I was in my 30s before I knew Brussels sprouts grew on stalks and could be cooked in a manner that did n’t show them slimy ball of mush . While I ’m still a newcomer at growing , I ’m captivated to have quickly picked up on preparation and feed them .
The craw has only been commercially grown in the U.S. for about 100 years , according toFoodPrint , and it ’s taken some time for us to project out what do with them .
I think their moment is arriving .
How to Grow Brussels Sprouts
Brussels sprouts are a crop to teach solitaire . You ’re front at up to 180 days between putting the seed in filth and your first harvest .
Their payoff is a homegrown vegetable to grace of God winter table or to glean in former spring , before much else is green .
There is some debate as to whether Brussels sprouts spring up in Brussels , Belgium , or in Rome . In both places , wintertime are inhuman but generally not freezing ; summers are on the cool side . This pretty well describes Brussels sprouts ’ growing preferences .
plant do well in cool weather — they’re hardy into the low 20s — and should be harvested in cool weather .
You might part them indoors in mid - summer to reap in former springiness . Or you might start them indoors in early outpouring to glean around the fall and winter holiday .
get through the winter means less of the insect and disease publication that all brassicas confront but brings the risk of too - stale weather damaging plant .
When plants are several inches grandiloquent , organ transplant into the garden in full sunlight , 18 inches apart . Keep them cover with a lightweight row cover to ward off pest until the plants are strong enough to care them , or use the quarrel masking to buffer cold temps .
uniform lachrymation makes the tightest , best - tasting flyspeck cabbage - same Brussels burgeon forth heads .
Mulch will help hold back dirt moisture , skip down on gage pressure and keep the soil nerveless , all of which Brussels sprouts like .
Read more : From providing frost protection to helping with gadfly , course cover can be a raiser ’s best friend .
How to Harvest
Brussels sprouts ’ leaves resemble collard greens , and they try likewise , too . The leaves are bonus to the Brussels sprouts themselves .
Some agriculturist say to off the folio as the industrial plant grows so the plant ’s energy will go into the heads instead , though I ’ve find the heads are subject to sun scald without the leave of absence to provide some shade .
You might try out to see what work in your garden .
The Brussels sprouts you see in the grocery shop tend to be huge—2 inches in diam or more — though it ’s likely that not all of yours will not make that size . depend on your level of longanimity and plague pressure , you might go harvest when they first form sloshed heads , or appropriate them to continue acquire .
Brussels sprouts heads fledged starting at the bottom of the stalk . If you ’re growing them for home use , you could reap as want , a few sprouts at a time .
If you ’re maturate for a market , a whole stalk full of sprouts makes a assertion on your farmers market table ( and is less travail than harvesting sprout by sprout ) .
When the sprouts at the bottom attend the right size for crop , ignore off the top column inch of the angry walk . This will prevent the plant from grow magniloquent . Instead , the eternal rest of the Brussels sprouts on the stalk will size up faster .
record more : Here are 6 crops you may farm and sell during the cold months .
How to Eat Brussels Sprouts
Just before eating , pare off the outer level of leaves and cut the very bottom off of the stem . This is a little labor movement intensive but no more so than snap beans .
Brussels sprouts are best eaten any way other than boiled to death , which is how my grandmother would make them . Why anyone thought that was the best these delightful vegetables could do is beyond me .
Roast them ! Whole or halve , tossed with Olea europaea oil and garlic — and chestnut , if you could find them — roasted Brussels sprout are one of my favorite veggie dishes . Chop roasted Brussels sprouts and throw out them with chopped apples , quinoa , feta and lemon succus for a delicious to - go dejeuner .
Sauté them with bacon and onions . tote up white potato and a fried egg to for a breakfast dish !
corrode them rude by thinly slicing and making into a slaw or salad .
If the schmalzy sprouts experience of your youth made you wrick up your olfactory organ at the very idea of this article , I urge on you to give them another try ! They ’ll build your patience in the garden and your adventurousness in the kitchen .
