Topic: When do I remove cabbages and broccoli?? (guess that teegee knows this :-)

[antipodes]

As those who have followed my adventures may know I had some romanesco in my garden. Not a terrific harvest but it filled the spaces over the autumn :D
Nopw I have cut off all but a couple of the heads I am left with these huge cabbage-y plants. I also have some calabrese broccoli that still sprouts some small florets but nowt much to speak of. Should I remove them? or do more heads grow?
I also have some roundhead smooth cabbages: some have gone a little mouldy but we are slowly eating through them. I have some regrowth on some of the stems but when do I actually dig them up? I did want to prepare some of these areas for the spring but I don't really want to chop things down if they will still produce food. And how can I compost these huge cabbage stems?
Thanks for any advice you can give.

[Tee Gee]

(guess that teegee knows this :-)

I appreciate your confidence in me but this sounds a bit like having your cake & eating it. Am I correct? ;)

I have cut off all but a couple of the heads I am left with these huge cabbage-y plants.

I need a crystal ball answer this one but here goes;

Firstly it will depend a lot upon the weather if you get any more spears of broccoli, you certainly won't get any more heads.

So next thing is; if you want to prepare your ground for this seasons crops then lift them, if you want to leave the preparation till later then leave the broccoli plants in and you might  get a few more spears.

My vote would be to 'prepare for this seasons crops.

I also have some calabrese broccoli that still sprouts some small florets but nowt much to speak of.

The same as mentioned above will apply here also.

I also have some roundhead smooth cabbages: some have gone a little mouldy but we are slowly eating through them. I have some regrowth on some of the stems but when do I actually dig them up?

Initially do what preparation you can without moving them, then as you are ready to prepare the area they are in, lift them if they are in the way of new produce, if not leave them growing until last gasp.

And how can I compost these huge cabbage stems?

Yes providing the plants are not diseased e.g suffering from club root.

I hope that answers your question.

Just a point for the future; You will most likely faced with this quandary every year so fit these late plants into your rotation and autumn digging plan.

I generally plan to follow these late plants with salad and fast growing crops so this allows me to prepare the remainder of my plot/s and leave my winter greens to mature.

Then in late spring / early summer I dig up what is left and sow & transplant as necessary.

So after all that it comes down to............planning!!

[antipodes]

Thanks for that brilliant answer!!! (eating that cake now ha ha)
This year I didn't really have enough experience or protective material to do any winter plants, except for these daft cabbages and some sprouts. I even planted the wrong type of leeks, so they are just wilting up on the lot instead of bulking up like real winter types do...  ::)
Hopefully next year I will be a bit more organized and get in some things that will see me through the winter!
OK so to sum up I will hoik out the broccoli/romanesco, chop em up and stick em in the compost (club root does not seem to be a problem over here...) and work around the cabbages until I have eaten them all! I am satisfied with this because the romanesco are next to where I want to plant the first onions so if I can get them out, that will suit the first spring tasks.
I must admit that broccoli is a bit of an oddity, some of the plants get so big but you don't really eat much of it when you think about it! Although I did eat some of the leaves as I mistook the plants at first for cabbage greens, but I wouldn't recommend it, they are not very tasty!
Thanks TeeGee our resident cabbage champ!!!

[Rob the rake]

Hi, Antipodes. Brassica stems can be problematic to compost because they are so woody. You can put them in the compost bin as normal, and keep putting them back in each time the compost is harvested, until they finally rot down completely, but if you chop or smash up the stems they will compost much more quickly.
If you know someone who has a shredder, this is by far the easiest way. I don't, unfortunately, so I either chop them with my trusty machete (a spade does the same job) or smash them up with the back of an axe.

If all this sounds like too much effort, just put them all in a black bag, and leave them to rot in their own good time. Eventually they will break down into a beautiful, dark material which makes a great potting compost.

[Robert_Brenchley]

Burying them is quite effective, though I find it takes two years for them to disappear.

[allanwoolley]

As far as dealing with the woody brassica stems my method is to dump them in the local council's green bin.   They are simply a waste of time.   Concentrate your energies in composting something that will give a decent return.