For the broccoli and possibly the cauliflower its possible. However, the brussel sprouts take a long time and usually taste better after being exposed to a light frost. I would start the broccoli in the beginning of July to set out in August.

Agreed on the Brussels. They take forever and in zone 5 there is only one season for them. They take 4 months or more.

Put out good sized plants around June 1st (look up things for you own area) to harvest after a frost or two in October.

If you plant them in early spring you end up with plants maturing in August and they aren't terrible, but the sprouts are loose and not as flavorful.

I already started all three, but I can start brussels sprouts again in mid to late April for a June planting out.

I don't even like Brussels Sprouts...sigh...but some family members like them...

Typically, our first frost is late September, though not until sometime in October the last few years.

Thanks-

If your first frost is usually end of Sept - early Oct then put seeds into soil 4 months before you expect the first frost.

If you assume Oct 1 then put seeds in soil June 1st.

I do understand you aren't a brussel sprout fan, but if you aren't a brussel sprout fan I have to wonder if you have ever eaten frost touched brussel sprouts.

There is a difference between what you get in the store or from the summer garden and what you get in the fall/winter from brussels that have experienced the cold. Brussels use sugar as anti freeze so the colder it gets the more sugar they produce. This isn't the bad kind of sugar either. It is the kind of sugar you can consume without guilt.

I start my brussels sprouts indoors (under lights) every Feb 28 or so, and plant them out "as soon as the ground can be worked", which was late March last year. (BTW they didn't mind being snowed on a few times in April). They stayed in all year, and I started harvesting in October, after a couple of frosts). The variety I grow (currently "Bubbles" but I've also grown "Jade Cross Hybrid" this way) basically just keeps on growing from the time you plant it to the time you dig it up.

Brussels Sprouts Fall 2007

Sorry about the quality of the picture (assuming it takes). It wasn't taken with a digital camera. But you get the idea...

I agree with the other posters - Aug sprouts don't hold a candle to Oct sprouts. A couple of good freezes do them wonders! (But you can overdo it - by Christmas they're past their prime!)

Last year was my first for cauliflower. It went in in mid June and produced a mediocre crop in September. They were store bought plants however that were well past their prime, so I hope to do better with home grown seedlings this year. I've read that spring cauliflower around here is a challenge, but I've yet to try it.

Your broccoli (plant out late April) should give you a mid June or so crop. I haven't tried for a fall crop, but will this year.

Cheers,

Tim

Hmmm... let's try that again...

[IMG]http://i273.photobucket.com/albums/jj209/urbanfarmertim/sprouts.jpg[/IMG]

Third time's a charm! BTW, I'm 6'2" and some sprouts have been removed from the lower third...

{{gwi:35505}}

I either buy my broccoli and cauliflower from a local greenhouse or start my own plants, putting them in the ground in mid to late May when I have water. The broccoli usually have their first heads sometime in July, then continue putting up new heads until cold weather in Oct/Nov. finally freezes them to the ground. That big, first head is fast to pick and has a lot of volume, but it is much woodier than all the follow up heads that come up the rest of the summer, which take longer to pick, but seem to yield just as well as the first head every week to 10 days, and the stems are always tender so there is no trimming or waste when you get to the kitchen. Just wash and toss them in the pot. Don't think I would ever try to plant later for a "fall" crop since I'm already inundated with broccoli.

My cauliflower comes off in July/Aug, then I pull the plants as they don't seem to re-sprout and form new heads. As the weather cools down in the fall, they seem to grow slower so if I was trying for a Sept. crop of cauliflower, I would probably put the transplants out in early to mid July.

Don't pay attention to zones. It has nothing to do with gardening in the summer. Zones only tell you the average annual lowest temperature of a given area. They don't tell us about frost dates, summer temps, rain, etc. So, they don't matter in this case.

I'll put my first broccoli, cauliflower and cabbage in the ground in late April or early May. The date depends on when this snow melts and the soil dries. The second planting will go into the ground as seedlings five or six weeks later and a third planting of broccoli a few weeks after that. We'll have broccoli into October. I'll plant the Brussels sprouts when I pull something else out in mid June.

Thanks all!

Robin, you have a winter garden in a greenhouse, yes?
I'm planning on building a PVC hoop house this August. I figure that would be the right time to build one so I can sow a winter garden of beets, carrots and various lettuces. Anything else do well in a winter garden hoop house?

Thanks-

Hoop house master: Eliot Coleman, Four-Season Harvest.

What else can you grow? Greens mainly (sorry!) ie, claytonia, hardy cabbages, raddichio, endive, mache, spinach.

I just found an article from the Umaine Extension that recommended starting seeds (either in ground or for seedlings) in early July for your fall Broccoli crop. That's my plan; I'll start seedlings next week. I put my first, nursery-bought seedlings in the ground pretty early (mid April and again April 25) and have already harvested the main stem on both plantings. I will continue to harvest the side shoots until I plant the new seedlings. I am in South Portland.