Please take a few minutes to review this 2006-2007 Lettuce,Endive and Escarole Update. This information is provided to you by Siegers Seed Company.

ROMAINE

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COASTAL STAR- is a fantastic variety, which is best harvested in Spring/Fall. Coastal Star has been and is being harvested in mid-summer in the North East, but under Mid West environment, I would recommend Rubicon or Capistrano during the high heat harvest periods. I would use Coastal Star in place of Green Towers. Coastal Star was made commercial in 2003 and is currently our largest volume seller.

RUBICON- is a very nice romaine. The uniformity on this variety is excellent and the color and weight is there too! I would expect this to have some Tall Guzmaine blood in it. You will find it better in marketable yield over Tall Guzmaine and King Henry. It has also proven to be a great replacement for those of you using King Louie (TG). The harvest period is in the heat, although nothing is more bolt and tip burn resistant in high heat as Capistrano. I would recommend avoiding cool Fall harvests. Rubicon was made commercial in 2005 and had a very successful season in 2006. Sales are expected to increase in 2007, displacing Tall Guzmaine.

CAPISTRANO- you've heard me say it before, and I'll say it again. nothing holds up to high heat harvests better than this variety! It is slow and should only be harvested in the highest heat harvest periods. Capistrano doesn't burn easily and it is very slow to bolt. Most of its weight is put on during the last week, prior to harvest. This variety was sown at the same time as Rubicon is a good program, because after you harvest the Rubicon, you can move in to start harvesting Capistrano. As I said, it is a very good program. Commercial seed available and Siegers Seed Company is the only seed company to offer it.

PARAMOUNT- it is our 3rd year of trials with this variety and it is a very good romaine. It was made commercial for the 2007 season. Tall, stays open with good color and heavy weight. I just don't think it is a major or any improvement over Coastal Star. Those were my words prior to the 2006 season. Growers have included it in their overall romaine program in place of Green Towers and Coastal Star. This is a classic case of grower preference. Your opinion is the only one that counts. Seed is available primed and pelleted.

GREENLEAF

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TEHAMA- this variety is nice stuff. It has a large frame and excellent dark color. The leaves are not as frilly as other types (i.e. North Star or Lasting Green), but it is more than acceptable. I would advise that Tehama be harvested in the Spring and Fall, since it will scorch under hot conditions. On another note, Tehama does not seem to like water just prior to harvest. It will do some squirrelly things, like twist. Without water prior to harvest, it is super fast to cut and pack. The same holds true for the 2007 season. It is a mainstay in many growers early summer and Fall harvest periods.

NORTH STAR- in the high heat harvest it just doesn't seem to tip burn. Although it starts to send a seed stalk, it maintains at a marketable level for a couple of days; giving you time to cut and pack it. The color is medium green. It is a compact frilly style variety with a frame that is small, but a total leaf count that really weighs up. After experiencing the 2006 season, I can recommend North Star to be harvested in the Fall. North Star does get big and very heavy in the Fall harvest. It is excellent for the September harvest.

PLYMOUTH- this is a very unique green leaf. I would call it a Batavia type. The leaf margins are smooth and the texture is tough. Plymouth does not want to burn or bolt. It is a workhorse!!! It does look different, but California ships this type to us in the winter all the time (Hacienda). The East Coast is growing and selling Plymouth with no opposition to the leaf style. Other growing regions do seem to be having some opposition. If there is opposition now, it may soon change and that would be good for the growers, since Plymouth, as I said, is a workhorse as well as easy to grow, cut and pack in the difficult harvest periods. You should try it. Plymouth was made commercial for the 2006 season. The demand for this variety has been very high and it is sold out for the 2007 season.

BERGAMS GREEN- watch this one! It has the potential to replace Lasting Green and North Star. It is larger framed than North Star and more TBR and more bolt hardy than Lasting Green. It also has a better, darker green color than either of the above-mentioned varieties. Bergams Green is a really nice green leaf! We feel strongly about the performance in the 2005 trials and made Bergam's Green available for commercial sale in 2006. Last season proved Bergams Green to be everything we thought it could be. It is similar to North Star, in leaf style and color, but with a larger frame. Even though it does not weigh more, it appears bigger than North Star in high heat harvest periods. I recommend it over North Star for high heat harvests, but North Star is better for Fall harvest.

TROPICANA- dropping this variety. It burns and bolts! I think it is terrible and unpredictable in our extreme environmental conditions.

BUTTERHEAD

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HARMONY- this variety continues to be the standard. We have excellent quality seed for the 2007 season! In the past, seed quality has been an issue, but not this season.

BENNETT- will be available for the 2007 season as a replacement for Harmony. Bennett is very similar to Harmony in performance, size, shape and color. We will carry this variety as a "plan B" if the seed quality of Harmony is less than optimum, or if seed is not available. I expect that some of the growers who use Bennett will make it their "plan A" for their Butterhead program.

RED LEAF

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NEW RED FIRE- continues to be the standard, although the end user has been disenchanted with its leaf texture (tender) and shelf life. There have been few varieties to even trial that will give the red color that the eastern market needs and will still make a marketable weight. In 2007 New Red Fire continues to be the standard, but faces the pressure of being replace with any new, suitable contender. The one to challenge is Cherokee.

RED EXPRESS- this variety. It has great color and a big frame, but poor leaf texture and cuts with NO weight. Dropped in 2005. Other seed companies still sell this variety, but I am still of the opinion that Red Express has no place in the Eastern market. Tell me if you agree or not.

CHEROKEE- This is a WINNER! Great color, upright growth, Batavian style variety. Although it has a small, upright frame is makes marketable weight. Cherokee has caught on in some areas and is now in demand. The biggest difficulty to date has been seed supply (both quantity and quality). This could change. The second obstacle is price; expect to pay about $3.56M for primed / pelleted seed. If you think this is high, what do you think about the $12.00M price that it started out at, before we negotiated the price to a somewhat realistic price for you? You really need to try it. Cherokee was made available for sale (and sold out!) in 2006. There is limited seed availability for 2007 above and beyond current orders. Sleeve packing? Cherokee is the answer to make it fast and efficient. It is a MUST TRY!

ENDIVE

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SALAD KING- is sold out. There is no seed available, unless in existing inventories. Siegers Seed Company, however, is sold out. Through our extensive trial program, we anticipated availability problems would occur and we found a better alternative for you; Keystone.

KEYSTONE- a Salad King type with a smaller frame, making it easier to cut, trim and pack. Finally... Something better than Salad King. Keystone shows significant improvement over Salad King, and was made available for commercial sales in 2006. Excellent results in commercial production have proven Keystone not only as a good substitute for Salad King, but a superior variety. Keystone is available in primed / pelleted seed.

PLANTATION- we dropped it. In side-by-side trials, Keystone demonstrated it was superior to this variety in tip burn resistance.

ESCAROLE

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SÉANCE- a very good variety! It looks especially good versus Full Heart 65 for Fall harvest. It is more uniform and has better heart filling for added weight. If you are not satisfied with Full Heart 65, than you should give Séance a trial 2006. We have not made SÉANCE a stocking commercial variety yet, but we will, with confidence, if seed of Full Heart 65 becomes unavailable. I would advise you to get some experience growing this variety, so you will be prepared if that time ever comes.

TWINKLE- is extremely nice and better than Full Heart 65 for Spring to summer harvest (cool to warm), but it doesn't do very well going from warm to cool (Séance is best in this slot). Twinkle is definitely worth growing for Spring sowing, if you want to harvest a better escarole during this harvest period. However, if you want to keep your program simple and do not feel you need improvement, continue to grow Full Heart 65 for the entire harvest periods. Twinkle has been commercially available from Siegers Seed Company since 1998.

These are only my thoughts and opinions; most important ones are yours. Do you feel the same about these varieties as I do, or completely different? Your thoughts, your opinions, your experience and evaluations are invaluable information. Please let me know. If you have any questions or would like to discuss any or all of these varieties, feel free to email at roy_pearman@siegers.com