Growing Brassicas
I planted a LOT of brassicas this year. Brassica is the genus that includes broccoli, cabbage, Brussel sprouts, mustard greens, bok choy and kale.
Most of the brassicas I planted were of the species Brassica oleracea. And that’s not because I mostly planted the same thing - the species Brassica oleracea covers an amazing range of what you think are quite different vegetables. It includes cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, kale kohlrabi and Brussel sprouts! Each variety has gradually been bred to be what it is over thousands of years - whether that is the tight un-opened broccoli flower head, or the little balls of leaves on the side of a Brussels sprout stalk.
Tuscan Kale
I don’t grow Brussels sprouts as they really need a good frost to get them nice and sweet, but I do grow lots of different broccolis and kale, and this year I’ve also tried cabbage. (As a side, if you don’t know how Brussels sprouts grow - google it!! super cute).
A hoverfly on some pak choy flowers (Brassica rapa). Brassicas have the prettiest flowers in yellow and white. Let some flower!
Because brassicas are generally a cooler climate crop, subtropical gardeners grow them over the winter months. This is also when the cabbage white butterfly is slightly less active.
Cabbage white butterfly
Despite the pretty look of these little white butterflies flitting about your garden, they ADORE brassicas will lay their eggs on your crops and the resulting pale green grubs will decimate your plants in what feels like a matter of hours. Without resorting to sprays, the best way of limiting this is to net your crops. But I’m lazy. And I don’t really like the look. And I have romanticised visions of my chickens snacking on the caterpillars and me harvesting full heads of cabbages with nary a hole to be seen…. HAH. The chooks love the caterpillars but despite having free access to the veggie beds (a whole other source of story material) they do not help themselves and I inevitably spend way more time than I would have netting, picking off the camouflaged grubs and hand feeding the girls.
My wholey cabbage….
Handily though, the existence of holes in your leaves does not render them inedible. And while we’re talking about leaves – don’t forget you can eat the leaves (or stalks, if the grubs got that far) of your broccoli and cauliflowers too! You can start harvesting as soon as your plants are big enough to sacrifice a few leaves - you don’t have to wait for the flower heads to start appearing to get a crop. Sauté with garlic and oil or chuck them in a stir fry or pasta sauce.
If you haven’t grown brassicas give them a go! You should still be able to squeeze in a quick crop of kale or Chinese broccoli if you plant seedlings now in the subtropics, or if you’re in a cooler climate, your season is just starting!