Winter Heirloom Seedling Share (May/June 2011)
Over the last few weeks, the Food Collective has been dreaming up a brand new Harvest Share, for the winter season. And, finally, we’re very pleased to be able introduce our next endeavour:
Heirloom Seedling Share
Sourcing seeds from local companies specialising in open-pollinated heirloom seed varieties, and working in association with the green-thumbed folks at Soil for Life, we bring to you a winter Heirloom Seedling Share. With the colder weather setting in, we’ve chosen a selection of colourful and unusual heirloom winter vegetable seedlings that you’ll struggle to find anywhere else in South Africa.
Planting from seed can be time-consuming and isn’t always easy – growing from healthy seedlings instead gives you a head start and a much better chance at a good crop. And, because we’ve been careful to select as many cut-and-come-again kinds of plants as possible, you will be able to harvest them yourself, throughout the season!
How does it work?
With each share you buy, you will receive FOUR 6-pack seedling trays containing the following heirloom vegetables:
- Heirloom Lettuce 6-pack (EITHER Forellenschluss Lettuce, Cinnamon Cos OR Butter Blush)
- Heirloom Pea 6-pack (EITHER Weggis Peas, Capuchin Peas OR Purple Podded Blauschokkers)
- Heirloom Broccoli OR Cauliflower 6-pack (EITHER Romanesco Broccoli, Calabrese Broccoli OR Sicilian Violet Cauliflower)
- Heirloom Cabbage OR Kale 6-pack (EITHER Perfection Drumhead Savoy Cabbage OR Nero di Toscana Kale)
Each 6-pack tray contains 6 seedlings of one variety (these are not mixed seedling trays). 24 seedlings in total. Seedling varieties will be randomly assigned, and may vary according to germination success rate of the seeds used. All four 6-packs to be collected at once from Soil For Life in Constantia on 24th (afternoon) & 25th (morning) June.
What does it cost?
Each share (4 seedling trays) costs R110. That works out to R27.50 per tray. You may order as many shares as you like (total shares available limited to 50).
We hope you’re as excited about this new project as we are!
SIGN UP NOW!Questions? Please give us a shout on hello@thefoodcollective.co.za…
Heirloom Varieties we’ve chosen:
Heirloom Lettuce:
Forellenschluss Lettuce
Cinnamon Cos
Butter Blush
Heirloom Broccoli/Cauliflower:
Romanesco Broccoli
Calabrese Broccoli
Sicilian Violet Cauliflower
Heirloom Peas:
Weggis Peas
Capuchin Peas
Purple Podded Blauschokkers
Heirloom Kale/Cabbage:
Nero di Toscana Kale
Perfection Drumhead Savoy Cabbage
Our local seed suppliers:
Mahlathini Organics offers a small (but expanding) selection of vegetable, herb and flower seeds that they have carefully cultivated for the South African grower. All seed is open pollinated, and many are heirloom varieties.
Livingseeds is South Africa’s largest supplier of locally grown heirloom and open pollinated vegetable seeds. They are dedicated to saving yesterday’s seed, growing and using them today, while preserving them for the benefit of future gardeners.
The Gravel Garden was created by Shannon Draper, from Somerset West. Sharon grows, saves and supplies a large variety of open-pollinated heirloom organic vegetable seeds, which she sells online.
Detailed Info about each Heirloom Variety we’ve chosen:
Heirloom Lettuce:
FORELLENSCHLUSS LETTUCE
Forellenschluss lettuce: An old Austrian heirloom variety of romaine (cos) lettuce, with green leaves strikingly dappled with red. The name means “speckled like a trout” in German. One of the prettiest heirloom lettuces, with loose leaves, and the classic romaine silky texture and mild flavour. Flourishes in cool weather. Days to Harvest: 28 days baby, 55 days full size from transplanting.
CINNAMON COS
A wonderful, old fashioned romaine lettuce. Slightly elongated, with leaves that shade from green to dark red. Stronger tasting, and easy to grow. Days to harvest: 30 days from transplanting.
BUTTER BLUSH
Green romaine lettuce with pinky red fringed leaves. True to its name, buttery in flavour, with rounded, loose heads. Highly rated for both looks and taste. Days to Harvest: 55 days from transplanting.
Heirloom Peas:
WEGGIS PEAS
Named for the Swiss town of weggis, this pea is an old variety which is perfect harvested and eaten as a whole pod (like mangetout peas). Provides beautiful purple flowers, and grows to 1 metre tall.
CAPUCHIN PEAS
Also known as Capujiner peas, these legumes hail from the Netherlands. They date back to the early 16th century, when breeding new varieties of peas was a popular Dutch hobby. Capuchin monks on Holland and northern Germany developed many varieties, and it is for these monks that this pea is named. Originally bred as a field pea, for drying, they also are delicious when eaten young and fresh from the pod. The pod in question is a dusky purple-blue colour, which is easy to spot when picking. Worth growing for the flowers alone, as each blossom boasts a variety of shades, through mauve and violet to pale white. Grows up to 2 metres tall and harvest in 80 days.
PURPLE PODDED BLAUSCHOKKERS
This pea is one riotous celebration of colour: violet-red flowers giving way to purple-blue pods, which contain grey-brown seeds. They can be eaten as fresh peas, cooked as dried peas, or eaten whole, like a sugarsnap pea, when young. Although seed provider Shannon cautions that they can dye your tongue purple!
To top it off, the name ‘Blauschokker’ gives us inordinate pleasure, too. Very similar to Capuchin peas, including their prodigious height and days ‘til harvest.
Heirloom Broccoli / Cauliflower
ROMANESCO BROCCOLI
Technically a cauliflower, Romanesco offers startling heads of lime green, geometrically patterned broccoli. Fractally satisfying for budding mathematicians, and delicious to boot! Named for Rome, where broccoli has been revered as a special food for over a thousand years. Flavour similar to a nutty cauliflower, with a creamier texture. Harvest: 90 days from transplanting.
CALABRESE BROCCOLI
Named for the Southern Italian province of Calabria, this quick growing broccoli rewards growers with a profusion of long-stemmed spears of broccoli of exceptional flavour – mildly broccoli, with perhaps a touch of asparagus. The cut-and-come-again king of brassicas! Harvest: 60 days from transplanting.
SICILIAN VIOLET CAULIFLOWER
Most purple cauliflowers on the market are hybrids, but this one, originating from Sicily, is a traditional heirloom variety. The purple hue comes from the antioxidant group anthocyanin, and is beautiful eaten raw or cooked. Milder and sweeter than its white cousins. Harvest: 70 days from transplanting.
Heirloom Cabbage / Kale
NERO DI TOSCANA KALE
Along with its cousin varieties of broccoli and cauliflower we are growing, this brassica also hails from Italy. Tuscan in origin, it is perhaps the most beautiful of the winter vegetables, with bouquets of grey-green, narrow leaves that are pebbly-dimpled, giving its American nickname of ‘dinosaur kale’. Unlike the more widely available Scottish kale, this variety is quite tender, and can even be eaten raw (or steamed, sautéed or even roasted). The flavour is vegetal and mildly bitter – if you can bring yourself to harvest any of this striking plant! Cut and come again for a season-long harvest, from 50+ days after transplanting.
PERFECTION DRUMHEAD SAVOY CABBAGE
Savoys are the rolls royces of the cabbage family, originating in the Savoy (Savoie) region of France in the early 1700s. This variety of savoy has been around since 1820, and produces slightly flattened, round heads with crinkly leaves and pale, spring green hearts. Savoys have a mild, sweet, nutty flavour, and don’t seem to produce a ‘cabbagey’ odour when cooked. Try this one sautéed in butter, or baby leaves eaten raw. Harvest in 100 days.
Summer Heirloom Seedling Share