Kitchen Garden Forum

Has anyone any bright ideas on how to deal with brussel sprout stalks? They don't rot down and my shredder balks at their hardness. At present I put them on a bonfire, but I just wondered ....?
John N

arnt we supposed to make walking sticks with them ?

how about beating sticks for small children!

Although as we do not have a shredder sweetcorn stems are just as bad.

John N,
Get a good shredder1
But you expected that didn't you?

Put them in your green bin and let someone else deal with them! The composting facility at Louth in Leics gets up to such a high temp theat it would easily manage those.

small children ought not to be given beating sticks

threaten them with the shredder.

belt them with the stalks.

or is that another thread?

I smash them with the back of me axe or the blade if it comes to it. (the stalks not the children) but then I only ever grow 2 doz at the most. Cascade F.1. is the one I grow. billed to come in for christmas and always does for me.

I know this sounds weird, but we eat them. They need peeling, which has to be done carefully because the skin is so tough. What you end up with tastes like a cross between broccoli and chestnuts.

My OH really loves it and I leave the peeling to him, because it is quite hard to do.

Use a chopper as for firewood and a hunky block of wood. Cut into4 to 6 inch lengths and they compost without any bother.

Seriously Beccy? How do you cook them - they are as hard as nails aren't they?

We'll eat ought in our house so interested to hear.

Sue

Seriously. It was my OH that discovered this delicacy; tried, I am told, on the principle that the stems of broccoli are the best bit, so he was experimenting with other brassica stems (what can I say, he can be a little strange).

It is the skin that is rock hard, it is very fibrous, but once that has been removed the centre is only a little firmer than peeled broccoli stem. The peel is very difficult to remove, basically you have to whittle it off, and I'm not sure I would bother every time, but as I said before I let the OH do that bit, and as he loves the stuff he's prepared to do it. And he's safer with sharp tools than me.

And we cook it by boiling, steaming, or throwing in a casserole or stew (what is the difference between those anyway?).

the rats ate all our brussels stalks, leaving the sprouts on the floor, but we didn't fancy eating them...