Going to be growing brassicas this year and need some advice. Ordered some brussel sprouts, savoy cabbage, kale Spacing seems to be 1.5 to 2ft. Seems like not a lot considering how long its in the ground for. Growing it for winter mainly. Ive read that growing the seeds seperate and transplanting last minute frees the bed for early crops like potato. Just wondered if anyone intercropped aswell Any tips would be good
Dan, I usually try to get a first crop in really early (April) and then a second crop in around July...in the same bed.. I start my seeds myself and put them onto 3-cell cell packs.. you can use any size you have to conserve space, but try not to let them get root bound. They just don't seem to do as well if they are stunted before you get them in the ground. We plant on 18-24" spacing, too. They do need the room. You can do anything that is short season in the bed...beets, spinach, lettuce, peas etc for the spring crop, but I am not sure I would plan on potatoes as my first crop and cabbage as the second, unless you are planning on eating those potatoes as you pull them. They won't store well for winter if you are planning on storing them.
How many plants of each are you thinking about? Kale and cabbage really need a row of their own. I just plant the kale as seed,,it does well almost anywhere. Cabbage needs some space as do brussel sprouts. But I see no reason the brussel sprouts couldn`t be interplanted with the potatoes. As long as you have the space. I am thinking about doing broccoli with my potatoes this year.
Thanks Guys, yup planing on having the potatoes as summer eating ones in salads etc (we like our potato salad)so don't plan to have them in the ground long. thanks for the advice
Hoi Dan--I saw that you guys like your potato salad...will you be growing any so-called "gourmet potatos"? Spuds are big in this country, so we like eating them very much. When you go to the market to buy them you don't just go in and puck up a bag...oh noooooo....it has to be examined, for the name, the sort, how it cook, is it crumby or waxy ttc. it's one reason I grow my own. hahaha. I usually grow 3 or 4 different types of spuds each year and one of the four sorts (at least), will be a gourmet variety. We tend to harvest the bulk of our tatties early too. It sounds like you are really getting into the swing of things there.
