Roses Are Red, Violets Blue; Purple Cauliflower? Yes, True!
Although Americans prize the pristine white heads of cauliflower, in Italy a purple-headed cauliflower is favored in kitchen gardens. And if you’ve never tasted purple cauliflower, you’ve missed a most delicious vegetable.
Its unusual flavor resembles that of regular cauliflower blended with a sweet, mild broccoli, but that’s only one advantage of the purple cauliflower. It has a much higher vitamin and mineral content, containing considerable amounts of Vitamin C as well as calcium and iron. Also it’s much easier to grow, doesn’t require blanching for whiteness (the heads are purple when raw but turn emerald-green when cooked) and maintains its quality a long time after the harvest.
Its one disadvantage is that it takes longer to reach maturity than the white-headed cauliflowers.
I have grown two varieties of purple cauliflower, Purple Head and Sicilian Purple. They are fairly similar, producing rather large purple heads with superb eating qualities, and the time required for each to reach harvest is about the same.
Purple cauliflowers are not available as transplants in nurseries; you have to plant seeds in pots, then transplant them later into the garden.
Where to Buy Seeds
Seeds for Purple Head are sometimes available in local seed racks, or you can order them from Burpee Seed, Warminster, Pa. 18974. Seeds for Sicilian Purple are available only from Nichols Garden Nursery, 1190 N. Pacific Highway, Albany, Ore. 97321.
When you transplant, do so in an area that receives full sun. Prepare the soil by spading to a depth of 12 inches; make it loose and friable by adding generous quantities of organic amendments.
Purple cauliflower is greedy. To get large, solid heads, supply it with plenty of nutrients. When you prepare the soil, mix in five pounds of a 10-10-10 fertilizer, or something similar, per 100 square feet of soil area, then water thoroughly.
Transplants of purple cauliflower should be spaced 15 inches apart in rows 3 feet apart. The young plants are very susceptible to shock and should be transplanted in the cool of an early evening. Check them the next day and if they look droopy, shade them for a few days.
Water the plants during the transplanting; then sprinkle them for the next five days until they become established. After that, water them regularly, never letting the surrounding soil dry out completely.
Watch Out for Worms
Although insects are less of a problem with purple cauliflower than with white, watch for cabbage worms. Control by spraying with Dipel or Thuricide, both of which are natural controls.
The cauliflower should be ready to pick about three months after you set the transplants in your garden.
To serve, steam the vegetable briefly until it’s just tender. If you like, accompany it with butter or a favorite sauce. Surplus heads can be frozen; the frozen purple retains its quality much better than white cauliflower.
