Allotments 4 All

I've just been and picked a lot of small sprouts for lunch and although I'm sure they will taste great I now have cramp from prepping them all!

Trouble none of them seem to be growing any bigger and having wandered round our plots seems all but just one person has the same problem. 

How are everyone elses doing?    The plants seem healthy enough just button sprouting rathr than producing big heads.

Iain

My 'brilliant' sprouts are HUGE!  Like mini cabbages.  Have to cut them in half really.  My purple sprouts are still buttons, but will be spot on for Christmas dindins!

You may be able to bilk them up a little by removing the tops of the plants.

Dont for get to eat those as well.

Jerry

Not syure I could eat the tops Jerry, looks like the caterpillars have had a go - must have the frost resistant cabbage whites......

Listened to veg talk on Radio 4 the other day & they reckon sprout tops are one of the tastiest veg around. Mine are small too, & (as mentioned before) full of tiny white flies which fill the kitchen when we bring them in- not nice!

Pop them in a bucket of very salty water and gize it a slosh around every now and then. After a few hours give them a good rinse under a running tap and they should be fine.

Jerry

my sprouts keep opening up like small cabbages don't know what went wrong there. ???

My dad told me, that happens when the ground you put the sprouts in wasn't hard enough. They like it nice and compacked.

Quote from: TEL on December 13, 2005, 16:23:44
my sprouts keep opening up like small cabbages don't know what went wrong there. ???

They do tend to lose their tightness when the weather is warm - we did have a fairly warm October and November, this may be it.

Mine are looking good, except the tops have been munched by the pigeons. Although last week i reckon one of the local cats must have been laying in wait, as there was loads of pigeon feathers on the ground under the sprouts, that'll teach them.

i heard that if the ground is manured this can also cause sprouts to blow.

Hi Welsh Gardener welcome to the site...
You are probably  right as sprouts like firm hard ground... Where they have to put their roots down  so they dont rock about, as this is can be a  cause for them blowing..Jim