just say "I like it" or less frequently "I don't like it". There are very few varieties that suit everyones tastes, so you must always compare notes. We were fortunate that our guide for the day is an experienced grower and tastes all the trial plants regulalry. As someone who is very active in introducing new varieties, it is very likely that you have bought something that he has selected and developed. This extra set of taste buds is invaluable as he could not only give really accurate tasting notes, but also give an insight into how each variety will work in different situations. A good supermarket variety won't necessarily give the best results in the garden.

Once we have been through the site we get together and start assessing everything we have tasted. Really it boils down to one question: did anything that we tasted today taste better than what we already grow? Without wanting to give away too much, we are adding at least one new variety of Raspberry for the autumn, and there are a couple of really unusual varieties that we are really excited about that we are giving a second tasting to this month.

Keep an eye out at www.grownforyou.co.uk, and on www.twitter/grownforyou for updates on the new additions as the arrive.