Growing broccoli in Florida is easier than a new nurseryman might suppose .
I used to imagine there was some magic to farm broccoli . It was a strange and beautiful plant I did n’t experience well-off taste .
I do n’t know why , but somehow beans , cucumbers , beans , radish and more beans were less scary to me than Brassica oleracea italica .
Anything but broccoli !
That all deepen this last year . After reading Mel Bartholomew’sSquare Foot Gardening , my wife Rachel decided she wanted to adjudicate growing Brassica oleracea italica and I visualise I ’d allow her try and see what fall out . What happened was astonishing – we had lots of delicious broccoli . Perfect heads . lucullan William Green . Amazing look . And since then , we ’ve farm enough more , start from seeds in the spring and nightfall . It ’s dotty – the works do wonderfully here in Florida ! So what was the trick ?
allow my wife do it !
Frost doesn’t faze broccoli. It always comes out a head.
In reality , I believe we have outstanding fortune with broccoli because we keep it well - watered , well - fertilise and also mixed in with other crops like peas , carrots and Beta vulgaris , make it less attractive to pests . I ’m also a unwavering believer in foliar feeding . I ’ve seen sad - face industrial plant turn into green behemoth . The garden beds are occupy with succulent , abstruse immature development thanks toour special methodof regular fertilization . Do n’t recount anyone , mmmkay ?
Though they ’re usually grow for their cluster of flower bud , Broccoli folio are also edible in salad ( you might desire to get rid of the tough mid - costa first ) or as a cooked green . The spirit is very similar to that ofcollards – which make sense , since collards are its less blue - blood relation . ( It ’s often the fount that a garden plant with one edible part also has other portions that can be eaten . Takesweet potatoesorFlorida cranberry , for example . Those excess purpose are just icing . Or salads , as the typesetter’s case may be . Which are mostly better for you than icing . )
Frost does n’t faze broccoli . It always comes out a head .
Frost doesn’t faze broccoli. It always comes out a head.
As a survival crop , Brassica oleracea italica is n’t the easy or most fat thing to grow . It like decent filth and good forethought . It ’s also rather recognizable ( though I suppose thieves would rather be eating hot pockets or sugar - basted possum – not Brassica oleracea italica ) as food .
On the up side , broccoli is delicious , healthy and farm through the winter without being troubled by frost . It ’s also very sizeable for you .
A few months ago we planted pile of broccoli from seed and we ’ve just started harvesting the psyche . Since we over - planted beyond our immediate desire for broccoli , we ’re going to be freezing plenty this spring as they all come into production . And that cue me – when you harvest broccoli , just cut the first self-aggrandizing foreland off before it engender cheeseparing to blooming . Then keep checking on the flora … it ’s move to grow multiple side shoots that will make many diminished psyche as they grow . Keep cutting ! Once that baby go to ejaculate , you ’re done . The harvest home season can be long with Brassica oleracea italica . If you constitute it in fall , you ’re likely to still be getting newfangled shoot for months … maybe even into early summertime .
In my experience , it does best right from cum , rather than as a transplant . Of of course – most plants do . blank out the expensive transplantation – buy a pack of seeds and scatter forth , then cut ’em out and eat on the thinnings . ( I like to crouch over the beds , clawing up young plants and growling like an demon as I consume their attender flesh … but that method is obviously not mandatory . )
If you ’ve got a infinite for lavishness foods , put in broccoli . At the very least , it make keep some members of the Bush family out of your garden .
And hey , address of Brassica oleracea italica , check out the first horticulture thriller ever , Turned Earth : A Jack Broccoli Adventure . And if you want more information on natural selection industrial plant , see out my bookFlorida Survival Gardening .
3.5 Spuds !
Name : BroccoliLatin Name : Brassica oleraceaType : BiennialNitrogen Fixer : NoMedicinal : NoCold - stout : YesExposure : Full sunPart Used : Flower head , LeavesPropagation : SeedTaste : Very goodMethod of preparation : Raw , boiled , steamedStorability : parting and heads can be pale and frozenEase of grow : ModerateNutrition : Very goodRecognizability : HighAvailability : High
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Frost doesn’t faze broccoli. It always comes out a head.
