A rainbow of winter vegies

Jun 25, 2026 | Brassicas, Gardening tips, July

Cheer up your vegie garden this winter with an array of colourful brassicas

Brassicas include broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, kale, turnips and kohlrabi:  

  • broccoli comes in dark green, purple and the lime-green cone shaped Romanesco 
  • cabbage in green, red and purple 
  • cauliflower in white, purple and yellow
  • kale in Tuscan black, red, ruby, purple and green
  • turnips in white, a blush of red, purple and green
  • kohlrabi in purple and green

 Here are my top tips for growing exceptional brassicas:

  • Do not plant in the same bed in successive years
  • Prepare the soil well, digging it over to at least a spade’s depth, breaking up clods and removing stones and roots. For turnips create a fine tilth so nothing interferes with the development of the turnip root 
  • Add organic material in the form of compost and aged, well-rotted manure 
  • Water well throughout winter and spring preferably with drip line or by placing the hose beneath the vegies and letting it flood. Water deeply twice a week and remember that rainfall that is less than 10mm does not count. Often the leaves of cabbage and cauliflower form a mat preventing rain from penetrating the ground making overhead watering useless
  • Plant seedlings deeply, covering the lower leaves, as this will make them stable in the ground and allow them to take up more water,  prevent breakage and produce better hearts, leaves and roots
  • Before planting, treat all seedlings with Dipel which is an organic bacterium sold as Yates Nature’s Way. An easy way to do this is to make up the solution according to instructions, pour it into a basin, and then thread your fingers between the seedlings in the punnet and flip the punnet upside down down and swirl around in the solution so that the whole leaf is covered. This will last 7 days before another application is needed and will kill any caterpillars that emerge. If you use insect exclusion netting at time of planting, then a second application is not necessary
  • Use insect exclusion net to prevent the white cabbage moth laying its eggs on the underside of leaves. These eggs turn into very hungry, tiny, green caterpillars which chew holes in the leaves or at worst destroy the seedlings completely
  • Snails and slugs can be a problem even with netting so take precautions to deter them
  • Succession plant so that all your brassicas aren’t ready at once. Plant some and pot some for later planting

Consider creating a colourful palette for both the garden and the plate by mixing and matching  colourful brassicas this winter.

For other winter gardening tips, go to:

https://sustainablemacleod.org.au/10-tips-for-winter-vegetable-planting-in-melbourne/

https://sustainablemacleod.org.au/preparing-an-autumn-winter-vegie-garden/

https://sustainablemacleod.org.au/the-under-rated-turnip/

https://sustainablemacleod.org.au/growing-kohlrabi-king-of-the-cabbages/

 

Written by Robin Gale-Baker