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Brussels sprouts are a holiday tradition in our house. Because of their heroic perseverance into the fall and early winter, regardless of the weather, having them for the Thanksgiving table is a sure thing and even Christmas is a definite possibility.

Harvesting these delectable miniature cabbages is not difficult. You kneel next to the plant, now a towering stem after its summer-long sojourn in the garden, and twist off the little green balls with an upward, snapping motion. Start with the large ones at the bottom. They're the first to form and the first to open in loose clusters if you leave them there too long — best to pick when they're young and firm.

In the kitchen, roast them with whole, peeled shallots or cubes of pork belly, or both. Or you might simmer them in cream, or just steam them till just tender and toss them with butter — maybe with some chestnuts or caramelized onions added for natural sweetness.

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Picking is less fun if a frigid wind is blowing and the sprouts might even be too frozen to pluck, with even worse weather coming. Then it’s best to break off all the large leaves and fell the whole stalk like a tree, using loppers or even a hatchet, and bring it inside.

You might be tempted to pot it up and deck it with tinsel, but put it in the refrigerator instead, where it will stay in good shape for several weeks and you can pull off sprouts as needed. In fact, a lot of people have the same idea — I’m seeing more Brussels sprouts sold in markets on the stem.

In a way, this might be part of a bigger trend. I’m not sure if tomatoes sold in trusses are any more fresh, natural or in any way superior to those sold singly, but somehow they look more like a thing that came from a plant. Other fruits are sold in clusters, of course, like grapes and bananas. But I’ll bet there are still more crops that can be harvested entire, either for sale or for home use.

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I've pulled up whole pepper plants in late summer and hung them upside down from the overhead struts of a warm greenhouse to dry. I've pulled up plants of little Principe Borghese tomatoes, an Italian variety noted for its success in ripening on plants tied upside down to rafters. I hung mine in the basement, and it worked. I've pulled up whole canellini bean plants to hang for indoor drying. Why not pull up ready-to-harvest pea or bean plants — the bush type that ripen all at once — for indoor picking at a time when it is too hot, cold, wet, windy or dark to do the job outside? Try it with husk cherries! And tomatillos!

Once, on a visit to New York, I was in a Middle Eastern grocery where date branches were lying on the counter with fruit on them — not the dried dates we’re used to, but fresh smooth ones like very big olives. I bought them, wondering what it would take to have that experience all the time: Move to an exotic place such as Turkey or Palm Springs, Calif.?

There is a treat I’m enjoying right now, though, and I don’t have to go to Brussels to find them. Just out to the garden.

Damrosch's latest book is "The Four Season Farm Gardener's Cookbook."

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