TopVeg – growing veg,fruit&herbs

April 6, 2010

End of Sprout Harvest

Filed under: brassicas — Tags: , , — TopVeg @ 9:16 pm

The Brussel Sprout harvest has come to an end.  The sprouts on the stalk have started to blow, puff out, and will soon be producing flowers and shoots.

pigeon-on-sprouts

pigeon-on-sprouts

Pigeons have been eating the sprout leaves and making quite a mess of the plants.

pecked-leaves

pecked-leaves

We have been clearing away the winter vegetables, to make room for our new 2010 vegetables. 

clearing-sprout-patch

clearing-sprout-patch

The brussel sprouts have been pulled up and will be left on the compost heap to rot.

binning-sprout-plants

binning-sprout-plants

In the Channel Islands the sprout stalks are dried and turned into walking sticks. 

An antique, 32 inch long, walking stick made from a sprout stalk was sold on ebay in March 2010 for £75.

Now the end of the sprout harvest has come, the Brussel sprout plants have been pulled up to make way for lettuce and radish.

November 17, 2009

Recipes for Brussels Sprouts wanted

Filed under: brassicas — Tags: , , — TopVeg @ 8:54 pm
brussels-sprouts

brussels-sprouts

The GBVC is wanting recipes using Brussels sprouts.

TopVeg loves sprouts steamed for 15 minutes – & can’t really beat that – but do let us know if you have a mouthwatering sprout recipe.

Sprouts are ready in the garden now, and should last for several months, so we could do with some variation!

Brussels-sprout-row

Brussels-sprout-row

It is all for a very good cause – Royal Navy Commanding Officer Wayne Keble OBE who is in charge of the illustrious HMS Bulwark, has dared to suggest that sprouts should be banned from the captain’s table – he actually called them the ‘devil’s vegetable.’

The Captain added “One of my roles as Commanding Officer is to ensure that we are fit and healthy and that we have a healthy lifestyle, moderate our alcohol intake and make sure we are not overweight.”

But, sprouts fill that role – as they are full of fibre, Vitamin A, Vitamin C, calcium and iron- just what his  390-strong team of sailors and Royal Marines need.

The GBVC is hoping that some tempting recipes will change the Captain’s mind – & hopefully win him over to sprouts.  So recipes for Brussels sprouts are wanted for a good cause; please send them in!

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