Choose a cool day to plant winter crops

Press, 15 January 1982, Page 11

Choose a cool day to plant winter crops

GARDENING

by

M. Lusty

Now is the time to get those winter crops planted but it is best to delay such activity until the evening or wait for a cooler day.

Brassicas form one of the most important groups of vegetables for planting now, and as the keen grower will know there is a wide selection of both kinds and varieties. In this way the discern-

ing vegetables grower is able to provide a considerable variation to the menu.

Apart from the successional winter cabbages such as Omega Savoy and Winterpride,there is Bore Cole or Curly Kale which bears a tight rosette of leaves from a main stem; there are tall growing and dwarf growing forms.

The leaves are pulled from the main stem starting with the lowest ones, and provided the plants are handled reasonably well it is possible to continue to pull leaves on a regular basis right until the spring has arrive. Very hardv, this is an excellent stand-by which provides a tasty if not delicate green.

Broccoli or Winter Cauliflower may mature into a very heavy and large plant. It is in all respects the same as the generally-grown types but takes quite a long time to develop. It should not be confused with Sprouting Broccoli.

Sprouting Broccoli, or Calabrese, as it is less commonly called, produces a succession of small cauli-flower-like growths, green in colour, which emerge from the main stem. It is now a very popular green widely used both as a fresh and frozen product.

It is essential to harvest sprouting broccoli at the right time to really appreciate its appetising flavour. It should be cut when the buds

are perfectly green and tight and not left until it is beginning to open out and the yellow flowers are becoming visible. Sprouting broccoli should be cut with about 150 mm of stem attached. Brussels Sprouts are too familiar to need detailing. It is not one of the easier vegetables to grow well, but some of the newer cultivars mav assist in this respect. Less commonly grown, and probably very much less well known, or even heard of are

such vegetables as Collards, a kale-like non-leading cabbage, Broccoli rab, and Mustard Greens. Kohl rabi, a plant sometimes. referred to as turniprooted cabbage, Chinese cabbage, swedes and turnips are other very useful brassicas to grow. Generally all brassicas respond to’ a soil which has been limed in the past year or two. partly because they prefer slightly more alkaline conditions than most vege-

tables but also because it helps to reduce the incidence of club root. Also, the previous addition of plenty of organic matter is a decided advantage. All brassicas are extremely susceptible to' aphid and caterpillars. It is most essential to prevent these pests getting established on the young plants. Spraying at regular intervals with acephate or pirimiphos-methyl is very strongly advocated.