Plant · P-339

Brussels Sprouts

Brassica oleracea var gemmifera

Brussels sprouts form as small leaf buds stacked along a tall stem, looking like miniature cabbages, and most people cook them though they can go raw in a salad too. They are the slowest and most demanding of the cabbage family to bring to harvest, needing 90 to 110 days from a midsummer transplant and sweetening only after the first frosts hit. A four-foot stem also casts real shade on whatever grows just north of it, worth planning around rather than discovering later.