Dan in Ontario asked me about my fall broccoli. His is doing good. Mine is not :(
I wasn't going to show mine because it looks like I didn't plan right. Its just now getting ready to form heads. Way too late. With the cold weather, its not really doing much growing. It'll be killed by the winter weather soon and will be added to my compost pile. Next year I'll plant my fall crop of broccoli earlier.
I planted these broccoli on August 27. Next year I suppose I should plant about 3 weeks earlier - about August 7 I think.
Brassicaceae
11 comments:
Compost is good too! Oh the plants I have killed this year! I accidently chopped down my favorite plant..killed him.
Gail
Ouch!
Yes, we'll have very rich compost. And next year I won't make ANY of these mistakes - and the weather will be perfect ... Ever the optimist...
Hi Kathy,
Thanks for the link! Your broccoli is still looking good. You could always try a poly or row cover tunnel to keep them growing.
I think I have about 50/50 odds of the one row of four plants producing. The other row of four I planted was shaded by the other plants and hardly grew at all. Fall crops are tough! I will be following your led next season and starting much earlier.
OK! I'll bring some row cover to the garden soon. I'm looking for garden jobs about now. Why not give it a try....
Your broccoli look nice. But then, winter will hit your garden even before mine. Looks pretty cold already.
It has been unseasonable cold the last few weeks. November usually is mostly above freezing so I am hoping they pull through. If the heads have not develop in 2-3 weeks though I am guessing they are toast.
I had the same problem with my broccoli Kathy. Live and learn. Same thing with my peas. They are squeeking out a few pods, but I think I will have to resort to the "pea tendril" meal! Thanks for that info. And by the way, gee your pooch is photogenic! -Sandy
The broccoli looks fine to me! this time of year it can look disappointing, you might even lose some over the Winter to pigeons, but I GUARANTEE that come next March it will triple in size and give you broccoli spears! give it a mulch and it will thank you.
I am SOOO excited to hear this. I won't pull it - I'll see if it does something in the spring.
(BTW: no pigeons here, and I'm thinking we probably get colder here than you do with a low of -10F/-23C with snow cover.)
I remember early this spring, Gretta (farmer at Belmont CSA) and I walked through her fields and were amazed at kale re sprouting soo tender and sweet. I bet broccoli will do the same.
Thanks Matron.
On the Maine Organic Farmers & Gardeners website http://www.mofga.org/Default.aspx?tabid=833 There is an article about building double covered rows with fleece and plastic. It might work for your broccoli.
Ali in Maine
Well, a couple of little green caterpillars had a feast on my pretty broccoli plants this past week. I thought all bugs were gone with the cold weather. Not! There are still cabbage worms eating happily out there. Arrggh.
I picked the caterpillars off the broccolis and threw them into the woods. Then I mulched well with some extra salt hay. I'll see how they do in the spring.
These are good ideas, and I would try them in my sheltered home garden. But I think it gets really cooolllddd in my open community plot. And since its my first winter - well, I'll just see what things look like in the spring.
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