h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Love 'em or hate 'em, Christmas Dinner wouldn't be complete without a handful of those little green balls of trouser-trump rattling around the plate between the parsnips and the chipolata sausages.

Brussel sprouts [Brassica oleracea var. gemmifera] take up to 100 days from seeding to harvesting, so to get your sprouts on Christmas Day you should be sowing seeds in early/mid-September. Alternatively, in early/mid-October, you should be able to get established seedlings from the local nursery.

Propagate these seedlings in rows a metre apart, with a foot or so between each plant. Water well (if Mother Nature doesn't do it for you) throughout the growing cycle, easing off a couple of weeks before you need to harvest. Shortly before harvesting, and as the lower leaves show signs of turning yellow, nip out the central stem of the plant. This will curtail vertical growth and will ensure that all the sprouts on the stem ripen at once. Ideally, old Jack Frost will be nipping at your nose during this fortnight, keeping the sprouts firm and tasty. Mild weather will give you mushy, loose, open sprouts.

Pare the sprouts off with a knife, or break them off by hand.



(more later on soil and cloches (I have no idea how to spell it but it means mini-greenhouse)

(European and fog-belt coastal US timetable I think ... sorry southern-hemisphere dwellers).

I sowed Brussels' Sprouts successionally this year, in early summer, about a month apart. We have been harvesting from the first sowing for a couple of months, but the plants from the second sowing are still pretty small and I expect to have sprouts for Christmas.

Still in the brassica bed, I have a row of purple sprouting broccoli that doesn't look too bad, but there is no sign of any broccoli yet. It is hardy and, according to the seed catalogue, should provide broccoli for early spring.