{"id":21086,"date":"2021-03-08T10:05:38","date_gmt":"2021-03-08T10:05:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gardenerstips.co.uk\/blog\/?p=21086"},"modified":"2021-03-08T10:05:38","modified_gmt":"2021-03-08T10:05:38","slug":"brussels-sprout-commitment-with-tlc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gardenerstips.co.uk\/blog\/flowers\/vegetables-herbs\/brussels-sprout-commitment-with-tlc\/","title":{"rendered":"Brussels Sprout Commitment with TLC"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>I have found a new commitment to growing and eating Brussels sprouts. From 3 or 4 plants last year I ate several hearty meals including a socially distanced Christmas (not because of any sprout side effects). I treated the plants in a cavalier manner and wonder how much better they would be with a bit of tender loving care.<\/p>\n<h3>Reasons for my new Commitment<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>The plants do not take up as much space as other brassica crops when compared to the volume of food produced.<\/li>\n<li>My soil is fertile and free of most diseases (famous last words.) It also hold plants firmly in the ground a feature I am informed helps sprouts.<\/li>\n<li>In march I will sow last years seed of Evesham Special but also try find some F1 plants of early (maximus), mid (Diablo) and late (Revenge) season favorites.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Tender Loving Care<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>This year I will\u00c2\u00a0 draw up more soil round the stem in summer to reduce staking and provide support. (Evesham only grow 2 feet high)<\/li>\n<li>Early sowing produces the best plants so I should get a move on. It is one draw back that plants grow for 12 months of the year but don&#8217;t need too much attention.<\/li>\n<li>I have a lot of local pigeons but did not suffered any attack on young shoots last year. I still keep some chicken wire temporary fencing handy should the need arise.<\/li>\n<li>This year after potting-on I will give a weekly liquid feed.<\/li>\n<li>Watering well in summer will provide an opportunity to boost with a nitrogen-rich feed.<\/li>\n<li>Whilst I try to minimise insecticides I will resort to them if caterpillars and white fly start to over power the crop.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-19218 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/gardenerstips.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/Rosenkaal_Brussel_sprouts-1024x598.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"598\" srcset=\"https:\/\/gardenerstips.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/Rosenkaal_Brussel_sprouts-1024x598.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/gardenerstips.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/Rosenkaal_Brussel_sprouts-300x175.jpg 300w, https:\/\/gardenerstips.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/Rosenkaal_Brussel_sprouts-768x448.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<h3>Harvesting Brussels Sprouts<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Flavour improves after the first frost. It declines after flowers appear.<\/li>\n<li>Take the buttons from the bottom of the stalk first.<\/li>\n<li>Take off blown or flowering sprouts and any yellowing leaves as you go.<\/li>\n<li>Cut off the whole stalk and use the sprouts indoors as you need them. They keep better on the stalk.<\/li>\n<li>The top of the stalk may be eaten like a small cabbage.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I have found a new commitment to growing and eating Brussels sprouts. From 3 or 4 plants last year I ate several hearty meals including a socially distanced Christmas (not because of any sprout side effects). I treated the plants in a cavalier manner and wonder how much better they would be with a bit of tender loving care. Reasons for my new Commitment The plants do not take up as much space as other brassica crops when compared to&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"><a class=\"btn btn-default\" href=\"https:\/\/gardenerstips.co.uk\/blog\/flowers\/vegetables-herbs\/brussels-sprout-commitment-with-tlc\/\"> Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21086","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-vegetables-herbs"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenerstips.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21086","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenerstips.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenerstips.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenerstips.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenerstips.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21086"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/gardenerstips.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21086\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21088,"href":"https:\/\/gardenerstips.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21086\/revisions\/21088"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenerstips.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21086"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenerstips.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21086"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenerstips.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21086"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}