Cauliflower Pavilion F1

The Pavilion F1 Cauliflower (in Latin, Brassica oleracea botrytis) is a variety of Australian origin, of excellent quality, which produces heads of a beautiful pure white, protected by large leaves. This Cauliflower has been awarded by the prestigious Royal Horticultural Society. It is sown from May to June for a harvest from September to October.

With a lovely immaculate white and even, in recent years, joyfully yellow, orange or purple, the Cauliflower is a flowering vegetable whose fleshy meristem is consumed. It belongs to the large family of Brassicaceae (formerly Cruciferae) and bears the Latin name Brassica oleracea botrytis. Sometimes called Cyprus Cabbage, the Cauliflower is a biennial vegetable plant whose supposed origin is China.

Consumed for the first time in Germany only 300 years ago, this vegetable has earned a special place in our kitchens as it lends itself to many preparations. It can be consumed raw in salads or cooked, plain, in gratin with béchamel sauce, or accompanied by a curry sauce that complements its flavor very well. It is a low-calorie vegetable and rich in vitamin C.

There are many varieties of Cauliflowers and each one has a distinct growing period that should be respected. Thus, by carefully choosing your seeds, you can have this vegetable all year round.

The Cauliflower is a demanding vegetable, it requires excellent organic fertilizer and regular watering.

NB: This variety is labeled F1 for 'hybrid F1' because it is a variety resulting from the cross-breeding of carefully selected parents to combine their qualities. This results in a variety that can be particularly flavorful and/or early while being resistant to certain diseases. Sometimes criticized or wrongly associated with GMOs, F1 hybrid seeds are interesting both for their homogeneity and their resistance, but unfortunately, their qualities do not pass on to the next generations: it will therefore not be possible to recover the seeds for later sowing.

Harvest: The Cauliflower is harvested when its head is well compact by simply cutting it at ground level.

Storage: Cauliflower does not keep very well. It is best to consume it quickly after harvesting. It can be stored for a few days in the refrigerator. You can also freeze it after blanching it for 3 minutes in salted boiling water.

The gardener's little tip: The main enemy of the cabbage is the Cabbage White (Pieris brassicae), a pretty cream-white butterfly with small black spots that wakes up from April-May to wreak havoc all summer by devouring its leaves. We prefer, at our place, to opt for prevention by installing insect-proof netting on market garden hoops. These nets are easy to set up and reusable to protect, for example, your carrot and leek crops.