first harvest

[ruud]

I got my first two cauliflowers from the allotment,i planted them last year and they stayed all winter outside.Everyone here said to me it cant be done but i have done it..Tomorrow i am having my own growned cauliflower on my plate with a nice currysauce on top of it.Bon appetite.

[ruud]

[Wicker]

There you go then ruud, that's excellent.  don't know about  curry sauce tho I like curry but usually have cheese sauce with caulis.  Enjoy!

[Mrs Ava]

Excellent Ruud, altho I don't think I would want curried cauli!  :P  My radishes are already bulbing up and some of my lettuce look edible to me.  Tis great isn't it.  I get all excited when I pick herbs from my garden, don't think I will be able to cope with the excitement when I start picking from the lottie!!  ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

[ruud]

Wicker cheesesauce is oke for me,that is the way my children likes cauliflower.

[tim]

Oh, yes - curry - Madhur Jaffrey style!! = Tim

[cleo]

stir fried with mustard seeds- yum. I miss caulis but this soil is just too light.

Stephan.

[ina]

Sounds great with curry, makes me think of alu ghobi (spelling?) which was one of my favorite dishes while in India. Potato-cauliflower curry, only too bad that they cook all veggies to death there.

Fantastic that your cauli survived the winter, I'm going to tell the old-timers at our lottie complex about this. Harvesting cauliflower in April!

[aquilegia]

We had our first harvest out of the garden at the weekend - I copied Monty and thinned my radishes and there were enough to add to our salad. Delicous - tiny but so very peppery. mmmm.

[AlanP]

Hi Ruud, glad you are enjoying your cauli.  Try the seeds called Galleon for winter cauli.  I have been using them for a couple of years now, the seeds need sowing about now and then the plants stand over winter producing big heads from April to May, very very tasty

[Mrs Ava]

Bugger!  So another packet of seeds I have to acquire!!  Cauli is this houses most fave veg (not mine I hasten to add) and a crop than can stand all winter is a must have!

[ruud]

Thanks alan,i will try to get some seeds from them.The cauliflower i used was called walcheren winter that is a really dutch variaty.So e.j another one to buy,i have also a green and a purple variaty cauliflower.Just want to see those faces of my kids when i arrived home with a green or a violet purple one.

[Mrs Ava]

I am growing purple ones also Ruud, they are called Grafitti.  Next year I want to have a go at growing things that aren't the expected colours, so purple sprouts, purple brocolli, yellow beetroots, purple spuds, etc...  That should entertain the kids!  ;D

[john_miller]

Try tracking down orange cauliflower seeds EJ- that should really interest the kids! Which reminds me- this may be of interest to some:  

http://www.npr.org/features/feature.php?wfId=1870987

[philcooper]

Kings at http://ecom.kingsseeds.com/ do Marmalade: "A delightful pale orange coloured curd that retains its colour even after cooking. Sow from late April to mid May for cutting August to early October"

[tim]

EJ - by 'stand all winter' doesn't he mean that they grow over the winter & are only ready in the spring?? = Tim

[Mrs Ava]

Stop!  More seeds!!  Tis an affliction my seed collecting habit!!

Okay, defo getting orange and purple caulis for next year, and I know what you mean Tim, I did mean something that can be left in the ground growing all through the winter is good for the soul, and good for the soil, and good for the weeds!  Plus, my leeks and snips will need someone to talk to during those cold winter days that I am not there to chat to them.  ;D

[philcooper]

EJ

I hope you mean bad for the weeds.

It could also be good for the pigeons if you don't net them (the plants that is).

You have also revealed a gap in the market place and an, as yet, unexplored area of companion planting - no catalogue seems to mention how chatty plants are. If you can identify the ones that are (the overwintering ones), they should be desirable. One could imaging conversely that chattiness is not desirable in summer growing veg as the allotment could become quite a noisy spot (rather like trains arre now with everyone using their mobile phones)

[Mrs Ava]

Yes Phil, I do mean bad for the weeds, and I know what you mean about the *$%&#*#^&$ pigeons!

I find the winter veg much friendlier than the summer veg as it has much more time on its leaves to grow, where as the summer veg is in such a rush to get mature.  My leeks and snips will be close by so they won't have to shout and of course the sprouts will tower above them and keep an eye on them, making sure they don't get out of hand.  ;D ;D ;D ;) ;) ;)

[aquilegia]

EJ/Phil -  ;D I like that - chatty veg!

I'm sure I'm read somewhere that slugs don't like eating purple things - so purple caulis are better than normal.

Trouble is - caulis are one of only three veg that I don't like.

I may, however, have to try the purple carrots T&M are bringing out for next year.

[philcooper]

I have a problem with T&M and the veg that they "introduce" - the potato was "exclusive" to them a couple of years ago, when my Potato Day had been selling it for 2 years!

There are plenty of old purple carrots around, the Heritage Seed Library has Afghan Purple and a google search will reveal lots of of them (mainly from the States)

Phil