Cool weather makes cauliflowers content

URBAN FARMER:The dull summer seems to suit the humble cauli, writes FIONNUALA FALLON

IF THERE’S one vegetable growing in the OPW’s walled Victorian kitchen garden that has enjoyed this summer’s dull days and cooler than average temperatures, then it’s the ever-so-humble cauliflower – the plant that Dr Johnson loved but that Mark Twain mockingly described as “nothing but a cabbage with a college education”.

Thus while the walled garden’s sun-loving sweet corn plants are mere halflings in comparison to previous, hotter summers, its beetroot plants are either sulking or bolting and its pumpkins are only now beginning to reluctantly swell, the garden’s 2011 crop of “caulis” are close to exhibition-standard. “Far better than last year’s”, says OPW gardener Meeda Downey, “even though we didn’t bend the leaves over the developing curds like youre supposed to.”

This is despite the fact that the cauliflower (a member of the large Brassica family) has a reputation for being a difficult vegetable to cultivate successfully, needing a sheltered, sunny site and a firm, fertile, moisture-retentive but free-draining soil that’s neither acidic nor freshly-manured.

“This summer, we’ve been trying out an early-maturing variety called ‘Aviron’ we got from Moles Seeds (molesseeds.co.uk) and which we’ve never grown before. We raised the young plants from seed in the glasshouse back in April and then planted them out in late May,” explains OPW gardener Brian Quinn, pulling back the curling green leaves to expose the crisp, deep, snow-white curds (these are in fact the plant’s undeveloped flower heads).

Both he and Meeda admit to being very impressed. “It’’s a nice, vigorous variety that naturally produces a lot of foliage, which has helped to protect the young cauliflower heads from getting burnt by the sun. But as well as that, I think the plants really liked this year’s cooler temperatures. Last summer’s crop didn’t do half as well, which we put down to the fact that it was a lot warmer.”

A vegetable with a complicated history, the cauliflower is believed to have originated in Cyprus and was much cultivated in Syria from the Early Middle Ages, while the Moors first introduced it to Spain sometime between the 12th and 15th century (it was known there as Syrian cabbage). By the end of the 18th century, it was a very popular, even fashionable, vegetable throughout Europe. But not anymore. Despite the fact that its naturally rich in fibre and in vitamins C and K as well as manganese, various anti-oxidants and omega-3 fatty acids, the cauliflowers popularity has waned considerably in much of Western Europe. In Ireland, this may be due in part to its rather unglamorous past culinary associations (who can really love boiled cauliflower?) as well, of course, as its peculiarly unpleasant smell, particularly when over-mature.

Even the British cookery writer, and enthusiastic gardener, Nigel Slater admits that, “If I am being honest, the cauliflower is far from my favourite vegetable. Sometimes I think it wouldn’t bother me if I never saw one again”. A quick scan of the indexes of many of the better-known modern cookbooks reveals a similar indifference to the vegetable (Cork chef and food writer Denis Cotter is one of the exceptions). Yet go back just a few decades, to the late 1970s, and Jane Grigson is extolling the virtues of a fresh cauliflower – “its beautiful look and flavour” – and listing a range of traditional Polish, French, Sicilian, Romanian, Greek and Italian recipes. How times have changed.

Back in the walled Victorian garden, Meeda and Brian are priding themselves on the fact that their flourishing cauliflower plants have escaped damage from the caterpillars of the Cabbage White butterfly, a common pest at this time of the year.

“We netted the plants as soon as they went into the ground”, explains Meeda, “so the butterflies didn’t get a chance to lay any eggs on them.”

But any gardeners who didn’t cover their cauliflower plants (or indeed, any other brassicas) with either netting or fleece would do well to inspect the underside of the plants’ leaves, both for the butterfly’s larvae (green, or yellow and black, depending on the particular species) and its eggs (the most obvious are those of the Large White, which are bright yellow and found in clusters on the back of the leaf).

When and if you find them, crush them. Better again, bribe a willing and suitably bloodthirsty child to do it for you. If the infestation is particularly bad, consider using the biological control Bacillus thuringiensis, which is available from Fruithill Farm (fruithillfarm.com).

Along with the unwelcome attentions of the Cabbage White butterfly, the cauliflower can be vulnerable (just like many brassicas) to a range of other pests and diseases, including cabbage rootfly, clubroot, downy mildew, whiptail, aphids and various viruses, as well as damage from slugs, snails and pigeons. Once ripe, the vegetable’s snowy white curds should also be harvested and eaten as quickly as possible, as otherwise the heads soon discolour and their flavour deteriorates.

But speaking of colour, it should be added that the newer F1 varieties of cauliflower now come in vibrant shades of tangerine-orange (‘Sunset’) and lime-green (‘Minaret’, ‘Trevi’). Perhaps it’s the kind of makeover that this rather unloved vegetable has been waiting for.

The OPW’s Victorian walled kitchen garden is in the grounds of the Phoenix Park Visitor Centre, beside the Phoenix Park Café and Ashtown Castle. The gardens are open daily from 10am to 4pm

Fionnuala Fallon is a garden designer and writer

WHAT TO: sow, plant and do now

Sow outdoors in pots or modules, for later planting in the tunnel or greenhouse when summer crops are cleared, for late autumn/early winter crops: Calabrese, Cabbages 'Greyhound' and leafy non-hearting spring types, carrots (Nantes types, in long modules or pots), kales such as Cavalo Nero, dwarf green curled and Ragged Jack (Red Russian), endives, kohl rabi, Swiss chards leaf beets, peas (for pea shoots), sugar loaf chicory, leaf chicories (raddicchio), plain leaved and curly parsley and sorrels. Covering while outdoors with a fine mesh covered frame or cloche will give young seedlings protection from pests (like cabbage root fly and cabbage white butterflies), and also scorching sun, strong winds or heavy rain.

Outdoors, sow in modules, in a seedbed for transplanting, or in situ where they are to crop, possibly to cover with cloches or frames in autumn: beetroot, brocoletto Cima di Rapa, early Nantes type carrots for late autumn cropping, cabbage Greyhound and leafy non-hearting spring types), peas (for pea shoots), sugar loaf and leaf chicory, radicchios, endives, salad onions, winter lettuces, kales, radishes, rocket, Swiss chard and leaf beets, summer spinach, summer turnips, Chinese cabbage and other oriental greens such as Choy Sum, Pak choi, mibuna, mizuna, mustards Red Green Frills, Chinese kale (Kailaan), quick maturing salad mixes, parsley, chervil, buckler-leaved and French sorrel. Sow fast growing green manures such as buckwheat, red clover, mustard (a brassica so watch rotations) and Phacelia, to improve soil, lock-up carbon and feed worms (digging them in later after the first frosts, then covering to protect soil, preventing nutrient loss and possible pollution), on any empty patches of ground cleared of crops that won't be used over winter.

NBSow in the evenings if possible as germination can sometimes be affected or even prevented by too high a temperature – this applies particularly to lettuce, and also greenhouse sown carrots.

Do: Continue hand-weeding, hoeing, watering. Plant out any well-established, module-raised plants, spray maincrop potatoes against blight, keep glasshouse/polytunnel well-ventilated, feed tomatoes, pumpkins, cucumbers, put up protective netting (Bionet) against carrot fly, cabbage root fly, cabbage white butterfly (inspect for eggs and caterpillars also), provide support for tall plants (beans, peas, tomatoes), protect vulnerable crops against slug/snail damage, continue harvesting/ storing produce.