A green Christmas

More than 1,000kg of the vegetable, hand-picked from Prescott’s farm, are snapped up to add to scrumptious Christmas dinners.

Every other week of the year, the farm shop sells around 100kg of sprouts.

Manager Rachel Rigby said: “The sprouts we sell are so fresh, they are picked and in the shop on the same day.

“They are tasty and they are from a local farm. Unlike supermarkets, we have a very close relationship with our suppliers. We don’t have to have a set amount of sprouts delivered, I can say to them that I need just one or two boxes today, and they will supply me with that.

“We also have an advantage over the larger stores, as we get sprouts in still on the stalk, which are becoming very popular.

“In the winter, if the sprouts are frozen over, they can’t be picked as they just disintegrate, which is why a lot of the stores struggle to get their stock in when the weather is bad.

“But we’re able to pick them and sell them still on the stork.”

Last December, across the UK, approximately 750.9 million sprouts were munched. That works out at 9,762,000kg of sprouts were sold, which is the equivalent weight of approximately 1,627 African bull elephants.

A recent ‘love them or hate them’ online poll showed that 71.8 per cent respondents love Brussels sprouts.

New varieties of sprout are becoming more popular each year.

Flower sprouts are back on the shelves at Marks and Spencer this Christmas.

The cross between sprouts and kale won this year’s best new variety edibles in the Grower of the Year Awards – the Oscars of the vegetable world.

New selenium-enhanced sprouts are also available again as part of M&S’s Simply More range, while Redarling’s Red Brussels sprouts have also hit the shelves at most major retailers.

The attractive buttons have a mild taste, making them more appealing to the tastes of young children.