Oct 26th, 2009
Autumn Sowing of Cauliflowers
After getting over my grumpiness and admitting that the season is well and truly over I decided to cheer myself up my watching the ‘October’ episode of A Victorian Kitchen Garden. Harry looked a bit despondent too as he watched the temperature fall and stored his Apples in his (albeit totally fab) fruit store.
Then he turned to sowing. He talked about how at this time of year he would sow some Winter hardy Cauliflower. From that sowing he would be able to create a succession of Cauliflower come early Summer next year. Once the seedlings were strong enough he would pot them up, put one batch in his heated greenhouse, one in his coldframe and the others would go outside to battle the Winter weather.
The different treatment of the seedlings would either bring them on, or knock them back accordingly and therefore create a succession. The added benefit is that by over-wintering them you reduce the risk of them being attacked by pests. By the time the Spring pests arrive your Caulis will be big, strapping plants getting ready for harvest. In theory they should be able to withstand the average attack (in theory).
So, I’m taking Harry’s advice. The first thing to go in my coldframe will be Avalanche, a Winter-hardy variety of Cauliflower.
