YOUR GUIDE TO GROWING BRASSICAS
Despite their strange sounding name, brassicas are easily recognisable vegetables from the mustard family of plants, otherwise known as Brassicaceae. Vegies that belong to this family are broccoli, cauliflower, kale, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, radish, turnips, and even rocket.
A common attribute among brassicas are the seed pods they produce once they have flowered. Another is that they are cold and frost hardy, making them natural winter crops.
Brassicas were also dominant in European cuisine before the introduction of vegetables from the new world. I have highlighted three types of brassicas that are delicious in wintry meals—even more so when freshly picked from your own garden.
CABBAGE/CAVOLO
Cabbage is one of the most popular winter vegetables in Italy because it is readily available, inexpensive, versatile and easy to grow. No one really knows where cabbage originates, as it has been eaten for thousands of years. Romans, for example, ate cabbage for its health benefits. It is a leafy green or purple biennial plant, grown as an annual vegetable, whose foliage ranges from crinkly to smooth, and there are a number of cultivars available, such as savoy and purple. Plant them in full sun to maximise growth
