We've stolen a march on Mother Nature by sowing seed of three specially selected varieties and then gently growing the plants on over the winter under controlled cool greenhouse conditions.

These sturdy young plants are ready to send to you and plant out in mid/late March, some eight to 10 weeks earlier than the main brassica planting period. To encourage the earliest possible crops we recommend that you protect your young plants with fleece or cloches.

Our Extra Early Brassica Collection includes 16 plants each of:

• Broccoli (Calabrese) Marathon - Produces dense blue-green, finely beaded succulent heads from May.
• Cabbage Duncan - One of the best spring cabbages, producing firm, pointed heads in May but can be picked before maturity and eaten as 'spring greens' in April.
• Cauliflower Maybach - An excellent, early maturing variety that will not 'blow' in warm weather.
• Brussels Sprout Clodius - Dependable solid, round sprouts ready in time for the Christmas period and continuing for the remainder of winter when other green vegetables are scarce.

The Extra Early Brassicas have been sown in October and overwintered undercover with frost protection. The plants are tough, sturdy and stocky ready hardened off for immediate planting on arrival. 

The plants will not look as fresh as spring sown plants BUT don’t be alarmed! The plants will be taller and have some yellow leaves which will either fall off or green up as the plant gets growing. The plants are typical  of those planted by commercial growers up and down the country and will thrive in prepared soil. 

These plants will crop six to eight weeks earlier in your garden than spring raised crops and give your first flush of produce from your garden – and what’s more many will have cropped before persistent brassica pests are around like caterpillars and whitefly.