I sow Little Gem lettuce through the brassica bed (the slugs head for the lettuce, and I know where to find the slugs), and interplant Marigolds (Tagetes) whose strong scent is supposed to mask the brassicas' own smell, and confuse the Cabbage Whites.
Sowing nasturtiums among your brassicas is supposed to deter whitefly infestations.
I have read that a border of herbs (mint, sage, rosemary, dill, etc) is supposed to have the same effect - but sounds so impractical, I personally won't even try this one.
I'm wary of growing brassicas with anything else - they are so greedy. But a couple of interesting ideas
- Sowing beans/peas before or with brassica makes sense;
- Transplanting winter brassica with sweetcorn - they'll get a real boost when the corn is cleared.
- But I'm uncomfortable with these suggestions from Bob Flowerdew:-
- A row of peas flanked by one of potatoes and one of brassica on either side benefits all three;
- Or a row of peas and a row of wide-spaced potatoes intercropped with overwintering brassicas; the brassicas get a real boost, when the others are cleared;
Cauliflowers grow a single flower head, where broccolis grow side heads after the main head has been cut
Cauliflower are much fussier than other brassica. They need deep rich soil, are greedy (feed occasionally) and thirsty, and must not suffer any check to growth - otherwise you'll get tiny button heads!
How to
- Cauliflowers need a soil dug over and manured the previous autumn, and allowed to consolidate. Lime if necessary in winter. Don't loosen the soil again in spring.
- Until now, I have only sown "All the Year Round" outdoors for a few summer caulis - rather than invest a lot of time and space in something which can fail quite easily.
- 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, so the lower leaves are just above soil level
- 24 inches apart for summer and autumn cauliflower,
- 30 inches apart for winter cauliflower.
- Protect from pigeons by weaving string across and along the bed.
- Never let cauliflower go short of water, to avoid harvesting nothing but tiny heads. Feed occasionally as they are also greedy plants.
- Start harvesting when they are still small, to avoid having a glut when they are all ready at once. Remove the finished plants and burn them - don't compost them.
- and deal with pests!
Cooking
- To avoid soggy over-cooked cauliflower (very easy, as a fresh-picked one cooks more quickly than a dried out supermarket specimen), bring an inch of water to the boil, and stand the sprigs, or a small head, stalk down; keep the lid on. The tougher stalks cook well, and the gentler heads steam delicately. They will need no more than a dressing of olive oil (with or without a squeeze of lemon juice), or butter, or a sauce.
- Or dip the florets in beaten egg, and roll them in seasoned breadcrumbs, gram flour, or something similar, and deep fry for a few minutes.
Varieties I've tried.
Variety
About
Results
Flora Blanca
Ready Sep-Nov
Tried 2003; plants broken by vandals.
Neckarperle
Ready Sep-Oct
Tried 2003; plants broken by vandals.
All The Year Round
Ready Aug-Sep
Tried 2001 and 2002; not bad.
Growing Calendar - Cauliflower
Timings are based on my allotment in Yorkshire; southerners will start earlier, northerners even later!
Summer Cauliflower.