http://xrl.us/pwbn 1 August 2006. First picking of brussel sprouts. I pick the lower sprouts and remove the associated leaves. It seems to make the later sprouts more compact. There are 15 plants and they are all in excellent shape. Observing while washing and trimming the sprouts there were no bugs present. Incidentially 15 plants give a lot of brussel sprouts, about five is more than enough for a typical family. They grow well in my garden and can be left even after snowfall; in fact, freezing seems to cause little change in flavour in Zone 5. All the plants were about as perfect as they can be. I give the plants a bit of support with a rebar to keep the stem straight. This is the second year for growing brussel sprouts. They are started as seedlings and put into the garden as early as possible about April 15 if the weather is reasonable in Zone 5. It appears they can take a bit of frost as young plants. The plants get rather large so leave about 2 feet spacing. Even scrawny seedlings perk up and grow into healthy plants. http://xrl.us/s6yg 12 November 2006 almost the end.