Kia hora te manno
Kia whakapapa paumamu te moana
Kia tere te Karohirohi

May the calm be widespread
May the sea glisten like the greenstone
And may the glimmer of summer dance across your pathways

Sunday, April 05, 2009

At last, a warm day to play in the garden

I wanted to try something different, in the way of vegetables this year, and found these Brussels sprouts and Cauliflower in our local nursery. Click on picture to see the purple leaves of the Brussels Sprouts in the background.

Cauliflower ~ Cheddar. An orange cauliflower! First discovered in the Bradford Marsh in Canada in 1970, Cheddar was smaller and less tasty than white cauliflower, but the color was alluring. Over the years, using conventional breeding techniques, it was crossed with a white variety to create a delicious, high vitamin content cauliflower. The curds contain approximately 25 times more beta carotene than white cauliflower.
Brussels Sprouts ~ Rubine, An heirloom variety not often seen in the garden. Rubine offers up a bountiful harvest of gorgeous 1-1 1/2 inch purple-red sprouts that are full of wonderfully rich old-time flavor


No this is not a nice crop of grass, they are Cipollini onions.

Pronounced chip-oh-LEE-nee this is a smaller, flat, pale onion. The flesh is a slight yellowish color and the skins are thin and papery. The color of the skin ranges from pale yellow to the light brown color of Spanish onions. These are sweeter onions, having more residual sugar than garden-variety white or yellow onions, but not as much as shallots.

The advantage to cipollinis is that they are small and flat and the shape lends them well to roasting. This combined with their sweetness makes for a lovely addition to recipes where you might want to use whole caramelized onions.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

One of the most delightful things about a garden is the anticipation it provides.

~W.E. Johns.



8 comments:

lynn'sgarden said...

I tried Brussel sprouts last year for fun too! 3 plants took up alot of room..amazing how thick the stalks got! You will definitely need to stake them. Haven't tried cauliflower though so I'll be anxious to see how they do for you...never seen an orange one!

Heather said...

I was wanting to try brussel sprouts this year too. I may have to make a drive to the closest nursery to see if they have them. 1 hour 15 min. makes it a good excuse to buy plenty. Your garden is coming along very nicely.
Heather

Cathy S. said...

Enjoy your warm day in the garden!
I've grown Broccoli which takes up
lots of room, never tried brussel sprouts or cauliflower I think I will wait and see how yours turn out.

Meems said...

Hi KeeWee,
We can only grow brussel sprouts in the winter down here. I am trying some onions this year for the first time... not at all sure how they will do but they have all sprouted-- so far so good.

I sure hope your Cipollini onions end up in your kitchen adding lots of fun and flavor to your cooking!
Meems @ Hoe and Shovel

NotSoAngryRedHead said...

We tried to grow cheddar cauliflower, but it all turned alien and wonky. What a pain. We pulled them all up recently. Good luck with yours!

Corner Gardener Sue said...

Well, your little plants look cute in their spots in the dirt! I hope you get a great crop!

Victoria Williams said...

Growing Cipollini onions. What a great idea!

Iowa Gardening Woman said...

Your seedlings look so nice and healthy! No doubt due to the compost tea.