Sprout shortage

The recent heat wave could mean a sprout shortage for Christmas (some might say this is no bad thing!) the unexpected heat has had a detrimental effect on the growth of the sprouts . Alistair Ewan, chairman of the Brassica Growers Association told BBC Radio 4: "Brussels sprouts are a lot shorter in length stem than they would normally be at this point in the season so there is not as many buttons setting on the crop. Hence there could be a 20 to 30 per cent shortfall in the volume of sprouts coming off throughout the autumn and early winter period." Worringly the heat could also affect other seasonal vegetables such as cauliflower, broccoli and cabbage.