Years ago, on a day in early February, I visited a French garden that was empty, aside from one astonishing crop. It was the first time I’d ever seen purple Brussels sprouts, and they were a very deep wine color, on tall, gangly stalks.
The Brussels sprout is a member of the cabbage family, and the little spheres that form on its tall stems are, in fact, tiny versions of the usual large, single-head cabbage that we cut closer to soil level. Instead of making that big head right away, this plant sprouts a mini-cabbage in every leaf axil — the “V” formed between a leaf’s stem and the main stalk.
If you cut a normal cabbage and leave the headless stem and roots in the garden, tasty new leaves will form all along the stem, quite suitable for salads and stir-fries. Leave it there a while longer, and mini-cabbages will appear in the leaf axils — more baseball-size than Brussels-sprout-size, but delicious cut in half and baked cut-side-down in olive oil and garlic.
Purple Brussels sprouts come from the same lineage as purple cabbage (or red cabbage, as it’s usually called), and in both there is a color progression as the plants mature and cold weather sets in. The leaves of the young plants have a bluer tone than those of green cabbage, and the heads turn redder as they firm up.
Because Brussels sprouts are extremely cold-hardy, they are left in the ground longer than cabbages, so the dark, rich color of the sprouts has a long time to develop. Cold temperatures have an effect, too. I’ve noticed the same thing in Bull’s Blood beet, a variety whose tops turn a darker red the colder it gets and can be cut for baby leaf salads in winter.
Maturing in cold weather also makes Brussels sprouts taste sweeter, which is not surprising. Other brassicas, such as kale, improve after frost as well.
To grow any Brussels sprout variety, you need to time your planting so that it’s cool outside while the sprouts are forming. In short-season areas, that means getting them in the ground early, because they take a long time to grow. But in places with a long, hot summer, such as the mid-Atlantic, Brussels sprouts could be the first of the brassicas you sow in early summer for fall and winter fare. Brussels sprouts seeds can be started indoors now and transplanted in early July, or you could ask your local garden center whether it will have some transplants in early July and buy them then. Protecting the plants with floating row covers will help them to avoid summer pests, which can include the whitefly.
The plants my husband and I saw in France were an heirloom variety called Rubine or Red Rubine, available from territorialseed.com. When we grew it at home, we found it a bit less developed than modern green sprout varieties. Not all of the sprouts were the dense golf balls that one expects.
A newer, open-pollinated variety called Falstaff is widely available (from parkseed.com, fedcoseeds.com and bountifulgardens.org) and is said to have a milder, sweeter flavor and better color retention when cooked. Maybe head formation is improved as well, but even if it’s not, you’ll find that the tender, loose leaves of deconstructed red Brussels sprouts are perfectly delicious when briefly simmered, steamed, or even eaten raw in salads.
You may also fall in love with the way they light up the fall and winter garden.
Damrosch is the author of