Sunday 29 April 2012

Brassicas in; Chard out

This year I am experimenting with some different crops - like shallots and garlic, and the Three Sisters plants. This has of course meant less space for some of the other things. I have only been able to allocate to the Brassica family half of one of my raised beds. Yesterday, in between the heavy showers of rain, I found an opportunity to plant it up with these:


 Three Brussels Sprouts ("Brilliant") [centre], four Red cabbage ("Primero") and four summer green cabbage ("Golden Acre"). The individual seedlings were planted nice and deep, and the soil pressed in very firmly around them. If the weather had not been so wet I would have watered them in too. I have given each plant a "Brassica collar" to protect it against the Cabbage Root Fly.


These things provide a physical barrier so that the female flies cannot lay their eggs in the soil close to the seedlings. Afterwards I covered the whole bed with a net to keep the foxes off it, and sprinkled on a few slug-pellets. So a triple layer of defences then!


I also have a few Kohlrabi ("Modrava") and Summer Broccoli ("Matsuri") seedlings coming on. Where on earth I am going to put them remains unclear. Fortunately the Broccoli is a miniature version, so presumably won't take up too much space. I might be able to squeeze in the odd one or two plants here and there - or perhaps grow them in large pots.


In a week or two I will be sowing seed for next year's Sprouting Broccoli, and for Cavolo Nero, but I am deliberately leaving this until a bit later this year, in the hope that I may miss the worst of the Cabbage Root Fly season.  These crops will initially be grown in pots, and transplanted later, when the Broad Beans and Peas have finished.

I am currently trying to use up the Swiss Chard and Perpetual Spinach - both still going strong from last year - because I need space for the Three Sisters bed. So whereas normally I would only pick a few leaves from each plant, today I took out a couple of whole plants:


These plants are not huge - not much bigger than Pak Choi actually - but I still have another four in the ground, as well as about the same amount of Perpetual Spinach.


Opportunities to use them are comparitively rare since Jane doesn't like either of them, and it seems silly to cook separate meals when there are only the two of us to cater for. I tend to use it most often for a lunchtime snack at the weekends, served perhaps like this...


In my post tomorrow I will show you how I cooked some of it this weekend.

17 comments:

  1. I don't think it matters how much space we have, we always seem to have a problem finding room for everything we want to grow. Your brassicas look nice and healthy. No chance here of getting anything planted out, it's far too wet.

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  2. Its all looking very neat and healthy looking plants too. Like Jo, we have also been unable to plant anything out this weekend, far too wet!
    Gaz Alternative Eden

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  3. I don't like the sound of all that wetness :$
    Does that mean you won't need the hosepipe ban?
    It sounds like military precision is needed to combat all the beasties ~ I think they're up against a formidable adversary though.
    Good luck and have a great week :D

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  4. Really looking forward to seeing how you get on with the 3 sisters. I've always been a bit dubious about this method. I will be following with great interest..

    Martin

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  5. Now that is how I like to eat dandelion green. Going to have to try Swiss Chard again. Yours looks SO good!

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  6. That looks delicious. I always make separate parts to a meal with my husband. He just won't eat any veggies. But I want them on my plate, so I make it for one. I do sometimes cook something like spinach or kale up as a double serving and have it two days straight. A lot less pots that way.

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  7. As usual everything is looking great and we learn so much!

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  8. That egg looks incredible!! Mark, how much time do you spend in the garden? I love it that not only are you an immaculate gardener, but you put as much time and love into your food.

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  9. I'#m not sure when we will manage another plot visit as everything is far too wet and soggy - we now need some sunshine to dry things of a bit.

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  10. Looking forward to see what you did with your chard. I planted brassicas yesterday too - red cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli and a romanesco. Hopefully the cooler weather we are having will keep the butterlfies at bay.

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  11. I grow masses of chard and perpetual spinach and manage to include it in a fair few dishes - what we don't eat the sheep will - they love it.

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  12. The Chard looks really good. And a simply lovely way to prepare it! What do you use for the brassica collars?

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    1. David; I'm lazy: I buy commercially-made brassica collars from the Garden Centre. I don't need many, so it's not a big expense. I think they are made of some sort of fabric treated with a stiffener. I sort of hope they are made of recycled stuff!

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  13. Your Triple protection looks perfect!
    Do you know "Matsuri" means a festival in Japanese?

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    1. Takaeko, do you mean that it is the generic Japanese word for festival, or that there is a festival called "The Matsuri Festival"?

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    2. It's the generic one, Mark. So if you will go to a summer festival in Japan, it means you will go to a summer matsuri.

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  14. Looks all great. And, properly planted and protected. As for dishes you make, all of them are to my taste too. How wonderful to have the ingredients from ones own garden!

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