The Northern New York Agricultural Development Program has awarded a grant for trials of early spring high-tunnel miniature cabbages and sprouting broccoli crops. Members of the Brassicaceae family include broccoli, cauliflower, mustard, and Brussels sprouts. It is hoped that these cold-tolerant crops will 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.
“In 2020, wholesale buyers sought out more sprouting broccoli than the market could supply through the northern New York food hubs,” Elisabeth Hodgdon, Ph.D., a regional vegetable specialist with Cornell Cooperative Extension’s Eastern New York Commercial Horticulture Program, told suncommunitynews.com..
Cornell Cooperative Extension Regional Agricultural Business Specialist Lindsey Pashow is working with regional growers on ways to package, price, and prepare the 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.