Gardening Resources & Tips

[herbidacious]

My (one surviving) romanesco plant is huge, but no head. Should I give up at this point? Are the leaves nice enough to bother cooking with?

[scullion]

i have a dozen magnificent cauliflower plants that aren't 'curding up' - they might be eaten as 'greens'...

[Suffs]

Are they too close together Scully … I was told by the old chaps on the allotment that winter caulies need a lot of space or they won’t form a curd.
Perhaps using every other one as ‘greens’ woukd persuade the remaining ones to heart up?

[Badger's Mate]

Herbi, I’ve had Romanesco sowings from which some plants have headed up in the autumn and some in the spring. Stick with it, you might get a good head of the stuff next year.

[herbidacious]

Ok, will do, BM. I have not grown them before. I had a go at 'ordinary' cauliflowers last year with limited success. I think I need to put more effort in. Just sticking it in the ground or a pot and hoping is probably not enough. This is a big plant now, so seems healthy. Maybe some feed? Or not...?

Thanks, too Scully.

[Badger's Mate]

It will want to flower at some stage, and if it is big and healthy you might expect a decent head to form. Feeding won’t hurt but probably won’t be necessary.

[scullion]

Are they too close together Scully …

maybe but they're about as close together as the ones in the field just down the road. they were from a big module tray donated, by a local farmer, to the allotments - maybe they'd been in the tray a bit too long. they romped away after they were planted.
maybe they are a later variety, who knows‽

[Suffs]

Perhaps cooler weather will trigger them?

[scullion]

fingers crossed - otherwise it'll be 'cauliflower leaf cheese' on the menu!

[Uschi]

fingers crossed - otherwise it'll be 'cauliflower leaf cheese' on the menu!

You could always go down the Rübstiel-route. In Germany and the Netherlands we love turnip stalks in spring and summer as a veg side. It works with cabbage, too.

[scullion]

yes, i always use the cauliflower greens and raab.
when i was little - and radishes came in bunches (rather than bags) we used to always eat the 'greens' of those and other veg not known for that nowadays. beetroot leaves are lovely, too.

[Suffs]

When you cut a cabbage from your garden leave the stalk planted in the ground and, with a sharp knife cut an ‘X’ about 1cm deep in the cut end of the stalk … new tufts of cabbage leaves will grow … they’re great to use as spring greens.