10/15/2026
Fall has fallen and we are soon to be surrounded with pumpkins, squash, chrysanthemums, apples and other local autumn produce. Such as Brussel Sprouts!
Brussel Sprouts you say? Those little Martian brains drenched in melted butter? Yes, exactly. But perhaps you are confused by the spelling? Because, as we all know, the proper spelling is Brussels sprouts, because they come from Brussels. Belgium. Maybe there was an apostrophe in there at one time. But it seems, because of sibilance (look it up), the trailing “S” was dropped over time in common usage. Then, as you will see in our historical clippings, a second “L” was used at times. There is also a bit of debate as to whether they are Brussell Sprouts or brussell sprouts. Nothing is easy.
So, what is the difference between Brussel and Brussell? Pretty much the squiggly red line underneath. Spell it however you wish, capitalize it if you want, we don’t care.
Did we mention that dictionaries are a fairly recent invention?
But have we finally run out of the actual “history” of Good Ground and surrounding areas? Is that why we are subjecting ourselves to vegetable history?
Nope. We are confident that there are master gardeners amongst us that already know these factoids, but this is news to us!
While Brussel Sprouts are said to be a product of Brussels, from the 14th Century, it seems that Long Island has been growing the little cabbages since about 1890 and even are credited with the variety known as the Long Island Improved.
Seriously! Would we fabricate something like this?
According to one ad: “Long Island Improved is one of the best known and most well-loved heirloom sprout varieties. Since the 1890s, it’s been a standard, with its compact stature and high yields of delicious, tender sprouts, as well as its ability to power through the cold. In fact, exposure to light frost intensifies the flavor and sweetness!”
Sweetness? They aren’t exactly a watermelon, but they don’t have to be bitter.
Ya learn something every day. Especially when you spend untold hours combing historic newspapers. As some people do.
Other ads claim that our brussel sprouts have a vibrant green color, and are known for their “large, firm and flavorful sprouts” which are ideal for culinary use. Well yes, that would be the entire reason for the entire growing exercise. Culinary use.
Let us just hope they hang on longer than Long Island Potatoes.
Brussels Sprouts belong to the Brassica family of vegetables, the largest vegetable family known, which includes cabbages, cauliflowers, broccoli, collards, kale (which some people list under “edible”), kohlrabi, turnips and rutabaga. The plant is believed to have developed from a form of kale-like wild cabbage. It was discovered and popularized in the 14th century near Brussels in Belgium.
How did it become a Long Island thing? Well, hang with us and we’ll see if we can make sense of that. We do know that this heirloom variety is said to be the oldest in cultivation today.
By about 1915, the farmers seemed to have figured out how to grow these things. One farmer grew 85,000 quarts of them. That’s an awful lot of Brussel Sprouts.
While we’ve been told by our favorite farm stand that Brussel Sprouts taste best after the first frost, a concept we have tested and found to be true, it seems you wouldn’t want it to be too cold.
Of course, the real historical aspect of all this is the simple fact that, throughout most of human existence, the food you ate came from close by. If a good food could not be grown, caught, or raised in your local area, it was not a part of your diet. If you ever saw, nevermind ate, an orange, you would think of it as a delicacy. Blue Point oysters may have been sold in New York City, but it is doubtful it would have made it to Chicago. Not at first. Even foods that did come from the local area - say strawberries - may have only been available “in season.”
All of this changed as a result of fast shipping, railroads and refrigeration, then even more so by trucking, interstate highways, and air freight. This led to most of our local farms becoming tract housing or vineyards (which are as much about entertainment as they are about agriculture). There are some tremendous farms in the Midwest and further, mostly owned by conglomerates, farmed by industrial methods and, before you lament this too much, starvation, even malnutrition, are practically unknown in the Western world and disappearing throughout the World altogether.
And while all this extra food has been grown and distributed, the word “farmer” has dropped off of most lists of occupations.
But something else has happened, if you read between the lines above. The Long Island Improved was obviously cultivated by Long Islanders, for Long Islanders - something our predecessors could grow and eat. Taste was secondary. It turns out these hardy little sprouts not only tasted good, but could grow in many other locations, better than what they already had, and in a time before shipping, the seedlings ended up crossing all over the world.
There are still many varieties of sprouts available in the world market. But the original Brussel’s Sprout no longer exists, except in labs. Nobody seems to be complaining.
Maybe this is the Green New Deal.
