Page 22 - Simply Vegetables Autumn 2024

Pea ‘Meteor’
netting supported with stakes or canes gives good support and protection.
Sow the seeds in gutters if you want an early start or to help avoid mice if placed out of their reach.
Once growing keep as weed free as possible, mulch can help reduce the weed growth and retain moisture. Water once the plants start to flower and
keep moist until harvesting.
Cultivars Early
• Celebration–aquick growing early.
• Feltham First – an old heritage cultivar.
• Kelvedon Wonder – another old cultivar.
• Meteor – also old
and apparently recommended for Shetland, so should be tough!
Main Crop
• Cavalier-largepodsandgoodinthe Orkneys.
• Duke of Albany – very tall so will need good support.
• Hurst Greenshaft – this cultivar is reputed to be good in both Shetland and Orkney; I can recommend this cultivar as a good cropper.
• Terrain – recommended by Beechgrove.
Brassicas
Moving on now to the brassicas which are a very hardy group of plants which can supply crops for 12 months of the year even in Scotland. The main disadvantages is they are prone to pest attacks by cabbage white caterpillars, flea beetle, cabbage
root fly, cabbage aphid whitefly as well as pigeons and rabbits (plenty of competition there then!)
Brussels Sprouts ‘Rubine’
Brassicas like a firm fertile soilwithgood amounts of nitrogen so they often follow the legumes in rotation
Brassicas like a firm fertile soil with good amounts of nitrogen so they often follow the legumes in rotation. As they like firm ground the no-dig method should suit brassicas. Add any organic matter in the autumn and if lime is required apply in the spring about a month before planting, aim for a pH of 6.5 to 7.5, the higher the better.
Calabrese
As brassicas have large leaves give them shelter from wind on windy sites using plastic windbreak mesh material, also to avoid many of the pest grow under fleece or fine insect proof mesh.
Broccoli and Calabrese
I find calabrese and broccoli the easiest to grow (I do
not grow cabbage!), sow calabrese in March into trays and prick out into modules when ready;
grow on and harden off before planting out in late April / May. These will be ready to harvest in August / September; a succession can be sown giving crops to late October.
Broccoli is a long term crop sown in April and harvested the following February to May which is a long time to protect them from the various pests. They can be sown indoors or outside and planted out when 10 to 15cm tall, plant firmly and stake if on
a windy site. The following cultivars are recommended in the book.
Broccoli
• BrokaliApolloF1–acrossbetween broccoli and Chinese kale.
• Claret F1 – ready to harvest in April.
• Early Purple Sprouting – an old cultivar
ready February to March.
• Late Purple Sprouting – ready in April/
May.
• AquilesF1–alongcropperifsownin succession.
• Arcadia F1 – recommended for Shetland as quick maturing.
• Iron Man F1 - A good cropper.
• Monoclano – high yielding and recommended by Beechgrove.
Brussels Sprouts
Apparently, these are more popular in southern England and least popular in Scotland, I have to admit I do not grow sprouts even though I live in the south of England! The taste is said to be improved after some frost which should not be a problem in Scotland.
Sprouts definitely need a firm soil and staking for supports and are another long- term crop. There are a range of cultivars giving crops from September to March / April, if three or four cultivars are grown this will cover the whole winter period.
Sow in March either indoors or outside transplant deeply when 10 to 15cm tall, firm in very well and water. Over the summer hoe and weed, refirm any loose plants and tie to a stake. Remove any yellow leaves and compost.
Harvest as required starting at the base of the stem, they can be frozen if required.
Cultivars
• CrispusF1–hasclubrootresistance, crops from September to November.
• Cronus F1 – also clubroot resistant, harvest from November to December.
• Doric – recommended for Aberdonians and said to be good on windy sites.
• Igor F1 – mid to late season cropper. • Nautic – December to February.
• Rubine or Red Rubin – did well at
Beechgrove even in the hard 2010
winter.
• Trafalgar – said to be a sweet sprout!
22 Simply Vegetables