Cauliflower is one member of a diverse group of "flowering plants" known as Brassicas. The gene pool of this group is well represented by indigenous plants around the world. The "stemmed" (or cruciferous) varieties which are grown commercially are often collectively referred to as "Cole Crops". These also include broccoli, brussel sprouts, and cabbage. Historically, cauliflower is thought to have been discovered as a food source in the Mediteranean around 2000 years ago.

In a commercial sense, most of the fresh Cauliflower consumed in North America is produced in coastal desert California, year-round. Competitive production areas in the winter months includes central California, other interior desert states and to a lesser degree, Florida. In the summer months, the North-East region is a significant production area. This area includes upper New York State, Long Island as well as Michigan. This area also includes Canada, meaning Ontario and Quebec with lesser amounts also being produced in the Maritimes and other Canadian provinces. In season, significant quantities of Canadian cauliflower are exported to the U.S., a trend that seems to be increasing in the last few years.

Production of cauliflower is very demanding physically (because of it's nature) and mentally (because of the long hours). Today, this type of work is done by "offshore" labour. This is the industry standard in Ontario, Quebec and of course the United States. Wage rates are set by C.E.C., to reflect the prevailing local standards, which is somewhat above minimum wage. Our workers are from Barbados. In other parts of Canada, workers from Jamaica and Mexico fulfill similar requirements. In a competitive sense, this labour force has placed us on a level plane with virtually every other major producer in Canada.

Much of the work relating to both planting and harvesting remains essentially manual due it's delicate nature and the fact that a mature stand requires at least three passes (or "cuts") over five to ten days. In general terms, crops which are suitable for mechanical or automated harvest are those that can accomodate a single harvest date, i.e. potatoes or carrots. For example; from seeding to harvest, we estimate that each plant is individually manipulated or inspected at least 10 times prior to sale. When you consider that there are about 10,000 plants per acre, it adds up to alot of work. A given harvest - worker on our farm can, over the course of the season, bring about 7 acres of crop to the point of sale.