Where there are brassicas there has to be broccoili but for us unfortunately last year there was hardly any broccoli at all. We had no early broccoli thanks to the rubbish plants we were supplied with. Both Dobies and Marshalls supplied terrible plants. Dobies refunded our payment but Marshalls insisted that the plants would rally and were of the quality they would expect! They didn't rally and the result was hardly any winter/early spring brassicas. Then the summer broccoli plants that we had grown from seed didn't thrive in the poor conditions. Result was a broccoliless (my word) year.
This year we raised our own winter brassica plants and after last year's disappointment will continue to do so. Anyway moaning over and on to what we have ordered in the broccoli line. I'm including calabrese here too. There's nothing out of the ordinary in the broccoli list - White Sprouting Early and Early Purple.
The photo below is just about all we got from last year's plants and we shared it.
We've chosen two varieties of calabrese (green sprouting broccoli) - Green Magic and Marathon. We have grown both varieties for several years.
We grow a variety of cabbages, autumn, winter, spring, summer, red, green, crinkly and smooth. All the varieties that we have chosen this year, we have grown for several years. These are Kilaton (autumn which is club root resistant), Huzaro (red), Hispi (spring), Candissa (summer). tundra (winter) and January King (winter).
We grow a variety of cabbages, autumn, winter, spring, summer, red, green, crinkly and smooth. All the varieties that we have chosen this year, we have grown for several years. These are Kilaton (autumn which is club root resistant), Huzaro (red), Hispi (spring), Candissa (summer). tundra (winter) and January King (winter).
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This early purple broccoli looks stunning! Such a vibrant color! I like it very much. Do you grow a kohlrabi? It's very popular in Poland, I'm going to sow a purple kohlrabi this year ( http://www.epnos.pl/okno.php?d=of_nas_warz&id_gatunek=67&id_odmiana=152&nr_kat=NAS00881 )
ReplyDeleteIt's a pity that purple broccoli goes green when it is cooked, Dewberry, We have grown kohlrabi in the past but not for a long time.
DeleteI didn't know about the broccoli, that's a pity indeed. It's the same as with the purple runner beans, they also go green. Even so, it's worth growing purple broccoli just to look at it, it looks really cool.
DeleteFor me, a year without PSB hardly bears thinking about. I have never bought veg plants. I always grow mine from seed, and having heard about your experience I think I will continue to do so.
ReplyDeleteI like the name "Aalsmeer" - it means "Eel's Lake" doesn't it? Lets hope it's not prone to Eelworm!
Let's hope not indeed, Mark - it produced well this year!
DeleteI sometimes wonder whether brassicas are worth the effort.
ReplyDeleteThey appear to take up too much space and attract various nasties.
I think it's down to how much space you have and what you enjoy eating, Peter. I think broccoli is the most worthwhile as you can rarely buy it as fresh as it needs to be.
DeleteI never had any luck growing brassica from nursery. All we must sow by our own. Oh broccoliless for us this year but hope not will try to see whether we have any proper heads! But this will only be tested by mid-year when the monsoon is much nearer.
ReplyDeleteWe won't be buying plants again, Diana
DeleteI'm reading everyone's posts about purple sprouting broccoli with envy, none for me this year, but I hope to rectify that next year.
ReplyDeleteNo need to be envious of us yet, Jo we haven't cropped any yet.
DeleteCouldn't do without brassicas - especially at the back end of the year - and the early spring - when everything else has been shut down. I try to do two seed sowing sessions (earlies and lates) each year but somehow never got around to the second one this year so no kale, swede, PSB or spring cabbage this year. Woe is me!
ReplyDeleteThe great news for the forgetful is that brassica seeds last longer than any other sort of seed so if you forget to sow them you can keep onto them and sow them the next year... or the year after! As a result I have a handsome collection of seeds for 2013. Checking them I discover (to my surprise) that I have Cauliflower Aalsmeer in preference to Clapton, probably because I already have All The Year Round. I'm trying Hispi cabbage, also for the first time this year. Is it really as reliable as they say? As for swedes, there are many Scottish named varieties (aside from the usual Marian). I'll be growing Melfort and Tweed this year. Kale is another must for us: Hungry Gap and Cavelo Nero plus Real Seeds Sutherland. We also habitually grow January King, Tundra and brussell Early Half Tall. The brassica net is going to be bulging this year!
We've grown Hispi in the past Mal and it has performed reliably
DeleteHmm, seeing all those lovely brassicas makes me think we should do a bit more on our plots. This year we are going to do some early cabbage as home-grown coleslaw is THE BEST!
ReplyDeleteBroccolli mmm... it really does look good!
We make our own coleslaw too Belinda and variations depending on what we have available
DeleteI absolutely love brassica's! Cabbage, brussels, broccoli, swede etc are a regular in our house, not to mention cauliflowers. What would us gardeners do without the wonderful brassica.
ReplyDeleteWhat indeed njgf?
DeleteInteresting about the 'rubbish plants'. I received some rubbish seeds from Dobies too. Last year Adam decided he wanted to order a load and as a result (yes of course I blame him too ;) we ended up with no peas. How can peas just not grow? They were Dobies seeds. I'll never buy from them again. Your crops do looks excellent. The Cauili's are superb!
ReplyDeleteMust admit though Anna our peas were poor germinators last year and we bought ours elsewhere
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