Growing Beautiful Brassicas

Feeding should be regular and keep the nitrogen levels low in your selected feed as you want more florets not more leaves.

Harvest as per variety by cutting the head and leaving as much stem as possible so that additional supplementary heads can form.

Keep feeding so this can occur.

Cauliflower (Brassica oleracea var. botrytis)

Most varieties can be planted from mid to late autumn.

On the Coast, they are best raised in seed trays and then transplanted once about 10cm in height.

Make sure that watering is steady and even throughout growth until harvest as this will give you nicely formed heads.

Keep nitrogen feeding low as you want the plant to focus on development of the head, not the leaves.

They do like a liquid feed every fortnight as well.

Once the heads are reaching maturity, bend over the leaves and tie at the top to enclose.

This will keep them white, clean and deter pests.

Harvest by cutting head from plant once the size for variety has been achieved or if you notice separation of florets occurring.

Keep up feed and watering of plant after harvest as this can encourage additional smaller heads.

Brussel Sprouts (Brassica oleracea var.gemmifera)

Look out for varieties that can

NEWS & EVENTS

Create a Bilby Sanctuary - 10.30am Saturday 1st April - Kariong Eco Garden

Using collage with Eco Artist Rachel Bunney for kids and young people, $15/child or $10/ child for 2 or more. Accompanying adult free. We will be making a safe cosy sanctuary for your own Easter Bilby by bringing and finding organic materials and talking about bilbies, their habitat and what they like to eat.

Tickets: https://events.humanitix.com/beloved-bilbies-1-april-2023

Plant Sale and Permaculture Talk - Saturday 1st April - Wildplant Community Nursery, Loop Road, Ourimbah.

Community Environment Network (CEN) invite you to come to their April Plant Sale and learn about the principles of Permaculture with Permaculture Central Coast. Plant Sale 9am –12pm, Permaculture talk – 10am. For more information: cen.org.au

The Fungal Kingdom - 1:30pm for a 2pm start, Saturday 8th April - Phillip House, 21 Old Penang Road, Kariong

Anna Durkin will share her work as a Citizen Scientist in this field, educating us with her skill and knowledge and answering our questions about the fungal kingdom of the Sydney region. $3 entry (with lucky door prize) A small selection of plants also on sale.

Website - Austplants.com.au/Central-Coast-Events

Gardening Planner

This week you could plant: culinary herbs, beetroot, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbages, carrot, cauliflower, chicory, cress, endive, kohlrabi, leeks, lettuce, mustard, onions, parsnips, peas, radishes, salsify, shallots, silverbeet, spinach, spring onions, swedes, turnips, ageratum, alyssum, calendula, candytuft, carnation, cineraria, columbine, coneflower, delphinium, dianthus, everlasting daisy, forget-me-not, foxglove, godetia, gypsophila, hollyhock, larkspur, linaria, lobelia, nemesia, nigella, pansy, polyanthus, poppy, primula, snapdragon, statice, stock, sweet pea, viola, wallflower be planted in autumn, (which is the majority) and sow into seed trays.

They are not fond of root disturbance so you might like to chance sowing into their final destination, if not, water well the days before popping them out of their trays.

You will need a sheltered position that is sunny and a very rich, free-draining soil for these lovelies.

While your seeds are germinating, let’s check the soil quality in their final position.

It needs to be rich in organic matter, so add if needed and requires a pH of around 7.

If lower, then add lime as per instructions.

Once you have planted out your brussels sprouts, feed with a nitrogen rich fertiliser, but once sprouts have begun to form, back off on the nitrogen.

They love steady watering so don’t let them dry out.

To harvest, cut off mature sprouts with a sharp small knife.

There are so many brilliant brassicas to explore and discover other than ‘the big four’ above and some of the others you might consider for your garden include: bok choy (Brassica rapa, variety chinensis), brown mustard (Brassica juncea), collards (Brassica oleracea, variety acephala), kale (Brassica oleracea, variety acephala), kohlrabi (Brassica oleracea, variety gongylodes), turnip (Brassica rapa, variety rapa), horseradish (Armoracia rusticana), wasabi (Eutrema japonicum), watercress (Nasturtium officinale), white mustard (Sinapis alba), radish (Raphanus sativus), rock cress (genus Arabis), rocket (genus Sisymbrium) and even wasabi (Eutrema japonicum).

Pest Control

We love them and so do pests and this is one reason that I have suggested bringing up your seedlings in seed trays rather than planting them straight into the garden bed. This gives them a bit of a chance to develop.

Having healthy soil and plants are the best defence against pests and disease but you might try also some clever companion planting.

For brassicas, plant in some anise, thyme, pennyroyal and letting a healthy tomato plant or two stay in the plot can also help deter pests.

Don’t water the actual plants but rather the soil and that goes for fertilisers as well as this will help keep diseases at bay.

If you do have an infestation of insects, look for an organic preparation but perhaps one of the best ways is to simply sacrifice a few plants in a plot grown near the edge of your garden.

Plant a couple of each in a small plot for the pests. Leave them undisturbed and you should see pests preferring to set up home there rather than your busy garden area.