One of the great pleasures of growing vegetables is to be able to harvest fresh salad in the cooler months,the flavor seems fresher and more welcome through autumn and Winter
its important to use varieties that are adapted to growing in these cooler conditions
The varieties that work for me are Continue reading Winter Salads
Spring cabbage are the cabbages we grow through the Winter to have available the following spring, they also can be used to produce Spring greens which are really just no heading cabbage.
The great thing about growing Spring cabbage is they are spaced at equidistant spacing and the thinnings in the Spring are used in the kitchen when we need to give more room to the growing cabbage
You can sow Spring cabbage till end of September and plant out till end of October so its perfect for the Autumn
Remember the wider the spacing Continue reading Growing Spring Cabbage
Flowersprouts called Kalettes in the USA are a cross between Brussels sprouts and kale but with a distinct sweet ‘nutty’ flavour
Its easy and very productive to grow and fantastic in the kitchen they’re nutritious (packed full of Vitamin C, E and B6) and has been developed over the last ten years using traditional breeding techniques so is a natural cross
It has a Brussels sprout-like growing habit with its tall stem and rosettes forming all the way up to a frilly-leaved top which can also be eaten
I get a lot of questions here at Learn How To Garden from subscribers and viewers. I had an interesting one recently from Ginny that’s very timely . Here’s Ginny’s question:
“I’ve just bought some hardy perennials, ‘Viola Odorata’ to grow among my brassicas. I read (or it could have been a dream!!) that growing white Viola make cabbage white butterfly’s think there are already lots of cabbage white’s on the brassicas and so they don’t bother to lay their eggs.”
It’s a really interesting question and that you post because what you’re attempting to do is actually confuse the butterflies that lay their eggs on your brassicas by presenting a visual mimicry to confuse the Cabbage White Butterflies and its a different type of companion planting because normally companion planting masks the scent of the vulnerable plant or actively produces chemicals that repel certain insects.
Insects normally are attracted to their host plants via scent, Continue reading Question: Can Violets be used to protect Brassicas from Insects
Whats makes then so versatile is that the tops are as versatile and make great green and there are varieties called Rapini which dont produce a bulb at all the best variety for this is Rapa da foglia senza testa .
the only problems you may get are Flea beetle: Leaves are covered in small holes and damaged areas turn brown. Seedlings are particularly susceptible but using fleece with stop this
