FROM GARDEN TO PANTRY: A Guide for Brussel Sprouts in a Warm Climate

welcome to Homegrown Florida today I'll be showing  you how to grow and preserve brussels sprouts here   in Florida where the hot and humid climate can  make it challenging to grow these cool weather   crops the first step in growing brussels sprouts  is to start the seeds around August or September   I've recently started using seed time it's a brand  new website that's helping people schedule out   their gardening calendar now it is still in like  a beta mode so it is restricted to only certain   people and you must receive an invitation I will  make sure to put that invitation down in the   description below but I have really been pleased  with this site I have tried a lot of apps and a   lot of sites and a lot of people miss the mark and  while see time is still lacking in certain areas   that I think that they could improve on the cool  thing about seedtime is that they are accepting   feedback and recommendations directly from the  site so if you see something along the way that   you think would make a better process for you to  use the app or the website right now but we're all   encouraging them to make an app you can actually  Mark that down and they take that feedback and   trust me I have sent a lot of feedback and I have  received a response about every single thing that   I have submitted I hope that you have the same  experience but like I said I'm going to put that   down into the description you guys can give it a  shot and let me know what you think so now let's   get back to Brussels sprouts so once August or  September rolls around you can start filling a sea   tray with a seed starting mix and then sprinkle  in a few seeds into each cell I have a super easy   recipe for making your own seed starting mix as  well as a video about starting seeds for beginners   make sure to check those out then you're just  going to cover the seeds up just barely keep the   soil super moist and warm by placing them outside  but in a shaded spot for about five to seven days   the seeds are going to germinate and once the  seedlings have emerged from the soil immediately   place them out in full sun with just a little bit  of afternoon shade since we will be in the height   of our summer at that time but if you don't put  them out in full sun they're going to get leggy   and that makes them weak and you're not going  to have healthy plants once they've developed   about two set of true leaves not the first two  set of leaves which we call seed leaves but   the two set of leaves that come out that look  like the leaves of the plant when it's grown   you can transplant them into larger containers  or directly into a garden bed like I've done here   the plant will need a full square foot of space  so ensure you are using at least a seven gallon   container for this plant or like I said a  good solid square foot in your garden bed   before transplanting them to their forever home  make sure to drop some granulated fertilizer into   the planting hole so brussels sprouts prefer  full sun and fertile nitrogen-rich soil water   the plants regularly and deeply to keep the soil  most moist but not waterlogged at least one inch   of watering or rainfall a week should do you fine  fertilize the plants every four to six weeks with   a nitrogen-rich fertilizer I like fish Emulsion  by Neptune's Harvest compost tea or diluted urine   these plants do tend to start kind of slow  but once they get going they really take off   quickly once the plants are about two feet tall or  maybe two and a half feet tall start clipping off   the bottom of the leaves a few weeks after that  they'll start to develop these tiny little Nubs   or tiny little Sprouts you're almost not going  to realize that that's going to be the sprouts   and they will create them along the stem of the  plant to speed them along I will cut the tops   of the plant off this really pushes the plant to  focus on growing those Sprouts don't throw those   tops away they make the most amazing Sprout chips  just like kale chips but better just roast them at   400 for about 15 minutes and they are perfect if  you're getting value out of this video make sure   to hit the like button so that it gets spread  to many other people who are attempting to grow   brussels sprouts in warm climates so next up comes  the most fun part of growing brussels sprouts   which is harvesting the Sprouts you're going to  want to harvest them when they're between one and   two inches in diameter and they're firm and bright  green normally you harvest Sprouts from the bottom   up but mine did something a little weird which was  that they got bigger on the top rather than the   bottom so I'm just cutting them off from the top  down I think this might be a variety of thing I'm   not sure the variety is called Jade cross and  it's literally the only one that has actually   worked for me here down in Florida so use a sharp  knife or some Garden scissors to cut them off at   the stem leave the rest of the leaves intact and  all of the rest of the Sprouts to allow them to   continue to grow and get bigger your other option  is to harvest the whole plant and either store the   whole stem with the Sprouts in the fridge or  cut them off and then store them individually   in the fridge I choose this option since I don't  really have room in my fridge for an entire stock to preserve our hard-fought Harvest of Brussels  sprouts we're going to be canning them today   and we're going to be canning these brussels  sprouts in a pickled balsamic Maple brine now   you could freeze these all you have to do is  blanch them in some hot water for a minute or   two and then you can freeze them and they do  preserve that well however I don't like the   taste of frozen Brussels sprouts I feel like  they're mushy and they don't have very good   texture and I found this recipe actually I got  the recipe from Rachel on that 1870s Homestead   she did this recipe not too long ago with her  Harvest of Brussels sprouts now this recipe Is   Not An approved or tested recipe with the national  Center for home food preservation or with Ball   canning but I feel comfortable using it because  of the very high amount of vinegar in the recipe   vinegar is something that we use in Canning to  help preserve things and particularly water bath   canning think like pickles or Dilly beans or  pickle beans you can take some low acid foods   like brussels sprouts and you can pickle them and  it becomes safe because the amount of vinegar that   you're using but like I said this one has not  been tested or approved so use at your own risk thank you we're going to let our brussels  sprouts soak in some water to make sure   that we get out all of that garden stuff like  dirt and any kind of bugs this is a cabbage   style or type of vegetable and so it has a lot  of leaves on the inside and little areas where   stuff can get in so definitely soak it for  a few minutes but now let's get to our brine   so the first thing we're going to do  is do two cups of balsamic vinegar next we're going to add two cups of  white wine vinegar you can also use   a white distilled vinegar if you don't  have white wine I like the taste of white   wine vinegar it's like one of my favorite  vinegars so we buy it uh in the gallon size then we're going to add two cups of water and one cup of maple syrup that's it for the brine I'm going to  get this on the stove so that it can   heat up because it needs to be very  very hot when it goes in the jars sterilized all my jars I'm going to  actually be doing six pints I think   Rachel did 12 quarts but I don't think I  have enough brussels sprouts for that or   I just not sure I'm absolutely gonna like  it so I'm starting with a smaller amount   now to each one of the jars we're going to add  a pinch of pepper flakes these are the peppers   the ancho chili peppers they're a sweet ancho  chili peppers that I grew in my garden so it's   not super spicy at all thankfully because  we are a house that is not a fan of spice   next up I'm going to do some garlic powder  oop that was a little much just want to pinch well one of them is going to be super garlicky and then a pinch of black pepper as well I'll now be adding a fourth of a  teaspoon of salt to each one of these and I'm going to be adding a fourth  of a teaspoon of pickle crisp now I have fallen in love with pickle crisp  particularly with my pickle recipe which I'll   put up into the top here and also in the  description below but this really keeps   all your vegetables super Crisp And like I  mentioned before I'm not a fan of smushy or   mushy brussels sprouts now you can certainly  skip the pickle crisp I don't think that it   really has it has no safety bearing or taste  bearing it's really just to keep them crisp   now what I'm doing is I'm adding one  tablespoon of lemon juice to each one of these and that once again isn't to do with safety  it's just to do with flavor the next step   in our process is we are going to get these  brussels sprouts packed into the jars so the   first thing I'm going to do is remove them from  their little water I want to try to dry off the   Brussels sprouts as much as possible we don't  want them to take any excess water with them   so now we're just going to put them in our jars I'm going to press them in a little bit you  don't want to pack it in too tightly because   you want the brine to get down in there but  you do want to fit as many as possible into   the jar I am so glad I only did six quart  or six pints instead of six quarts because   I barely had enough brussels sprouts I  had to go and chop the last of them up   to be able to fit these jars so  six pints is going to take about   two pounds of Brussels sprouts that's exactly  what I was able to harvest from that one plant   so thankfully we have enough almost perfect  look at that love it when that happens so now our brine is piping hot and so we're going  to pour this brine into each one of these jars leaving about a half an inch of headspace I don't think that I could have measured my  brine any more perfectly they are all at a   half inch headspace they're all nice and full  and that is great I love when the measurements   work especially for this one which had some  pretty expensive vinegars in it next up we're   going to de-bubble our jars and that just means  you're going to put like a knife or a d bubbler   down in there and kind of move them around  this hot brine has actually already started   to soften the Brussels sprouts so at this point  I could probably add some more brussels sprouts   in here but I'm all out at least until I can go  out in the garden and get some more now that we   have de-bubbled our jars the next step is you're  going to wipe the lids or wipe the edges of the   jars off because they could contain some of  that maple syrup which is bad maple syrup is   very sticky and it will cause a seal not to take  as well as I mean the vinegar is probably fine but   any of the little bits of the Brussels sprouts  all those things you want to take off the edge   then what we're going to do is we're  going to add our lids and our bands now that we have our jars completely filled I'm  going to be putting them here in a boiling water   bath and basically that just means you are  going to put these in boiling water until   they are completely submerged and we're  going to water bath these for 15 minutes now my canner always like boils over so I'm  actually going to put the pressure canner top on   but I'm not going to pressurize it I'm just doing  this so it doesn't make a mess all over my kitchen   our timer just went off so now we are going to  take these guys out of the water don't tilt them   I know there might be a little bit of water on  top that you desperately want to pour off but   it's best not to disturb the jars or the seal  as it's happening it's best to keep it upright   so we're going to let these cool on the counter  overnight once the jars have cooled then you can   kind of check your seals and make sure that  they did properly seal once you've tested   your seals then you can just store them on  your Pantry Shelf no Refrigeration necessary and that's how you can grow and water bath  canned brussels sprouts in Florida with just   a little bit of care and attention you  can enjoy this delicious vegetable all   year round if you want to watch a couple  more of my videos I'll pop them up right   here you can check those out between now  and my next upload happy gardening guys

Channel: Homegrown Florida

Views: 7,335

Keywords: Brussels sprouts, gardening in warm climates, harvesting vegetables, canning, food preservation, balsamic maple brine, home canning, organic gardening, vegetable gardening, DIY canning, brussels sprouts, growing brussel sprouts, planting brussel sprouts, growing brussels sprouts, how to grow brussel sprouts from seeds, how to grow brussel sprouts, pickled, canning and preserving recipes, water bath canning, pickled brussels sprouts, 1870 homestead, brussels sprouts recipe

Id: JTX0TOTcaAQ

Length: 15min 48sec (948 seconds)

Published: Fri Mar 10 2023