The Takii Seeds open day, which was held last week in De Kwakel, the Netherlands, offered the perfect combination of fun and work. In addition to the anniversary, there was also a focus on the outdoor crops.
According to Mattheo Antonelli, Takii is the market leader in pumpkins. Takii has recently introduced the Assisto root-stock, "In order to generate a higher output, root-stocks from other crops are usually used. The problem with this method is that it diminishes the flavor. Production is lower with the Assisto root-stock, but the flavor is excellent."
Sweet Mama and Constanza
Delica is a popular pumpkin but its shelf life is limited. The Sweet mama pumpkin has a slightly longer shelf life. This pumpkin is pretty sweet and very popular in Italy. The Constanza pumpkin, a new variety, is a combination of the Delica and Sweet mama varieties, "The shelf life is good and it is not too sweet."
Medasa onions
"The interesting thing about the Medasa onions is that they are not uniform in size. The size depends on a few things: how many seeds per unit area are used, the type of ground and the climate. In the pictures above the differing sizes can be seen. The 'seed density' does not always affect the size, but in this case it does. Moreover, until just recently Takii only had white and yellow onions, but now they have red onions as well.
Antonelli: "Because fruit and vegetables are so expensive in Japan you see an increasing amount of these arrangements in consumers homes."
The special Momotaro 'Umami' tomato
Seed Meets Technology
During the Seed Meets Technology day Takii had white cabbage, Chinese cabbage, kohlrabi and leaf cabbage (collard: still relatively unknown in Western Europe). There was even less interest in De Kwakel due to the festivities and the weather.