“The Encyclopaedia of Ancient Vegetables”

by Sabine Vuilleumier

(23 September 2021) Four organisations from Switzerland, Germany, Austria and Liechtenstein* have jointly published “a standard work that sets new standards”, which is already in its 4th edition in 2021. More than 800 varieties of vegetables are presented in well-documented portraits. It reports where the vegetable varieties come from and how old they are, where they were grown, who developed and nurtured them.

In the chapter on peas and snow peas, for example, after an introduction on their history, current importance, variety, cultivation, components and healing properties, there are 19 varieties with their names, characteristics, notes on cultivation and availability: Born, Corne de Bélier, Doré de Revermont, Früher Heinrich, Winterkefe Frieda Welten and many more – each variety has its own identity, which is described in detail in the encyclopaedia and accompanied by a beautiful illustration. The Winterkefe Frieda Welten comes from a Swiss organic garden pioneer from Spiez in the Bernese Oberland, the plant grows to over 2 metres high and forms pairs of purple flowers, its cultivation is explained in detail.

In our supermarkets, on the other hand, the shelves are full of tomatoes, courgettes, aubergines and peppers whose identity and origin cannot be ascertained – writes the managing director of ProSpecieRara, Béla Bartha. If a name does appear on a package, caution is again called for, as it often does not describe the variety itself, but any brand owned by an agricultural company that does not name a specific variety. Identity masking is systematic. “Varietal loyalty would be contrary to the spirit of the times and the dictates of the market, which always wants and needs to produce something new, since patents and plant variety protection for the food crops on offer expire after around twenty-five years and there is therefore nothing left for the industry to earn from the unprotected variety.“

ProSpecieRara, Arche Noah, ProSpecieRara Germany and Hortus make seeds accessible to all by providing a source of supply for each vegetable variety.

Portraits of people who are committed to the conservation of old crop varieties

Two examples are worth mentioning here: a 26-year-old pharmaceutical assistant has transformed the unused roof terrace of her apartment building in the city of Zurich into a small, fine garden pearl after consultation with her landlady. There she grows tomatoes, fennel, peas, lettuce and chard. In late summer, she had a rich harvest and ate an extremely large amount of tomato salad, usually with just a little olive oil, salt and pepper. The taste is so delicate that sauce or vinegar would have been too strong. Since she gets seed-proof varieties from ProSpecieRara, she does not have to spend money on seedlings every spring, but can harvest seeds from the varieties she has bought and grow them herself.

In the portrait “Hinter schwedischen Gardinen” [euphemism for “in prison”], a trained landscape educator describes how he works with offenders in the prison garden. “Many of them will probably never come out again because they remain a safety risk despite great therapeutic efforts. But doing meaningful work is still relevant.” Since 2000, the nursery has maintained an arboretum of fruit trees in cooperation with ProSpecieRara. The working educator also wants to have animals again. “Chickens from ProSpecieRara would be a good starting point for work-shy inmates, for example. In this way, the inmates learn to take responsibility towards an animal that they have to feed, but from which they in turn get something back, namely its eggs.”

Cultivated plants are a heritage of humanity

With this encyclopaedia, the publishers remind us that cultivated plants are a heritage of humanity, gifts passed on by our ancestors for thousands of years. “We have a responsibility to pass them on to future generations so that they too can secure their food base.” An invitation that I am sure many people will be happy to accept.

Serena, Marianna; Suanjak, Michael; Pedrazzetti, Franca; Brechbühl, Beat. Das Lexikon der alten Gemüsesorten. 800 Sorten – Geschichte, Merkmale, Anbau und Verwendung in der Küche. atVERLAG, Aarau und München, 4. Auflage 2021. 671 Seiten. ISBN 978-2-03800-620-6. This book is also available as an e-book.