If you watched the Great British Food Revival programme a few weeks ago with the Hairy Bikers you might, by now, have treated yourself and your family to a cauliflower and tried out one of the many dishes they used to help stimulate us into using this forgotten Brassica.
I wrote a main article on this healthy, versatile and delicious crop in October 2008 so why it has taken television celebrities three years to catch up with me I really don’t know!
However, for those who did not read my missive on the humble cauliflower, read on, but not before you have gone out and treated you and your family to a British grown one from your local farmers market, your local greengrocers or, perhaps even from your own allotment or vegetable garden to enjoy this weekend.
With careful planning you can have cauliflowers in all their different guises available almost 12 months of the year.
A new cultivar for late summer and autumn use that is resistant to club root called Clapton is now available from Suttons for sowing from March to June.
Prestige will mature in April to May from a late summer sowing as it takes 40 to 46 weeks to mature and will survive even the worst winters.
A wonderful golden variety from the Organic Gardening catalogue is Sunset F1 that can be sown in April to May for a late summer harvest. D.T. Brown’s Trevi F1 with its lime green curds is another late summer cultivar with an excellent flavour. Try out Dobies Purple Graffiti F1 - sow in February to March for a July or August crop and give the judges a shock on the show benches next year!
