In My Seed Box For 2026 - Sprouts

 

Brussels Sprouts are like Puppies

They are NOT Just for Christmas 

they are for all year round.  

2022 the heatwave killed off the seedlings and I was sprout less. 

2023 was planned to be the year for the return of the Sprouts so that we had fresh home grown for Christmas 2023 and hopefully a little before and after from 10 plants. Then they found my cancer tumour and sprouts kinda went out the window. 

2024 I was recovering from the cancer & treatment and subsequent all joint arthritis cause by the autoimmune disease. 2025 I have been installing raised beds and have limited the amount of vegetables I have grown.    

In 2026 I will be looking to grow 10 planting positions in the 2.4m x 1.2m bed and the bed will be covered using the Sprout Hoops and double debris netting, to keep the Cabbage Whites away from them.  

Prices below are from 2022 the hyperlinks will take you to the companies page, I have listed the changes in price below for February 2024 and September 2025 

Churchill  F1                 -  30 Seeds - £2.99 - Dobies - Sow By Dec 2025 

Evesham Special         -  20 Seeds -     39p - Seeds To Suit - Sow By Oct 2024 

Igor                               -  30 Seeds - £2.80  - Mr Fothergill's RHS - Sow By 2024

Marte F1                       -  20 Seeds - £3.49  - Dobies - Sow By Dec 2024

Cryptus F1                    -   8 Seeds -  £4.99  - Suttons - Sow by 2026                              

Prices below are as 19th February 2024

Churchill  F1                 -  30 Seeds -    89p - Dobies

Evesham Special         -  20 Seeds -     39p - Seeds To Suit  

Igor                               -  30 Seeds - £3.39 - Mr Fothergill's 

Marte F1                       -  20 Seeds - £3.49 - Dobies  

Cryptus F1                    -   8 Seeds -  £4.99 - Suttons                              

Prices below are as 7th September 2025

Churchill  F1                 -  30 Seeds -    89p - Dobies

Evesham Special         -  20 Seeds -     39p - Seeds To Suit  

Igor                               -  30 Seeds -           - Mr Fothergill's out of stock 

Marte F1                       -  20 Seeds - £2.79 - Dobies  

Cryptus F1                    -   8 Seeds -  £4.99 - Suttons                

  

Thus sow 3 of each seed and look at planting 2 of each into the bed

Sowing 

Sow Indoors February - Mid March or Sow Outdoors Mid March to the end of April 
Plant Out in May 

A second sowing will take place 14 days - 21 days after the first, as Brassicas can curl up a die so easily if it becomes too warm as I found out in 2019

Harvesting 

September - December depending on the variety. 

In My Seed Box For 2026 - Index

Dobies - New Brussels Sprouts for 2024

Dobies have kindly sent me two new varieties of Brussels Sprouts that they have added to their catalogue this year called Marte & Churchill and both are F1

Brussels Sprout 'Marte' - Dobies, Average of 20 seeds per pack cost £3.49

A mild, sweet-tasting variety with no bitterness Well-spaced, mid-green buttons Vigorous plants producing good yields

Brussels Sprout 'Marte' is a superb F1 Hybrid, boasting a coveted RHS AGM. From October to Christmas these vigorous plants produce heavy yields of large, rounded sprouts that are well spaced on the stem for easy picking. 

The tasty buttons have a strong flavour with a delicate sweetness that leaves no bitterness or aftertaste in the mouth. With a lovely mid-green colour, these delicious Brussels Sprouts are the perfect accompaniment to your Christmas dinner.

Height: 75cm (30"). Spread: 50cm (20").

Brussels Sprout ‘Churchill’ -  Dobies, Average of 20 seeds per pack cost £2.99 on Sale for 89p at the time of this post.

A first early variety maturing late August to October. British bred vigorous and easy to grow. Churchill produces good yields of tight evenly spaced buttons

Brussels Sprout ‘Churchill’ is an easy-to-grow, first early variety, maturing remarkably early from late August to October. It produces good yields of large to medium, tight, evenly spaced buttons with an excellent flavour. It is well adapted to a variety of climates. 

Height: 75cm (30"). Spread: 50cm (20").

In My Seed Box For 2024 - Sprouts

Brussels Sprouts are like Puppies

They are NOT Just for Christmas 

they are for all year round.  

2022 the heatwave killed off the seedlings and I was sprout less. 

2023 was planned to be the year for the return of the Sprouts so that we had fresh home grown for Christmas 2023 and hopefully a little before and after from 10 plants. Then they found my tumour and sprouts kinda went out the window. 

In 2024 I will be looking to grow 10 planting positions in the 2.4m x 1.2m bed and the bed will be covered using the Sprout Hoops and double debris netting, to keep the Cabbage Whites away from them.  

Prices below are from 2022

Churchill  F1                 -  30 Seeds - £2.99 - Dobies - Sow By Dec 2025 

Evesham Special         -  20 Seeds -     39p - Seeds To Suit - Sow By Oct 2024 

Igor                               -  30 Seeds - £2.80  - Mr Fothergill's RHS - Sow By 2024

Marte F1                       -  20 Seeds - £3.49  - Dobies - Sow By Dec 2024

Cryptus F1                    -   8 Seeds -  £4.99  - Suttons - Sow by 2026                              

Prices below are as 19th February 2024

Churchill  F1                 -  30 Seeds -    89p - Dobies

Evesham Special         -  20 Seeds -     39p - Seeds To Suit  

Igor                               -  30 Seeds - £3.39 - Mr Fothergill's 

Marte F1                       -  20 Seeds - £3.49 - Dobies  

Cryptus F1                    -   8 Seeds -  £4.99 - Suttons                              

  

Thus sow 3 of each seed and look at planting 2 of each into the bed

Sowing 

Sow Indoors February - Mid March or Sow Outdoors Mid March to the end of April 
Plant Out in May 

A second sowing will take place 14 days - 21 days after the first, as Brassicas can curl up a die so easily if it becomes too warm as I found out in 2019

Harvesting 

September - December depending on the variety. 

In My Seed Box For 2024 - Index

In My Seed Box For 2023 - Sprouts

    

Brussels Sprouts are like Puppies

They are NOT Just for Christmas 

they are for all year round.  

2022 the heatwave killed off the seedlings and I was sprout less. 

2023 will be the return of the Sprouts so that we have fresh home grown for Christmas 2023 and hopefully a little before and after from 10 plants. 

This year, I've updated my seed stock following the 2022 and the heatwave that killed off all my sprouts in the first and second sowings. I really need to make the magic happen again and have a selection of sprouts ready for Christmas 2023. 

Without doubt from the purchasing seeds point of view Seeds To Suit are the best value for money and if the MANVSLUG10 10% Discount code is used to buy the seeds then they actually only cost 35p for a pack of 20 seeds a whopping £3.14 Cheaper than the Marte F1 from Dobies. 

At the end of the day, it's going to be interesting to see how these four varieties do on the germination front, the seedling strength and resistance to early spring heatwaves (if we get another one in 2023) and ultimately how nice and tight the sprouts are when ready to harvest and of course their taste. 

Once again I will be looking to grow 10 planting positions in the 2.4m x 1.2m bed and the bed will be covered using the Sprout Hoops and double debris netting, to keep the Cabbage Whites away from them.  

Churchill  F1                 -  30 Seeds - £2.99 - Dobies - Sow By Dec 2025 

Evesham Special         -  20 Seeds -     39p - Seeds To Suit - Sow By Oct 2024 

Igor                               -  30 Seeds - £2.80  - Mr Fothergill's RHS     - Sow By 2024

Marte F1                       -  20 Seeds - £3.49  - Dobies - Sow By Dec 2024

Cryptus F1                    -   8 Seeds -  £4.99  - Suttons - Sow by 2026                              

 

Thus sow 2 of each seed and look at planting 2 of each into the bed

Sowing 

Sow Indoors February - Mid March or Sow Outdoors Mid March to the end of April 
Plant Out in May 

A second sowing will take place 14 days - 21 days after the first, as Brassicas can curl up a die so easily if it becomes too warm as I found out in 2019

Harvesting 

September - December depending on the variety. 

Updated 

17th December 2022

In My Seed Box For 2023 - Index

Evesham Special Brussels Sprouts

Evesham Special Brussels Sprout

Looking at my seed box a lot of my Brussels Sprouts seeds are getting a little old, so I decided to look at the cost of buying a new packet of seeds. 

I decided on Evesham Special because I have grown them before and they are an old traditional English variety producing medium height, strong growing plants and yielding heavy crops of solid, good, flavoured sprouts from September to December. 2½ft (75cm).

I was initially surprised how few of the UK seed suppliers I have on my list in the left margin are actually selling them in 2023. Then thinking about it perhaps it isn't strange as most of those not selling them are usually more expensive, perhaps those larger companies are realising they can't or don't want to compete on price for traditional heirloom seeds these days.  

Ordered by Cost and then Number of seeds

 

Supplier                       Number Seed - Cost  

Budget Seeds            -     80 Seeds -      29p

Bargain Seeds           -     25 Seeds -      29p

Seeds To Suit            -     20 Seeds -      39p

More Veg                   -     15 Seeds -      60p

SeeKay Horticultural  -    300 Seeds -     85p

Premier Seeds Direct - 2500 Seeds -      99p

Seed Megastore       -    900 Seeds -       99p

Simply Seeds            -    250 Seeds -      99p

Seed Parade             -    250 Seeds -      99p

Seeds To Sow           -    200 Seeds - £1.25

Mole Seeds                -   10grams    - £1.90

ChilternSeeds            -    372 Seeds - £1.95

Mr Fothergills            -    500 Seeds - £2.15

Johnsons                   -    500 Seeds - £2.40

Not stocking or selling Evesham Special Brussel Sprouts his year

D.T. Brown, Dobies, Gardening Direct, Groves Nurseries, Growseed, Jungle Seeds, Kings Seeds, Marshalls, Nickys Nursery, Plant World Seeds, Real Seeds, Robinsons Mammoth, Seedaholic, Seed Co-operative, Simpsons Seeds, Suttons, Thompson & Morgan, Tucker Seeds, Unwins

Sowing Update

 

Eight days on from Sowing Spring Onions on the 5th August, here's how they are doing under the propagator lid, they have been out in the unheated greenhouse for the last 3 days after I saw that germination was happening. The lid will stay on for a few days more until I see more activity happening in some of the cups and then the lid can stay off. Another batch will be sown in a weeks time. 

6 of the 11 Cauliflower Andromeda sown on the 7th April, just six days ago are showing their heads above the soil. The propagator lid is on at the moment once a few more plants surface I will take the propagators lid off. At 11am today being overcast and cloudy the temperature in the unheated green house is between 19.2 and 21.7C with the door cracked open a little. 16C at the moment but anticipated to be 18C outside at 3pm when the sun breaks through. 

Four Brodie Brussels Sprouts showing at the moment also sown on the 7th April with the Cauliflower. 

The first batch of Brassica that survived the mini fools spring heat wave and were potted on into vending machine cups on the 9th April appear to be happy in their new larger pots. 

The grass in the back garden that was trimmed yesterday was gone over with the lawn mower today, and the contents emptied into a 40L Tuff Tub or Flexi Tub or Flexible Rubble Container, or whatever other pet name you have for these very useful items that every allotment owner should have. 

I took the Tuff Tub down to the allotment and added to the active Dalek watered in then added a 10 Litre of shredded compressed paper into the Dalek and also watered that in.

In My Seed Box For 2022 - Sprouts

             

2019 with the crazy weather I lost my sowing of seedlings and then I had my leg injury so no home grown sprouts in 2019.

2020 in Shielding Mode for wife due to Covid -19.

2021 Growing sprouts just didn't happen, as I was in catch up mode on the allotment. 

2022 will be the return of the Sprouts so that we have fresh home grown for Christmas 2022.  

I have ten varieties of sprouts in my seed box which technically have gone past their sow by dates, however we know that companies underestimate the life expectancy of seeds and I will just allow for lower germination rates and see what happens.

  

• Bedford                         - 125 Seeds            - Thompson & Morgan  - Sow By 12/2019  
• Bedford Darkmar          -                              - Just Seeds 
• Brest F1                        -  40 Seeds - £3.45 - Mr Fothergill's              - Sow By 2020
• Brodie  F1                     -  40 Seeds - £3.45 - Mr Fothergill's              - Sow By 2021
• Cromwell F1                -   40 Seeds -            - Marshalls                     - Sow By 2021
• Evesham Special         - 500 Seeds - £1.89 - Mr Fothergill's              - Sow By 2020
• Fillbasket                      - 100 Seeds -    20p - Carters                        - Sow By 07/2021
• Igor                               -  30 Seeds - £2.80  - Mr Fothergill's RHS     - Sow By 2024
• Mongomery                  -  40 Seeds -            - Marshalls                    - Sow By 09/2019
• Nelson F1                     -  40 Seeds -           - Mr Fothergill's              - Sow By 2020

Based on 10 plants in a bed I decided on 

• Bedford
• Brest F1
• Brodie F1 
• Evesham Special
• Nelson F1                                    

So that's five varieties and I will need two of each to fill the 10 holes in the sprout weed membrane. 

Sowing 

Sow Indoors February - Mid March or Sow Outdoors Mid March to the end of April 
Plant Out in May 

A second sowing will take place 14 days - 21 days after the first, as Brassicas can curl up a die so easily if it becomes too warm as I found out in 2019

Harvesting 

September - December depending on the variety. 

Remember 

A Sprout is like a puppy, is for all year round not just for Christmas!

In My Seed Box For 2022 - Index 

In My Seed Box For 2021 - Sprouts

           

2019 with the crazy weather I lost my sowing of seedlings and then I had my leg injury so no home grown sprouts in 2019, 2020 in Shielding Mode for wife due to Covid -19,  should hopefully be better in 2021,  I have ten varieties of sprouts in my seed box 

• Bedford                         - 125 Seeds            - Thompson & Morgan  - Sow By 12/2019  
• Bedford Darkmar          -                              - Just Seeds 
• Brest F1                        -  40 Seeds - £3.45 - Mr Fothergill's              - Sow By 2020
• Brodie  F1                     -  40 Seeds - £3.45 - Mr Fothergill's              - Sow By 2021
• Cromwell F1                -   40 Seeds -            - Marshalls                     - Sow By 2021
• Evesham Special         - 500 Seeds - £1.89 - Mr Fothergill's              - Sow By 2020
• Fillbasket                      - 100 Seeds -    20p - Carters                        - Sow By 07/2021
• Igor                               -  30 Seeds - £2.80  - Mr Fothergill's RHS     - Sow By 2024
• Mongomery                  -  40 Seeds -            - Marshalls                    - Sow By 09/2019
• Nelson F1                     -  40 Seeds -           - Mr Fothergill's              - Sow By 2020

Based on 10 plants in a bed I decided on 

• Bedford
• Brest F1
• Brodie F1 
• Evesham Special
• Nelson F1                                    

So that's five varieties and I will need two of each to fill the 10 holes in the sprout weed membrane. 

Sowing 

Sow Indoors February - Mid March or Sow Outdoors Mid March to the end of April 
Plant Out in May 

A second sowing will take place 14 days - 21 days after the first, as Brassicas can curl up a die so easily if it becomes too warm as I found out in 2019

Harvesting 

September - December depending on the variety. 

Remember 

A Sprout is like a puppy, is for all year round not just for Christmas 

In My Seed Box For 2021 - Index

In My Seed Box For 2020 - Sprouts

           

Last Year with the crazy weather I lost my sowing of seedlings and then I had my leg injury so no home grown sprouts in 2019, however 2020 should hopefully be better currently I have nine varieties of sprouts in my seed box 

• Bedford                         - 125 Seeds            - Thompson & Morgan  - Sow By 12/2019  
• Bedford Darkmar          -                              - Just Seeds 
• Brest F1                        -  40 Seeds - £3.45 - Mr Fothergill's              - Sow By 2020
• Brodie  F1                     -  40 Seeds - £3.45 - Mr Fothergill's              - Sow By 2021
• Cromwell F1                -   40 Seeds -            - Marshalls                     - Sow By 2021
• Evesham Special         - 500 Seeds - £1.89 - Mr Fothergill's              - Sow By 2020
• Fillbasket                      - 100 Seeds -    20p - Carters                        - Sow By 07/2021
• Mongomery                  -  40 Seeds -            - Marshalls                    - Sow By 09/2019
• Nelson F1                     -  40 Seeds -           - Mr Fothergill's              - Sow By 2020

Based on 10 plants in a bed I decided on 

• Bedford
• Brest F1
• Brodie F1 
• Evesham Special
• Nelson F1                                    

So that's five varieties and I will need two of each to fill the 10 holes in the sprout weed membrane. 

Sowing 

Sow Indoors February - Mid March or Sow Outdoors Mid March to the end of April 
Plant Out in May 

A second sowing will take place 14 days - 21 days after the first, as Brassicas can curl up a die so easily if it becomes too warm as I found out in 2019

Harvesting 

September - December depending on the variety. 

Remember 

A Sprout is like a puppy, is for all year round not just for Christmas