By the time March comes around allotment folk are starting to reach the hunger gap, that time when the harvests of last year’s season are dwindling and the promise of this year’s harvest is some time off still.
Enter purple sprouting broccoli!
This delicious brassica needs a long growing season but it rewards you with wonderful tender stems with small floret heads and I much prefer it to regular broccoli (calabrese). It is often sold as a ‘luxury’ vegetable in supermarkets, attracting a luxury price tag!
The seeds are sown in late spring and once growing the plants need little attention other than perhaps staking and protection from the dreaded cabbage white butterfly.
When it is harvest time, usually in March, harvest the main floret head first as this will encourage more side shoots and therefore more floret stems! Cut the stems regularly to encourage more to harvest.
Not seen so often is white sprouting broccoli which has a more delicate flavour.
