"Rob G" wrote in message
oups.com...
On 17 Sep, 13:11, "Robert \(Plymouth\)"
remove my other hobby to reply
wrote:
snip

I'd be pleased to hear anyone else's experience as I can't see how the
firmness of the soil relates to the firmness of the sprouts.

We always do the famous gardeners' dance on the back of the heels to firm
the ground down for all sprouts and cabbages that need to hearten up.
Best
way I find is to clear the previous crop and just hoe the ground rather
than
digging it and it is already nice and firm. Why it works is a mystery to
me
but , on the whole, it does work. Like the others said though, any greens
that they produce are good especially the tops which are a late winter
treat,not to be missed.

Raises the interesting thought on how do the commercial growers
achieve this ?

Mental picture of them hiring in the army and getting a battalion of
squaddies to march up and down the fields !

Or do they roll first and somehow plant through the hard surface ?

Rob


Thanks Rob,

Exactly what I was discussing only about an hour ago! I don't know how they
do it but I had a mental picture of a farmer walking all over his field,
stamping on the ground before sowing! I don't think so! I assume that they
plough the field well before sowing time and then let the ground settle.

It was, I thought, just an interesting question because the allotment holder
next door to me always shuffles and stamps his way slowly along the rows
where the sprouts are to be planted and it was he who told me why he did it.
I laughed but this year mine were all extremely loose-leaved and his are
nice and tight sprouts!

I was hoping to tell him the "real" reason for my problem in order to score
a point because he's a very nice chap but one of those who knows
everything - a bit like a character in a TV programme I saw many years
ago - I'm sure someone will remember it!

Regards

John