Cultivation Of Crops: Always be experimenting

I started experimenting growing this vibrant purple cauliflower variety on my farm. I saw them in the seed market and thought they looked pretty cool. They took a while to grow, and first it looked liked like a failed crop because it was predominantly leaves. The cauliflower head popped out a little later and boy it was impressive. This is one of the things I love about farming. Experimenting is always fun and rewarding. I love to try out new crops and see the results and potentially find myself a new niche.

I was a little disappointed that the cauliflower lost its colour after cooking it because I was looking forward to seeing that rich purple colour on my plate. When you cook them in high temperatures they actually turned a slight brown color. So I have found that the best way to keep the purple color was to eat the cauliflower raw. It has a crunchy taste and is just as good as the regular white/cream cauliflower variety.

The next crop I tried out was the golden cherry tomato.

When I opened the seed packet I was a bit disappointed at the number of seeds in the packet. I was comparing it to the standard varieties I typically grow. Once they started fruiting, I have to say I was pleasantly surprised. There were barely 100 seeds in the packet yet I harvested more than we could consume on the farm. The yield from this long season variety is extremely high. They are also disease and cracking-resistant and water-tolerant. There was a time when the water pump was not working for almost 3 weeks and they continued to thrive without water. Even the ones that had fallen to the ground were still good.

I found that this variety worked great in salads and sautéed with other vegetables. Since the yield was more than we could eat, I dried them and used them as a snack in between meals. Once dried the sweet taste became concentrated and they were absolutely delicious. This is one variety that is worth trying if you want to grow a lot of tomatoes in a small space. It would be good to test out the market demand for some of these varieties.

Leave your comments below on some fun veggies that you have tried growing and experiences you had with them.

About the Author

Kundai is the co-founder and co-editor of Emerging Farmer. She is an emerging farmer and entrepreneur. She grows, processes and distributes mushrooms and vegetables and raises pigs on her family's farm. Say hello @kundeezy

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