Crop Talk: Success with Brassicas at Sandiwood Farm
Here at Sandiwood Farm we’re tapping our maple trees and finishing our plans for the growing season ahead. This means reflecting on last season and what we, and our customers, loved most. Brassicas are an important crop for us, and I’ve learned a lot over my 27 years of growing them on our farm in Northern Vermont. Here are some highlights that may help with your own planning:
CABBAGE
I plant Kaboko F1 & Bilko F1 Napa cabbages really early in our high tunnel. They love the extra warmth and protection, producing beautiful full-size heads for spring markets.
Farao F1 is my favorite for a fresh market green cabbage. Even in our short season, I am able to get multiple successions, and with the way it holds in the early summer heat, it does well for both spring and fall plantings.
For 2016 I'm excited to try the open pollinated Golden Acre cabbage, which can be tightly planted and produces early, uniform heads in a more manageable size (that’s great for smaller families).
Caraflex F1 is one of my absolute favorites. They pack boxes so well, they make a heart shape when you open them, they’re great grilled, raw or cooked, and they’re very uniform so I can charge one price for all of them. People always stop and back up to ask about “the cones” at market. Processors and chefs love its big brother Murdoc F1 because of its larger size, and it also stores well.
Last season I tried Integro F1 for an early planting (even though it’s a late red cabbage) and I was really impressed. It’s a dependable variety that allowed me to offer a quality red cabbage early in the season.
For savoy, I’m a big fan of Famosa F1. With adequate spacing and fertility they can get huge, and with durable outer leaves, it's a great cabbage to sell wholesale.
I grow Impala F1 for storage. It sits high on the plant for easy harvest and disease prevention, it’s rock hard and it holds well in the field for harvest through the fall.
I've fallen in love with Deadon F1. Bred for harvesting well into the winter, this variety gets sweeter and even more stunning after the first snow. We harvest it for winter markets without using cooler space, and it's a real showstopper.
BROCCOLI
I had huge success with early Batavia F1 broccoli last year, and it’s now my choice for early crops. I used row cover to get steady rapid growth, and got beautiful plants with huge crowns that I sold by weight in June, with a two week window to harvest from one seeding.
I’ve always been a big fan of the Belstar F1, and I do a couple successions of it. It’s super nice in late summer and fall and holds really well in the field. It has quickly become a market standard, with uniform growth and dependability throughout late summer and fall.
I also grow some DeCicco because people love its tender, delicious florets and stems, which I sell bunched like broccoli raab. You can plant densely, and it’s great for plant sales. It’s even a gourmet delicacy when it’s starting to flower, as it stays tender and delicious without getting spicy.
KALE
I tried all our kales last year to see the differences. The Meadowlark is SO beautiful and graceful with its long leaves and tight curl, and people loved it. It does take a few more leaves to make a bunch, but the plants are tall and have more leaves, so you don’t need to plant more.
The other green curly type I really love is Westlander - it's the most similar to the hybrid market standards with its uniform habit and large leaves.
Our Red Russian and White Russian grow so fast, and they’re tender and beautiful. It’s really nice to have a diverse mix of kale for your CSA, market display or even your wholesale accounts – I was selling to a lot of chefs last year and they LOVED the mixed boxes of kale and having the palette of colors and textures to work with.
Our Siberian (back in stock this year!) rocks in terms of size, tenderness and extremely fast growth.
The Lacinato is so beautiful and hardy, it’s super popular and it has lots of fun names. It takes a few more leaves to make a full size bunch, but it produces a lot throughout the season and well into the winter.
BRUSSELS SPROUTS
I love Nautic F1 and have had great results keeping them covered, with plants three feet tall in June, and really early sprouts. They work well in pints—people like the trophy of the whole stalk, but that’s a lot of sprouts for just $5. You can get a lot more money if you sell them picked, and it’s a huge space saver. I usually bring just a few stalks to decorate the stand and show people how they grow.
All of these professional-grade varieties offer real benefits to our farm, with both reliable performance for the grower and great quality for a variety of direct and wholesale customers. I hope you can benefit from our experience at Sandiwood, and as always, feel free to reach out to High Mowing if we can help with your planning.
TURNIPS
I love the early Hakurei-type turnips like Tokyo Market. Last year I did them in succession really early in the high tunnel and was able to get beautiful early bunches. They’re so sweet and versatile raw or cooked—everyone says they never knew they liked turnips until they tried these.
I hope some of this and other information helps and you can keep producing these important brassica crops. Even though we wouldn't normally spend time and energy with row covers on brassicas, it really helps push the early vigor and keep pests off. Sorry to miss you this year at NOFA NY. Hope to catch up at a future conference. Thanks for reading the blog and using High Mowing Organic Seeds. I wish you a successful 2016 growing season. Sincerely, Sara Schlosser, commercial grower sales rep. x 102
commercial grower sales rep. x 102