Cute Kohlrabi

We were walking along a river in the town of Interlaken in Switzerland.  The water was flowing fast because it was mid May and the snow in the mountains was melting fast.  This obviously was a well-to-do area of Interlaken.  The houses here had a large footprint, were three stories high, ground floor, first floor and loft under steep sloping roofs. The gardens were large and formal.  The ornamental bushes and trees were only just waking up after a long cold winter.

But here too a quiet revolution is underway.  One garden had been transformed into a vegetable garden.  Being Australian, I thought 'good on ye, mate!', and we had a good look at what this person was growing.

Immediately a row of vegetables with light-green swollen spherical stems, about as large as tennis balls, caught our attention:

We probably were lingering longer than your average passer-by would, because a window just under the roof in the loft of the house opened and a woman peered out.  She didn't say anything, but it was clear she was assessing what we were up to.  In a reflex I waved to her and that must have put her at ease because she waved back and then closed the window and disappeared.

I felt I had permission to take the photo you see above.

A week later we were at a market in Bern, the capital of Switzerland, and I saw this:

Again these globes were not very large, maybe tennis ball size.

The label says 'Rübköhli' and I concluded that this must be a green variety of what we call 'Kohlrabi'.

I am aware of the larger purple variety called 'Purple Vienna', but have never seen this green variety before.  I looked it up and found that it is best eaten when small.  Its taste is described as similar to the stem of young broccoli, but milder and sweeter and with a higher ratio of flesh to skin.  It can be crisp and juicy like an apple, but much less sweet. 

If you know where to get seed of this green Kohlrabi please let us know on foodgardengroup@gmail.com