Need Help With Brussel Sprouts

[baymule]

I got 1/2 dozen brussel sprout plants at the feed store after several years of hearing my best friend talk about how good they are. What I remember my mother serving us kids was nasty and yukky. The plants are about 2 feet tall and healthy. They are putting little buds in the leaf joint where it grows out of the stem. My question is, do I leave the leaves on there, or snap them off to give the budding brussel sprouts room to grow? And if to snap off the leaves, how many and how far up the stem?

I just hope they are good. If not, the chickens will love them! :tools

 

[Chickie'sMomaInNH]

oh yeah will the chickens love them! i was snapping the leaves off and giving them to my chickens towards the end of the summer. i don't seem to have much luck with getting mine to produce a lot of buds or any of good size so i mostly grow them for the leaves which my chickens love to pick apart.

you mom probably over cooked the sprouts. if they smelled really strong they were over done.

 

[lesa]

There really is no need to snap the leaves. I never do. Just leave those buds alone and they will keep growing. They get larger from the bottom first- you can go ahead and snap those buds off from the bottom- and eat them while you wait for the top sprouts to get big. Interestingly, brussels sprouts are not my chickens favorite... They are one of our fav garden veggies- and we are planning to increase our crop of them, next year. I love they don't get ready at the same time as all the usual summer veggies. If you blanch them and freeze, they are mighty good all winter long. Good luck with your sprouts!

 

[Carol Dee]

MY kids love brussels sprouts and even ask Grandma to make them when she has them over to eat! Especially with a cheese sauce! (You know everything is good with either cheese or chocolate!!!!)
We always left the leaves on, no need to snap them off. Enjoy.

 

[Smiles Jr.]

baymule - I usually plant 10 or 12 Brussel's Sprouts every year. I start them indoors in March, set them out late April, and I don't touch them until September. When I do start to harvest I strip the lowest heads first, then in late October I strip the next good-size ones up the stalk, then I do the same in November and December. Sometimes I can harvest all the way into January. Last season I harvested all the way through winter up until I pulled the stalks out of the soil in early April. I never take any leaves off until after I pick the heads and then the leaves go to the chickens and a tiny bit to the rabbits. I throw the stalks into my rough-stuff compost pile to sit there for a few years as the stalks are almost like little tree trunks.

 

[hoodat]

Never buy brussels sprouts from the grocery store. They have to be fresh to be good. Like corn, rush them from the garden to the pot. Brussels sprouts are at their best after a frost. The plant changes the starch to sugar to protect itself, thus improving the flavor.
When the books speak of snapping off leaves they mean the lowest of the large leaves. That lengthens the stem, giving you more sprouts. The leaves that appear on the stalk are what turns into the sprouts. Be sure to leave enough top leaves on the stem for the plant to keep growing.

 

[baymule]

Thanks for the help ya'll!!! I have never grown brussel sprouts before and didn't know whether to snap off the leaves to give room for the sprouts to grow or to leave the leaves on there.

Now those tiny little buds just need to GROW!!