How to

• Sprouts need a soil dug over and manured the previous season, and allowed to consolidate.   Lime if necessary in winter.   Don't loosen the soil again in spring.
• Select early and late varieties to get a crop from mid-September through to March and which the catalogues recommend as "standing well".   I don't like to have them all fall ready at once, and rot on their stalks before I have a chance to use them!   I try to avoid F1 varieties, as they tend to produce very even sprouts, all ripe at the same time.   Older open-pollinated Standard varieties ripen from the bottom of the stalk, over a longer period; they are supposed to produce larger, tastier sprouts.
• I sow seed thinly in shallow drills 6 inches apart, directly in a seed bed.   (They can also be started in seed trays inside - but this hasn't worked for me; I don't have good enough light, and they didn't like the shock of being moved to a cold windy allotment!)
• Protect by covering with fleece or enviromesh tunnel.
• Thin the seedlings to about 3 inches apart.
• When they have 5 or 6 leaves, they are ready to transplant.   Water the night before.   Pop the seedlings into holes 30 inches apart (sprouts need the space), so the lower leaves are just above soil level - and water in generously.   The firmer the soil into which you transplant, the better!
• It may be worth planting them into a furrow about 4 inches deep, and earthing up the plants as they mature; it will help the plants stay stable, and encourage them to grow larger root systems.
• Protect from pigeons by weaving string across and along the bed.
• Water if the weather is dry.   Applying some liquid feed is a good idea in early summer.
• I've read in a couple of sources that brassicas need extra nitrogen - more than can be provided by organic manure; the recommendation is that I should add considerable quantities of growmore, or similar.   I haven't found this to be necessary - my yields are more than adequate without extra feeding, but I would like to try the beans/brassica combination.
• Harvest when ready - pull a few sprouts off each stem, starting at the bottom, and removing any yellowing ones.
• You will have only the head left eventually, which can be cut and cooked as a cabbage.   Remove the finished plants and burn them - don't compost them.
• and deal with pests!

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Cooking

• The catalogues recommend Noisette for its flavour - they're right.   Boil in a little water for 7-8 minutes and drizzle with olive oil (with or without a squeeze of lemon juice), or butter.
• Fry gently a finely chopped 1/2 inch piece of ginger with the finely slivered peel of an orange in olive oil for a couple of minutes.   Add cleaned sprouts and fry for a further 4-5 minutes - shake the pan regularly.   Now pour in the juice of the orange, put the lid on the pan, and allow to cook gently for 2-3 minutes until the sprouts are only just ready.   Do not overcook!   This also works with many other brassica.

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