Brassica seeds going in

Feb is the month to begin putting in brassica seeds and this period lasts for a couple of months. the key with brassicas is geting them in while there is still some warm growing weather, but at the same time you are still trying to grapple with the ravages of summer. i try to grow them on into larger pots in the nursery so that when they do go into the ground they are a bit more hardy and able to take a bit of biffo from the pests and the sun.

Broccoli heading while sweet potatoe still prospers - must have been a mild winter

 This gives me broccoli in May through to whenever it gets too hot to keep up with it, or i just move onto the Asparagus and let it go. Brassicas do fantastically well in the mild winters in alice and don't mind the  frost. They get no attatck from cabbage white butterfly and generally look pristine without much effort. I have tried brussel sprouts a couple of times but have been beaten by aphids so cannot say that they have worked, but aparrently other people have succedded. You do need to plant them in Feb so that they are heading in the coldest part of the year - June - July.

Cauliflower over red cabbage

What i have planted so far...

Cauliflower pale face
This is a big fat cauliflower and the plants are eventually over a metre wide so leave plenty of space (like i never seem to do) The sno ball little cauliflowers are often termed space savers. i call the a waste of space. they produce hardy anything and are only mature marginally faster than paleface. Give them a miss is my tip. You may also be duped into buying these from nurserys where they have not been properly labelled - i was.
Cabbage - vertus
Will give these another go this year
Broccoli - green sprouting calabrese
A long lasting Broccoli that produces lots of side shoots with long thin stems and are delicious. Just keep on picking it while you can keep up with it - or until you can't stand to eat that many aphids. I have been saving the seed from this variety for many years.

Black Tuscan Kale

Kale - Nero di Toscana.
Black Tuscan Kale is a hardy thing that grows for more than a year, but although it is tough it is not quite adapted to suviving the heat and pest onslaught that an alice springs summer brings. Gow it over winter and into the summer until it karks it. i have never managed to get viable seed to save from this one.
Kale - Siberian
I don't remember buying this one but i'll put it in and give it a go.
Kale - Old Women meet and gossip cabbage
This is more like an annual kale than the two others above. closely related to Ethiopian cabbage ora different variety of. I grow it all year round and use it as a great egg conditioner - that is i feed it to the chooks.

Brassicas i plant a bit later
I plant these later because they are direct seeded and are harder to keep he water up to - and i am not too keen on hot radishes. Radishes get milder as the weather cools.

Radish - i really like Diakon and i made a fabulous lacto-fermented preserve of them last year, which as it  aged gained a smokey flavour.
Swedes
Kohl rabi