Root Chervil, Cultivariable Mix, 200 seeds

Root chervil (Chaerophyllum bulbosum) is an uncommon root crop – a close relative of the herb chervil.  It produces a carrot-like root with (to my taste) a very appealing sweet & savory flavor.

I have been working on root chervil for fifteen years, with a population derived from several sources of unimproved varieties and breeder’s lines.  Due to the difficulty of working with this crop, I elected to work on it as a modern landrace; that is, a genetically diverse population that is subject to ongoing selection but also occasional incorporation of small amounts of new genetics.  This mix has been selected primarily for longer growing season, drought tolerance, and flavor at harvest.  Average root size varies, with some of impressive size (as seen in the main picture).  They are not all that large, unfortunately.  I don’t claim to have made much improvement in this crop, which is why I continue to call it a mix.  I have a sneaking suspicion that about all that I have accomplished is to mix up a bunch of varieties and then reselect back to what the best one was to start with.  There is probably a wider genetic base here than you can easily find elsewhere, but if we were to genotype a bunch of plants, I bet we would find that 90% or more are still Altan, which was the best of what I started with.

Seed has a short life and needs to be stratified.  The easiest way is to sow it in the winter, whenever the soil is workable, and wait for it to come up in spring.  If you hope to keep seed for a future year, put it in the freezer.