Sowing & Planting Sprouting Broccoli

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When to sow

Calabrese

Outdoors February to July

Sprouting Broccoli

Indoors: February to May
- Transplant Under Cover: March to April
- Plant Out: May to August
Outdoors: March to July

How to sow Sprouting Broccoli

Seeds are generally sown between February and May. Sow two seeds per cell of cell trays in a greenhouse or similar environment until April and outdoors from April. Thin to one plant as soon as the seedlings can be handled.
Give liquid fertiliser every week. When rootball is well bound together plant out into any fertile garden soil in full sun or very light shade.
Better heads are produced in cooler summers as hot weather can encourage plants to run to seed prematurely – some cultivars resist this tendency better than others (see Recommended varieties).
Allow 30cm (12in) between plants and 45cm (18in) between rows. Closer spacing will reduce the number of side shoots formed.
Before planting add 150g per square metre of general purpose fertiliser such as Growmore, or, if manure or other rotted organic matter has been dug in use half amount of fertiliser.
From April, seeds can be sown in the open where the plants are to grow; sow three seeds, 2cm (¾in) deep, every 30cms (12in) along the row. When seedlings are large enough to be handled, thin out each ‘station’ leaving one healthy seedling behind.
Cover seedlings and seed beds with fleece to exclude cabbage root fly, removing fleece in May when risk of damage less.
Control slugs and snails as they will quickly devour seedlings.

Category: Recipes

Baked Salmon & Asparagus with Jersey Royal's

Tasty and so easy to make, great dinner party dish or a cracking family treat, and a healthy dish too especially if like me you have an Asparagus Bed or two!.

Pasta with Asparagus and Courgette

Asparagus and Courgette are made for each other in this dish!

Category: The Growing Season

Spring should be here but watch out for frosts!

Sow seed outdoors
Vegetable growing really takes off this month. Chit and plant out second early potatoes in the first half of the month, maincrop potatoes in the second half. It's also time to sow seed outdoors in well-prepared soil.

Jobs to do in January

Jobs to do on the Allotment in January
January is generally a very cold month with hard frosts freezing the ground and when the ground isn't frozen it is generally too wet to do much although there are no guarantees with British weather. Looking through my diaries, snow isn't that likely for a prolonged period but you never know.

Jobs to do in October

October is the month when it feels like the season is about to turn, the days start to shorten and the sun appears lower in the sky, the leaves change colour and fall to the ground and temperatures drop. The first frost are likely too, which will be the end of many of your crops out in the open so if you still haven’t harvested frost sensitive crops now is the time before Jack Frost gets them!

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