Purple sprouting broccoli is a delicious, versatile tasting green vegetable. It’s one you should consider growing because of this; you harvest it at the time of year Feb – April when there are not many vegetables ready. That’s if it’s a later variety. If it’s an earlier variety then you can harvest it late summer to early autumn.

When you combine the two varieties then you have a continual supply of fresh greens for 6 – 8 months of the year. Amazing!

However, it does have a long growing cycle. So you’ll need to plan your sowing well in advance.

If you’re growing your purple sprouting from seed, then you’ll need to sow the seeds in compost in a tray. If you have too many plants growing too close together then you can pull them out and plant in an individual pot.

Put your tray in your window sill or cold frame. Making sure the seedlings won’t be too cold.

Once the plants are 5” high then you can plant them in their final growing place.

One thing to bear in mind is mature plants take up a lot of room. So make sure you leave plenty of room between your plants.

Purple sprouting prefers a neutral to alkaline soil. It will grow in light and heavy soils. Wind can be a problem. So a sheltered growing position is preferable.

The two enemies who love purple sprouting

There are two main enemies of purple sprouting. Pigeons and caterpillars. For the former try a scarecrow.

For the latter, think about netting your plants. The best way is to make a brassica cage. That may sound posh. But there are some inexpensive methods you can use.

One method is to make a frame out of roofing batten. Another low-cost method is to make a frame from 20mm alkathene water pipe. A 25-meter roll costs around £15 in the UK. Sure a 25m roll may sound a lot. But you could have a frame you can walk in. And besides, you can make fruit cages from any leftover alkathene. Once your frame is in place, cast a net over it. Making sure there are no entry points for butterflies.