Monday, December 5, 2011

Garden super stars


The first of Brussels Sprouts were snapped from their stalk this week. Steve Solomon waxes poetic about the power of Brussels Sprouts, 'each a little package of vitality'. Brussels are super hardy, super cute and super tasty Are they the super stars of winter? It sounds like Brussels are an old friend of mine, but really we've just met. Like many other vegetables, Brussels and I got off to a rocky start. We met in an overcooked slop of misunderstanding. It is no wonder that I never put that small green bag of leaves anywhere near my mouth. I was young and they were stinky and strange. Brussels weren't alone. Beets were also barred entry, asparagus, too. I'm not sure if I had even heard of chard or kale, but I'm sure that they'd have been immediately black-listed as well. Though, I did love my spinach, peas and corn. I've always loved creamed-corn, which is odd, because it is the leader of slimy food movement. In any event, Brussels, beets and I have mended our fences. They now carry most-favored vegetable status and a prominate place in the garden. We have two variety of Brussels in the garden this year, Franklin and Roodnerf. All of them have put sprouts on, but one variety (Franklin) had the time to swell their sprouts to perfection, some nearing golf ball size. They snap off the stalk with a satisfying pop and do seem to be packed with vitality and courage.
Brussels chatting with broccoli and onion, plotting
their escape from the wok.

Cabbage also made another appearance in the kitchen this week. The first one was picked last week, and another came in with me yesterday. The remaining cabbage variety is savoyed, meaning its leaves are crinkly. Savoyed is an interesting word. It brings to mind dancing, rather than vegetable. I barely looked to see what else the word conveys. Wikipedia doesn't do it justice. I'm not certain where on the scale of slightly-to-heavily savoyity our cabbages are, but they are photogenic. Their leaves are a varied variety of healthy looking green. With the brilliant sun of yesterday on them, it seemed like everything was right in the world.






This post link linked to from Daphne's Dandelion's Harvest Monday post. Head over there to see what others are growing this time of year.

10 comments:

  1. Hey Randy, your Brussels look perfect! When did you plant them? I think our timing was off. The ones we planted in the early spring have small sprouts that were attacked by aphids all summer and the fall starts we planted won't be ready until next spring.

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  2. That's a good looking brusells sprout plant, I don't have much luck with it, maybe I should work on my timing next year.

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  3. ooooh more Brussels Sprouts! I love those little guys, steamed till tender and dripping butter, yum! Just haven't figured out the best way to grow them here yet. Funny how our tastes change over the years, isn't it?

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  4. Lovely Brussels sprout plant. My Brussels sprouts did not do well this year. Next year should be a better year. Your savoy cabbages are good looking too.

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  5. Those are really well grown brussel sprouts - nicely formed and good sized. I really do love those little treats!

    Your savoy cabbages are really beautiful too. They are particularly winter hardy and are so pretty in the winter garden - like a vegetable flower.

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  6. Oh my another with brussel sprouts. I do love them things and am going to figure out how to grow them yet.

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  7. Michele - planting date: 6/11. I put in a nursery bed of brassica. That bed included broccoli, cabbage and sprouts. All except the one sprout variety matured well. The Roodnerf variety is started to have a 100 day maturity age, the Franklin variety calls out 80. I can see the difference in the sprouts for sure.

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  8. Thanks for the nice words. This is the second year of Brussels Sprout cultivation. It won't be the last. For growing references, I'd point you toward the writing of John Seymour - The Self-Sufficient Gardener is the book of his that I own. His other works on self sufficiency are tempting, too.

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  9. You did a great job with those sprouts, they sized up so well. It's so hard to get the timing right with brussels sprouts so I leave it to the pros. Lucky for me there are a lot of sprouts grown around here and I can buy an entire fresh stalk for about 3 dollars or less. It's amazing how many people hate them because they've only had them over cooked and stinky. I've converted a few sprouts haters with my quick cooked shredded sprouts.

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  10. @Michelle-Shredded sprouts...quick to cook, but probably good raw atop whatever dinner is. Tasty regardless.

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