Published Summer 2022
Nick Andrews, Heather Stoven, Heidi Noordijk, Lane Selman, Kelly Streit, Brooke Edmunds, Neil Bell and Victoria Binning
Western Oregon and Washington are in USDA hardiness zone 8 with heavy winter precipitation andrelatively mild temperatures that are often above freezing in winter. These conditions make winter
vegetable production possible in the field. A lot of consumers and gardeners are getting more interested in local winter vegetable crops, and the market is growing. Despite the wet and muddy spring this season, it’s time to start seeding a lot of winter vegetable crops for transplanting in July and August, so consider getting some seed and trying some new winter vegetables this season. A team of eight co-authors recently published Winter Vegetable Production on Small Farms and Gardens West of the Cascades. Some team members also developed the Eat Winter Vegetables website that also has lots of great information including recipes, educational videos, etc. The new Extension publication is fairly comprehensive with five chapters and an extensive list of additional resources:
1. Choosing a location: soil, climate and weather information;
2. Field management: general production information for winter vegetables;
3. Crop management: production details from seed to packing shed, and culinary descriptions;
4. Farmers growing winter vegetables: how and why Pumpkin Ridge Gardens and 47th Avenue Farm grow winter vegetables;
5. Health benefits of winter vegetables.
Chapter 3 discusses the major groups of winter vegetables grown here including alliums, heading brassicas, leafy greens, legumes and root crops. Winter cauliflower is a locally popular heading brassica, and gives some idea of the type of information included in the new publication. Generally winter cauliflower is transplanted in mid-July to early August, then harvested from February through April. The plant needs to form a strong frame in the fall, then after vernalization (cold winter temperatures), the heads form in the winter and spring. This ‘Caprio’ winter cauliflower (Figure 1) was a reliable F1 hybrid popular with local farmers and gardeners until very recently. Winter cauliflower has a very small niche market for specialty seed production. Bejo Seeds has discontinued their winter cauliflower breeding program and ‘Caprio’ (an F1 hybrid cultivar) was lost. ‘All the Year Round’, ‘Fredor’, ‘Medaillon’, ‘Picasso’, ‘Prestige’ and ‘Purple Cape’ are also popular in this region, and at the time of writing they are still available. Some are F1 hybrids and others are open-pollinated varieties.
Laura Masterson from 47th Avenue Farm told us that “overwintered cauliflower is the bomb and there are very few pests. With the right variety, right planting timing and right weather, there’s a beautiful shining light of ripe cauliflower at the end of a long winter.” Keep an eye out for black leg though, an new invasive disease, and remember that winter brassicas can increase the risk of club root in your soil if you also grow a lot of summer brassicas. Polly and James at Pumpkin Ridge Gardens have made winter vegetables an integral part of their year-round CSA for a long time now. Winter vegetables can be damaged by extreme winter weather, but they often pencil out for both of these farms. They also help them keep customers through the winter, and provide winter and spring income for their farm and for their employees. Winter cauliflower heads are a bit looser than summer varieties, but they taste great. Flavor is at its best after the cold weather has brought out its sweetness, and roasting brings out the deepest flavor. The delicate flavor can pair well with mild ingredients like leeks, parsley and butter, or with bolder flavors like hot peppers, horseradish, lemon or garlic. They store best at about 36°F and 98% to 100% relative humidity, and can last as long as two months under ideal conditions. Winter cauliflower is a good source of vitamin C with about 48% of the daily recommended daily value per cup. It also contains
sulforaphane, an anti-oxidant that has been shown to have anticancer effects.
We hope this new publication and the Eat Winter Vegetables website will set you up for success with winter vegetables. We are grateful to the Oregon Department of Agriculture for their support of this winter vegetable project, and to the farmers and other reviewers who shared their knowledge and insights with us.