Page 42 - Simply Vegetables Winter 2020/21

Harvest time for (almost all!) of our July sowings
EMILY PLUMB FNVS
In the last couple of SV magazines, we have shared our growing experiences with a few of the crops that we sowed back in July, at what can sometimes feel like the “end” of the sowing season (if there ever was to be one!)
For this magazine, we wanted to update you on how those crops are getting on, and share our successes, as well as our failures! It’s all part of it as far as we’re concerned, and you can certainly learn lots from your mistakes when growing veg, just the same as you can in other walks of life.
To put the rest of the article into context, this article is being written on 1 November, albeit it will be 2021 by the time you read it.
As we have said in the previous articles, in case you didn’t have sight of those, we are in Essex, where temperatures are typically warmer than further North, and so we cannot guarantee the same results that we are experiencing will apply everywhere.
Winter brassicas
We’ve also got a quick update on our autumn/winter brassicas. As a reminder,
the varieties we are growing this year are as follows: “Tundra”, “Consulate”, “Endeavour”, “Prudence” and “Supervoy” cabbages; “Trafalgar” and “Brodie” brussels sprouts; “Rudolph” and “Red Admiral” broccoli; and “Ironman” and “Typhoon” calabrese.
Cabbages and brussels
We said that the calabrese should’ve been ready around the beginning to mid-October. However, we have found that our earlier sowings of cauliflowers and broccoli have been growing about two weeks later than usual this year for some reason. These have been no different, as you can see that at the beginning of November they are just starting to form heads. The Ironman are slightly further ahead than the Typhoon as you can see from the photos. Fingers crossed we don’t get any frosts before they are ready to harvest as the broccoli heads don’t fare very well at all once they’ve been caught by the frost.
The cabbages and brussels sprouts are also coming along well. Fingers crossed we’ll have some brussels sprouts ready in time for Christmas! The Rudolph and Red Admiral broccoli has also produced some
Cauliflower
Cascadia peas growing
Courgette
42 Simply Vegetables