New crops fill market gap for North Country farmers

WILLSBORO | The Northern New York Agricultural Development Program has awarded a grant for trials of early spring high-tunnel miniature cabbages and sprouting broccoli crops (brassicas). Members of the Brassicaceae family include broccoli, cauliflower, mustard, and Brussels sprouts. These cold-tolerant crops have the potential to fill the gap that occurs when winter storage crops are sold out and spring crops are not yet ready for market in New York's northern region. The research team, which includes vegetable production specialists with Cornell Cooperative Extension and the Willsboro Research Farm, harvested its first miniature versions of these vegetables in May 2021. The opportunity to produce miniature varieties of broccoli and cabbages that are quick-growing and are able to grow in unheated high tunnels will help northern New York growers respond to the surge in demand for local foods spurred by the COVID-19 pandemic. "In 2020, wholesale buyers sought out more sprouting broccoli than the market could supply through the northern New York food hubs," said Elisabeth Hodgdon, Ph.D., a regional vegetable specialist with Cornell Cooperative Extension's Eastern New York Commercial Horticulture Program. Hodgdon is overseeing the trials of fall-overwintered and early spring–planted high tunnel–grown varieties of sprouting broccoli and mini cabbages for harvest in April and May. Their research will collect data on planting dates, crop establishment, growth patterns, and yield. Sprouting broccoli is commonly grown in Europe. It produces small heads atop long stalks. It is cooked much as one would cook asparagus. The miniature cabbages offer growers a fresh green crop to sell well before field-grown cabbage is ready for market. They have tender green leaves that are excellent in salads. Cornell Cooperative Extension Regional Agricultural Business Specialist Lindsey Pashow is working with regional growers on ways to package, price, and prepare these vegetable crops for wholesale and retail markets. Pashow and Hodgdon are also helping growers develop food safety plans and implement practices to meet Food Safety Modernization Act and Good Agricultural Practices requirements. An additional aspect of this NNYADP-funded regional vegetable production research project is focused on how to plant cold-tolerant brassica species as field cover crops to enhance soil health and to help suppress pests, weeds, and crop diseases. The researchers will examine different varieties and planting date effects on forage radish and mustard biomass production before killing frosts arrive in northern New York. Notices about in-person and virtual 2021 brassica workshops for growers, and the final project results report, will be posted on the Northern New York Agricultural Development Program website at nnyagdev.org.

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New crops fill market gap for North Country farmers

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