:D Picked a nice mess of sprouts and cleaned them. Most of them came from the Bubbles plants but I got a few off the Dimitri plants. Can't wait to try them at supper. Most were a little small but I couldn't wait any longer and that first batch always tastes the best.

Mine really need another dose of MG but we have been getting rain every other day lately and I just hate adding more water. We are supposed to get a really big rain today.

Bill, Let me know how the sprouts taste. Do you steam yours or pan sear them?

sear in olive oil an a little butter really nice slowly dont over cook them

[QUOTE=FILMNET;256031]sear in olive oil an a little butter really nice slowly dont over cook them[/QUOTE]

Filmnet, That sounds delicious. I picked several small ones earlier Today just before the monsoon set in.


Tim

Tim, they were fantastic. Even better than I thought they might be.

I start with about 3 Tbls of butter and a very small garlic clove (finely minced) and just as the garlic starts to sizzle a bit I dump in the sprouts. I lower the heat so the butter won't burn and stir them for about a minute then dump in a splash of white wine and cook for a minute or so then add a little water and salt lightly and cover. I check them about every thirty seconds or so and stir them til they are about half cooked through then I take them off the heat and drain them if there is any water left. Immediately squeeze a little lemon juice on them and black pepper to taste. This may sound more involved than it really is because it only takes a couple of minutes from start to finish.

Bill, I picked a few sprouts yesterday and look forward to trying them.
Do you eat the ones that are slightly loose or do the sprouts have to be tight to be good?
Mine need some MG but after then rain we received yesterday I will wait a while before giving them any more water.


Tim

I use oil only for the first minutes on high heat, after they get a little brown color , btw don't touch them as they heat up. 1 side which is brown is enough color, turn down heat add garlic S/P and last is butter, What is most important is the size you stat with. If they are medium t will cut in half but be careful they will fall apart, Large store bought ones i boil first,dry and then maybe cut in half to cool down before putting in oil. I did learn this recipe when i grew them 2 years ago fell in love with them then, Every year since i forget to start seeds in June to plant in July, they do grow in our heat here up north, but love the cold nights . This year would have been perfect? we have only 3 days with snow on the ground.

We have had the best winter for growing crops like Brussel Sprouts in a very long time. Many days during Dec., Jan, and Feb. have been in the high 60s or low 70s and we have had only about 10 nights with temps below freezing and we have had adequate rain. Lately much more than adequate rain. My sprouts have grown faster this year due to this springlike weather which has persisted til now. It is really looking like we missed winter altogether. Now that I have said that we'll have a real norther blow in here the end of the month or early in March and kill everything; but I would just love it if this nice spring weather would continue right up til early June. Hey I might as well wish for the moon.:yes:

I picked a real nice mess of sprouts today and got a fair number from the Dimitri plants also. Only a couple of the Dimitri plants have produced any full size sprouts so far. I still have a couple of Bubbles plants that haven't started producing yet. The sprouts were much larger today and it looks like I will have to start picking them every few days now.

Tim I didn't mention this before. When cleaning sprouts it is best to clip the stem enough so that the first couple of very dark outer leaves will come off. Once you peel it back a bit it will leave the sprout lighter colored and neater. It also cooks up milder and sweeter. This is especially important once the temps get a little on the warm side and the outer leaves are more bitter.

Bill, I picked my second batch yesterday and man they are small but they sure taste good.
Looks like I'm going to have to try some different varieties to see how they do for me.
Have you ever tried the variety Jade Cross?

I tried Jade Cross a couple of times but it didn't do well for me. You might want to try Dimitri. It is really getting big for me this year. It was planted the same time as my Bubbles and is nearly twice as big but it isn't as early. With the results I am getting from both varieties this year I think I will try to keep planting them both; but I will continue to keep Bubbles as my main crop because of its earliness and dependability. The weather this year was exceptionally good for growing Brussel sprouts and I think most varieties would do alright this year. Most years the conditions don't work out this well.

I'm beginning to wonder if you can ever give them too much fertilizer. I have been giving mine fairly heavy doses of Miracle Grow every 10 days or so and they seem to need it every time. It seems they grow good for a week and then slow down again. I gave my sister and a friend plants that they set out the same time as me and neither one of them has been fertilizing as heavily and their plants are at least 33% smaller than mine and just now starting to produce a very few small sprouts. Both of them have excellent soil in raised beds so the only real difference in their production and mine has been the frequency and amount of fertilizer added.

Tim, I am getting some nice big sprouts now and a lot of them and I hope yours are starting to produce in decent amounts. For me they are really better when the sprouts are a bit smaller so I try to keep mine picked off as soon as they get to a decent size but I always miss some. If I had fewer plants I would have to let them grow larger before picking in order to have enough to eat. Since I have over 20 plants I don't have to worry about it this year. The problem with Brussel sprouts is I only like them fresh so I try to eat them as often as possible and will become tired of them way before they quit making.

I topped my plants yesterday to try to force the sprouts to form faster since this heat is starting to have a detrimental effect on some of the sprouts. I am starting to see some of that black crud in some of my sprouts. Of the ones I picked yesterday I ended up throwing about 1/4 of them away. Oh well my wife is already tired of them and they are no longer the real treat for me they were a month ago. It seems that that happens with most crops except tomatoes and peppers. I seem to never tire of them.

Picked clean and pulled up most of my plants today. I had a bumper crop of sprouts this year. It was the best sprout growing experience I have ever had but the last couple of weeks of warm weather has taken its' toll. I still have a few plants left that will probably make more especially with the cool spell over the next week. The Bubbles out produced the Dimitri big time even though the plants are much smaller. A couple of my Dimitris got 4 feet tall before I topped them. If the weather had stayed cool for longer they might have gotten much bigger than that. The sprouts from the Dimitris were generally bigger but they were far slower to produce and didn't produce nearly as many per plant. I think I will use both varieties again next year but I have no hope of ever repeating this years performance. Brussels Sprouts are extremely difficult to grow down here in this heat and after trying them for over 30 years I have only had a few very good seasons and a few ok ones. The Bubbles variety has been responsible for most of the good years.

[COLOR=black][FONT=Verdana]I grew Sprouts for the first time last year. The first pic below shows a pretty good crop.[/FONT][/COLOR]

[COLOR=black][FONT=Verdana]I pulled all but one plant in late November - maybe I shouldn’t have.[/FONT][/COLOR]

[COLOR=black][FONT=Verdana]I left the one plant in hopes of harvesting seeds this year since they form seed during the second season. The plant I left in wintered over fine. See pic 2.[/FONT][/COLOR]

[COLOR=black][FONT=Verdana]Pic 3 is a close-up of the flowers forming. Does anyone know what's next in the development of seed?[/FONT][/COLOR]