Vegetable Gardening (62 page)

‘Golden Acre':
This early-maturing, open-pollinated, round-headed variety produces 3- to 4-pound disease-resistant heads that are great in salads. The leaves are smooth. It matures in 58 days.

‘Gonzales':
This popular European variety grows to be only 4 to 6 inches in diameter, making it a great selection for small spaces. This early-season hybrid produces round, softball-sized, smooth-leaved, aqua-green-colored heads in 66 days.

‘Late Flat Dutch':
This heirloom, late-maturing, 10-inch-diameter variety features a flattened head and smooth leaves. It's excellent for sauerkraut and storage and matures in 100 days.

‘Red Acre':
This red, early-maturing, 6-inch-diameter, round, open-pollinated cabbage with a dense interior, smooth leaves, and deep color has good disease resistance and is great for storage. The cabbages mature in 76 days.

‘Ruby Perfection':
This red, midseason hybrid variety produces attractive 5- to 6-inch-diameter, smooth-leaved, reddish-purple round heads in 80 days.

‘Savoy Express':
This early hybrid, AAS-winning, sweet-tasting, savoy-leafed variety produces 1- to 2-pound round heads that are perfect in slaw and salad. The variety matures in 55 days.

‘Stonehead':
This widely grown, early-maturing hybrid variety produces 5- to 6-inch-diameter solid, smooth-leaved, round heads on compact plants in 60 days.

Considering cauliflower in a rainbow of colors

Think of cauliflower as broccoli's hard-to-get-along-with brother. Both are from southern Europe, require similar growing conditions, and are closely related botanically. However, cauliflower plants produce only one head and no side shoots, and they have a reputation for being a bit tougher to grow. (See the later section "Giving cole crops what they want" for more information.) But don't worry! With the right varieties, proper soil conditions, appropriate watering, and well-timed planting, cauliflower can be a joy to grow in your vegetable garden. It's especially exciting for young gardeners who are amazed to find a beautiful snow-white-colored head hidden under the green leaves. And if you're tired of pure-white heads, purple-, green-, and even orange-headed varieties are now available.

Broccoli and cabbage plants produce
heads,
and Brussels sprout plants produce, well,
sprouts,
so what does a cauliflower plant produce? A
curd.
(But I'll refer to them as heads throughout this chapter, because that's what folks are used to.) No, it's not a Middle Eastern ethnic group or something that Little Miss Muffet ate with her whey. Like a broccoli head, a cauliflower curd is comprised of miniature flower heads tightly clustered together.

On white cauliflower varieties, the heads stay white and tender only if you stop the sun from hitting them by covering the head. (This technique is called
blanching;
see the later section "Nurturing cole crops" for details.) If exposed to the sun, the heads turn yellow and develop a mealy texture.

Like cabbage, cauliflower comes in early-, mid-, and late-season varieties. All the varieties in the following list produce 6- to 7-inch-diameter heads. The days to maturity for each variety are from setting out seedlings in the garden until first harvest. Add 20 days to the maturity date for direct seeding in the garden. Consider these popular varieties:

‘Cassius':
A favorite among commercial organic growers, this hybrid variety features vigorous, sturdy plants and picture-perfect, snowy white heads. The variety matures in 65 days.