Europe Edition
In the heart of Seeland, the Christen organic vegetable farm has been cultivating kale since last year. The winter crop, which is predominantly called kale in Germany, is mainly supplied to Migros stores in the surrounding cantons, says farm manager Bruno Christen. "We were able to harvest the first batches in mid-October, but due to the snowfall we had to take a short break for now this week. Given the fact that we can usually only store the kale for a week, the cold snap may also lead to a small supply gap soon."
Here, the organic farmer produces both the common green variety and the somewhat less familiar red feather cabbage. Christen: "Interestingly, the latter seems to cope better with the weather, because comparatively we've had a bit more quality problems with green feather cabbage so far." At the point-of-sale, both varieties will eventually be offered in one package. "If there is interest on the part of retailers, we would also like to offer the red and green feather cabbage individually. As a combination pack, the feathered cabbage is well received by consumers, which is also thanks to storytelling and marketing - for example, in the Migros magazine."
Bruno Christen cultivates red and green feathered organic cabbage on around 0.5 hectares. Among the farm's most important crops are organic carrots, for example, which are grown on 15 ha.
Since this is a completely new crop, the first year of cultivation is mainly about gaining experience and know-how, Christen says. "The quality of the produce has been quite good so far, but I still see further potential for improvement there. After all, kale is very sensitive in cultivation. It must not get too much snow and frost, but it must not be too warm either, so that it grows up nicely and evenly. To some extent, we still have to learn how to deal with those challenges."
Also complicating matters, according to Christen, are the exponential and pervasive cost increases in vegetable production. "Producer prices are fine. Across the range, we see an oversupply of organic vegetables in Switzerland, which in turn affects prices. This is precisely what led us to broaden our portfolio, which is why we now grow more than 30 crops - in the open as well as in the greenhouse." In general, he said, the company looks back on a successful outdoor campaign. "We were able to record good yields for all crops except for celeriac."
It is expected that the cabbage vegetables can be harvested and marketed into March, he added.
For more information:
Bruno Christen
Betriebsleiter Büchslen
Seeland BIO
Oberdorf 15
3215 Büchslen
+41 79 211 80 13
b.christen@seelandbio.ch
www.seelandbio.ch
