How many brassicas do you grow?

**PAULW** · 30-10-2008, 01:17 PM

WOMBLE
Planning for early/late sprouts is brilliant so long as the weather plays ball, last year all my dec/jan harversting cauli's sown in april flowered in september, on the plus side you could grow cabbage minicole under the PSB and sprouts and minicole will stand for up to 4 months.

**womble** · 30-10-2008, 01:38 PM

Planning for any sort of crop is brilliant as long as the weather plays ball

But I do know what you are saying. Thankyou for the info about minicole, its the sort of thing I am interested in. It does say it will only stand until December. I'd like to be looking at providing something into the new year as well.

**Two_Sheds** · 30-10-2008, 02:35 PM

I've got:
6 black kale (2 died)
6 curly green kale
3 curly red kale
4 PSB (2 died)
4 sprouts (6 blew/got aphid/whitefly)
6 spring cabbage (4 died cos I planted them way too early)
6 red cabbage (brilliant: Rodima)

and there's only me that eats greens! (well, me and the bugs)

**HayleyB** · 30-10-2008, 03:36 PM

Most of mine got by caterpillars (pre netting) but I have about 10 Caulis going, one cabbage that is a bit holey (savoy) and about three more that might make it. Swede were all too shocked by the transplant so none left, and I have about 10 green kale in pots at the moment.

I use a combi of containers (various trugs, buckets, troughs and polystyrene boxes) and plots.

**lynda66** · 30-10-2008, 04:02 PM

i have about 30 broccoli ..... which have produced enough for about 6 portions between them, 20 caulis, 2 black cabbage and 2 kale (both for OH cos i hate cabbage) about 20 swede, 40 turnips, 10 kohl rabi, (is hoping they are all brassicas lol). 20 radish for next door. cos they are revolting too.

**Capsid** · 30-10-2008, 05:01 PM

I don't have too much space in the garden and my family are not great brassica eaters so I don't bother apart from kohlrabi which I recommend especially as it is not generally available at the supermarket/grocers.

**Snadger** · 30-10-2008, 06:24 PM

Brassicas ,potatoes, roots and legumes. Plot divided in four gives you 1/4 brassicas...........butttttttttt!!!...............I always have more than 1/4 brassicas cos I have brassicas that were grown after legumes (usually kales, spring cabbage, winter cabbage, swedes etc but also the summer grown cabbage,sprouts,broccoli,turnips etc in another bed.........so that................with continuous crop rotation I usually have about half my plot devoted to brassicas at any one time.......if that makes sense to you?

As you will see, I don't follow an ANNUAL crop rotaion, I follow a TRUE rotation of crops!

In a nutshell, I like brassicas too (so do the chooks btw!) and devote a lot of ground to them, but still am able to rotate quite easily!

PS Cauliflower Nine Star Perennial can stay in the same spot for 5 years (I'm on my second year with it) so there's one brassica crop with a semi permanent bed!

**sewer rat** · 30-10-2008, 09:40 PM

You asked

500 Primavoy Savoy Cabbage
500 Tundra Cabbage
450 metres Brora Swede
450 metres Purple Top Milan Turnip
1000 Hispi Cabbage
500 Minicole Cabbage
500 Marathon Calabrese
400 Early Purple Sprouting Broccoli
250 All Year Round Cauliflowers
500 Redbor Kale
500 Winterbor Kale
250 Red Drumhead Cabbage
250 Evesham Special Brussels Sprouts

Seriously though, the brassica group is such a large and diverse group that they are almost bound to take up more than a quarter of your plot. As Snadger says, they can follow on from lots of crops and will provide the mainstay of your veg over the winter months.
You should be able to still work a rotation but don't treat it as a religion - unless you have ground which is already infected with clubroot, you should be okay even if you grow brassicas two years running on the same patch.

OOPS ! Forgot my 400m of Offenham Flower of Spring Spring Greens

**Snadger** · 30-10-2008, 09:56 PM

Originally posted by sewer rat View Post

You asked

500 Primavoy Savoy Cabbage
500 Tundra Cabbage
450 metres Brora Swede
450 metres Purple Top Milan Turnip
1000 Hispi Cabbage
500 Minicole Cabbage
500 Marathon Calabrese
400 Early Purple Sprouting Broccoli
250 All Year Round Cauliflowers
500 Redbor Kale
500 Winterbor Kale
250 Red Drumhead Cabbage
250 Evesham Special Brussels Sprouts

Seriously though, the brassica group is such a large and diverse group that they are almost bound to take up more than a quarter of your plot. As Snadger says, they can follow on from lots of crops and will provide the mainstay of your veg over the winter months.
You should be able to still work a rotation but don't treat it as a religion - unless you have ground which is already infected with clubroot, you should be okay even if you grow brassicas two years running on the same patch.

OOPS ! Forgot my 400m of Offenham Flower of Spring Spring Greens

That's one heck of a big coleslaw you're making there rat! Lol

**womble** · 31-10-2008, 08:21 AM

Nice to see the Scottish are carrying on the tradition of big families

Thanks everyone, gave me something to think about.
Snadger, you only really rotate brassicas every couple of years then? I suppose I am going to try to work out how much we will need to eat over the winter and then use the experience the following year to adjust the numbers. I've just about worked out the rest of the vegetables after growing them for a few years, we never really have much of a glut anymore, but I've never grown the brassicas to try to have enough over the winter.

**Snadger** · 31-10-2008, 03:19 PM

Originally posted by womble View Post

Nice to see the Scottish are carrying on the tradition of big families

Thanks everyone, gave me something to think about.
Snadger, you only really rotate brassicas every couple of years then? I suppose I am going to try to work out how much we will need to eat over the winter and then use the experience the following year to adjust the numbers. I've just about worked out the rest of the vegetables after growing them for a few years, we never really have much of a glut anymore, but I've never grown the brassicas to try to have enough over the winter.

Nope?

I always crop rotate brassicas and never follow a brassica with a brassica!

What I was saying, and you musn't have understood my meaning.................. is that brassicas ususally (but not always) follow legumes.
You can have spring planted brassicas in your brassica 1/4 plot which may not mature til next spring (PSB for instance)
You can have spring sown peas in the legume plot at the same time, but when they are finished you plant spring cabbage (September)
So at this time of year (Autumn) your brassica and your legume plot could in effect both have brassicas in them. This would make 50% of your plot devoted to brassicas at this time of year, but you are still following a four crop rotation!
I hope this explains better what I was trying to get at!

PS Don't think yearly rotation think crop rotation!

**Farmer_Gyles** · 31-10-2008, 06:17 PM

it'll probably take me a couple of years to work out how much i'll need of each thing i grow - i've got some things sussed, but not others - some things i'm growing for the first time - so i'm growing as much as i can of each thing, and surplus can be frozen or given away ........

**PAULW** · 31-10-2008, 06:37 PM

SNADGER
Thanks for your rolling rotation plan you have just given me a solution to my planting/rotation

**zazen999** · 31-10-2008, 07:20 PM

http://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gra...ping_5395.html

Snadger - I hope you don't mind. This really should be a sticky!

I put 1/2 of our allotment to brassicas, and at this time of year as suggested by Snadger's Dual Cropping, I've got last summer's brassicas just finishing, winter brassicas to keep us through winter and there will be another bed of spring brassicas planted out for next year. I never count them, I just sow lots and fill the space. I take the smaller ones out as they come to fruition and this lets the others grow bigger. I'll also leave some at the end of the season as you can have quite long crops from them even though the first harvest has been taken. Some that don't grow properly, or that blow early go to fill the compost heap.

Anyway, I use the Dual Cropping plan regularly and it really works. Enjoy. Thanks Snadger [again!].

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