Brassicas. What are they ,Brussels Sprouts, Cabbage, Calabrese (broccoli you see in the supermarkets), Cauliflower, Sprouting Broccoli and many more but these are the most common. The Brassicas family is the largest in the vegatable garden so if you like them you better give them plenty of room in your garden. Most Brassicas grown in the UK are cool climate crops, many of them occupying growing space for a long time. So carefull planning is needed and care of the plants. A minimum of a three year crop rotation is important as they are very susceptible to the persistent soil-bourne disease club root. Serious pests such as cabbage root fly and caterpillars must also be controlled. I lost all my Brassicas in my first season!! So take head and read up if you want to grow Brassicas.   Were to put them, well brassicas will tolerate partial shade but full sun is better. Staking will be necessary for tall-stemmed crops such as sprouting broccoli, brussels sprouts and some kales, to stop them being blown over. The soil should be well drained but moist, fertile and firm. Brassicas need to get a firm roothold, especially those that must withstand winter weather so incorparate plenty of organic matter.   Prepare beds well in advance for example in autumn for spring planting to give the soil chance to firm up. Do not overwork the soil just before sowing or planting. Most brassiacs sown or plated in spring and summer benefit from a base dressing of fertilizer. Do not add fertilizer when sowing or planting in autumn this will encourage lush growth that will be vulnerable to frost damage. Instead top dress overwinterd crops such as spring cabbage with fertilizer in spring. Brassicas grow well on neutral to slighly acid soil a ph of above 6.8 is desirable because it helps to discourage clubroot. If you ph is below this use lime to raise the ph. If you lime heavily ensure that potatoes do not follow the brassicas the following season because potato scab favours alkaline conditions.   Most brassicas are sown into a seed bead or into pots or module trays and then are transplated to there final growing postion when the seedlings have four true leaves. Raising plants in modules helps to gaurd against clubroot. Strong roots undisturbed on transplanting help the plant to grow away quickly. Sow directly into the modules or into trays and prick out into modules. Sowing seed into a seed bed is more striaghtforward to raise but could be more prone to clubroot if you have it in your soil. The only way to tell as I did in my first year was to sow the brassicas directly into the final growing bed were they duly got clubroot. From that I learnt that it would be nessacery to take extra precautions when growing brassicas.     With hindsight in my first year of growing I would have treated the beds for brassicas with lime and sowed some seed directly into the beds and raised some seed in module trays. Another tip I learnt if you suffer from clubroot is when transplanting from cells into the final grwoing position dig a much bigger hole than is required and back fill this with clean soil or compost and then transplant your seedlings. This gives the plant an even bigger chance of getting established before the roots get to the original soil containing the clubroot. Extreme maybe but when you have lost entire crops to this disease then you will know were I am coming from. Once transplated you need to protect your young brassicas from the cabbage root fly. This fly lays it eggs on the roots of the plant. Place a collar of carpet underlay or biodegradable parer around the base of the plant approx in size about 15cm square. You can buy cabbage collars from garden centres. This barrier prevents the fly from laying its eggs around the base of the plants. Birds love young brassicas so protect them with netting or fleece. General care, adequate water is crucial for good brassca crops. Indry spells, water seedlings and new transpalnts daily until weel-established. Therafter, water well once or twice a week if conditions are dry during the growing season. One heavy watering around 10-20 dys befroe maturity, is more benfical than several light ones. Check plants for signs of disease on a weekly basis, removing any dead or yellowing leaves. Follow the advice for avoiding clubroot.   HOW TO AVOID CLUBROOT.   Rotate your crops with at leats a three year rotation. The longer the length of rotation the better. Lime the soil if necessary. Clubroot does not like alkaline conditions. Avoid importing clubroot from plants and soil contaminated from some where else. Control weeds, some common weeds such as shepards purse belong to the brassica family and can harbour clubroot. Clean hoes and other tools to avoid brining in the disease from other garden areas. If your soil is infected, remember that it is young brassica plants that are most vulnerable. Burn all affected material after digging it up complete with roots. NEVER COMPOST IT. Start all plants of in modules, in clean compost, and grow larger and sturdier, transplants than usual; they will be less vulnerable than small seedlings. A larger planting hole filled with clean soil also helps transplants establish in safety. Foliar feeding can help young plants to establish quickly and well on infected sites. Choose fast growing crops such as texsel greens they reach maturity before being infected. Avoid using green manures fodder raddish and mustard which are brassicas.

	Brussels Sprouts MillenniumSow thinly in a prepared seed bed from march onwards. Making several sowings for succession. Plant out 45cm x 60cm bewtween plants and rows from May to July. Water well to aid re-establishment. Plant firmly and draw a little soil around the stem a month or so after planting. Tip pick from base upwards when small walnut size pushing downwards to remove. F1 hybrids will all be ready at same time.

	Cabbage F1 Hispi20-26 wekks Summer & AutumnSow thinly three quarter of an inch deep on a prepared seed bed during March, April and may onwards. Cabbages do best on a rich, deeply dug soil which should be quite firm at planting time. Can also be autumn sown, wintered in a cold fram and planted out early in the spring.

	Cabbage F1 RedskyRed Cabbage, sow 1-2cms deep on a prepared seed bed during March and April, planting out 50cms apart each way from may onwards. Cabbages do best as above. Harvest August to September.

	Cabbage F1 Tundra28-32 weeks WinterSow thinly 13mm deep, in a prepared seed bed from mid March until late May. Thin seedlings, if neccessary, so they are 2.5cms apart. Plant out firmly, into firm, fertile soil in June or July when plants are about 10cms tall at 60cms apart each way. Water in the plants well. In early autumn, draw a little soil around the base of the stems.

	Cabbage Durham Early. One of the earliest and best spring cabbages, Durham Early produces large, solid heads of excellent quality when other vegatables are scarce. Sow July to September

	Turnip Golden Ball. Sow thinly direct into finely raked warm moist soil at a depth of 13mm, in rows about 30cm apart. Thin seedlings to 10cm bewtween plants. Use thinnings as tasty 'turnip tops' in the mixed salad or steam as a delicious vegatable. Turnips grow best in well cultivated soil containing some lime. Water well during periods of dry weather.   Tip. Excellent for autumn and winter storage. Twist off tops store in boxs of sand or soil in garage or shed.

Growing Root Crops. This group of vegatables encompasses beetroots, carrots, parsnips, potatoes, swedes and turnips, all of which have edible crops below the ground or at soil level. Potatoes have underground tubers the other types have swollen roots. Most store well and make useful winter veg.   Root Crops are prone to several pests and diseases that will influence the way you will grow your root crops. Soil pH, most root crops prefer a slighly acid to neautral soil. Potatoes for instance like a slighly acid soil due to potato scab that thrives in alkaline soil but then turnips and swedes will do better on a alkaline soil due to these crops belonging to the brassica family which is prone to clubroot that thrives in an acid soil.   Soil fertility is important to take into account. The nutrient requirements of each crop is various. Parsnips, swedes and turnips have low nitrogen needs and those of carrots and beetroot are very low. Potatoes and beet have high nitrogen requirements. All root crops do best in a soil high in organic matter which is best incorparated into the soil six months or more prior to cropping.   Soil texture is very important for some root crops. Crops that have long roots that grow down into the soil such as carrots , parsnips and some beet types do best on light soils so the roots can penetrate the soil very easily making the vegatables of a good shape and lenght. If you have heavy soil you can still grow these crops but you will need to ensure that the soil is very well dug to free up the texture, are well drained and free of stones.   Rotation as always is very important and a rotation of at leats three years will give you protection from soil bourne pest's and diseses. Also It is a good idea to grow nitrogen hungry crops in the bed that in the previous season contained legumes as legumes fix nitrogen into the soil. Following legumes with root crops that do not need high levels of nitrogen, can result in excessive leaf growth at the expense of roots.   If you only have limited growing space, short term crops of beetroot, carrots, early potatoes, and turnips are helpfull in allowing at least two crops per year from the same piece of land. Long term crops such as parsnips and maincrop potatoes require land for most of the growing season.   Root vegatables are sown from seed with the exception of potatoes which are grown from tubers. Root crops are best sown direct outdoors where they are to crop. You do not want to be disturbing the root as this is the part you want to grow fat. A fine tilth is essential and a good depth of soil is needed so the roots can penertrate easily and unhindered by hard patches of soil. Improve heavy soils by adding lots of manure or compost.

	Legumes Peas&Beans
	Pea, Progress No.9, First Early, Height 1.5ft to 2ft. Make the first sowing in early March in flat drills 6 to 8 inches wide, 2 to 3 inches deep and 2 feet apart. Use about 20 seeds to the foot, spacing them 2 to 3 inches apart each way. For succession crops make sowings at intervals of three weeks until July. As soon as the plants are throught the ground place short sticks on each side of the rows to support the growth.

	Pea, Hurst Green Shaft, Second Early, Height 2 to 2.5 Feet. Sow from March Until July on ground which has been well manured the previous autumn or winter. Draw out flat drills 6 to 8 inches wide, 2 to 3 inches deep, and 2 feet apart. Sow about 20 seeds to the foot, spacing them 2 to 3 inches apart each way. As soon as two pairs of leaves have opened place short sticks along each side of the rows and use the hoe to keep the weeds down and the soil open.

	Perennial Vegatables.
	Asparagus Crowns, Dariana F1. A consistentently high yiel of large, straight, high quality, tasty spears.   These Crowns were one year old grown in Bordeaux plated in may of 2003. These are quick to establish enabling you to have your first pick 12 months from planting, cropping until may and in subsequent seasons until mid June.   Click image to read about the cultivation of Asparagus.

	Mushrooms
	Agaricus bisporus, the white mushrooms you get at the supermarket. It will take 10-12 weeks to get your first crop from time of planting the spawn when grown under ideal conditions. Mushrooms develop best at a temperature of about 15c. Mushrooms grow on composted straw or rotted down stable manure. As a rough guide a 25kg make 25kg of straw manure to produce enough compost for a bed of about 2 sqaure foot.

Oyster and Shiitake Mushrooms Cultivated from wooden plugs. Click image to read all about the cultivation instructions

	Fruit
	Strawberry.   Click the image on the right to fruiting varieties.   There are two types of strawberry. On the left is Flamenco which is a perpetual fruiting variety which will give you fruit throughout summer.   On the right is Perfection which is a summer fruiting variety which will give you perfect strawberries June to July.	read about the cultivation of perpetual fruiting and summer