A guide to Czech vegetables
August 2025
Last year we travelled through several regions, and at the beginning of this August we travelled north from Prague - through the golden fertile zone of Central Bohemia to the border with Poland. We saw different forms of agriculture (conventional and organic), different conditions, subsoil and attitudes to cultivation, different human fates... and we confirmed that no approach is without error and the quality of the harvest is, after all, mainly influenced by the character of the grower.
Vegetables are also raw materials!
First we visited Smotlach Farm in Hlavenec. Mr. and Mrs. Smotlach grow delicious tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers and eggplants in the tunnels and during the tour they talked to us about generational change in agriculture, about selling from their yard and supplying to restaurants.
Although the businesses are not involved, it is worth considering linking up with transporters to take the vegetables to nearby Prague. There are possibilities! We also talked about the future of the Czech vegetable industry, which is still facing unrivalled cheaper imports and a lack of recognition from local customers. We perceive a higher value for meat (historically), although vegetables are an equally valuable raw material!
City opportunities
From there, we continued to Liberec - to the roof of DB Schenker, where Tereza Nalezená, as part of her PhD thesis and research, built her hydroponic farm, Salad on the roof. Agriculture has a societal benefit! The aim of the project is to cool and green cities through growing on industrial buildings.
Not only do the employees of the companies receive the crops as a benefit, but salads in several varieties (bred for hydroponic cultivation) are available in Liberec and its surroundings. Soon they will also go to Prague or Pardubice.
Horses in heat
Our next stop was Lukava Farm. Jana Rosenbaum gave us an overview of working with horses to help farm and fertilise the land. They are probably the only ones in the Czech Republic who grow vegetables in this way. Between the rows for cauliflowers we made it clear that cooperation between restaurants and farmers is a firm agreement and that a sustainable farm is one that keeps the land healthy but also manages to retain its workforce. Agriculture (like gastronomy) faces the question of how to better set the conditions for human and present a new concept of farming to the younger generation that will not discourage but excite.
The number of people employed in the agricultural sector is constantly declining, both in the Czech Republic and in Europe as a whole. However, it would be progress if agriculture were to regain its former respectability, just as cooking and other trades deserve it.
Trees belong in the landscape
The following day we stayed in the foothills of the Jizera Mountains on Farm u Macháčků who found meaning in agroforestry. In practice they combine the cultivation of trees and vegetables, planting trees on their land which are important for the agricultural landscape and the soil and have traditionally been one of the principles of farming.
The Macháček family also sells vegetables in the form of boxes (CSA) to restaurants in the region and, through sales, directly teaches their customers to adopt the unpredictability of the weather-dependent season. Nature doesn't look at dates! We took home their famous garlic and an invitation to a garlic festival. Harvest celebrations are part of our culinary culture.
After tons
We ended our two-day trip by meeting Mrs. Riegl, who has been running Šlapanice Farm with her husband for 30 years. They run a stall in Anděl or in the Holešovice market. We looked at the fields and the polytunnels and heard how few growers are selling at the markets today and how much young people need to get their hands dirty.
We also saw how garlic is dried (18 tons are harvested in Šlapanice each year), and the lecho peppers in the local shop reminded us that only with the support of gastronomy and consumers can we have great Czech vegetables in our kitchens.
In summary
Through excursions and interviews with farmers, we learn how human predictions of the season are shaky, how much effort it takes to harvest and what determines quality. It is born beneath the surface, or from the living soil, populated by bugs, fungi and micro-organisms, from which raw materials get their flavour and nutrients. At the same time, we learn to understand the real price of local vegetables. It's similar to restaurants! A cauliflower costs as much money as the care the farmer has given to it in the field. Sustainability is about respect and a fair price must be respected.
Similarly, we already know why cauliflowers, for example, are not usually grown over the summer - high temperatures and pest infestations are the reasons, and that parsnips taste best in the spring, when they are allowed to overwinter and get weaker. It is the farmers with their experience who reliably supplement the cooking calendar of seasonality.
The approach makes the value
Good gastronomy uses good ingredients, and regardless of the category of establishment. For example Prague's Lokal pubs, which have teamed up with farmer Hanka Součková. She also imports vegetables to Michelin-starred La Degustation, for which she harvests differently sized fruits at a certain stage of ripeness or in a different volume, but the quality of the produce does not differ in principle.
Moreover, in restaurants and farms, we are aware that the choice of raw materials more than just the word 'Czech'. We need to know the full 'life story' of the vegetables we are cooking with. And because access makes value, it is worth to build relationships with farmers who respect the land and our living environment!
