How to grow them
Sow in spring and plant out in early summer, 60cm apart: they become big plants. Firm the soil, stake them before the autumn gales and net them against pigeons through the winter.
Cabbage family
Purple sprouting broccoli
It takes nearly a year, and repays you with fresh greens when the plot has little else.
- Buy as
- Seed
- Space
- 60cm between plants, 60cm between rows
- Position
- Full sun
- Rotation
- Cabbage family
- Difficulty
- Needs a little care
The year
Sow indoors
Sow outdoors
Plant out
Harvest
When to pick
Snap off the purple shoots when they are 10 to 15cm long, before the flowers open. Keep picking and it will crop for eight weeks.
What goes wrong
Problems, and what to do
Pigeons
They are the main enemy. Net all winter.
Wind rock
Tall plants loosen in the soil. Stake them and firm round the stems.
Caterpillars
Net in summer.
Good neighbours: Nasturtiums.
Same family
More from cabbage family
CabbagesWith the right varieties you can cut a cabbage in every month of the year.
KaleThe toughest green on the plot. It stands through snow and feeds you in the hungry gap.
Broccoli (calabrese)The green broccoli of the supermarket, ready in about twelve weeks.
Brussels sproutsA long wait and a lot of space, for sprouts that taste nothing like the boiled ones of memory.
CauliflowersThe hardest of the family to grow well, and the most satisfying when you do.
SwedesA winter root that looks after itself. It is a brassica, so it goes in the cabbage bed.
TurnipsFast, and far better small. Pulled at golf-ball size they are sweet enough to eat raw.
RadishesSeed to plate in four weeks. The crop to sow with children, or between slower rows.