Grow your own dramatically different Christmas veg.

Let’s face it; like Brussels sprouts, brassicas like broccoli and cabbage, have had a bit of a bum rap over the years. However, they have recently been enjoying some really good press and are even looking quite cool in the vegetable ‘it crowd’, trending heavily and inventively in culinary circles, restaurants and in those classic Christmas gift favourites, the celebrity chef cook book.

So why not give these colourful and super nutritious vegetables a place at your Christmas dinner table this year? In festive magazines and online, you’ll find numerous interesting and tasty recipes to present them at their best. And then you can grow some yourself ready for next Christmas!

Cauliflower has had a bit of a rebrand in the last year or so; no longer the bland horror of school dinners, but now appearing on menus sliced, seasoned with chilli, garlic and cumin and served as a ‘steak’; or grated, sautéed and used instead of rice as part of one of the low-carb diets that are doing the rounds.

Broccoli too has a new friend in the Instagram fitness sensation, Joe Wicks, aka The Body Coach. His speedy, tasty and nutritious recipes often include ‘midget trees’ – broccoli florets – and indeed a 25% increase in tenderstem broccoli has been attributed in part to the online nutrition coach’s Lean in 15 recipe programme.

But the real star in the brassica family has to be broccoli’s handsome Italian cousin, the stunning romanesco. With its whirling, almost alien-looking spirals, you’d be forgiven for thinking that this vivid green marvel is some kind of genetically engineered vegetable. In fact, romanesco has been around since the 16th century and predates broccoli and cauliflower. Sometimes referred to as caulibroc or broccoflower, the flavour of cooked romanesco sits somewhere between cauliflower and broccoli, but with an added tasty ‘nuttiness’. Needless to say, it’s full of good stuff: super-rich in antioxidants, vitamin C, fibre – you name it. The thing is, due to its fabulous pointed, whorled spears, romanesco doesn’t travel terribly well. Supermarkets find it difficult to store and package. You might find them on a nice farmers’ market stall, but the best way to get your hands on these fabulous green natural marvels, is to grow your own.

So if you’re ready to up your brassica game at home, take a look at the wide range of varieties available from Thompson & Morgan. Whether you choose to grow broccoli, cauliflower or romanesco, you’ll find brassicas are easy to grow.

Here are some top tips for growing brassicas from Thompson & Morgan’s Veg Guru, Colin Randell:

• Grow your cauliflower, broccoli and romanesco in soil that’s been well prepared.
• Keep well watered especially during dry spells.
• Brassicas enjoy a fortnightly liquid feed, particularly a seaweed feed, if possible.
• If feeding or watering is erratic, this may mean head development is not as good.
• Pick cauliflower and romanesco heads when young – you can keep a watchful eye on how they are developing by peeling back the protective leaves.
• Many gardeners use protective garden fleece, especially when growing small cauliflower and romanesco.

Head over to our brassicas hub page to find all of our best brassica guides and variety recommendations in one easy place. To grow your own visually stunning and super tasty romanesco, click here. Seeds are available for £2.29 for 125 seeds. And to check out Thompson & Morgan’s full brassica range, go to www.thompson-morgan.com/brassicas

Sonia Mermagen

Sonia works at Thompson & Morgan in the role of press and communications officer. She is a self-proclaimed ‘reluctant’ gardener and is generally amazed if anything flourishes in her garden. Sonia has a ‘hands off’ approach to gardening and believes that this helps to encourage bees, butterflies and other wildlife. (That’s her excuse anyway!)

www.thompson-morgan.com