today's harvest

broccoli harvest

My broccoli seemed to grow full sized heads almost overnight. Just a few days ago (it seems) the heads started to form. Little florets hidden in the center of the plant. And now - all of a sudden - I have three big heads! I harvested these yesterday. We ate one of the heads at dinner last night. I cut it into long section, stir fried briefly in a little leftover bacon fat with garlic, ginger root and a chili pepper, then added water and steamed just until tender. Yummy.

yesterday's broccoli harvest

This is from seed I started last August. It grows in my cold frame until late October, then hangs out during the winter - not enough sun to grow. In early March it takes off again. Then gives us a very early harvest.

However, this year I learned what not to do. I should have transplanted it out of the cold frame in April. The frame gets too hot too fast for broccoli and most of the plants buttoned. They made tiny little button heads and I was so mad I pulled them out and composted them. These three heads grew on plants at the edges and gave marginally nice heads. I steamed one of them up for dinner last night and it was tasty.

The broccoli variety I have been growing is called Diplomat. As I was doing some unrelated task it occurred to me why someone would use this name for a broccoli: the big head - of course! Very funny. (except when it buttons.....)

2012 crop review

Beets. I grew a lot of different varieties this year. Bulls Blood, Detroit Red and White, Chiogga, Lutz, Cylindra, Early Wonder, Red Ace, Round Red Merlin, Blankoma. I like them all! But it was not a great year for my beets. I just never had enough of them. I planted a great crop for my parents. In March, I direct seeded a good thick row of Detroit Red in their garden. They came up well and produced all season and my parents were really happy with them. They gave me several bunches. Next year - MORE beets in my garden!

Broccoli. Super crop, again. I have have several really good years of broccoli. I grew "Diplomat" this year. Very nice. I plant it early under lights and it gives a nice big head and them side shoots til October. My fall crop was not worth the effort, especially since the spring one was still producing and I love the small side shoots. I had a 4 x 4 foot patch with 12 plants.

Bok Choi. I am almost jumping up and down about finding two SUPER varieties of bok choy this year! I love bok choy stir fried with garlic and ginger and in a nice sauce, in fried rice, or grilled outside with a peanut marinade. Win-Win Choi is a big plant with lovely white stems and deep green leaves. Mei Qing Choi is a "baby choi" that doesn't bolt even if its gets big - super for grilling. Yummy, yummy, yummy .....

Cabbage. Another super crop. I grew Savoy (Alcosa), Napa, and Red (Super Red 80). These worked well both as spring and fall crops. I love these three varieties for cole slaw and salads. Also braised along side a roast. I don't eat that much cabbage, but a few heads are really nice to have as they are one of the prettiest plants in the garden.

garden fresh broccoli

I was out of vegetables that my son likes yesterday evening. Rather than go to the grocery store, I went to the cold frame. By flash light, I found a handful of little sprouts still on plants I started last spring. (My fall crop is still small - Looks like a winter crop if it survives that long.) I sliced the broccoli, fried it briefly in olive oil with crushed Thai hot chiles. Then added water and steamed 4 minutes. My son said it was good - there wasn't any left for me to try.

today's harvest - chiles and broccoli!

Even as I was picking these Numex (Joe Parker) chiles they seemed they they should be stuffed. Chile Rellenos? I've never made them before, but these chiles smell so yummy, I think I will try.

And I was really happy to see some nice broccoli heads today. Its still my old spring planted broccoli plants. I never needed the space for something else, so they have stayed in just for the nice blueish-green of their leaves. With the cooler weather, they are producing some sparse heads.

broccoli mix

I just saw this at Garden Rant: a broccoli mix with a mix of varieties that mature at different times so you have heads all season! Great idea! I will definitely try this.

broccoli

I've had several gardeners come by and thank me for weed whacking the community garden paths today. One gardener also commented on my broccoli, which is fantastic this year (variety Blue Wind). I have two patches of broccoli: one at my community plot, the other in my cold frame at home. The gardener said she also has a broccoli that's doing well. Hers is a perennial purple broccoli. Wow that sounds great! She said it overwinters and grows heads every year. And she said she will drop off a few seeds in my garden mailbox. I'm looking forward to this new variety. Sounds great!

broccoli buttons

Ooops. A couple of my broccoli plants are buttoning. Looks like of my dozen plants (and a couple of my Mom's) are making cute little broccoli heads on tiny broccoli plants. I've heard this happens when the weather turns warm too fast or when the plants are kept in seed flats too long. I'm sure my error was in keeping them in my toasty cold frame too long - even though they were in the soil. Next year I will move them out sooner. On a several days this spring, I forgot to open the windows and the temperature went up into the 90's. Not what the broccoli's like.

broccoli

I think I'm going to give up on fall broccoli. My spring broccoli seems to produce all year long. It seems that next year I should just double my spring planting and forget about the fall crop. That's certainly easier that way.

I find that some of my plants produce big heads in early summer, then produce side shoots for a while. But others take so long to grow that they don't make heads until late summer. After the first head is cut, they still produce shoots for quite a while.

I have three varieties this year: Green Sprouting Calabrese, Blue Wind and Marathon. I'm not sure which is which. (Labeling is not my strength.) I bought Blue Wind because its supposed to produce a nice fall crop. The Green Sprouting Calabrese is the one that gives nice small shoots for a long time. Marathon makes beautiful big spring heads in my parents garden, but I think it makes smaller heads all season for me.

I did plant some fall broccoli seeds in early August. Its still very tiny. Same as last year. Probably I'm just not giving it ideal conditions and it grows slowly.

two types of broccoli

This year I grew two varieties of broccoli: Green Goliath and Green Sprouting Calabrese. Unfortunately, I don't know which plants are which. But I do notice that some of my plants make compact heads and some make taller sprouts with very small heads. I suppose the compact heads are Green Goliath and the taller sprouts are Green Sprouting Calabrese. I planted seeds on March 22 and am harvesting now.

Green Sprouting Calabrese is an Italian heirloom that was brought to America in the 1880s. It is supposed to have 5"-8" heads and many side shoots.

Green Goliath is a large headed, tight budded, blue-green variety bred especially for the home gardener, to give an early and extended harvest. Center heads mature over a three-week period, not all at once. Good side shoots follow after center head is harvested.

Gardeners around here have mentioned small broccoli heads. My heads are about 2-3 inches (above). I think the weather warmed up too fast for the plants to form large heads. Maybe my fall harvest will be better though the small heads taste great too.

My dad got much bigger heads from seedlings I gave him (below). A good 4 inches! He's located a bit north of me and his garden is almost a full zone cooler.


harvests from my vegetable gardens

my dad's garden

Brassicaceae