Cabbage Patch

From Melanie Buffel,
Abundance Community Farm Cooperative

Our ethos at Abundance has been to use open pollinated varieties almost exclusively. In part due to our desire to have the option to keep viable seed stock and to support the natural genetic diversity of the heritage varieties.

I have always had great success with Red Acre Cabbage – it is a medium, densely packed red cabbage that is not prone to splitting and tastes great both fresh and fermented/pickled. We have also had consistent results with Amazing Cauliflower creating large bright white, well formed heads. We have grown Natalino Broccoli a few times over the years and when it has worked out the heads are a beautiful sight to behold – the spiral of green peaks is a marvel of natural architecture and the taste is wonderfully nutty, unlike any other brassica I have ever tasted. It is a dramatic crowd pleaser!

One lesser known variety I really enjoy growing and eating is the Pineapple Ground Cherry. It is a bit larger than the more commonly seen Aunt Mollies variety and has a delicious pineapple flavour. I snack on them fresh for weeks over the late summer/early fall and because it is so incredibly prolific I also make a delicious jam with it…turns out very seedy but the seeds are tiny so easy to consume. 

In terms of tomatoes I love the Striped Roma. It is a beautiful looking paste tomato that makes for good fresh eating and fabulous canning.

All the best to you for the season ahead!