All things Brussels Sprouts - call for help and other sprout-lovers!

[Ellie Sprout]

Hi everyone,

This is a call for anyone interested in growing (and cooking/eating) brussels sprouts.

I am a journalism student and over the past few months have been running a series of websites for people who love brussels sprouts (as opposed to the traditional hating clichee) - it's all part of a project for my MA which I've called "Sprout it from the Rooftops".

Great over Christmas - loads of stories of cooking, burger king "sprout burgers", etc. - and now that the planting season is starting, I'm taking the plunge and growing my own.

Does anyone have any tips for me? Or any dos and don'ts or stories they could share about brussels sprout growing? So far I have a box out on the patio and my flatmate and I are keeping them nice and damp especially in the hot weather at the moment.

And take a look at the websites too!

__________________
Ellie Sprout

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Blog: Sprout lovers – you are not alone! | Sprout it from the Rooftops
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Twitter: @loveasprout

[zazen999]

I love sprouts but by eck, they are difficult to grow!

Gerry my lottie neighbour always offers us some, and I got a stick of them from work last year - so I put the space over to other veg [like Cabbages - much easier and you get more out of them]...

But one thing is to net against cabbage whites, and to make sure the soil is rock hard around the roots or the sprouts blow before you can use them.

[scarey55]

Hello Ellie, I have moved your post to here and deleted the second (duplicated) one

[coreopsis]

Yes,I grew some sprouts a couple of years ago.Cared for them,weeded,fed,watered,collected caterpillars.My special Christmas sprouts.So Christmas came with the snow,knee deep,then frost.Couldn't find the b***dy sprouts.
I like sprouts but I'd rather buy them.

[Alison]

I had quite a good crop last year from an early sowing inside which was potted on into increasingly larger pots - ended up in 5" pots as the ground wasn't ready in time. Planted out in mid to late May (I think), well trodden in and enviromeshed from the start. For some reason a couple of the plants got much taller than the rest and I had to extend the netting but other than that no problems. They were almost ready quite early then slowed down when the weather went cold. The only veg that was easy to harvest on Christmas Eve as at least they were above ground, unlike the parsnips, carrot, swede and leeks which were a right pain in the frozen ground . To be honest I don't find them difficult but they do take a lot of space / time for the harvest.

[Snadger]

Just finished harvesting my Crimbo sprouts last week..............

F1's are more reliable but I've reverted to an open pollinated variety this year to give them another go.