I sow Little Gem lettuce through the brassica bed to divert slugs, and interplant Marigolds (Tagetes) to confuse the Cabbage Whites.
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.
Swedes are simply a cabbage plant where the stem has swollen. They are very hardy, and easy to grow in my experience. Not perhaps a gourmet vegetable - but a lovely sweet flavour which goes well in soups, casseroles, and mashed with other root veg.
Tips
- Swedes 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.
- Sow seed thinly in shallow drills 15 inches apart, directly in their final bed.
- Protect by covering with fleece or enviromesh tunnel.
- Thin the seedlings progressively until they are about 9 inches apart. Keep them weed-free. This is probably the most important period of care - if they get cramped, or pushed to grow upwards, they won't swell later in the year. Having said that, I have successfully transplanted thinnings - but this is far from reliable.
- Water them evenly in dry weather - a sudden supply of water can make them split.
- Start harvesting from early autumn onwards - although they are supposed to become sweeter after the first frost. I lift as required, and burn the remains - don't compost them.
- and deal with pests!
Cooking
Boil'n mash, on its own, with lots of fresh ground black pepper; or combine with carrots or potatoes. Fingers of swede can be roasted like parsnips.
Varieties I've tried.
Variety
About
Results
Marian
Ready Nov-Jan
Reliably good crop.
Willemsburger
Ready Nov-Jan
Green top, and smaller than Marian.
Growing Calendar - Swedes
Timings are based on my allotment in Yorkshire; southerners will start earlier, northerners even later!
(Brassica in rotation plan)