You either love or you hate brussel sprouts. I don’t think there is an in-between way to feel about them.

I happen to love them, though until about 2 years ago I didn’t know how they grew. I never really thought about it, to be honest.

This year I planted a couple of them in my community garden plot but only one took off. Low and behold if it didn’t become a huge, thriving plant. Hurrah! (Everyone thinks I know what I’m doing, but I got the plant started from the nursery and stuck it in the ground. Aside from a little mushroom manure and keeping it watered, it did not get any assistance from me.)

I’d heard that you can wait until the first frost to harvest the sprouts, and that this makes them sweeter, but after I experienced some garden theft, I decided I better get them out while I could.

I trimmed off the big leaves first and, after mucking about with a knife and accidentally slicing into a couple of them, I figured out that you can snap them off horizontally.

I got quite a haul — a least a few meals worth — and tried them for the first time last night. I may be a little biased, but they were the sweetest, most tender Brussel sprouts I’ve ever eaten. And that’s many years’ worth.

Local and delicious!