Kitchen Garden Forum

Idle question - it must be the holiday season !

Have just finished the last sprouts on my Brussels sprouts tree bought from supermarket and wondered what people do with their stalks . Suspect the only thing to do is compost them down by smashing it up first otherwise it will take years to decompose. Wonder if anybody has ever tried using them in soup ?

And what a pity so many sellers lop off the Brussels top before selling. To my mind these are some of the nicest greens and difficult to buy if you don't grow them yourself.

I use a good sharp spade to split the stalks as much as possible, then they go on my compost heap. Damn hard some of them

They never grow tall enough to make a walking stick out of

No wonder we don't see many in England!

Geoff wrote:No wonder we don't see many in England!

stork1.jpg

Thanks Geoff, error rectified

I've fired the typist, name was Marge

Darned predictive text! Makes so many assumptions that you an often imagine the typist to be a complete moron!

I confess t'was I that made the error, just typed first stork that came to mind. Ironically I don't use predictive for that very reason

We love your honesty, Pa Snip....

Back to the thread, apologies for deviation.

I used to split then shred them but decided that by the time I'd set the shredder up and unblocked it a few times the volume created for the compost just wasn't worth the effort so they go to the bonfire now. I usually grow fifteen plants in three varieties. I see there is a thread mentioning the new Suttons catalogue (not sure why we've received one in my wife's name as we don't use them), I notice they sell Brussels Sprout Crispus (a great variety) as a pack of 22 "value" plug plants for £8.99. Seems rather a large batch to me.

Pa Snip wrote:I use a good sharp spade to split the stalks as much as possible, then they go on my compost heap. Damn hard some of them

They never grow tall enough to make a walking stick out of

I put them into the Council recycling Bin.

I leave mine to dry out then put them through the shredder before going in compost heap

Dear All,
if the sprout stalk is large in diameter then the inside can be quite tasty. It is a bit like turnip in texture and taste; my sister and I used to split a stem and gnaw out the inside when we were children. The dog liked them too although we didn't like the dog afterwards...... Sniff. Especially after he had been laid in front of the fire all evening!
I suppose it is essentially the same as a kohl rabi.
Regards Sally Wright

I suppose if ever I found myself in a Seige of Leningrad situation where starvation threatened I might try to cook or eat a Brussels Sprout stalk but they always seem so tough that this is one thing I've never been tempted to experiment with. I imagine if they were chopped up and simmered for long enough they might become edible. Sally's comment about grawing the inside of the stalk as children was interesting, I had to be content with a raw carrot.However, I'm very fond of kohl rabi so might be tempted to give my next stalk a try !

I remember eating the centre of a raw cabbage when I was little. I used to bother my mother when she was chopping it up for the core!

Sprouts aren't just for Christmas.

wow, looking good Geoff! its a long time since we've grown any that fabulous!