I always hated Brussels Sprouts

Some people love Brussels Sprouts.  Russell, like many Australians, used to really dislike them, but then someone at a food garden visit gave him a tip.  What a pearl of wisdom it must have been, because Russell decided to conduct 'Russell's great Brussels Sprouts field trial' and now he loves Brussels Sprouts.  In this exclusive interview Russell reveals the secrets behind it all.

Why were you such a passionate Brussels Sprouts hater?
Like many Australians I used to hate Brussels Sprouts with a passion.  Bitter, uninspiring, why would you eat Brussels Sprouts when you can eat peas or beans or asparagus?  My partner Bronwyn on the other hand loves them, so a problem developed.  Bronwyn wanted me to grow them and obviously eat them whereas my desire was to see how far I could despatch them with a golf club.
Eventually I agreed to grow them but was never successful.  They say you have to be kind and talk nicely to plants.  I think I gave them a daily round of abuse and they failed spectacularly.  They started 'fluffy' and they stayed 'fluffy' - they never formed tight compact sprouts.

So what was the tip someone gave you at a food-garden visit?
The tip (thanks Marg!) was 'sow in punnets in December, then plant out in January'.   That was much earlier than I had done it until then, so I thought 'aha, maybe that is what I have been doing wrong'.

Tell us more about 'Russell's great Brussels Sprouts field trial'
Whenever you hear stories about growing Brussels Sprouts the inevitable comment is that the sprout starts of 'fluffy'.  The weather needs to be cold for them to form tight compact sprouts and frosts can be very helpful as well.
Two years ago I decided to experiment with a number of Brussels Sprouts varieties to see if there was one that would form compact heads from the beginning in my local climate, which means just a few mild frosts each winter.
I planted six different types and tagged them accordingly and was ecstatic to discover that one of the plants formed compact heads from the very beginning.  The other five varieties had fluffy heads.

Now bear in mind that growing Brussels Sprouts is a long process - sow seeds in December, plant out  in January, have a major war with cabbage moths for a few months, wait for cold weather and a few frosts and harvest in winter.
After achieving what I was after, that is, a sprout that forms a compact head from the start, I was shattered when I realised that the name tags I had used to identify each variety had been lost, removed or moved and I had no idea what was the variety of sprout that was successful.
After tearing my hair out and admitting the stuff-up I had to wait for December to come around and start all over again.
This time I planted seven different varieties and on planting out I name-tagged the rows at each end and recorded the layout and names on computer and backed it up on a USB-stick.
I can report that there were in fact two varieties that achieved my objective of a compact head from the very beginning.  They are:

1. Diablo F1 from Southern Harvest Seeds (they are at Salamanca Market and now at Growmaster Howrah Nursery)
2. Red Ribs from The Lost Seed

So after 2 years the field trial was a success and in future I will only grow these two varieties.  Thank you Marg for your tip.

Do you now have a favourite Brussels Sprouts recipe?
From a Brussels Sprout hater and now having success at growing them, the next step was to sample the produce and yes, suddenly there was competition in the household for a share of the product because they were not bitter!  I planted extra - problem solved.
This is probably a classic case of growing your own vegetables as they will always have a different and superior flavour to the supermarket lines and in the case of my sprouts they are not sprayed with any chemicals.

While we try a few different recipes with the sprouts we always come back to just steaming.  They are not like I remember in the past: they are sweet and good for you!

Thanks Russell, that was very entertaining and valuable info !

PS: Lyn, one of the members of our group, provided another Brussels Sprouts recipe she says is great.  It is 'Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Shallots' and it can be found at http://www.rivercottage.net/recipes/roasted-brussels-sprouts-with-shallots  . Thank you, Lyn !