Bitter PSB

[muddled]

A year in the growing and my eagerly anticipated PSB crop tastes unpleasantly bitter

When the first harvest from the earliest plant tasted bitter, I put it down to being an errant plant, weeks ahead of the others so possibly 'faulty'.
But now, as the other plants (all ten of them) are equally bitter I am wondering what could have caused this?

It is rather old seed.
I've been using the same seed for the past four years (I'm miserly with it) and still get near 100% germination. Untill now the spears have been delicious.

The ground?
This is my first crop of psb on this allotment. Might there be something in the soil to cause bitterness?

Neglect?
I pamper my psb seedlings, starting in modules then potting on several times before planting out. After that though, I barely do anything for them the rest of the year. I only water in extreme drought, I net for pigeons and flutterbies but that's about it.

What could have ruined my most precious crop of the year?

signed Gutted in London

[WendyC]

I do find the first pickings are often stronger tasting than the later ones. I put it down to them having been growing for a longer time. I find later pickings are milder.
Have you picked a second or third time, you might find they are better. How about giving them a handful of feed, ( I use pelleted chicken manure) and a good watering to get them really producing and see if they are better. Do you know what variety they are? It is so disappointing having invested a long time and a lot of space to not get the results you were anticipating.

[Snadger]

I don't quite understand what you mean by 'Bitter' Do you mean bitter in a lemony way or similar to milk that's gone off?
I'm no cook, but to me sweet is the opposite of bitter so maybe add a bit sugar?

I'm eating my PSB with gusto now and today have sown some for this time next year.

[muddled]

I don't quite understand what you mean by 'Bitter' Do you mean bitter in a lemony way or similar to milk that's gone off?

No, not sour like lemon or milk...actual bitter...like...ummmm...(gosh! how to describe bitter?) I'll try to think of a better adjective.

And yes WendyC, this was my third picking. I'll pop up the plot tomorrow and give them a good drenching, although, we've had some rain recently so they aren't parched.

Thing is, psb takes so much space for a whole year, if this plot will only produce this level of quality then it's probably not worth it.

[Penellype]

I have several PSB plants at home and 3 at my friend's grown from the same packet of seeds at the smae time. At home they are in the sahde, at my friend's they are in the sun and the plants there are bigger and more developed. The spears from the plants at my friend's are definitely stronger tasting than the ones at home, and I woudl describe the leaves and flowers as rather bitter (but nowhere near as bitter as chicory for instance). I was certainly disappointed, but I have found cooking them a bit longer helps.

Are yours growing in the sun when previously you grew PSB in the shade?

[Alison]

The different varieties can taste a bit different too (although that wouldn't be relevant here if you've used old seeds and it was fine before). I grew WSB one year and found that a bit bitter and nowhere hear as tender as the standard PSB which I also grew. Didn't bother with the WSB after that but my PSB is in full sun almost all the time and certainly lovely and tasty and "how it should be" if you see what I mean.