Vegetable Gardening (63 page)

‘Cheddar':
Here's where the cauliflower color revolution started. The ‘Cheddar' hybrid has orange heads that become even brighter as they mature; the color even holds when cooked. The orange coloring is from the presence of
carotene
(the same substance that causes carrots to be orange), so this variety is also high in vitamin A and has a sweet flavor. The heads mature in 58 days.

‘Fremont':
A self-blanching hybrid variety, ‘Fremont' is known for dependable midseason production (after 62 days), even under adverse weather conditions.

‘Graffiti':
For eye-popping color, grow some purple cauliflower! The brilliant purple-colored head of this hybrid is great raw in salads. However, the color fades when cooked. This variety matures in 80 days.

‘Panther':
Not to be outdone by its colorful cousins, ‘Panther' features lime-green-colored heads on hybrid plants. Large, uniform heads produce early (in 75 days) and hold well in the garden.

‘Snow Crown':
This is the standard white hybrid variety that's easy to grow, early (60 days), widely adaptable, and dependable.

If you're looking for a cauliflower with class, try growing the Romaneseco types. Originally only grown around Rome, Italy, in fall, this cauliflower is getting broader play today. The heads are sweeter than white cauliflower, but take longer to mature (85 to 90 days). The reward for your patience is a pale to dark-green head consisting of mini-spirals that look like minarets. This variety is almost too beautiful to eat! ‘Veronica' is a new hybrid variety, and ‘Minaret' is an attractive heirloom.

Growing Your Own Cole Crops

As long as the weather is cool, cole crops are a snap to grow. They thrive in most parts of the country as a spring or fall crop just for that reason. Start with a rich, fertile soil; keep them well weeded and watered; and keep pests such as the cabbageworm at bay. You'll be rewarded with an abundant harvest. I explain what you need to know in the following sections.

Giving cole crops what they want

The keys to growing all cole crops are cool weather and fertile soil. Cole cropsare cool crops: They grow and taste best when temperatures are below 80 degrees Fahrenheit, especially when the crops are maturing. Cole crops grow best in raised beds (see Chapter 3) and are also fairly demanding of nutrients, so be generous with manure and fertilizers (after you've done a soil test as indicated in Chapter 14 and know what nutrient adjustments need to be made), and they'll reward you with plenty of growth and production.

Because cole crops thrive in cool weather, many gardeners can grow all of them to mature as a summer crop and then some as a fall crop. That's two crops in per year! I explain how to plant summer and fall crops in the following sections.

Two caveats apply:

Brussels sprouts may be hard to mature as a fall crop in far northern areas, but they're commonly grown in fall in most other areas of the country.

If the weather gets too cold or too warm when cauliflower plants are forming heads, all you end up with are scraggly, small heads. Temperatures in the 70-degree range are ideal, so it's best to avoid growing cauliflower when it will mature in the heat of summer. For that reason, many gardeners like to grow cauliflower only as a fall crop started in summer to mature in the cooler, autumn weather.

Planting summer cole crops

Even though you can
direct seed
most summer-maturing cole crops in spring — that is, plant the seed directly in the garden — it's easier to get a jump on the season by starting the plants indoors 6 to 8 weeks before your last frost date (see the appendix for first and last frost dates in your area). Then you can plant the seedlings in your garden 2 to 4 weeks before that date. Spring-planted summer-maturing cole crops can withstand a light frost, and planting them early gives them a jump-start on growing. After the plants have at least four leaves, cultivate around the plants to kill any weeds and mulch with hay or straw. (Check out Chapter 14 for information on battling weeds and Chapter 15 for mulching techniques.)

Here's a rule-of-green-thumb when it comes to spacing cole crops, especially cabbage: The closer the plants are to one another, the smaller their heads will be (the appendix provides plant spacing guidelines). A dwarfed crop isn't necessarily bad — you may want to produce smaller, more manageable heads of cabbage. So, instead of planting cabbages 12 to 24 inches apart, try 8 to 12 inches. You'll get smaller, more manageable heads.